Changing the way you learn

Hamlet - Act 1

Themes
1. Conflict
  1. Internal
    1. Hamlet is happy he wants to avenge but he doesn't want to carry out the duty
  2. External
    1. Hamlet VS Claudius
    2. Hamlet VS mother
    3. Threat from Fortinbras
2. Women
  1. Sexist - Hamlet sees women as weak and disgusting
3. Politics
  1. Fortinbras is threatening Denmark
4. Family
  1. Ophelia, Laertes, Polonius.
    1. Polonius looks out for his children
    2. Laertes looks out for Ophelia, his sister
    3. Ophelia obeys her brother and father
5. Revenge
  1. Hamlet is going to get revenge for what Claudius did to his father
  2. Fortinbras wants to get revenge on Denmark
6. Love
  1. Hamlet's father's love for the Queen
  2. Incestuous love between the Queen and Claudius
7. Corruption
  1. Denmark is corrupt because Claudius is a murderer
8. Nature
  1. Human nature - God (King) and Beast (Claudius)
9. Hypocrisy
  1. Elsinore is a place where one can smile and be a villian. False appearances
Key Quotes
1. "Frailty, thy name is woman!" - Hamlet, Act 1, Scene II
2. "This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." - Polonius, Act 1, Scene III
3. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy" - Hamlet, Act 1, Scene V
4. "Our sometime sister, now our queen" - Claudius, Act 1, Scene II
5. "How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world" - Hamlet, Act 1, Scene II
6. "Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice; Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement" - Polonius, Act 1, Scene III
7. "Why, what should be the fear? I do not set my life at a pin's fee; And for my soul, what can it do to that, Being a thing immortal as itself? It waves me forth again; I'll follow it" - Hamlet, Act 1, Scene IV
8. "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" - Marcellus, Act 1, Scene IV
9. "The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown" - Ghost, Act 1, Scene V
Language
1. Imagery
  1. Rottenness - Corruption in Denmark
  2. Poison being spread- Corruption
  3. Rottenness - Evil in man
  4. Relationships
    1. King and Queen
    2. Claudius and Queen
      1. Incestuous
2. Dramatic Expression
  1. Adds to the impression of mystery
  2. Claudius tries to conceal the truth
  3. Hamlet uses words to reveal the truth
  4. Written in blank verse
Setting
1. Elsinore, Denmark
2. Castle
Dramatic Irony
1. Claudius killed his own brother
2. Hamlet pretending to be mad. He's bound to revenge

Next up

Hamlet - Act 1

Description

Resource summary

Similar

	Created by Anne Howells about 9 years ago