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)