Hamlet by William Shakespeare
LEAD IN
Read the following story which is loosely based on the plot of Hamlet.
Winston Hamlet and his brother Roger are partners in a successful business. Roger is having an affair with Winston's wife, Geraldine. Together they plan to kill Winston so that Roger will become the sole owner of the company. While away on a fishing trip together, Roger pushes his brother overboard, and manages to convince the police that the drowning was an accident. Just two months later he marries Geraldine.
Winston's son, Freddie, is horrified at his father's death and his mother's remarriage. When he receives an anonymous letter saying that his uncle killed his father, he decides to take the law into his own hands. As Winston is sitting in a restaurant with Geraldine, Freddie walks in and shoots him dead. He then asks the restaurant owner to call the police and waits calmly until he is arrested. In court, he is found guilty of murder.
The judge is about to pass sentence. You are the judge. Choose one of the following sentences and explain why you chose it.
• Life-in-prison
• A prison sentence (specify for how long)
• A fine (specify how much)
• House arrest (specify for how long)
• Any other sentence?
INTRODUCTION ◊ Hamlet is probably the best-known character from Shakespeare's plays. He is a young man who has to deal with the terrible trauma caused by his father's murder. What intrigues many theatre-goers and literary critics is Hamlet's psychological make-up. Is he strong or weak? Is he really mad or is he only pretending? These and many more questions continue to be asked about this fascinating character.
CHARACTERS
• Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
• Ghost of Old Hamlet, Hamlet's father and former king
• Claudius, current King of Denmark and former king's brother
• Gertrude, Queen of Denmark and Hamlet's mother
• Polonius, close adviser to Claudius and father to Ophelia and Laertes
• Ophelia, Polonius's daughter, in love with Hamlet
• Laertes, Polonius's son
THE STORY
Claudius kills his brother Old Hamlet, marries his widow Gertrude and becomes King of Denmark. One evening Hamlet sees his father's ghost who asks him to avenge his death. From that day on he starts to act strangely and seems, to many people, to be going mad. He dearly wants to get revenge by killing Claudius but finds it hard to actually do it.
He rejects Ophelia, and continues to behave very oddly. Claudius begins to suspect that he might know something about the murder and asks Polonius to spy on him.
While Hamlet is talking to his mother, Polonius hides behind a curtain to overhear what is being said. Hamlet realises someone is there and stabs Polonius to death through the curtain.
Claudius then decided to send Hamlet away to England with two of courtiers (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), who are under orders to kill him. Hamlet outsmarts them and returns home to learn that Ophelia has died in a state of madness and desperation.
In a final attempt to get rid of Hamlet, Claudius organises a sword fight between him and Laertes. His plan goes terribly wrong, however, and although Hamlet does die, Claudius, Gertrude and Laertes are also killed.
‘
To be,
or not to be - that is the question.'
A scene from the film Hamlet (1990),
starring Mel Gibson.
To Be or Not to Be
In this very famous speech Hamlet asks why man does not lose his will to live despite the obstacles he has to overcome.
Act III Scene I: A room in the cast
hamlet: To be, or not to be - that is the question.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows1 of outrageous2 fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die - to sleep – 5
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache3, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to4; 'tis a consummation5
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die - to sleep -
To sleep! perchance6 to dream. Ay, there's the rub7; 10
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off8 this mortal coil9,
Must give us pause. There's the respect10
That makes calamity of so long life11.
For who would bear the whips and scorns12 of time, 15
The oppressor's wrong13, the proud man's contumely14,
The pangs15 of despised16 love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns17
That patient merit of the unworthy takes18,
When he himself might his quietus make19 20
With a bare bodkin20? Who would these fardels bear,
To grunt21 and sweat22 under a weary23 life,
But that the dread24 of something after death –
The undiscovered country from whose bourn25
No traveller returns - puzzles26 the will, 25
And makes us rather bear those ills27 we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue28 of resolution
Is sicklied o'er29 with the pale cast30 of thought; 30
And enterprises of great pitch and moment31,
With this regard32 their currents turn awry33,
And lose the name of action.
GLOSSARY
1. slings and arrows: (slings: pieces of cords with leather in the middle used to throw stones; arrows: thin pointed sticks that you shoot with a bow)
2. outrageous: adverse
3. heart-ache: pain
4. flesh is heir to: part of a human life
5. consummation: conclusion
6. perchance: perhaps
7. rub: impediment, obstacle
8. shuffled off: removed
9. coil: spiral loop (here: body)
10. respect: thought, consideration
11. of so long life: last so long
12. whips and scorns: (fig.) blows
13.wrong: unjust actions
14. contumely: offensive behaviour
15.pangs: sudden and sharp feelings of pain
16. despised: rejected
17. spurns: rejections
18. takes: receives from people of little value
19. his quietus make: write his own quittance (document stating that he is free from debt)
20. bare bodkin: naked dagger
21. grunt: emit the sound that pigs make
22. sweat: perspire
23. weary: tiresome
24. dread: fear
25. bourn: boundary, limit
26. puzzles: confounds
27. ills: adversities
28. native hue: natural colour
29. sicklied o'er: turned pale as if sick
30. cast: colour
31. pitch and moment: importance
32. With this regard: because of this
33. their currents turn awry: change direction
COMPREHENTION
1. Focus on lines 1-5. Consider the two metaphors:
'...to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune'
'to take arms against a sea of troubles'
Which metaphor represents passive submission to the injustice and suffering of life and which one suggests active rebellion?
2. What does Hamlet compare death to in lines 5-10?
3. Which expression in line 10 interrupts Hamlet's flow of thoughts and introduces a different line of reasoning?
4. In line 12 Hamlet says that when we die we are freed from 'this mortal coil'. Consider the meaning of 'coil' given in the glossary and explain what Hamlet means in your own words.
5. In lines 15-21 Hamlet describes the suffering and injustices of life. Find expressions which refer to the following:
- unrequited love......................................................................................................
- inefficiency in legal procedures ...........................................................................
- political oppression ..............................................................................................
- ageing ...................................................................................................................
- mistreatment by authority ……………………………………………………………...
- contempt................................................................................................................
- unjust criticism .....................................................................................................
6. What escape from life's misery does Hamlet suggest in lines 20-21 ?
7. In line 22 Hamlet uses the expression 'to grunt and sweat'. Which negative aspect of life is he drawing our attention to?
• Social discrimination
• Political injustices
• Emotional turmoil
• Physical hardship
Which expressions suggest that man is nothing more than a beast of burden?
8. What is the 'undiscovered country' from which no traveller returns, which Hamlet refers to in lines 24-25?
9. What, according to Hamlet, stops man from taking action? (Lines 28-33)
ANALYSIS
1. Which semantic field do the expressions 'slings and arrows' (line 3) and 'to take arms' (line 4) belong to? What image of life do they suggest?
2. By comparing death to sleep (lines 5-10) does Hamlet depict it positively or negatively?
3. In the opening ten lines of Hamlet's speech each infinitive is balanced by another of similar or opposite meaning. Link each of the infinitives in column A of the table below with an infinitive in column B.
A |
to be |
to suffer |
to die |
to sleep |
B |
to take arms |
to dream |
not to be |
to sleep |
4. Focus on lines 9-10: 'To die - to sleep -/To sleep! perchance to dream'. What effect does the repeated use of infinitives create?
• A soft, lulling effect
• A harsh, rhythmic effect
5. In his list of the injustices man suffers (lines 15-21) Hamlet uses personification. In line 15 time is personified and described as having 'whips' and 'scorns'. Can you find other examples of personification in lines 15-21?
6. Which expression in line 30 parallels and contrasts with the expression 'natural hue of resolution' in line 29? Which words in line 30 link thought and disease?
7. Which of the following adjectives would you choose to describe the tone of Hamlet's speech? Justify your choice by referring to the text.
• Angry • Optimistic
• Proud • Philosophical
• Ironic • Melancholic
• Passionate • Dejected
8. In this speech Hamlet does not use the pronouns “I” or “me”. Which personal pronouns does he use and who do they refer to? Would you consider the speech to be:
• Hamlet's personal reflections on his immediate situation?
• a general analysis of the human condition?
On the basis of the answers you have given can you |explain the universal appeal of the speech?
9. What aspects of Hamlet's character emerge from the speech?
His confusion
His lack of courage
His melancholy nature
His strong religious convictions
His weariness
His desire for revenge
His hatred of his uncle
His indecision
Other: .......................................................................................................... .
WRITER’S WORKSHOP
Soliloquy ◊ Soliloquy is a theatrical convention in which a character speaks aloud to himself. The character may not necessarily be alone on the stage; other characters may be present but if they are, it is assumed they do not hear the words of the soliloquy. The playwright uses soliloquy to convey directly to the audience the character's motives, intentions and his innermost feelings and thoughts, or simply to fill in parts of the story.
Task
Which of the following purposes does the soliloquy you have just read serve?
• To fill in parts of the story
• To explain Hamlet's motives
• To outline Hamlet's intentions
• To convey Hamlet's feelings about his immediate situation
• To express Hamlet's thoughts on fundamental human problems
Over to you ◊ Soliloquy is used to develop the story or to help the audience to understand the inner feelings of a character. Can you think of a similar convention that is often used in cinema for the same purposes?
OUT
In the speech you have read. Hamlet is asking the question, 'What makes life worth living?' He wonders if it would not be easier to commit suicide than have to deal with all the problems and difficulties that life throws up. Human beings in general, however, seem to have an indomitable will to live and, unlike Hamlet, feel that life is worth living. What small and big things make life worth living for you? Example: The smell of freshly baked bread Friends A spring morning |