1. Hamlet Anticipation Guide & Discussion
On your own, write down your responses to the 8 statements, using specific examples.
When we are done writing, we will discuss and debate each statement
Be prepared to share your responses with the class

2. Siblings should never date each other’s exes.

3. Having a clear goal, and the ambition to achieve it, is honorable.

4. Power eventually corrupts the people who have it.

5. Revenge is sweeter than forgiving and forgetting.

6. A person’s intelligence is largely based on their economic class and educational background.

7. One must take a stand against injustice, even if the personal cost is great.

8. A woman’s primary concern should be her child—if she has one.

9. Moral courage is more difficult to accomplish than physical courage.

10. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet
11 AP
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Nordin/Hornik

14. Writing Style
Shakespeare often changed his style of writing based upon the social status of his characters
Prose: Ordinary language used to emphasis characters of low social status – no rhythm or rhyme. EC: what is an adjective for this ordinary language?
Blank verse: has rhythm but no rhyme
Iambic Pentameter: Pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables that uses five patterns to a line; used to emphasis characters of high social status

15. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

16. John Green sums it up
As you watch, do your best to jot down important notes from John Green’s summation and analysis of Hamlet.
He talks fast!
(12 minutes)

17. History of Hamlet
First recorded production of Hamlet-
by Chamberlain's Men (1600 or 1601)
Likely, Shakespeare composed the play in early 1600.
According to contemporary references, Hamlet became an instant hit until the closing of the theatres by the Puritans ( ).
After the theatres re-opened, Hamlet was brought back to the stage by author and entrepreneur, William Davenant.
Popularity has been constant.

18. Characters Hamlet - The Prince of Denmark,/protagonist.
About 30 years old.
Son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet, and the nephew of the present king, Claudius (the mom’s new husband and brother-in-law).
Melancholy, bitter, and cynical.
Hates his uncle’s scheming.
Disgusted by his mother’s sexuality.
Reflective and thoughtful young man.
Has studied at the University of Wittenberg.
Often indecisive and hesitant, but at other times prone to rash and impulsive acts.

19. Claudius - (New) King of Denmark, Hamlet’s uncle.
Antagonist/ villain.
Married his dead brother’s widow.
Calculating, ambitious politician, driven by his sexual appetites and his lust for power.
Occasionally shows signs of guilt and human feeling. His love for Gertrude, for instance, seems sincere.
Gertrude -  Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, recently married Claudius (her dead husband’s brother).
Loves Hamlet deeply, but she is shallow and weak.
Seeks affection and status more urgently than moral rectitude or truth.

20. The fair Ophelia - Polonius’s daughter. Beautiful and young
The fair Ophelia -  Polonius’s daughter. Beautiful and young. Hamlet is in love with her. Sweet and innocent young woman. Dependent on men to tell her how to behave. Obeys her father and her brother, Laertes. Gives in to Polonius’ (dad) schemes to spy on Hamlet even though she is in love with Hamlet. Even in her lapse into madness and death, she remains maidenly, singing songs about flowers. Finally drowns in the river amid the flower garlands she had gathered – even her death is pretty.

21. Universal Ideas in Hamlet
Death
Revenge (inability to act out revenge)
State of Denmark
Incest and sexuality
Uncertainty
Family Dynamic
Gender (Misogyny)
Ears and Hearing (slipperiness of language)
THEMES – up to you to determine! What would Shakespeare say about the above ideas based on this play and his rhetoric?

23. Hamlet vs. Oedipus Both protagonists
Both passionately determined to find the truth.
Both impulsive.
Both have immense self-pride, but are ultimately good natured.
They seek revenge for their fathers (although this is ironic in Oedipus Rex since Oedipus killed his father unknowingly)
Although O's arrogance may have led to his downfall, impulsiveness destroys both men. O's decree of exile parallels the gods' requirements, but Hamlet's stabbing of Ophelia's father right after NOT stabbing Claudius means that, in the grand scheme, he must die rather than assume the throne.
Both plays are tragedies that result from behind-the-scenes machinations--the gods plot against O's family while King Hamlet's brother plots against him.
Perhaps the vivid imagery of poison in Hamlet parallels the curse "in the family blood" in Greek tragedies in Oedipus Rex.
Both plays - highly poetic language.