Why Are There Preparations for War?

Hamlet

Act I

1. Why are there preparations for war?

1. What does Hamlet say about the outward show of sorrow (“Seems madam? nay it is, I know not seems…)?

1. What is Ophelia’s response to both her brother’s and her father’s warning? What does this say about Ophelia?

1. What are Horatio’s concerns about the ghost?

1. How was King Hamlet murdered? What made it especially terrible?

1. What does Hamlet mean when he says he will “put an antic disposition on”?

1. What does he mean when he says, “The time is out of joint? O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right”? How could Hamlet possibly go about setting what has already been done “right”? Do you think that after he does this, things will be set “right”?

1. Predict what purpose the subplot regarding the dynamics of the relationship between Polonious and his children could serve?

Group Dialogue Journal

Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, one person begins the activity by responding in writing to the following prompt. After he/she has finished the response, the paper is passed to another group member. This new group member reads the first response, writes a response to the previously written statement and adds any new observations or comments. The paper is passed around until all group members have read, responded, and added comments. It should end with the original writer reading all comments after his/her own and making one final observation or comment.

Hamlet explains that “A flourish of trumpets and two pieces [cannons] goes off” which means that Claudius is celebrating with revelry, drinking, and wild dances. As Claudius drinks his draughts of wine, loud music accompanies his toast.

Hamlet deplores this tradition of the Dnes, saying more honor results from not following the custom. Write down, giving reasons, the tone in which you think Hamlet speaks his monologue at the beginning of Scene 4 (“Ay marry is’t…marrow of our attribute”). Also give an example of a custom that is practiced today that you think would be more honored in the breach than the observance.

Hamlet

Act II

1. What is Polonius telling Reynaldo to do? What does this tell us about Polonius and his way of thinking and acting?

1. Why is Ophelia so upset when she enters? What has happened to her? How well has she obeyed her father’s orders from Act I?

1. Why have Rosencrantz & Guildenstern come to court? What is their relationship to Hamlet? What use does Claudius have for them?

1. Immediately following the discussion of the plan, Hamlet appears. How does Hamlet behave when he enters? Is this the way we would expect Hamlet to act?

1. Read Hamlet’s 3rd soliloquy carefully (“Ay so, God bye to you. Now I am alone…”). How does he use the player’s performance to show how different his own position is?

Group Activity: Create a list that Claudius might have made, with evidence for Hamlet’s madness in one column, and against it in another.

Hamlet

Act III

1. According to Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy, what prevents him from committing suicide?

1. What is the name of the play to be performed for the king? What is ironic about the name of the play?

1. In the play, what is the relationship between the King and the murderer? What is Hamlet trying to do by putting on this play?

1. The climax of the play is often said to be the King’s soliloquy (“Oh my offense is rank, it smells to heaven…). Why would people say this is the climax of the play?

1. Is the King’s repentance sincere? How do we know one way or the other?

1. In Gertrude’s bed chamber, Hamlet gives his mother some good advice about how to change a difficult bad habit. What was that advice?

1. Is it ever appropriate for a son to converse with his mother on such topics? Explain your position.

1. What is Hamlet’s response to Rosencrantz & Guildenstern? What is the mandate they bear?

1. Why does the ghost come back? What would be the purpose of Shakespeare of having the ghost come back? (Think about the connection to the entire work).

Group explanation: Gertrude & Ghost

Explain whether the group thinks Gertrude’s inability to see the Ghost signifies her moral blindness, and what other possible explanations there might be.

Hamlet

Act IV

1. Has Gertrude reformed after her confrontation with Hamlet? What evidence do you use to support your position?

1. In what ways does Hamlet appear to change during this act?

1. Why has Ophelia gone mad? What do others think is the cause of her madness? What does that say about them?

1. What do scene 5 and 7 suggest about what the commitment to revenge does to people?

1. When Laertes speaks in this act, particularly in scene 5, he often uses hyperbolic expressions. What might this imply about him and give an example of one of his hyperbolic expressions.

Gertrude displays a guilty conscience. She speaks of her “sick soul” and syas that guilty people give themselves away because they cannot hide their fear of being found out. Some critics agree that these lines show she shares, or suspects, Claudius’s secret, and is complicit in her first husband’s murder.

What is your view? As a group review Gertrude’s appearances (I.ii, II.ii, III.i.ii.iv, IV.i) for evidence that Gertrude does and does not know that Claudius killed King Hamlet.

Group List

After her song (Scene 5), to which characters does Ophelia give the flowers and herbs? Consider the symbolic significance of each of the herbs and flowers.

1. Fennel (flattery)
2. Columbines (ingratitude and infidelity)
3. Rue (sorrow)
4. Daisy (springtime, love)
5. Violets (sweetness)

Hamlet

Act V

1. In what ways do Hamlet’s reactions to the skills in the graveyard seem to suggest a change in his outlook?

1. What is the violent argument between Hamlet and Laertes about? Who is right?

1. Who “wins” in Hamlet?

1. How do you explain Hamlet’s inability to act in avenging his father’s death?

1. Is the character of Prince Hamlet a believable one?

Group Dialogue journal

Divinity is the will of God, a kind of Christian plan that determines people’s lives. Hamlet says that important matters are decided by a divine force, however much humans try to plan their lives. An individual has little power over what they will become.

Is Hamlet’s fate in the play shaped by a ‘divinity’ or by other factors (his character, chance, other people’s actions and so on)?