Hamlet

March 22

Aristotle, On Poetics
-tragic hero (noble birth)
-aristocracy
-noble in character
-hamartia
-error in judgment or weakness in character
-circumstances
-knowledge self and society
-Shakespeares tragic vision: life is meaningless, were all idiots, we
learn nothing f/ the past, we will all die and be forgotten
-death hope for future

Characters
Denmark:
-Old Hamlet is married to Gertrude (mother) w/ son Hamlet
-(before play) Old Hamlet dies and Gertrude remarries to Claudius (Old
Hamlets brother / Hamlets uncle)
-Claudius becomes new king instead of Hamlet
-Hamlet is depressed b/c his father is dead, mother marries uncle, and
he is not king
-Polonius is advisor to king
-kids: Laertes and Ophelia
-Ophelia and Hamlet are in love
-Horatio is Hamlets friend f/ university, Rosencranz and Guildenstern are
Hamlets childhood
friends
-Horatio is the best friend anyone can have
-R and G are the worst friends anyone can have

Norway:
-Fortinbras (leader of Norway) is killed (before play) by Hamlet (father)
-Fortinbras (son) should take over but instead Old Norway (Fortinbras
(father) brother and Fortinbras (son) uncle) takes over

Patterns
-friendship
-father and son
-sanity vs. insanity
-love

-motif: pattern
-1. theme
 -main idea that is examined f/ every perspective
-main theme in Hamlet is death
-2. imagery
-word picture (creating pictures in your mind)
-image patterns (e.g. image pattern of water imagery)
-DECAY IMAGERY
-3. symbolist technique
-when author makes up his own symbols (diff. f/ dove=peace, for
ex.)
-not commonly used in Hamlet
-4. lexemes
-word groups
-e.g. hospital lexeme: doctor, nurse, surgery, death, etc.

-sycophant: suck-up

II

-Fransico stands guard and Bernardo approaches asks whos there

-Fransico should be asking who is there
-young Fortinbras is pissed b/c his dad is killed
-he gets an army together of criminals (murderers) to attack Denmark
-Horatio is a good friend that looks like Hs father so he will be a good friend
and tell H
-Laertes asks Claudius to go back to school and Claudius tries to preserve
the hierarchy by asking what Ls father said
-Claudius looks like a good king

March 23

Shakespeares Tragic Vision

Macbeth:
She should have died hereafter.
There would have been a time for such a word.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Lifes but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
-Lady Macbeth is dead, big deal, she would have died sometime anyway
-life is on and on, the same thing over and over
-creeps in this insignificant pace
-and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death: the past is
supposed to teach us but we learn nothing f/ it
-out, out brief candle: extinguish life
-life is a giant play, we come in and play our role, and then we die, and the
play keeps going on
-life is just an hour upon the stage

I II

-Claudius says its wise to mourn his brother while still considering his own
well being
-hes married Gertrude w/ feelings of happiness and sadness
-Young Fortinbras thinks Hamlets death will allow him to get the land back
-Claudius writes to Young Fortinbras uncle, Old Norway, to stop him f/ doing
this
-Hamlet is pissed b/c they think he is acting depressed by dressing in black,
crying, etc. but he is really depressed
-Claudius says fathers die all the time, we mourn for short time and move on
w/ our lives
-its unmanly to cry
-Claudius tells Hamlet to think of him as a father and that he is the successor
to him
-Hamlet wishes that the world would end and wishes that god hadnt made
suicide a sin
-goes back in forth b/t Christianity and existentialism
-garden imagery:
-garden of Eden Claudius is the serpent
-weeds vs. flowers garden
-Hamlet compares his father as a God to Claudius as a goat thing (satyr)
-Oedipus complex: Hamlet is in love w/ his mother and hates his father
(Claudius)
-Hamlet is upset that his mother is sleeping w/ someone else (Claudius) and
is being unfaithful to Old Hamlet
-more concerned that his mother is having sex than that his father is dead
-Horatio and Marcellus arrive to tell Hamlet about the ghost
-Hamlet suspects some foul play when hearing about his fathers ghost,
armed

March 27

I III
-Laertes is leaving to university and tells Ophelia that Hamlet is only into her
for sex
-Laertes says she should break up w/ Hamlet b/c he will become king and
there will be an arranged marriage b/t him and someone else
-hes not lying if he says he loves you but it doesnt make a difference b/c he
cant marry you
-dont give up your virginity b/c thats your honor and no one will marry you
-Ophelia tells him to follow his own advice and be moral himself
-Polonius gives advice to L: dont act before thinking, be friendly but not
obnoxious, dont quarrel w/ people, hear everyones opinion but reserve your
judgment, the apparel oft proclaims the man (you are what you wear)
-excopia: you use a lot of words to say little (the opposite of saying a
lot in a few words)
-Polonius asks O if she had sex w/ H
-O says no but H has been really polite
-P says springes to catch woodcocks
-H being nice and heavenly is like a trap to capture her
-when a man is horny he will say anything
-H has a larger tether (he has more free roam)
-stay away f/ H, he will impregnate you, you will lose your honor, no one will
marry you
-your forbidden to date H f/ this point on
-O says she will obey

I IV

-the king is out drinking

-it is a Danish custom for the king to drink but more often the kings dont do
it
-b/c we have this custom that the king gets drunk, the world thinks Denmark
is a country of drunks
-the ghost enters but is not being cooperative not talking
-H: why have you come out of the grave?
-dead corpse why are you alive again?
-Horatio tells H to not follow the ghost but he does not care about his life so
he wants to follow it
-Horatio: what if it leaves you to jump off a cliff or drives you to madness?
-H leaves w/ ghost
-Marcellus: something is rotten in the state of Denmark
-decay imagery: rotten

IV

-the ghost reveals that he is in hell/purgatory during the day and is a ghost in
the night until revenge happens
-ghost reveals what it is like to be dead
-ghost: if I told you what hell was like, your eyes would pop out and your hair
would stand on its end
-ghost: take revenge for this unnatural murder
-someone in his family killed him
-unnatural: breaking natural (family) bonds
-ghost: everyone thinks a serpent stung me, but know, the serpent that
stung me now wears his crown
-Claudius killed king Hamlet
-H didnt like Claudius b/c he was having sex w/ Gertrude and now he knows
he killed his father
-ghost says Gertrude isnt all innocent (were G and Cl. fucking before
Claudius killed king Hamlet while he was out in war?)
-ghost: Gertrude fell f/ me (greatest guy ever) to Claudius (wretched guy)
-ghost says Claudius poured poison in his ear which spread throughout his
body
-ghost didnt get a chance to confess his sins to god so he ended up in hell
-ghost tells H not to bother Gertrude; let her conscious/guilt be her
punishment
-H: smile, smile and be a villain
-appearance vs. reality: H will take note that someone could appear
good and be evil

April 3

-summary: Ghost has come to Hamlet to tell him that Claudius killed Old
Hamlet and that Hamlet needs to get revenge by killing Claudius; Polonius
tells Ophelia that she needs to break up w/ Hamlet

What is bugging Hamlet?

-mother is sleeping w/ Claudius
-mother cheating on father/(him)
-dad is dead
-uncle killed dad
-girlfriend (Ophelia) breaks up w/ him
-he is not king
-uncle usurped Hamlets role

II I

-Polonius is telling Reynaldo (messenger) to check up on Laertes but to be

devious about it by suggesting something and having the French confirm or
deny it
-By indirection find direction out
-e.g. You know Laertes, I hear hes a gambler and then they agree or
deny it
-play within a play: when a play is put on w/i a play
 -H and O will be talking and Cl. and Pol. are watching them, we
(audience) watch Cl. and Pol. watch them
-O reveals to P that H came back in after they broke up and acted mad
-H wants O to think he is mad
-P admits to O that he was wrong, H was truly in love w/ her, the breakup
made him mad, P was just jealous of H (not sexually you twisted-minded
fuck)

II II

-Cl. tells R+G to cheer up H

-Cl., to avoid war w/ Norway, sent ambassadors (they are back now)
-Fortinbras uncle didnt know that Fortinbras was planning to attack so the
uncle ordered him to stop
-P and C will be watching H and O to judge whether H was gone mad f/ his
love rejection
-H calls P a pimp (implying P controls who O sleeps w/)

-H thinks Denmark is a prison (b/c he cannot leave), but R+G disagree

-H: Why, then, tis none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad, but
thinking makes it so.
-there is no right/wrong, morality is arbitrary
-significant b/c in 1600s everyone believed in god, commandments, no
one was individualistic in morality

April 4

III I

[sent notes]

April 5

III II

-play w/i the play

-audience watches court watch the play Murder of Gonzago (H has
added a few speeches to this play)
-H wants the play to be like Cs murder to make him freak out
-H asks Horatio to watch C as the play is being put on
-Love is brief (H)
-O has betrayed him in his eyes
-recall: H asked O where her father was, At home my lord, then H
hears C
-H knows C is guilty b/c C gets up in the middle of the play and freaks out
-there is a guy in the play pouring poison in the ears, etc.
-H will talk to G while P is watching

April 6

III III

-C decides to send H to England

-C knows theres something wrong w/ H
-he is sending R and G to take him
-do R and G know they are taking H to his death or are they just
following Cs orders?
-should they help their friend or follow the kings orders?
-R: the king is a giant wheel and if he goes down the country goes down
-it is tragic if a king dies but not if a peasant dies
-therefore, R agrees to take H
-C has confession speech (H is the priest, listening)
-god knows what he has done
-he knows he cannot be forgiven as long as Old H is still dead and as
long as he still has the crown
-Claudius note: better king than Old H, has great conscience (feels guilty),
odd villain
-H note: he is a dick (throws O around)
-H has dagger against Cs ear
-H (aside): he is going to kill C
-decides not to kill him when he is praying b/c if he does, C is
automatically going to heaven
-C might as well pay H if he sent him to heaven

April 18

III IV

-H is talking to G in her bedroom while P watches behind a curtain

-H gets violent w/ G (accuses her w/ being complicit w/ the murder)
-G calls for help
-P calls help
-H thinks its C in her bedroom
-H stabs through the curtain and kills P
-H has no regret for killing P
-G asks what she had done to H for him to talk to her so rudely and H
responds poetically and excopicly
-H tells G she cannot love b/c she has no sex drive b/c she is old

April 19

-H notes it is no longer shameful to act on impulse

-ghost enters and talks w/ H and G thinks H has gone mad
-ghost reminds H of his quest for revenge
-G claims H is mad and H says not to flatter herself into believing its his
madness and not her crime
-G agrees not to tell C what H has told her / accused her of
-H reveals to G he is going to England with his two friends, whom he does not
trust

1. I do not think G is complicit in the murder of her husband. Despite Hs

intense accusations, G remains unwilling to admit to her faults. When H
broadly accuses her by comparing her actions without actually describing
what they were, G appears confused as to why H is so mad at her.

2. Because the ghost is visible to people other than H, demonstrated in the

first scene of the play, it is possible that H has gone mad by this point, since
other people, like G, cannot see the ghost.

3. H reveals he is going to England with two friends, whom he does not trust.
He anticipates they are sent by C to kill him, and as a counter, he plans to kill
them himself.

IV I

-G tells C that H is mad and that he killed P when hearing a small noise
-in last scene, she told H she would not tell C anything
-C says that he would have been killed if he had been there and that H is a
threat to everyone
-C wants to send him to England
-C reveals to R and G that H has killed P

1. G tells C that H is mad and that he killed P when hearing a small noise.

2. C says he will ship H off to England, excuse the murder of P, and, with the
help of his wisest friends, come up with a plan.

IV II

-R and G inquire H about Ps body

-H compares R to a sponge w/ an analogy that R does not understand (R
thinks he is mad)

1. H is angry and gives impressions to R and G of madness.

2. The sponge soaks up the kings approval, rewards, and decisions, and then
the king squeezes it dry when he no longer needs it. In other words, R and G
become Cs bitches, and then when C does not need them anymore they will
be dry. He is calling them a suck-up.

3. After H kills P, he starts angrily articulating his rash feelings towards

others. He communicates how he feels to G, and R and G.

April 20

IV III

-C says H should not be arrested b/c he is mad and judges based on

appearance rather than w/ reason
-H says a fat king and a lean beggar are all the same, just a meal to maggots
-C inquires H about where C is and H says he is in heaven and if C cannot
find him to check hell or wait a while and wait for the smell
-C soliloquy: R + G are carrying a letter for the English king w/ instructions to
kill H

IV IV

-on their way to England f/ Denmark, they run into Fortinbras and his army
-H is crossing Denmark to begin his trip when he meets F
-both H and F have had their fathers murdered and their uncles take over
-H is a procrastinator (does not do what goes tells him to) while F is an actor
(raises army and takes charge)
-action vs. contemplation
-the only time H acts rashly is when he kills P
-H cannot sense of when to act
-when he acts rashly tragedy
-when he thinks too much (procrastinates) tragedy
-Captain reveals F is risking 2000 mens lives for Poland (shit land)
-H soliloquy:
-everything I see makes me want to get revenge
-H is upset at himself b/c he cannot act (if you cannot make choices,
you are no more than a beast)
-F can act and risk 2000 lives but H cannot
-it is because he keeps thinking (rather than acting) but also he is a
coward
-F is a good guy

April 21

IV V

-G says she wont speak to O

-O is singing, implying H took her virginity
-C refers to sorrow w/ war imagery (sorrows come in battalions) and claims O
is mad
-L is back w/ followers to get revenge against the king b/c P is dead; they
want L to be king
-L says he will not be juggled w/ (AKA manipulated), but we say later C does
juggle him
-L sees O, who is mad (poor L: goes away and comes back w/ his father dead
and sister mad)
-O, as a madwoman, begins handing out imaginary flowers to everyone in
the court
-each flower is symbolic
-C says to L they will go his smartest friends and if they say C has done L
wrong, C will give L the whole kingdom (he is just BSing L)

If essay is on foils to H, L is a good foil (father is dead and he now

takes action (like F) and wants revenge)

IV VI

-Horatio reads letter that H and R+G get captured by pirates

-H convinces them to bring them back to Denmark for a huge reward

IV VII

-C says he has not executed H b/c he did not want to hurt G

-also, society would freak out (he is the future king and young prince of
society)
-C and L plot Hs death (but to make it look like an accident)
-L wants to be the one to actually kill H
-L is a great fencer and H is envious b/c H thinks H is a great fencer himself
-L says he would cut Hs throat even in church
-foil: this contrasts w/ H b/c H had that chance (w/ C) and did
not do it
-H is such a trusting guy, he will not even look at Ls sword to see if the
safety nib is on it
-L is also going to poison the tip of the sword
-C has a backup plan:
-he will prepare a poison drink
-G enters and tells L that O drowned
-she was on a tree fully dressed w/ flowers around her, branch breaks,
she falls into a pond, her dress kept her floating, then pulls her down

VI

-gravedigger asks if O will be given Christian burial if she killed herself

-Coroner decided it was an accident and therefore a Christian burial
-action vs. contemplation (recall beginning of play: H is sad he does
not act sad)
-gravedigger: to do, to act, and to perform
-Coroner says if she wasnt rich, she would not get a Christian burial
-audience watches H and Horatio, who watch gravediggers
-gravedigger is playing w/ bones in the grave
-H is upset b/c those skulls used to be people like lawyers, etc.
-gravedigger gives H Yoricks skull (H loved Yorick, the jester, b/c he was
more of a father to H than Old H, who was often away at war)
-H and Horatio watch Os funeral
-Preist says O should have been buried elsewhere, but diff. rules apply to the
rich
-G was hoping H and O would get married, and that she would throw flowers
on their bed rather than on her grave
-H finds out O is dead
-L leaps into the grave to give her one last hug
-H jumps out of hiding and is upset b/c he wants everyone to know that he is
more upset than L
-H jumps into the grave and fights w/ L

V II

-H is more Christian: Theres a divinity that shapes our ends

-H changed Cs letters to say that the King of England should kill R and G
instead of H
-H: tough luck for R and G, that is what happens when you bud into other
peoples business
-H feels bad about L b/c he is in the same position as H (father murdered)
-H: Osric, a courtier, is a sycophant to the king and is rich
-H and L have a wager in a fencing match
-Horatio is honest to H and tells him the truth he will lose
-H tells L that H did not kill P, it was a mad version of himself, who he is not
anymore
-L still needs to get revenge
-L now has a poison sword w/o a nib
-H is beating L
-G accidentally drinks Cs poison wine
-L wounds H, they change swords, and H wounds L
-L says he is caught by his own trap
-G dies
-L tells H the sword is poisoned
-H wounds C and forces C to drink his poison wine
-C dies
-L makes H free f/ Ls or Ps death (clears Hs conscience) and dies
-Horatio wants to kill himself b/c H is going to die
-H appoints F as the next king of Denmark and dies
 -The rest is silence
-all that is left is death, importance/meaning is dead, existential
-F, coming f/ Poland, enters astonished at all the dead bodies
-Ambassador, f/ England, says R and G are dead
-F says H would have been a good king