1. Act 3

2.  Nemesis  Foils  Disease and Corruption  Women  Hamlet as Tragic Hero  Appearance vs Reality

3.  To be or not to be? Does Hamlet know he’s being spied on at this point? Does it matter? What does his soliloquy reveal about his beliefs? (III.i.58)

4.  What is Ophelia most guilty of according to Hamlet? Is this a fair accusation?  How do we explain Hamlet’s behaviour?

5.  Hamlet the director: What evidence does Hamlet’s advice to the actors give us about how Shakespeare himself wanted to see plays performed?  Hamlet and Horatio: (3.2. 66-69) What is that he values so much about Horatio?  Claudius’s reaction to the play? Is this the confirmation that Hamlet needs?

6.  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: (3.2.335- 338)  Hamlet: 'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me.

7.  So is Hamlet crazy or not?  “’Tis now the very witching time of night” (3.2. 350-359)  Why is Hamlet going to Gertrude now? Why not go and kill Claudius right away?

8.  Claudius’s confession: What is he guilty of and how does he feel about it? (3.3.37-73)  Why doesn’t Hamlet kill Claudius now? Is his explanation reasonable? “And so he goes to heaven./And so am I revenged.—That would be scanned.” (3.3.75-76)  Claudius “ My words fly up, my thoughts remain below./ Words without thoughts never to heaven go.” (3.3.98-99)

9.  What is revealed about the relationship between Hamlet and his mother?  What does he tell her to do (or rather—tell her not to do)?  Did Polonius deserve what happened to him?  How does Hamlet feel about it?