360 - in his soliloquy Hamlet asks (prays?

) that he be harsh in words but not strike his mother

3.3 - Claudius orders Rosencrantz and Guilderstern to take Hamlet away. Polonius then tells him
he is off to listen to Hamlet talk to his mother. In Claudius soliloquy he speaks of how miserable he
is and that he cant bring himself to repent -- he tries to pray and Hamlet enters to kill him but
doesnt because he will go to heaven if killed while praying. But it turns out that he couldnt bring
himself to pray anyway.
Claudius charges Rosencrantz and Guilderstern to take Hamlet away for a while because he fears his
lunacy will endanger his own reign.
Polonius tells him that he is off to listen to Hamlets conversation with his mother
35 - Claudius soliloquy -- he is miserable -- he notes, however, that to ask for forgiveness while he is
still in possession of all that he wanted is worthless
70 - Hamlet enters and is about to kill Claudius but thinks that killing him while he prays will only
send him off to heaven so he doesnt
Claudius notes that he couldnt bring himself to pray
3.4 - Hamlet talks to the Queen and frightens her such that Polonius calls out for help. Hamlet
runs him through hoping he is the King. He then tells Gertrude of her sins and she is horrified. He
tells her that she must stop sleeping with the King and repent. He asks her to tell all of this to the
King as he must leave for England but she says she cannot.
Hamlet talks to the Queen and says he will show her her evils and Polonius cries out for help after the
Queen thinks she is to be murdered and Hamlet runs him through
Hamlet then goes on to talk to the Queen -- he shows her a picture of the two of her husbands and asks
how she could love the second, particularly now that she is not as young and horny
Hamlet goes on to talk of how horrible her action were and how horrible the King is -- she sees the
evil in her and begs him to stop, but he goes on
The Ghost enters and tells him to care for his mother and that he is here as Hamlet has almost lost
track of his purpose of killing the King -- Gertrude cannot see the ghost
135 - Hamlet implores his mother to repent of her sins and to avoid making them worse and to not do
something which will make her feel better but will not heal the inner evil
Hamlet tells her to start off with little things to make it easier
He says he must be cruel to be kind and that he is heavens redeemer in these affairs
He tells her to tell the King that he isnt mad but with purpose but she says she can not tell such. He
reminds her that he must go off to England and he is not going to trust Rosencrantz and Guilderstern
Act 4
4.1 - Gertrude tells Claudius that Hamlet killed Pololius and took the body away. Claudius says that
he will be blamed and should have dealt more firmly with him. He sends Rosencrantz and
Guilderstern off to get the body back.
4.2 - R & G go to Hamlet but he will not tell them where the body is. He insults them saying they
are merely sponges of the King soaking up his bidding and then returning to be wrung dry of their
information.
4.3 - The King calls in Hamlet and demands to know where the body is, Hamlet jokes with him
about it. He says they will smell him under the stairs soon enough. Claudius tells Hamlet that he
must be sent off to England. He says (to himself) that he will have the King of England kill Hamlet.
4.4 - Fortinbras has landed with his troops and sends his captain to go ask for safe passage to
Poland from Claudius. Hamlet meets up with the captain and he says that they are going to fight
over a worthless piece of land which is only valuable in name. Hamlet wonders about what a fool
he is to have done nothing of good while he sees these 20 thousand troops go off to their deaths for
nothing as well.
4.5 - Ophelia is mad and will do nothing but sing songs before the King and Queen. She leaves and
Claudius worries about what Laertes will hear and do with respect to his dead father. A messenger
comes in saying the whole land wants him as their King. Laertes forces his way into the throne
room and demands to know of his fathers death from the King. Ophelia enters singing mad again.
The King tells him he will let him judge if he is innocent and if not give him his life and crown.
Horatio brings Ophelia to Gertrude. Ophelia is mad and sings of love and death and will not answer
the questions from the King or Queen.

70 - Claudius notes that misfortune comes not singly but in great multitudes -- he talks of the rumors
Laertes is hearing on his way back and how he will hold the King guilty for his fathers death
95 - a messenger comes in saying that the people are calling for Laertes to be king -- Laertes forces his
way into the throne room and will speak with the king alone -- he demands to know who killed his
father and says that he will take revenge regardless of any oath -- enter Ophelia mad and singing -Claudius agrees to let Laertes chose his judges and if Claudius doesnt convince him that he is
innocent of his fathers death then he will give up his country, life, and crown to him.
4.6 - Sailors bring a letter from Hamlet telling Horatio to give the messengers letters to the King
and that he was captured (partly of his own choice) by pirates -- he instructs Horatio to come to
him.
4.7 -The King assures Laertes that he was not responsible for his fathers death and that he has
taken care of Hamlet. Then Hamlets letter arrives saying he will be back the next day. The two of
them devise a plan to let Laertes kill Hamlet in a rigged fencing match with a sharp and poisoned
foil, with a poisoned cup of wine as a backup. Gertrude comes in with the news that Ophelia has
drowned herself.
The king has told Laertes the tale of his fathers death and now he tells him that he has not had Hamlet
killed because the Queen loves him and so do the people
The letters Hamlet spoke of arrive and in the one to the King Hamlet says that he will be shortly
returning naked and that he wishes to speak to the King alone. Laertes wants revenge but the king asks
him to be ruled by him. Laertes agrees as Claudius is coming up with a scheme to have Hamlet die
apparently by accident.
Claudius says he heard that Laertes is an amazing fencer and that Hamlet when he heard this really
wanted a go at him -- Claudius asks Laertes what he would do to get revenge, to which he replies
95.14 "To cut his throat ith church."
The plan is to have them fence and have Laertes have a non-dulled blade (to which he wants to add
poison) but as a backup plan the King will offer Hamlet a drink when he gets thirsty with poison in it
Gertrude comes in and tells of Opheilas drowning -- Laertes leaves enraged and they follow to calm
him.
Act 5
5.1 - Hamlet comes upon the grave diggers digging Ophelias grave and sees her put in it. He tells
Laertes that he loved her more than any brother could have possibly done. They fight and are
separated.
The clowns digging Ophelias grave argue over whether she deserves a Christian burial as she
apparently committed suicide
Hamlet arrives and talks about what each of the skulls could have been with an emphasis on the fact
that they are now dead
130 - Hamlet talks to the gave digger and asks him why Hamlet went mad (the grave digger does not
know this is Hamlet)
The others enter to bury Ophelia and Hamlet hides -- the priest says they cannot give her any ritual
burial rights as she died under such questionable circumstances
240 - Laertes mourns and jumps into the grave to hold her at which point Hamlet comes forward -they fight and are separated by the assembled lords -- Hamlet proclaims that he loved her more than
any brother could have -- to which the King says he is merely mad.
5.2 - Hamlet tells Horatio of the letters on the ship calling for his death and how he changed them
to call for R & Gs deaths. He is then told of the wager against him on a fencing match and he
agrees to it. The match starts and Hamlet does well, the Queen dies of drinking his poisoned wine
and Hamlet and Laertes both get stabbed with the poisoned blade, Hamlet kills Claudius.
Fortinbras enters and is amazed.
Hamlet tells Horatio how he found the letters on the ship called for his death and that he wrote new
ones demanding the death of Rosencrantz and Guilderstern -- Hamlet mentions that he has the brief
time until news of this comes from England to do his work and that he wishes to make peace with
Laertes
102 - Osric comes in and tells Hamlet that the King has placed a wager on his head vs. Laertes -- the
wager is 6 Barbary horses vs. 6 French rapiers -- the bet is that Laertes will score 3 hits more out of 12
bouts

The Queen encourages Hamlet (through a messenger) to be kind to Laertes

165 - Hamlet tells Laertes he is sorry for what he has done but that he is not guilty as he was mad at
the time -- Laertes responds that he is satisfied in nature, but not in honor
205 - Claudius lays out the drinks -- Hamlet scores the first hit and Claudius asks him to drink, he says
he will wait -- he scores the second hit -- Gertrude drinks of Hamlets cup -- Laertes tells the King he
will make the hit now (the King doubts it) and Laertes is feeling guilty -- Laertes wounds Hamlet, they
switch blades and Hamlet wounds Laertes -- the Queen swoons and tells them her drink was poisoned
-- Laertes says it was the King -- Hamlet hits the King -- news of Fortinbras comes and Hamlet is
miserable and dying but gives him his vote for King
Horatio tells Fortinbras that he will tell him of all that happened if he will first have the bodies dealt
with. He does.
Hamlet
Revised Grading
average of 9 of 10 best quizzes: 10%
papers and exam: 30% each
Lecture 1, Monday, November 8, 1999
The Questioning of the Play
We are at the middle of Shakespeares career
Perhaps the central piece of English literature
"always old, always new" -- the mark of a classic -- people are always finding it says new things we
had not realized before
Hamlet was old and new in 1600 when it first came out
Opening scene, Horatio, alert bright student who is skeptical of the appearance of the ghost -- "What,
has this thing appeared again in the night?" -- the audience might reasonably have asked such about
the story as it was at least 400 years old -- French version in the middle of the 16th century -- most
importantly it had already been on the Elizabethan stage some dozen years before, the "Ur-Hamlet" -it was certainly played and well known -- it was also sneered at, all surviving references say it is poor,
a formulaic piece of tragedy -- all ghosts appearing before Shakespeares ghost were comic, or
academically long-winded -- they were very different from his silent and impressive ghost -- it is new,
it has a new power and intensity
New parts
it is the longest play he had ever written -- there is so much in it
there is a newness in the variety -- ghost, king, prime minister, grave diggers, students
range of the play is wide: second scene is a formal court council, but we also have a scene with a man
telling his mother to restrain her sex life, we have a grave digger scene with the burial of a suicidal
mad woman and two men jumping in to it, and a battle
Hamlet is an exceedingly diverse character -- student, lover, critic, madman
Rhythm
The play is now newly powerful and intense, not only because of the richness, but also because of the
way it is put together -- the rhythm -- it is alive, its structure gives us the oddness and occasional
strange clarities that resemble life itself -- visual and oral impressions of real people -- it provides
shock but then we realize that it is the shock of recognition -- the habitual expectations of reasonable
people are shocked by new revelations but we adapt to it
The Ghost -- introduced by rhythm -- it sounds like we are going to hear a narrative about the ghost -1.1.33 -- starts off with a nice leisurely narrative (5 lines to say last night at the same time...) sounds
like we are in for a long story, we havent gotten anywhere yet -- the ghost then enters and becomes
the main verb -- the ghost usurps his description
When Hamlet first sees the Ghost -- much greater impact and significance of overtaking of rhythm -1.4 -- the power of conviction lies not just in the structure scene but in the pacing -- Hamlet just has
had a long speech on the Danish habit of drinking -- he extrapolates from Denmarks habit of drinking
to the destructive effect of any one particular habit -- Claudius drinking habits lends him to discussion
of Aristotles tragic theory that people fall because of a tragic flaw -- 20 lines of theory then yields to

the outcry of "Angles and ministers of grace defend us" -- it is that kind of break that makes the play
seem real -- our theorizing broken up by such undeniable but hard to understand facts -- they and their
ideas are ambushed by something which makes their discussion seem idle -- they have some idea of
how evil should work but then they are faced with something for which they need a prayer to defend
themselves
1.2 (p.1673) -- totally different scene -- bright, colors -- there is a real break between this and the last
scene -- this scene forces us to chose between two points of focus -- are we supposed to look at the
King or Hamlet? the king has all the center of attention and all the lines
dislocations, puzzles, unexpected changes, secrets
Secrets
The whole play depends on secrets -- dictates that a major mode of action in this play will be
investigation -- people are always developing tests to find out things -- often through eavesdropping
Polonius sends someone to see what Laertes is up to in France
Polonius and the King eavesdrop with Ophelia
R&G are sent to spy on Hamlet
Hamlet sets up to spy on the King
the setups to spy often say more about the person spying than about the people who are being spied
upon
The Queen thinks it is for his dead father and her fast marriage -- she is feeling guilty?
Polonius believes Hamlet is horny -- that shows him as the typical dirty old man -- same with his
actions towards Laertes
R&G think it is a frustration of not getting power -- which says something about their own position as
couriters
The play is the closest thing Shakespeare ever wrote to a detective story
Maynard Mack -- stresses the frequency with which speeches fall into the interrogative mode -- asking
questions -- often larger and more philosophical -The play presents puzzles and riddles
The first player is so impressive about Heccuba that Hamlet wonders if he is really emotional or if it is
just an imitation of reality -- it is good fake
The prayer scene -- the only moment when Claudius and Hamlet are alone on the stage together -- he
just presented evidence that he is guilty in the play -- he is unguarded now -- Shakespeare wants him
to go straight to Hell -- that only tells you how little you can tell about a persons state of mind by their
position
Full of mysteries
Moral issues
unclear
suicide -- in his first soliloquy he talks about it but rejects it on purely Christian grounds -- at the end
of the play Horatio grabs the poisoned cup and wants to commit suicide -- he thinks of it as an ancient
Roman virtue not an evil Christian act
in "to be or not to be" it comes up as a natural way out of trouble -- the argument against it is not
moral at all, but purely practical -- you dont know what will come next and if it will be worse
Death as the subject
C.S. Lewis -- death could be the subject of this play -- in most tragedy death is the end of the play -may be loss, victory, or deliverance -- but regardless it is the end
In Hamlet, we are drawn to what happens after death -- the state of Claudius soul after he dies -- the
Ghost shows us purgatory -- Hamlet wants Horatio alive to tell his story
We also worry about the state of the body -- being dined upon by worms -- bury Ophelia? -- the dust of
Alexander used to close up a keg
Unless you have a particular creed you cant attempt to answer any of this
This Ghost calls "remember me" -- Neill -- protestants in England forbade prayers to saints and
abolished the notion of purgatory -- made it awkward for people who had been Catholics before -- they
only existed as we remembered them -- no longer could people pray to them or for them so there was
nothing left but to remember them -- the Ghost as helpless
Action
Shakespeare often drops into patterns of actions for a play

Richard III -- deceiving -- it is just such a characteristic action of Richards

Henry V -- speeches which exhort his men to do great things -- his action lies in his speeches
Hamlet -- eavesdropping and spying
The Questioning reaches its highest pitch with the Ghost
The Ghost is the only one who can tell you what does happen after you die
This is the first effective ghost in Elizabethan drama -- it is scary, effective, and unexpected
What did they believe in that time about Ghosts?
3 beliefs
Catholic: they came from purgatory -- God would have to allow it so it would be with divine sanciton
Protestant: did not believe in purgatory -- Ghosts really came from Hell -- they were really demons
looking like the dead in order to ensnare your own soul
Hallucinations: an index of an unsound mind
Shakespeare does not decide among these three
Hamlet contemplates that the Ghost may be a devil -- the possibility that Hamlet is mad comes up -the Ghost speaks of Purgatory
Hamlet is not giving you a theory about Ghosts, he is showing you what it is like to encounter one and
not know which of the academic theories you had heard is correct.
Lecture 2 - Wednesday, 10 November 1999
Last time -- Hamlet as a questioning play -- ended with the Ghost as being the biggest example of an
unanswerable question
The point of the ghost lecture was that there was no clear assessment of Ghosts -- it cant be fully a
delusion as it is seen by others, but only Hamlet hears it -- his response appears reasonable -- when he
sees it he is overwhelmed -- it is only later that he questions that
It is silly to ask what Shakespeares view on Ghosts is as it is not the central issue of Christianity
With Hamlet himself never choosing we as the audience must decide for ourselves
University Context
We have a very intellectual play which asks a lot of very fundamental questions -- the characters go
around dispensing lots of moral advice -- Claudius dont mourn so long -- Polonius on how to behave
in the world; to thine own self be true
Not surprising that the older characters give advice, but that the younger characters R&G, Horatio, and
Hamlet, all students -- of all his plays this one flaunts an interest in higher education -- the only time
the hero has a specific background -- university of Wittenburg -- the university was especially
associated with the new humanism of the century: getting the classical texts into print and study them
-- Greek scholars were fleeing from Byzantium as it fell to the Turks -- Aristotle was amongst the
saved works -- the poetics (commentary on theater) was just then discovered -- it was very early on
associated with the Reformation as Luther earned a degree there -- it was the mythical center of Dr.
Faustus -- this was an appropriate university for a man who is struggling with religious and moral
dilemmas -- just right for Hamlet
With the university is connected the classical literature -- linked to the theater -- several times we are
told that classical stories are re-enacted in the university -- Polonius was Julius Caesar, Hamlet says
that he met the players first in the university -Hamlet is trying to be a renaissance prince in a land which lacks a university and a theater
Hamlet is full of the kind of intellectual doubt characteristic of Renaissance reformation people
In the middle ages the word of God was very clear -- you could go to it and get clear advice on what
God wants -- in the mystery play when Abraham is going to sacrifice Isaac there was no intellectual
doubt -- but one of the things the Renaissance did was to get rid of this church hierarchy between man
and God -- all of a sudden the human soul was left alone with only a God to whom it was hard to talk
--insoluble moral questions arose as to whom gets grace: this led to the arrival of these universities to
learn this stuff
So there is this great intellectual and theatrical context for this play