Motifs Or Recurring Themes to Look for As You Read Hamlet

ShakespeareM. D’Antonio

Hamlet (1600-01) Study Guide

Motifs or recurring themes to look for as you read Hamlet:

-decay and corruption: the “unweeded garden”; “Something is rotten…”

-appearance and reality, “seems” vs. “is”

-thought vs. action

-poison, both literal and figurative

-prostitution

-people caught in their own traps: “hoist with his own petard”

-revenge (particularly of a son for his father)

-putting on an act: “the play’s the thing”

Act I: Exposition (characters are introduced, motivation, actions set in motion)

Note particularly the introduction of the themes of fathers and children and of appearance and reality. These themes will recur frequently and with different images and metaphors to set them forth. Look also for the two views of the nature of man.

Scene One / A guard platform. Note how the guards in their exchanges establish the time and place of the scene. What are they? What does the ghost look like? How is he dressed? How does Horatio interpret the appearance of the ghost? Marcellus gives some background. Why are there military preparations underway? Note the theme of father and son introduced here. How does young Fortinbras react to his father’s defeat and death? Which what plan does the scene conclude? What is the theory about ghosts expounded by Marcellus?
Scene Two / This is a formal scene in which Claudius, the new king, is holding court. Visually it reveals the conflict between Claudius and the young Hamlet. Everyone is lavishly and colorfully dressed; Hamlet is clothed in black. Note the paradoxes in the opening speech of Claudius. Claudius takes care of several items of business. On what business does he send Voltemand and Cornelius? How does he answer the request made by Laertes? Note that Hamlet’s first speech is an aside. How is that significant? What does it mean and to what does it refer? Be able to explain what Hamlet means when he angrily says, “Seems, madam? Nay, it is. I know not ‘seems.’” What is Claudius reaction to Hamlet’s mourning? What is the tone of Hamlet’s first soliloquy? How does Hamlet feel and why? How does he feel about Claudius? Gertrude? What is Hamlet’s mood as he questions Horatio? What is his interpretation of the appearance of the ghost?
Scene Three / Laertes takes leave of his father, Polonius, an advisor to Claudius, and to his sister, Ophelia. How does Laertes interpret the attention that Hamlet has been paying to Ophelia? Polonius advises his son. What is the nature of his advice? Polonius also advises Ophelia about Hamlet. What is the tenor of his remarks? What image does Polonius use in interpreting Hamlet’s vow of love? This image becomes sadly ironic later on in the play. Ophelia is very young. What are her father and brother teaching her? Look for future evidence to indicate whether or not they are right.
Scene Four / On the guard platform: Hamlet criticizes the Danes for drunkenness. His comment relates to the notion of tragedy. What is Hamlet’s theory? What does it say about him? The ghost appears. Think about the tone of the scene, Hamlet’s response, and that of his companions.
Scene Five / What is the message that the ghost gives Hamlet? What is Hamlet’s response to the news of the murder? How does Hamlet Senior compare himself to Claudius? Of what does he accuse Queen Gertrude? The ghost cites a further result of his murder. Note the ghost’s instructions regarding Hamlet’s mother. What has Hamlet learned about appearance and reality? At a point in his conversation with Marcellus and Horatio, Hamlet changes his mind. Can you find the lines? What do you think Hamlet means by the lines, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio / Than are dreamed of in your philosophy”? What is Hamlet’s plan and how does this plan relate to the appearance/reality theme set forth in Act I?

Act II: Rising action (complication)

Scene One / What are Polonius’ instructions to Reynaldo? What are you learning about the older generation through him? How does this scene make you feel about Laertes? Polonius? Ophelia enters very upset. What does she describe to her father? How does Polonius interpret the event and how does he respond? Are there any further interpretations of Hamlet’s behavior?
Scene Two / Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are received by Claudius. Who are they and what does Claudius want from them? Watch for parallels. How does this scene compare to that with Polonius and Reynaldo? Claudius receives ambassadors he had sent to Norway. What have they accomplished? What sort of king does Claudius seem to be so far? Polonius presents to Claudius his theory about Hamlet’s “madness.” What do you think of the evidence that he presents? What is Polonius’ plan to test out his theory? Hamlet enters in his “mad” attire and acting appropriately. How does Hamlet treat Polonius? If you were feigning madness, might you take the opportunity to treat some people more honestly than manners permit? Do you think Hamlet is mad in this scene?
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern greet Hamlet. He is pleased to see them but quickly suspects they were sent for. Find the lines where he realizes they were sent for. How do you imagine he feels at this realization? Note Hamlet’s summation of the Renaissance conception of man. Have you noticed Hamlet’s tendency to generalize? In this case his generalization stems from his education as a Renaissance prince. What is happening to his idealistic view of the world? Rosencrantz and Guildenstern inform Hamlet that they have encountered a company of traveling actors. There follows an allusion to a real event, the formation of a children’s acting company in London in the late 1590’s. They were popular and gave other companies some competition. Hamlet greets the players with his usual courtesy and good manners. He requests a speech from them – a speech from the Aeneid describing the fall of Troy, the murder of King Priam, and the reaction of his wife, Hecuba. Why do you suppose he chose that particular speech? The player gets carried away with the subject of the speech.
Hamlet picks up this action in his soliloquy and that closes the act. What contrast does he draw between the player and himself? Is this a fair assessment of Hamlet’s conduct so far? Why or why not? Read this soliloquy carefully. Is Hamlet carrying out his father’s instructions? Is so, how? If not, why not? The soliloquy concludes (as did Act I) with Hamlet creating a plan. Does his plan help you to determine if he is following out his father’s wishes? We come again to the tragic issue of the inscrutability and complexity of the world which the tragic hero inhabits. Is there any possibility that the ghost (like the witches in Macbeth) is evil?

Act III: Climax (action continues to complicate until the turning point occurs)

Scene One / Claudius hears from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about Hamlet. Does Claudius learn of Hamlet’s suspicions? Ophelia is used as bait to enable Polonius and Claudius to examine Hamlet’s “madness.” What is Polonius’ hope? Ophelia’s? The Queen’s? Claudius delivers an aside. What does this reveal to the audience? Hamlet enters and delivers a third soliloquy. Note how its subject and Hamlet’s thoughts serve to contrast his character with that of Macbeth. It also reveals that he is aware of his delay in executing his father’s wishes. How does Hamlet treat Ophelia? Why do you think he speaks to her in this way? Look for examples of the appearance/reality theme here. The notion is beginning to obsess Hamlet. Pay close attention to Ophelia’s speech at the close of the scene. It is a statement of the Hamlet that was – a description of a Renaissance prince. What is Claudius’ reaction to the scene? Ophelia’s? Polonius has a plan to follow up this scene. Note it; it will become tragically significant. Do you agree not with Marcellus that “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”?
Scene Two / This is the play-within-the-play. Hamlet addresses the players in a famous speech, requesting them to be natural and unaffected in their acting, a reminder that Shakespeare was an actor as well as a playwright. Before the play begins, Hamlet assumes his “antic disposition” again and both baits Polonius and insults Ophelia. Again the subject is the same – sex and woman’s inconstancy. Read the play scene carefully to see the point at which Claudius interrupts. At this point, what irreversible event has occurred? From now to the conclusion of Act III, Hamlet is extremely distraught. He has achieved the information he sought through the players. What does he do now? What is the content and purpose of the interchange with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
Scene Three / The king now knows that Hamlet knows. He acts, sending Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with Hamlet to England. Polonius again begins to spy. Claudius delivers a revealing soliloquy. What do we learn from it? Hamlet enters behind him and makes a crucial and irrevocable error. Why does he hold back here? The scene ends in tragic irony. Note Claudius’ last two lines and their relation to Hamlet’s thoughts just preceding them.
Scene Four / The son finally confronts his mother. Remember the ghost’s instructions to Hamlet about how he should treat her. In the heat of the moment here, Hamlet does act, again irrevocably. How does this act change the dramatic situation tragically? At what point in the scene does Hamlet violate the ghost’s admonition regarding his mother? What happens? How does Gertrude interpret the event? Do you find anything unnatural about this scene? Think about Elizabethan notions of order and disorder. The scene ends with a reiteration of Hamlet’s trip to England and a statement that he knows not to trust his companions. What image does he use to describe them? How has the balance been tipped by the conclusion of Act III? Who has the initiative now?

Act IV: Descending action (beginning of resolution)

Scene One / Claudius and Gertrude discuss Hamlet’s murder of Polonius. What does Claudius fear? Is he right?
Scenes Two and Three / How does Hamlet respond to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? What are his tone and attitude toward them? These scenes contain some (needed) comic relief. But notice the serious subject and bitter tone of the humor. In Scene 3, Claudius explains why he must be circumspect in his dealings with Hamlet. What do we learn of Hamlet’s public reputation? Might this be important in our final estimation of him? However, in what circumstances is Hamlet when we next see him? Hamlet, the bitter and witty philosopher, speculates on the ironies of death. Which creature figures in his ironic jests? Claudius, having planned Hamlet’s death in England, describes Hamlet as “the hectic in his blood.” Have you seen any evidence of further references to health? What is the relation of the king to the nation’s health?
Scene Four / The paths of Fortinbras and Hamlet cross. If we may already have drawn some parallels and contrasts between the two young princes, note them here. How is Fortinbras’ situation like Hamlet’s? How are his actions unlike Hamlet’s? Hamlet himself draws these parallels. Read his soliloquy, “How all occasions do inform against met…” Note how Hamlet again turns his thoughts to the nature of man, questioning what reason it is that has caused his delay.
Scene Five / Ophelia, rejected by Hamlet, confused by her father’s and Claudius’ use of her, and finally, distraught by her father’s death, has gone insane. And Laertes has retuned home, seeking revenge for his father’s death. Does Laertes situation parallel that of anyone else in the play? How? Note Ophelia’s songs. Are they appropriate to the young maiden we met earlier? What do they show to us? Think about the deeper significance of the various flowers.
Scene Six / What is the significance of this brief scene?
Scene Seven / Note Claudius’ arguments to Laertes to turn his anger to Claudius’ own purposes. What sort of character does Laertes reveal? Explain the three ways Claudius and Laertes devise to insure Hamlet’s death. Two of them involve poison. Ophelia is dead. Does she deserve her fate? Why or why not? How responsible is she for her death?

Act V: Denouement (all is resolved)

Scene One / The two clowns (gravediggers) again supply comic relief, but again notice that the “relief” concerns death. Find and mark plays on words. Look for examples of the theme that death is inevitable. Might these examples suggest a change in Hamlet’s thinking? Do you believe Hamlet’s statement that he loved Ophelia? Why or why not? Notice the King’s final speech. What other meanings does it have?
Scene Two / Why has Hamlet stopped acting insanely? How does he now feel about ( a) killing, (b) Laertes, (c) his own death? Note the places where he shows his true feelings; think about why he has changed his mind. What do you think is the purpose of the scene with Osric? At the end of the play, four people lie dead on the stage. Is there any way that any of these deaths might have been prevented? What poison(s) has/have killed each of the characters? Why doesn’t Hamlet want Horatio to die along with him? Fortinbras will become King of Denmark. He declares that Hamlet should have a soldier’s funeral. Is this funeral appropriate for Hamlet who, as we have seen him, has been more the man of thought than the man of action? Why? Laertes says, “The King’s to blame.” Is he correct? In what ways? What do you think is Hamlet’s tragic flaw? Be prepared to substantiate your opinion. How does it contribute to his-and to others’ downfall(s)? Is his flaw his greatness as well? Or does it balance out with positive traits? Bradley finds that the experience of Shakespearean tragedy produces feelings of pity, fear, and a sense of waste. Does your experience with Hamlet produce these feelings for you? Why or why not?