The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

By William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Shakespearean Tragedy: a serious, blank-verse play (drama) having an unhappy ending

Elements of Shakespearean Tragedy: the action revolves around a tragic hero hero has internal and external conflicts humor is used to relieve the dark mood supernatural incidents occur hero’s motivation is desire for revenge chance happenings precipitate tragic catastrophes

is often involved in historical or socially significant events The Tragic Hero: is often involved in historical or socially significant events evokes pity and fear usually dies at end of play

The Five-Act Structure (recall Freytag’s triangle)

the rotten state of Denmark is disclosed ACT I = Exposition the rotten state of Denmark is disclosed the ghost appears with his call for revenge

ACT II = Rising Action Hamlet tries to discover the truth about the ghost’s accusations. Will he take revenge?

ACT III = Climax Hamlet springs his “mousetrap” and gets the proof he needs; Claudius is guilty! The play’s climax occurs: Hamlet kills Polonius by mistake.

ACT IV = Falling Action Claudius, not Hamlet, takes charge of events; with the help of Laertes, he devises a counterplot against Hamlet.

ACT V = Resolution / Catastrophe The consummation of everyone’s vengeance is achieved in a bloody ending that leaves only Horatio alive to tell the tale.

Elements often found in revenge tragedies…

the hero’s hesitation

real or pretend madness

suicide

conspiracy & deception

an able, scheming villain

use of sensational horrors (murders on stage, exhibition of dead bodies, etc.)

philosophic soliloquies

“soliloquy” the words a character speaks aloud to him or herself when alone; often used as a device in drama to disclose a character's innermost thoughts

Quotes from Hamlet you may already know… (or soon will)

" A little more than kin and less than kind." -Hamlet, I.ii

“Frailty, thy name is woman!” -Hamlet, referring to his mother, I.ii

“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” “This above all: to thine own self be true.” -Polonius to Laertes, I.iii

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” -Hamlet, I.v

"Murder most foul, as in the best it is, But this most foul, strange, and unnatural." -the ghost of Hamlet’s father, I.v

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” -Marcellus, to Horatio after Hamlet follows the ghost, I.iv

One that literary scholars quibble about… “O, That this too too sullied flesh would met, thaw and resolve itself into a dew.” -Hamlet, I.ii

“The time is out of joint “The time is out of joint. O, cursed spite, that I was ever born to set it right.” -Hamlet, I.v

" There is nothing either good or bad - but thinking makes it so. " " There is nothing either good or bad - but thinking makes it so. " -Hamlet, II.ii

" The play 's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king " The play 's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king. " -Hamlet, II.ii

"Though this be madness - yet there is method in't. " -Polonius, II.ii

“Brevity is the soul of wit.” -Hamlet, II.ii

“To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them?” -Hamlet, contemplating suicide, III.i

“---Soft ye now. The fair Ophelia “---Soft ye now! The fair Ophelia! – Nymph, in thy orisons, be all my sins remember’d.” -Hamlet, to Ophelia, III.i

“Get thee to a nunnery; why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” -Hamlet to Ophelia, III.i

" The lady doth protest too much – methinks. " -Gertrude, III.ii

“Tis now the very witching time of night.” -Hamlet, III.ii

" When sorrows come - they come not single spies but in battalions. " " When sorrows come - they come not single spies but in battalions. " - Hamlet, IV.v

“Alas! Poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio.” -Hamlet, V.i

“If it be now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.” -Hamlet, talking of death, V.ii

“O, I die, Horatio… the rest is silence.” Famous last words… -Hamlet’s dying words, to Horatio, V.ii

“Now cracks a noble heart “Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” -Horatio to Hamlet, V.ii