King                Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death                         The memory be green; and that it us befitted                         To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom                         To be contracted in one brow of woe;                         Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature                         That we with wisest sorrow think on him,                         Together with remembrance of ourselves.                         Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen,                         Th'imperial jointress of this warlike state,                         Have we, as 'twere with a defeated joy,                         With an auspicious and a dropping eye,                         With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,                         In equal scale weighing delight and dole,                         Taken to wife. What happened? Hamlet's uncle has married his recently widowed mother and is now the king of Denmark. What is Uncle Claudius’/Stepfather underlying emotion?

Young Fortinbras threatens the King –surrender the land that my father lost to your dead brother. Claudius sends Cornelius and Voltemand to alert the King of Norway to his nephew's plans. Enter new character—using your character map—tell me something about Laertes and Polonius What does Laertes want? Laertes requests the King's permission to return to France, --granted on the agreement of Polonius. Finally, the King speaks to Hamlet: line 65- King                But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son - Hamlet            A little more than kin, and less than kind. What might Hamlet's famous opening line immediately reveal about his character? About what?

Now the Queen pleads with him: Lines 70-78 Queen             Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off,                         And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark.                         Do not for ever with thy vailed4 lids                         Seek for thy noble father in the dust.                         Thou know'st 'tis common: all that lives must die,                         Passing through nature to eternity. Hamlet            Ay, madam, it is common. Queen             If it be,                         Why seems it so particular with thee? This question brings up one theme often studied in the play. What the Queen, and later, the King suggests is: since death is common, we should not be too concerned about it. Why is that an illogical thought? Here is our first encounter with the question that Shakespeare poses for us repeatedly throughout the play: How does society respond to the inevitability of death? Do we simply do nothing other than distract ourselves from the truth? Do we not cope at all? Do we hide from reality? How do we grieve in a healthy manner? What observations can you make from own family experiences? R & J theme- there is good to come out of all suffering. Families ended feud b/c of death of R & J.

Are we able to accept the inevitability of death and to confront the profound? To emphasize the importance of this question, practically all the main characters in the play eventually die. All of them, like us, must ultimately face death whether or not we prepare ourselves for it. How each of the characters avoids confronting the inevitability of death is dramatically portrayed in the play, providing a picture of the whole spectrum of man's varied reactions to the truth of our mortality. Their behavior represents the wide range of distractions we also employ in our attempts to hide from the inevitable. Q- How do we distract ourselves?

The Queen just asked Hamlet why the death of his father, being a common event, seems to disturbs him so. Lines 79-89 Lines 90-95 King                'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet,                         To give these mourning duties to your father,                         But you must know your father lost a father,                         That father lost, lost his; and the survivor bound                         In filial obligation for some term                         To do obsequious sorrow. Double green dot vocab. word The King expresses the basic truth that everyone dies, but he believes that mourning is merely an obsequious duty. Q- Since death is common, why take it to heart? POSSIBLE THOUGHTS: Neither the King nor the Queen seriously accepts the truth of their personal mortality.

The King and Queen next request Hamlet to stay with them rather than return to the school at Wittenburg. Hamlet readily agrees. First solioquy of Hamlet (after the King and Queen leave) Lines 133-138, 161-164 Hamlet            Oh that this too solid flesh would melt,                         Thaw and resolve itself into a dew,                         Or that the Everlasting had not fixed                         His canon 'gainst self-slaughter. ….                         How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable                         Seem to me all the uses of this world!                        …..                         She married. Oh most wicked speed! To post                         With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!                         It is not, nor it cannot come to good.                         But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue. Hamlet has the courage to face reality without flinching; he fully accepts the pain of bereavement and the reality of death. How does Hamlet show he is like all of us? Condemns his mother for her hasty remarriage. Can the act of condemning another, regardless of how justified it is, wreck our own healing journey?

What does Hamlet want? permission granted to return to the Univ. He does not get it. What is really bothering him? He wants to let his new father and mother know of his disapproval of their marriage. He gets what he wants by making it known that his father is only dead 2 months (GC) and he is ticked off and he is still in mourning.

Hamlet ends his soliloquy as Horatio, Marcellus, Barnardo and Horatio arrive. Hamlet asks why he is in Elsinore. The conversation then focuses on Hamlet's late father: Lines 197-200 Horatio           My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. Hamlet            Saw? Who? Horatio           My lord, the king your father. Hamlet            The king my father? Horatio relates the events of the previous night, and Hamlet thus learns of the appearance of his father's ghost. He questions Horatio closely about the event: Lines 225-232 Hamlet            Did you not speak to it? Horatio           My lord, I did,                         But answer made it none. Lines 260-266 Hamlet            I will watch tonight.                         Perchance 'twill walk again. Horatio           I warrant it will. Hamlet            If it assume my noble father's person,                         I'll speak to it though hell itself should gape                         And bid me hold my peace.

Q- WHAT IS HAMLET WILLING TO DO? Given Circumstances Q- WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT HIS CHARACTER? The scene closes with Hamlet, now alone, revealing his premonition that something evil had transpired: Lines 275-281 Hamlet            My father's spirit - in arms! All is not well.                         I doubt(suspect) some foul play. Would the night were come.                         Till then sit still, my soul. Foul deeds will rise,                         Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes.

Out the door class work grade: Neither the King nor the Queen seriously accepts the truth of their personal mortality. Comment and support.

Scene 3

What kind of advice can you expect to receive from your parent(s) when you head to college?

What does Laertes what? Where does this scene take place? What does Laertes think of Hamlet? Which statement best captures how Laertes feels toward Hamlet “talking” to his sister? If he touches you I’ll take him out. I don’t trust him; I don’t want you to date him and that’s that. I’m not going to tell you what to do, but just remember, he’s a guy—he’s gonna try everything—watch out Ophelia What is the relationship between Laertes and Ophelia?

What does Polonius want in this scene? Polonius enters-- gives advice to his son before leaving for France. What do his words reveal about his beliefs, philosophy, values? What does he want from Ophelia?

At the Bell: list in bullet form the information revealed by the ghost. Make a comment regarding its significance

What is the ghost’s story? What does the ghost want? Scene 5 What is the ghost’s story? What does the ghost want? Ghost     I am thy father's spirit, 14     Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night,     And for the day confined to fast in fires,     Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature     Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid     To tell the secrets of my prison-house,     I could a tale unfold whose lightest word     Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,     Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,     Thy knotted and combined locks to part     And each particular hair to stand on end,     Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:     But this eternal blazon must not be     To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list!     If thou didst ever thy dear father love-- 29

Sleeping within my orchard,     My custom always of the afternoon,     Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,     With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,     And in the porches of my ears did pour     The leperous distilment; whose effect     Holds such an enmity with blood of man     That swift as quicksilver it courses through     The natural gates and alleys of the body,     And with a sudden vigour doth posset     And curd, like eager droppings into milk,     The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;     And a most instant tetter bark'd about,     Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,     All my smooth body.     Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand     Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd:     Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,     Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd,     No reckoning made, but sent to my account     With all my imperfections on my head:     

O, horrible. O, horrible. most horrible O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!     If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;     Let not the royal bed of Denmark be     A couch for luxury and damned incest.     But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,     Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive     Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven     And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,     To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once!     The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,     And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:     Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me.     Exit

What assumptions can we make about Hamlet’s state of mind from the words he uses?

O all you host of heaven. O earth. what else. And shall I couple hell  O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else?     And shall I couple hell? O, fie! Hold, hold, my heart;     And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,     But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee!     Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat     In this distracted globe. Remember thee!     Yea, from the table of my memory     I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,     All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,     That youth and observation copied there;     And thy commandment all alone shall live     Within the book and volume of my brain,     Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven!     O most pernicious woman!     O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!     My tables,--meet it is I set it down,     That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;     At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark:     (Writing )     So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;     It is 'Adieu, adieu! remember me.'     I have sworn 't.

HAMLET     Why, right; you are i' the right;     And so, without more circumstance at all,     I hold it fit that we shake hands and part:     You, as your business and desire shall point you;     For every man has business and desire,     Such as it is; and for mine own poor part,     Look you, I'll go pray. HORATIO     These are but wild and whirling words, my lord.

What assumptions can we make about Hamlet’s state of mind from the words he uses and the way he speaks to H and M at this point in the play? Now what does Hamlet want? How will he get what he wants?

END OF ACT 1