Let’s Review!
Define the following: ◦ Iambic pentameter: a line of poetry consisting of 10 syllables in an unstressed/stressed pattern ◦ Heroic couplet: two lines of rhyming iambic pentameter ◦ Blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter ◦ Monologue: a long speech a character makes to other characters ◦ Soliloquy: a long speech during which a character is on stage alone; it reveals thoughts and feelings ◦ Aside: a remark a character makes toward the audience so that other characters can’t hear it
For the following quotes, be sure you know… ◦ Who said it (and possibly to whom) ◦ The context of the line (when, where, why, etc.) ◦ The importance of the line – for instance, what does it reveal about the character who said it?
“…brevity is the soul of wit” (Polonius) “Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet!” (Laertes) “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (Hamlet) “Neither a borrow nor a lender be” (Polonius) “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” (Marcellus) “Such a sight as this / Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.” (Fortinbras) “Sweets to the sweet: farewell!” (Gertrude)
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” (Gertrude) “…the play’s the thing / Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” (Hamlet) The serpent that did sting they father’s life / Now wears his crown.” (The Ghost) “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” (Hamlet) “This above all,--to thine own self be true.” (Polonius)
“Though this is madness, yet there is method in’it.” (Polonius) “To be, or not to be,--that is the question.” (Hamlet) “When sorrow comes, they come not single spies, / But in battalions!” (Claudius)
For each of the following themes, identify at least one way that the theme is revealed in the play: ◦ Greed ◦ Revenge ◦ Guilt ◦ Thought vs. Action ◦ Loyalty vs. Betrayal
Make a list of the internal conflicts in the play. Make a list of the external conflicts in the play.
For each of the following characters, identify at least one flaw (or weakness) that influences the plot of the play: ◦ Claudius ◦ Gertrude ◦ Polonius ◦ Laertes ◦ Ophelia ◦ Hamlet
Identify at least two places in the play where comic relief is provided.
At the end of the play, how many characters are dead? (Begin counting with King Hamlet.) Who killed whom? How did they all die?