1. Act Four Closure/Act Five Opening
Hamlet
Act Four Closure/Act Five Opening

2. Imagine… Close your eyes and imagine you are Claudius.
Teacher read: Think about all you have done, and all of the outcomes of your actions thus far. Really picture it.
Visualize King Hamlet as you poison him. Feel your desire for the throne and power. Imagine whether or not you truly love Gertrude. Enjoy your ability to control the fates of those around you, such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and even Laertes. Immerse yourself in your fear of and loathing toward Hamlet. Decide if you feel any remorse at all over the deaths of Polonius and Ophelia.

3. Imagine…
Now… What would YOU (Claudius) do at this point? What would you do to resolve your conflict?
(3 minutes) write your thoughts as if you were Claudius. What is your plan and how will you carry it out?
Now we’ll pair share and have a whole class discussion on your resolutions.

4. Before we explore what happens in Act V…
Edwin Booth as Hamlet, 1870
Let’s contemplate how the character’s actions are leading toward an inevitable ending.
DEFINE “tragedy”

5. Objectives
By the end of the period you should have a stronger understanding of, and be able to write about, the CAUSES AND EFFECTS of the decisions made by these characters (WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED THAT COMMITTING MURDER COULD HAVE CONSEQUENCES?) and how those decisions INEVITABLY INFLUENCE (DUH!) the outcome of the play.

6. Refresher: Shakespeare and Drama Chart
Act III
Act IV
Problems spiral out of control
and grow wildly more
complex and difficult
to overcome
Act II
Act V
The characters who made poor choices in act three now die as a result of those decisions.
Act I

7. Act IV Relationship Chart
Claudius
Gertrude
Add
Hamlet
Polonius
Horatio
Ophelia
Laertes

8. Why is this important?
Examining how cause and effect drives a plot forward will help you to understand why the play HAS to end the way it does.
With practice, these writing strategies and academic language will become second nature. This will improve your vocabulary (thinking, writing, and speaking).

9. First up: Ophelia
Ophelia by Alexandre Cabanel, 1883

10. Ophelia’s Got Problems:
Brother is going away to Paris.
L wants to control her behavior, and she playfully tries to control his.
Father has forbidden her from seeing her boyfriend.
Boyfriend- acting insane.
OPHELIA (Cause/Effect):
Because Ophelia ___, she was left fatherless and loveless. As a result, Ophelia ___. This is critical to the plot because ___.

11. OPHELIA (Cause/Effect):
Because Ophelia followed her brother’s and father’s advice and refused Hamlet’s attentions, Hamlet, feeling highly isolated by all who supposedly loved him, spiraled further out of control and killed Polonius. Left fatherless and loveless, Ophelia falls into madness and drowns in a likely suicide. Her death is critical to the plot because it solidifies Laertes’ need for revenge.

12. Notice the progression of events
Because (character’s name)
Character’s actions (cause)
Character’s outcome (effect)
Relevance to the play
Because Ophelia
followed her brother’s and father’s advice and refused Hamlet’s attentions
Hamlet,…killed Polonius…Ophelia devolved into madness and drowned in a likely suicide.
Her death is critical to the plot because it solidifies Laertes’ need for revenge.

13. Next up: Polonius
A stained glass representation of Polonius

14. Partners/Whole Class
Polonius’ Earlier Problems
Tries to control son’s actions as he departs for France
Sends Reynaldo to spy on son.
Forbids Ophelia from seeing Hamlet
Sets an “accidental meeting” between Hamlet and Ophelia while he and Claudius spy.
Spies as Gertrude speaks with Hamlet after the play.
Partners: analyze how Polonius’ problems have spiraled out of control by Act IV (Cause & Effect):
Because (character’s name)
Character’s actions (cause)
Character’s outcome (effect)
Relevance to the play

15. Partners/Whole Class Need help?
Because (character’s name)
Character’s actions (cause)
Character’s outcome (effect)
Relevance to the play
Need help?
Because Polonius is a character driven by ___, he puts himself into situations where ___. As a result, ___. This outcome strikes fear into the heart of ___, who worries that ___, and it is pivotal to the plot because ___.

16. Sample Response Act IV Update:
Because Polonius is a character driven by the need to meddle into others’ business, he puts himself into situations where he can overhear their discussions. As a result, he is killed by Hamlet while eavesdropping on his conversation with Gertrude. This outcome strikes fear into the heart of Claudius, who worries that he is next, and it is pivotal to the plot because it creates urgency on the part of Claudius to get rid of Hamlet.

17. On Your Own Laertes Hamlet Gertrude Claudius
Write a cause and effect statement:
Laertes
Hamlet
Gertrude
Claudius
More practice (HW) write cause and effect statements for each
Because (character’s name)
Character’s actions (cause)
Character’s outcome (effect)
Relevance to the play