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Hamlet
Includes questions specifically asking about this Shakespeare play. Questions about the movie version should be placed under "Movies." Questions about Shakespeare should be placed under his category under Authors and Poets.
2,117 Questions
What does a little more then kin less then kind mean from Hamlet?
the king calls hamlet "son" right befiore this...hamlet is kin because of his real father being the kings brother, he is trying tob say he is morec than just a "son" Also, he thinks the king is a basterd.."unkind"
Why does Hamlet extract an oath from horatio and the others about the ghost?
He tells Horatio in 3,2 "Give me that man that is not passion's slave and I shall wear him in my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart--as I do thee." He admires Horatio's calm and Stoic nature which is such a contrast to Hamlet's passionate and mercurial temperament.
What is Hamlet wearing during his first appearance on stage in Act III?
That all depends on where, and when the Director is setting the play.
Hamlet is often played with contemporary political overtones, and there will always be directors and producers who insist on "making a statement" by placing the action within an odd venue.
A 1926 production in Berlin portrayed Claudius's court as a parody of the corrupt and fawning court of Kaiser Wilhelm.
Kenneth Branagh's film placed the story in the late 19th century, complete with appropriate costuming and furniture.
Film versions starring Ethan Hawke and David Tennant have placed the action in the twenty-first century.
In nineteenth century, directors became focussed on making costumes and sets be as historically accurate as possible for the time period when the story which Shakespeare dramatised originated, in this case 7th century Denmark.
However, if you wanted to remain true to the original performance values of the play, then you would wear garb from the early 1600's, when the play was first performed.
None of these approaches are wrong.
It advances neither plot or character a jot. It is only fair to point out that this particular passage occurs only in the Folio text and is not in the Second Quarto. Perhaps it was an insert intended to comment on the relaxation in 1600 of the ban, placed in 1590, on boy acting companies, who were putting a cramp on the income of the adult actors. As it was only a piece of topical comment, it didn't find its way into the Second Quarto but did into the Folio somehow.
Some might say that this passage shows that Hamlet is artistic but surely his "advice to the players" shows this much more convincingly. He is just bantering with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern until he can find out what they are up to. Shakespeare clearly used this banter as an opportunity to take a poke at the boy actors of St. Paul's and others.
What is the relationship between Old Hamlet and Hamlet?
Hamlet Sr (Old Hamlet) was the King of Denmark and Hamlet Jr's (Hamlet) father. Hamlet Sr dies at the beginning of the play and the story follows Hamlet Jr as the main character.
Hope this helps,
Have a great day.
When did Claudius Ptolemaeus discover Daco?
Claudius Ptolemaeus, known as Ptolemy, was a Greek-Roman mathematician, astronomer, and geographer who lived from approximately AD 100 to 170. However, there is no historical record of him discovering anything specifically called "Daco." If you meant "Dacia," the region corresponding to modern-day Romania, Ptolemy did reference it in his work "Geographia," but he did not discover it, as it was known long before his time.
Ophelia's death is recounted by Queen Gertrude in William Shakespeare's play "Hamlet." She describes how Ophelia fell into a brook and drowned after losing her sanity, overwhelmed by grief from her father's death and Hamlet's rejection. Gertrude's poignant description highlights the tragic nature of Ophelia's demise and the impact of the surrounding chaos in the royal court.
Hamlet's seemingly erratic remarks to Polonius often reflect his deep inner turmoil and disillusionment with the corruption around him. His madness can be seen as a facade that masks his grief over his father's death and his disgust with Gertrude's hasty marriage to Claudius. By using convoluted language and nonsensical quips, Hamlet reveals his intellect while simultaneously critiquing the superficiality of the court. Ultimately, these interactions reflect his struggle between action and inaction, showcasing the complexity of his emotional state.
What steps does Claudius take to rid himself of hamlet?
Hamlet decides to kill Claudius, but first he needs to confirm that what the ghost of his father said was true. So, he devises the play to see if Claudius' guilty conscience will betray him. His suspicion confirmed, he almost murders him him the chapel, but when he sees that Claudius is praying, Hamlet spares him until he can kill Claudius at such a time that it will condemn his soul. The irony is: we learn in soliloquy that Claudius is not able to pray.
Gertrude is examining herself and her actions in hastily marrying Claudius which Hamlet blames her so completely for, which is exactly what Hamlet wants. But it could be that it is the revelation that Claudius was the murderer of her first husband that is causing her concern, and that the spots she sees on her soul are her failure to examine Claudius's character more closely before marrying him. That is, Hamlet thinks that Gertrude was wrong to marry Claudius at all, whether because of worship of his father, or aversion to Claudius, but Gertrude may be regretting her marriage to Claudius only because it appears that he committed murder so he could marry her, not because of any other reason.
Why is Claudius' character flawed?
Is it? What does it mean to have a "flawed character"? It has been pointed out that the same character trait might be considered a flaw in one person while its opposite is considered a flaw in someone else. Macbeth is flawed because he is ambitious; Lear is flawed because he lacks ambition. Hamlet is flawed because he is intellectual; Othello is flawed because he is emotional. All of these judgements are pointless, because every possible human being has a "flawed character". Shakespeare's characters make choices (which might be based on character traits or not) and sometimes these choices lead them into deep trouble. Macbeth is a great example of this because the choice he makes which ruins his life is not really in character for him.
So, let's look at Claudius. He was in love with his brother's wife, and had ambitions to inherit the crown. He took action and murdered his brother and got the widow's love. He is decisive and ruthless. In assessing his character we are constantly being led astray by Hamlet's remarks about him. Hamlet tries to portray Claudius as a poltroon, devoted to boozing and sex. But he is not really like that. His solution to the Fortinbras problem is neat and involves no loss of Danish life. He is courageous as his dealing with Laertes shows. He is a good king and a loving husband, even if he is a murderer. His soliloquy "O my offence is rank" reveals the clarity with which he is able to think about the consequences of the bold action he took to become king and Gertrude's husband. He realizes that in doing so he may well have given up any chance for heaven, and can only hope for (and cannot even pray for) an undeserved forgiveness. His motto may well be "Take what you want and pay for it, says God." I think there is something noble in this, and not flawed at all.
In hamlet Whom does the ghost exempt from his call for revenge and why?
Gertrude. I suppose he may have told Hamlet not to take revenge on Gertrude because the ghost still has affection for her, or because it would be particularly evil for a son to kill his mother, or because the ghost knows that Gertrude was not privy to Claudius's murder, and the murder is what he wants revenge for. Or some combination of these.
Do all of the characters end up dead in hamlet?
No. Fortinbras sure doesn't. The English Ambassadors don't. Some productions kill off such characters as Osric and Horatio but the script doesn't require it.
What are some of the slang expressions and puns hamlet used in his first exchange with Polonius?
Hamlet has his first run-in with Polonius in Act 2 Scene 2. He calls Polonius a fishmonger, a seller of fish, which is slang for a pimp. When Polonius asks, "What is the matter?", meaning "What is the book about?" Hamlet intentionally misunderstands him as meaning "What is the problem?" in the sense of an issue between two people, and says "Between who?"
Did Hamlet ever actually weep?
This may be open to interpretation. However, in many modern interpretations of Shakespeare's play, Hamlet is portrayed to be crying at least sometime in the play.
Next time ask only one question. What I am going to answer is the question of the difference between Horatio and the inseparable pair Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Hamlet's attitude to them. All of these men are schoolfellows of Hamlet who have unexpectedly arrived in Denmark. Yet Hamlet immediately takes Horatio into his confidence but challenges Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. As it turns out, this is an accurate assessment of them: Horatio is trustworthy, while R&G are spies. So our question is really "How does Hamlet know that Horatio is trustworthy and R&G are not?" The answer to this may lie in part in events and actions which happened in the past to which we, the audience, are not privy. There are, perhaps, two things which happen during the play which might have helped Hamlet come to this conclusion. First, Horatio comes to Hamlet to give information about the appearance of the ghost. But R&G do not have any information to give which would make their appearance less suspicious. Second, R&G respond to Hamlet's question about why they are in Denmark in an evasive way. They introduce the word "ambition" into the conversation out of nowhere. In other words, their speech is suspect and implausible. Not so Horatio's; when asked why he has come to Denmark his answer is immediate and clear: "My lord, I came to see your father's funeral."
How does the allusion of old Trojan king Priam parallel the events of the play Hamlet?
It parallels the events of the play since it was also about a murder of a King from a trusted person. This is like Old Hamlet's murder, which was a backstabbing by Claudius, Old Hamlet's brother.
In each of the first four Acts Hamlet expresses his private anguish in a?
In each of the first four acts, Hamlet expresses his private anguish in a soliloquy. Soliloquies are used to let the audience know a character's private thoughts.
What is the relationship of rosencrantz and guildenstern to hamlet?
They are friends of Hamlet's from school.
Is Claudius responsible for King Hamlets death?
Yes. Claudius poured ear poison into King Hamlet's ear as he was sleeping in the garden.
