Hamlet “When the ghost and the Prince meet and everyone ends up mincemeat” Howard Dietz

How to study a play (plus a little self discipline & careful thought) Drama has its own genre and needs a performance in order to arrive at a full interpretation of its meaning. Try to imagine you are in an audience when reading the play. Think about how it could be presented on stage, not just the words. Drama is always about some sort of conflict (it can be under the surface.) Identify the conflict(s) in the play and you will be closer to identifying the large ideas or themes which bind all the parts together. Make careful notes on themes, characters, plot and any sub-plots in the play.

How to study a play (plus a little self discipline & careful thought) Why do you dislike or like the characters in the play? How do your feelings towards them develop and change? Playwrights find non-realistic ways of allowing an audience to see into the minds and motives of their characters, for example, placing them aside or using music. Consider how such dramatic devices are used in the play studied. Think about the playwright writing the play. Why were these particular arrangements of events, characters and speeches chosen?

How to study a play (plus a little self-discipline & careful thought) Cite exact sources for all quotations, whether from the text itself or critical commentaries. Wherever possible, find you own examples from the play to back up your opinions. Where appropriate, comment in detail on the language of the passage you have quoted. Always express your ideas in your own words.

In groups, discuss the quote by Edgar Allen Poe on “Hamlet”.

Act 1 Scene 1 There is uncertainty; broken lines disrupt the rhythm. Contrasts: with the ghost – described as “majestic” and then that it started “like a guilty thing”, with night and day. Tensions (with risk of war) The ghost suggesting all is not wrong Old Fortinbras was killed by King Hamlet (Old Hamlet); now his son Fortinbras wants to reclaim the land. Unease as Fortinbras gains power.

Scene 1 questions What mood and atmosphere are created in the first scene, and how does Shakespeare achieve this effect? How do Horatio and the sentries react to the Ghost? What is their understanding of its nature and intentions? What does Horatio’s speech (lines 79-107) reveal about the background to events on stage? What do the references to the King after line 41 tell you about the attitude of Horatio and the two guards towards Hamlet’s father.