Hamlet

Assignment to have been completed: Students should have read 3.1 of Hamlet while following the study guide questions.

Activities:

• A. Administer the quiz you should have found with these plans.

• B. Use the following questions (and answers) to facilitate a discussion of Act III, Scene i of Hamlet.

  Act III, Scene i

  • 1. What can you determine about Gertrude’s attitude toward Ophelia from lines 41-45?

    Gertrude approves of Ophelia because she finds the girl both attractive and virtuous. Of course, it may also be argued that she prefers the mania of love to the madness of grief or accusation.

  • 2. What is the tone of Hamlet’s soliloquy (64-98)? What does Hamlet mean by lines 91-93? Do you agree or disagree?

    Overall, a melancholy tone pervades. Hamlet, wishing for death in order to escape his troubles and dilemma, dwells on what at the moment he perceives as the total absence of happiness - or even its possibility - in life. Consequently, the first half of the soliloquy carries a tinge of despair, characteristic of a person contemplating suicide as Hamlet is.

    However, in lines 91-93, his contemplation of ending his life evokes thoughts of the mystery of what lies beyond life, that he might well be sending himself to greater trouble (Hell). That thought closes his thoughts of suicide. A parallel reading may also point to his habit of introspection delaying his taking action in response to the ghost’s command.

    The students should be led to respond to the thoughts about life and death expressed in lines 91-93.

  • 3. Contrast the tone of Hamlet’s remarks with Ophelia’s responses (99-175). In lines 134-136, Hamlet asserts that he is “very proud, revengeful, ambitious.” Why does he make this remark? Is it accurate?

    SEE STUDY BOOK

    This is an OPEN QUESTION. Hamlet is either harsh and ironical or tender and sincere. This answer determines the way the scene is interpreted.

    Lines 134-135 connect to Hamlet’s motivation for ending the incestuous relationship between Claudius and Gertrude by killing Claudius as the ghost intimated to him. Pride, the chief of the seven deadly sins, speaks to the presumption of assassinating a king, as do revenge and ambition. Revenge aims at righting the wrong done to his father, and ambition speaks to the consequence of his rising to the throne of Denmark.

    Whether students will see Hamlet’s self-analysis as accurate is an OPEN QUESTION. However, they must be led to see beyond their own feelings for the character.

  • 4. What different conclusions do Claudius and Polonius reach regarding their observation of Hamlet and Ophelia? Who is correct in his inference?

    Claudius sees nothing of love in Hamlet’s behavior. Instead he has a deep suspicion that Hamlet is contemplating some problem and action that could pose a threat to Claudius himself. Therefore, he plans to send Hamlet off to England, officially to collect tribute but ostensibly to get his mind off whatever is bothering him.

    Polonius still believes love for Ophelia lies at the core of Hamlet’s “madness.” He proposes that Gertrude bluntly address the topic with him while Polonius himself eavesdrop on the conversation. If he is proven wrong, then he agrees that Hamlet should be sent to England.

    Obviously, Claudius is correct.

Assignment for next class meeting: Read 3.2 of Hamlet. Prepare the corresponding study questions.