Hamlet Acts 1 - 4
Act IV
Claudius sends Hamlet to England, but Hamlet manages to return, resolved to kill Claudius. *On way to England, Hamlet encounters Fortinbras of Norway, resolves to stop wallowing and start acting, *Ophelia goes mad and drowns, Laertes demands revenge and plots with Claudius
Hamlet's quote referring to Ophelia as an ill respectable woman
Get thee to a nunnery
Wittenburg, Germany
Hamlet and Horatio's school
Act II
Hamlet pretends to be crazy, hesitates to kill Claudius, and increasingly feels alienated from everyone else. *Ophelia tells Polonius that Hamlet has accosted her, acting crazy, *Hamlet feels betrayed by school friends and worries Gertrude and Claudius with crazy behavior
Horatio
Hamlet's friend from Wittenberg, called upon to speak to ghost, feels as if he has to classify his sense of perception with words ("tis strange"), captain obvious
Queen Gertrude
Hamlet's mother
King Claudius
Hamlet's uncle and stepfather, murderer of the late Hamlet
Denmark
Homeland of Hamlet (and setting of play)
Norway
Homeland of Prince Fortinbras
approximately 24 hours
How long is the lifespan of a dragonfly?
Act III
Reeling from Claudius's violent reaction to a play, Hamlet mistakenly kills Polonius. *Hamlet contemplates suicide and spurns Ophelia when he suspects that she has betrayed him, *Hamlet almost kills Claudius but because Claudius is praying hesitates, *Hamlet kills Polonius behind the curtain
said by Marcellus in act 1, scene 4 - foreshadows the tragedy of the play
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
Hamlet
Son of dead king, protagonist, filled with melancholy but also considered heroic
Laertes
Ophelia's brother, avenges his father's death
Polonius
Ophelia's father, speaks very eloquently and too much, comic character, filled with aphorisms he doesn't live up to, Lord Chamberlain of Denmark
Hamlet's famous quote referring to hamlet questioning the meaning of life
To be or not to be, that is the question
Elsinore Castle
Where Hamlet lives in Denmark
Frailty
Characteristic Hamlet compares all women to (esp. his mother)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
Childhood friends of Hamlet
Prince Fortinbras
son of dead king of Norway (King Fortinbras, senile old king), wants to regain land lost to his father
he's putting on an antic disposition, concealing the fact that he plans to kill claudius for killing his father
why does hamlet act crazy?
He may say he loves her, but he has his choice to any woman since he is rich
why does laertes warn Ophelia of Hamlet?
Hebenon
poison poured into old king hamlet's ear
France
Laertes' homeland
Cornelius and Volemand
Messengers sent by Claudius who give the letter to Fortinbras' uncle
Act I
The ghost of King Hamlet demands that his son Hamlet kill Claudius, the current king and Hamlet's uncle. *watchmen & Horatio first to see ghost, they tell Hamlet, *watchmen & Horatio first to see ghost, they tell Hamlet, *Polonius forbids Ophelia to see Hamlet & Laertes leaves for France
Hyperion
mythical character Hamlet compares his father to (the sun god)
themes of hamlet
deception, impossibility of certainty, complexity of action, nation as a diseased body, mystery of death
Francisco
guard who leaves during A1S1
Barnardo and Marcellus
guards who see ghost with Horatio
Ophelia
loves Hamlet, goes crazy and commits suicide (or just drowns)