Read the excerpt from Act III of Hamlet . Hamlet: Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; And now I’ll do ’t: and so he goes to heaven; And so am I reveng’d. That would be scann’d: A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven. Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge. He took my father grossly, full of bread, With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May; And how his audit stands who knows save heaven? But in our circumstance and course of thought ’Tis heavy with him. And am I then reveng’d, To take him in the purging of his soul, When he is fit and season’d for his passage? No. Which statement best describes Hamlet’s complexity in the excerpt?
Read an excerpt from an analysis of Act III of Hamlet . Rosencrantz and Guildenstern follow orders without question throughout the play. In this scene, Claudius tells them his life is in danger from Hamlet, and they must take Hamlet away. They agree immediately. Shakespeare uses the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to develop which theme?
Read the excerpt from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. GUIL Till events have played themselves out. There’s a logic at work—it’s all done for you, don’t worry. Enjoy it. Relax. To be taken in hand and led, like being a child again, even without the innocence, a child—it’s like being given a prize, an extra slice of childhood when you least expect it, as a prize for being good, or compensation for never having had one. . . . Do I contradict myself? Which statement best describes Guildenstern’s perspective in this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. ROS I want to go home. GUIL Don’t let them confuse you. ROS I’m out of my step here— GUIL We’ll soon be home and high—dry and home—I’ll— ROS It’s all over my depth— GUIL —I’ll hie you home and— ROS —out of my head— GUIL —dry you high and— ROS ( cracking, high ) —over my step over my head body!—I tell you it’s all stopping to a death, it’s boding to a depth, stepping to a head, it’s all heading to a dead stop— GUIL ( the nursemaid ) There! . . . and we’ll soon be home and dry . . . and high and dry. What is the effect of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz’s conflicting perspectives about their conversation with the king and queen?
Read the excerpt from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. ROS Shouldn’t we be doing something—constructive? GUIL What did you have in mind? . . . A short, blunt human pyramid . . . ? ROS We could go. GUIL Where? ROS After him. GUIL Why? They’ve got us placed now—if we start moving around, we’ll all be chasing each other all night. Hiatus. ROS ( at footlights ) How very intriguing! ( Turns .) I feel like a spectator—an appalling business. The only thing that makes it bearable is the irrational belief that somebody interesting will come on in a minute. . . . GUIL See anyone? ROS No. You? GUIL No. ( At footlights .) What a fine persecution—to be kept intrigued without ever quite being enlightened. What is the most likely reason Rosencrantz and Guildenstern feel differently about what they should be doing?
Read the excerpt from Hamlet . Hamlet: The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remember’d.
apostrophe
Read the excerpt from Act III of Hamlet . Hamlet: Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. Which phrase from the excerpt most adds a tone of self-loathing to the speech?
Read the excerpt from an analysis of Hamlet’s "To be or not to be” speech in Act III of Hamlet . Shakespeare begins the speech with the line "To be, or not to be: that is the question” and then proceeds to ask multiple questions throughout the speech. When viewed through a formalist lens, the point of Shakespeare’s structure is to
Read the excerpt from Hamlet . Voltimand: . . . On Fortinbras; which he, in brief, obeys, Receives rebuke from Norway, and, in fine, Makes vow before his uncle never more To give the assay of arms against your majesty. Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy, Gives him three thousand crowns in annual fee, And his commission to employ those soldiers, So levied as before, against the Polack; With an entreaty, herein further shown, [ Giving a paper .] If this excerpt were made into a movie, which adaptation would best allow the director to comment on current politics?
Which passage from Hamlet, Act II, Scene i is an example of setting?
Read the excerpt from Act IV of Hamlet . Claudius: He made confession of you, And gave you such a masterly report For art and exercise in your defence, And for your rapier most especially, That he cried out, ’twould be a sight indeed If one could match you; the scrimers of their nation, He swore, had neither motion, guard, nor eye, If you oppos’d them. Sir, this report of his Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy That he could nothing do but wish and beg Your sudden coming o’er, to play with him. Which correctly evaluates Shakespeare’s use of theme in the passage?
Read the excerpt from Act IV of Hamlet . Claudius: I ha ’t: When in your motion you are hot and dry,— As make your bouts more violent to that end,— And that he calls for drink, I’ll have prepar’d him A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping, If he by chance escape your venom’d stuck, Our purpose may hold there. By viewing this excerpt through a historical lens, the reader can conclude that Shakespeare uses the promise of violence to
Read the excerpt from Act I of Hamlet. Bernardo: ’ Tis now struck twelve ; get thee to bed, Francisco. What is the meaning of the underlined phrase?
Read the excerpt from Act II of Hamlet . Hamlet: I’ll observe his looks; I’ll tent him to the quick: if he but blench I know my course. The spirit that I have seen May be the devil: and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy— As he is very potent with such spirits— Abuses me to damn me. I’ll have grounds More relative than this: the play’s the thing Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king. Which accurately and objectively summarizes the theme that is developed by Hamlet’s thought process in this passage?
Read the excerpt from Hamlet . Hamlet: Let me see.—[ Takes the skull .]—Alas! poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? Which analysis is most justified by the excerpt?
Read the excerpt from Act V of Hamlet . Gertrude: Sweets to the sweet: farewell! [ Scattering flowers .] I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife; I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, And not have strew'd thy grave. Shakespeare included this plot event to help show that Gertrude, over the course of the play, has changed from
Read the excerpt from Hamlet . Hamlet: No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him thither with modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it; as thus: Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam, and why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel? Imperious Caesar, dead and turn’d to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away Shakespeare makes allusions to the great rulers Alexander and Caesar to
Read the excerpt from Hamlet . Laertes: Be wary then; best safety lies in fear: Youth to itself rebels, though none else near. Ophelia: I shall th’ effect of this good lesson keep, As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother, Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, Whiles, like a puff’d and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads, And recks not his own rede. With its focus on the worldly theme of proper dating behavior, this excerpt provides an example of
Read the excerpt from Hamlet, Act I, Scene ii. Hamlet: O! that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew; Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world. Fie on ’t! O fie! ’tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely. That it should come to this! By evaluating the dramatic conventions in the excerpt, the reader can conclude that Hamlet will
Read the excerpt from Hamlet . Hamlet: O! that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew; Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world. Fie on ’t! O fie! ’tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely. That it should come to this! Which phrase from the excerpt best reflects Hamlet’s state of mind?
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