Hamlet

flowers, herbs, ans straw

He is in his late 20s

Hamlet tells Ophelia to get to a nunnery. However, "nunnery" not only meant convent but was also slang for whorehouse. It's a matter of interpretation every time he says it which one he means, or whether he might mean both.

2 months

The uncle poured poison down his father's ear.

Hamlet suspects that Claudius, his uncle, is a murderer in that he suspects that Claudius killed Hamlet's father, Claudius's brother, in order to become King.

When the Ghost reveals to Hamlet that he was killed by Claudius, Hamlet's immediate reaction is, "O my prophetic soul! My uncle?"--which is a pretty clear indication that Hamlet had some serious suspicions beforehand.

no

Ophelia is directed by her father in Act 1 Scene 3 to forget about Hamlet because he is too far above her socially. She therefore acts as if she no longer cares about him, as she confirms "as you did command I did repel his letters and deny his access to me." Later when she and Hamlet meet she returns his lovetokens "I have remembrances, Lord which I have longed long to redeliver". But she is all too aware that Polonius is just behind the nearest arras and she is saying this for his benefit, not Hamlet's.

After Hamlet has berated her by telling her to "Get thee to a nunnery!" her speech, "O what a noble mind is here o'erthrown" shows that she still cares deeply for Hamlet.

Unfortunately in the world of the subtle games Hamlet is forced to play, Ophelia is way out of her depth. It's appropriate that she drowns.

"Denmark's a prison."

Avenge his murder

Not Denmark. Horatio is unfamiliar with the customs in Denmark: when Claudius first starts his trumpet and cannon accompaniment to his drinking, Horatio asks "Is't the custom?" whereupon Hamlet replies that it is but "to my mind though I am native here and to the manor born, it is a custom more honoured in the breach than the observance." If Horatio had been Danish he would have known that this was a custom.

Horatio and Hamlet met at University in Germany: Horatio may be German.

After Hamlet has discovered that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are false friends who are acting on behalf of King Claudius, Hamlet tells the two that he knows that the King thinks he is mad, and says, "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw" (2.2.378-9). Literally, Hamlet is saying he is mad only when the wind blows in one particular point of the compass, north-north-west. In other words, he is mad only at certain times, or in certain situations.

If sanity can be metaphorically identified with a compass that points true north, then Hamlet is playing with the trope here, saying that his supposed madness is only a little bit crazy; he is not too far off the mark. Polonius himself observes that Hamlet's apparent mad statements have some "method"; he isn't allowing himself to stray very far from his true intentions, even when he is sorely pressed to do so. Probably his craziest moments are immediately after the Ghost's revelation in Act I when Horatio and Marcellus speak with him.

The only people roaming the castle in Denmark are the people. There are no lions in Denmark.

Laertes says this during the fencing match with Hamlet saying that he has gained his revenge but through trickery, so he is justly brought down with his own treachery.

Hamlet's last words are "The rest is silence." He has just charged his friend Horatio to "tell my story". It certainly does make a difference who tells the story, since the prejudices and assumptions of the teller are so deeply ingrained that we do not think of questioning them. For example, we often see Claudius portrayed as a lecher and a drunk. Why? Because we listen to Hamlet's opinion of Claudius--because we are getting his version of his story.

Hamlet's uncle Claudius killed Hamlet's father (called Hamlet Sr.). The ghost of Hamlet Sr. comes back from the dead and tells Hamlet Jr. so. Hamlet Jr. confirms this by re-enacting the murder as a play, which upsets Uncle Claudius.

Denmark

Gertrude

Thomas Kyd

Tell us which speech and we'll answer.

A character foil involves two characters who are opposites, and their differences play off of one another. An example would be Batman and the Joker. One represents good, the other evil, and their reactions to situations emphasize the differences and similarities between them.

They are all different:

"Oh, that this too too solid flesh would melt." is disgusted, angry and incoherent. It is filled with explosions of anger which disrupt his flow of thought: "Fie on't! O, fie!", "Frailty, thy name is woman!", "Oh, God, a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer!"

"Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I" starts out thoughtful and puzzled, but around the line "Am I a coward?" Hamlet becomes more and more angry with himself and Claudius until he roars out his line "O vengeance!" And then the mood changes again, as he begins to laugh at himself. Finally, it takes a serious but purposeful tone on the line "About, my brains!"

"To be or not to be" is philosophical and emotionless. Hamlet is looking at humanity from the outside, not at his own problems.

"Now is the very witching hour of night" is brutal, direct and cruel.

"How all occasions do inform against me" wavers between his thoughtful contemplation of Fortinbras's army and his bitter self-recrimination for his own inaction.

A. Hamlet's father ----> Murdered before play begins

B. Gertrude ----> Married Hamlet's uncle

C. Laertes ----> Suspicious of Hamlet

D. Marcellus ----> Loyal to Hamlet

Horatio is Hamlet's friend from university. He tells Hamlet that his father's ghost has been seen wandering the castle walls.

Laertes instructs Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet because he believes that Hamlet will not be able to marry Ophelia even if he really does love her.