Hamlet

He went to school in England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

He's a fictional character (the one in the Shakespeare play) and the play does not give a birthday for him. The play is based, very loosely, on a historical prince called Amleth who lived in the 800s sometime.

The guards report of the Ghost and point out to the apparition when it appears in presence of Horatio.Both Hamlet and Horatio debate on the appearance of the Ghost .The guards presence is not explicit although they seem to be present at the tower.

Marcellus and Barnardo assume that Horatio, being an educated man, will have studied Speaking to Ghosts 101 at Wittenberg University and will know how to talk to it.

Hamlet doesn't actually stage a play called The Mousetrap. He asks the travelling players (The Tragedians of the City) to put on The Murder of Gonzago, which is the real name of the play. Hamlet calls it the Mousetrap because his purpose in asking them to play it is to trap Claudius into a confession of guilt.

horatio does not want hamlet to follow the ghost because horatio thinks its something evil like the devil in the form of his dead father trying to presuade him

The character named Horatio in Hamlet is a dynamic character.

Possibly not. The Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by which time Shakespeare had been writing plays for almost ten years. Some of his less popular early plays may not have been revived after the Globe was built. However, we have no way of telling since there was not a complete record of which plays were performed at the Globe. We only have incomplete snippets that come from people's diaries and letters.

It depends on what definition of "compound sentence" you use. Some of them contain horribly artificial distinctions between "compound sentences" and "complex sentences" (One source described "I am feeling hot as I am not wearing a hat" as "compound" and "I am feeling hot because I am not wearing a hat" as "complex" notwithstanding that they mean exactly the same thing and their grammar is identical)

However, the sources do tend to agree that "compound" or "complex" sentences have multiple clauses. Such sentences are common in Shakespeare. E.g. "He hath borne me on his back a thousand times and now, how abhorrent in my imagination it is." "My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent and, like a man to double business bound, I stand in pause where I shall first begin, and both neglect." "We pray you, throw to earth this unprevailing woe, and think of us as of a father, for let the world take note, you are the most immediate to our throne, and with no less nobility of love than that which dearest father bears his son do I impart toward you."

Going on living versus committing suicide. He does this several times in different language. First, pithily: "To be" (living) vs. "Not to be" (dying). Then more drawn out: "suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" (living) vs. "take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them" (dying). Then as an argument for suicide: "To sleep" (dying) vs. "the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to" (living). Then at great length with a catalogue: "bear the whips and scorns of time, th'oppressor's wrong etc. etc." (living) vs. "his quietus make with a bare bodkin" (dying). And again: "fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life" (living) vs. "the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns" (dying).

Polonius expects Laertes, when he is in Paris, to spend his time in pubs, brothels and gambling dens. He sends Reynaldo to spy on him and observe all his faults, and presumably to report back to Polonius. Why does Polonius do this? Because he loves spying on people. We will see him use this technique on Hamlet later on.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern did not arrange for the players to play Elsinore. They passed them on the road and thus were aware that they were coming. But the actors were on tour anyway and would have arrived in Elsinore whether they met R + G or not. Apparently business in the city had been bad because of a surge in popularity for children's companies (a comment on the theatrical situation in London at about the time Hamlet was written, ca. 1600)

Hamlet, an amateur actor himself, is excited by this turn of events and Ros and Guil report this to the King and Queen. Claudius commands them to "drive him on", to encourage him to involve himself in the theatre.

Hamlet: My father! Methinks I see my father!

Horatio: Where, my lord?

Hamlet: In my mind's eye, Horatio.

To take Hamlet to England to be killed, Claudius can't have Hamlet killed in Denmark because it would upset Queen Gertrude along with many others who still praise him even though he seems to have lost his mind. However on the trip to England Hamlet changes out the letters to say kill these men---Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The priates of the ship are told that they will be paid well if they send Hamlet back. And they believe him due to his charming personality and style of clothing which is not commender fashioned. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent to the King of England and take the punishment of what was supposed to be Hamlet's death.

The royal couple are, in effect, recruiting Hamlet's old friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to spy on him for them.

His attitude to his mother is clearly stated in his "hot blood" soliloquy. "Let me be cruel, not unnatural. I will speak daggers to her, but use none." Later he will say to her "I must be cruel to be kind". This is tough love, but it is love. He does not want to harm her; he wants to free her from her uncle's influence.

Actually, this isn't a question. Are you asking what it means when an exam question tells you to discuss something? It means this: To "talk or write about a topic in detail, taking into account different ideas and opinions". If that's what your exam question tells you to do, go get some different ideas and opinions and start writing.

Saying "discuss Hamlet's inaction" is no more asking a question than saying "eat my shoe". It's a command, not a question. We only answer questions here.

The phrase "Shakespeare's theatre" is ambiguous. Are you talking about the theatrical practises and conventions which applied at the time Shakespeare was writing or some theatre building?

If the former, you should know that theatre practice in Shakespeare's time involved casts who were entirely male, thrust stages, limited or no scenery, stage props which were portable or multi-use, staging which could involve several levels, actors who had to use natural projection, lighting by natural light or candlelight, and heightened language in dialogue.

If you are talking about an actual building, you should know that Shakespeare's contemporaries would not have understood you if you used the phrase "Shakespeare's Theatre" as opposed to "Burbage's Theatre". Burbage was the major shareholder and Shakespeare one of the minor shareholders in two theatres. First the Globe Theatre, maximum capacity about 3000, round in shape with an open space in the middle to let in light to illuminate the stage, and also the Blackfriars Theatre, capacity about 750, completely enclosed and lit by candlelight, so they had to have intermissions periodically to replace the candles. You might think that the Globe was the more profitable theatre but actually it wasn't since they were able to sell out the Blackfriars by selling fewer tickets at higher prices, and the Blackfriars did not have to close when the weather got too cold or stormy.

Denmark, at some time in the past, has conquered England. The king is left there as a puppet, and is supposed to pay over large cash amounts on a regular basis. This is called tribute. But the English haven't paid for a while, which is why Claudius sends Hamlet ostensibly to collect the "neglected tribute". Of course, the tribute is just a pretext to deliver Hamlet into the hands of the English king, who had better do as Claudius says or face a further invasion of raping and pillaging Vikings, and probably an even larger demand for tribute later.

Hamlet was causing problems for Claudius. His antics had disturbed the court and the kingdom. His killing of Polonius had deprived Claudius of his counsellor and had put him in an awkward position, since a murderer ought to be tried and put to death yet that would be politically unwise. Finally, Hamlet was on to him. Claudius had a pretty good idea that Hamlet knew that he had killed Hamlet Sr. and how it was committed.

All this meant that Claudius was worrying about Hamlet instead of running the kingdom, which he had been doing quite well before all this. Claudius says, "like the hectic in my blood he rages."--it is becoming an obsession.

Act 2, Scene 2

116 Doubt thou the stars are fire;

117 Doubt that the sun doth move;

Or, Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 50-51:

The Ghost says to Hamlet -

"With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,--

O wicked wit and gifts,"

Note the repetition of the short "i."

Hamlet insults Polonius on multiple occassions (generally along the lines of him being old, or incompitant), however one of the most memorable ways Hamlet insults Polonius is by calling him a "fish-monger", which in modern terms would be the equivilant of calling him a "pimp".

He doesn't. He breaks into Claudius's chamber to demand justice for his father's death. Hamlet breaks into Ophelia's chamber for . . . well, we aren't entirely sure. Maybe he wanted to catch her in her underwear.

Giddy, exultant, excited. He has the proof he needs, and it was public enough that other people are probably starting to suspect. He now knows the Ghost told the truth. He feels like he can solve any problem.

It's easier to talk about who is related to whom. Hamlet is Gertrude's son and Claudius's nephew and stepson, and of course the son of the Ghost. Polonius is Laertes's father and Ophelia's father. Everyone else is unrelated.