Hamlet is happy he wants to
avenge but he doesn't want to
carry out the duty
External
Hamlet VS Claudius
Hamlet VS mother
Threat from Fortinbras
Women
Sexist - Hamlet sees
women as weak and disgusting
Politics
Fortinbras is
threatening
Denmark
Family
Ophelia,
Laertes,
Polonius.
Polonius looks
out for his
children
Laertes looks out
for Ophelia, his
sister
Ophelia obeys
her brother and
father
Revenge
Hamlet is going to get
revenge for what
Claudius did to his
father
Fortinbras
wants to get
revenge on
Denmark
Love
Hamlet's
father's love
for the Queen
Incestuous love
between the Queen
and Claudius
Corruption
Denmark is corrupt
because Claudius is a
murderer
Nature
Human nature - God (King)
and Beast (Claudius)
Hypocrisy
Elsinore is a place where one can smile and
be a villian. False appearances
Key Quotes
"Frailty, thy name is
woman!" - Hamlet,
Act 1, Scene II
"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
"There are more
things in heaven
and earth,
Horatio, Than are
dreamt of in your
philosophy" -
Hamlet, Act 1,
Scene V
"Our sometime
sister, now our
queen" - Claudius,
Act 1, Scene II
"How weary, stale,
flat and unprofitable
Seem to me all the
uses of this world" -
Hamlet, Act 1, Scene II
"Give every man thine
ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's
censure, but reserve
thy judgement" -
Polonius, Act 1, Scene III
"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
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" -
Marcellus, Act 1, Scene IV
"The serpent that did sting
thy father's life now wears his
crown" - Ghost, Act 1, Scene V
Language
Imagery
Rottenness -
Corruption in
Denmark
Poison being spread- Corruption
Rottenness - Evil in man
Relationships
King and Queen
Claudius and Queen
Incestuous
Dramatic Expression
Adds to the impression of mystery
Claudius tries to conceal the truth
Hamlet uses words to
reveal the truth
Written in
blank verse
Setting
Elsinore, Denmark
Castle
Dramatic Irony
Claudius
killed his
own
brother
Hamlet pretending
to be mad. He's
bound to revenge