Hamlet Character Analysis

Hamlet ******** Soliloquys & Essay Plan THE SINGLE TEXT • A1, S2 Line "O, sullied flesh would melt" … A1, S5, Line • "O, all you host of heaven" … A2, S2, Line • "what a rogue and peasant slave i am" … A3, S1, Line 362 - 373 • "to be or not to be" … A3, S2, Line • "tis now the very witching time of night" … A3, S3, Line • "now might i do it pat now he is praying" … A4, S4, Line • "how all occasions do inform against me..thoughts be bloody" Hamlet's Soliloquys Hamlet Revision … KQ – A1, S2 [Court Scene] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yQVVgGg8yo [3 mins] 1st SOLILOQUY O, That this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew […] Tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely […] Frailty, thy name is woman! […] O most wicked speed. To post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to good Hamlet Revision … KQ – A1, S5 [Ghost Scene] O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else? And shall I couple hell? O, fie! — Hold, my heart; 2nd SOLILOQUY And you, my sinews, grow not instant old, But bear me stiffly up. — Remember thee! Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat In this distracted globe. Remember thee! […] O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! My tables, — meet it is I set it down, That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain; At least, I am sure, it may be so in Denmark So, uncle, there you ae. Now to my word; It is ‘Adieu, adieu remember me’ I have sworn’t. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKgNVGkwrVs [1.50 min] O! what a rogue and peasant slave am I! […] Am I a coward? […] But I am pigeon-livered and lack gall To make oppression bitter […] Hamlet Revision … KQ – A2, S2 3rd SOLILOQUY guilty creatures sitting at a play […] The spirit I have seen May be a devil […] I’ll have grounds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g665aqZwR4 More relative than this: the play's the thing, Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king. [4.50 mins] Hamlet Revision … KQ – A3, S1 – Nunnery Scene 4th SOLILOQUY To be, or not to be, — that is the question: — Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? — To die, to sleep, — No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, […] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6CLdCl9TB0 [3.53 mins] Hamlet Revision … KQ – A3, S1 – Nunnery Scene 4th SOLILOQUY […] For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; […] Hamlet Revision … KQ – A3, S1 – Nunnery Scene 4th SOLILOQUY […] The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn No traveller returns, — puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know naught of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought And enterprises of great pitch and moment With this regard their currents turn awry And lose the name of action Hamlet Revision … KQ – A3, S2 – Mousetrap Scene 5th SOLILOQUY Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world: now could I drink hot blood, And do such bitter business, as the day Would quake to look on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_l7h5VFMFM [0.45 mins] […] Let me be cruel, not unnatural; I will speak daggers to her, but use none. Hamlet Revision … KQ – A3, S3 – Prayer Scene Oh my offence is rank, it smells to heaven It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t: A brother’s murder! […] Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens To wash it white as snow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7ZlbhSXxEQ […] When one cannot repent O wretched state, O bosom black as death [2.53 mins] Hamlet Revision KQ – A3, S3 – Prayer Scene 6th SOLILOQUY Now might I do it pat, now a is a-praying, And now I’ll do’t – and so he goes to heaven, And so am I revenged. That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and for that, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEIGV9O99mc I his sole son do this same villain send To heaven / Why this is hire and salary, not revenge […] Up sword: and know thou a more horrid hent When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed […] Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven And that his soul may be as damned and black As hell, whereto it goes [1.56 mins] How all occasions do inform against me, And spur my dull revenge! What is a man, If his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more. Hamlet Revision KQ – A4, S4 […] Rightly to be great Is not to stir without great argument, But greatly to find quarrel in a straw When honour's at the stake. How stand I then, 7th {& final solilquy] That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd, Excitements of my reason and my blood, And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see The imminent death of twenty thousand men, That, for a fantasy and trick of fame, Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, […] O, from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=easWqy08wr8 [3 mins] Hamlet – Essay Plan • EVERY essay will [obviously] consider the character of Hamlet and how he interacts with other characters, how he personifies themes and how his actions determine the tragic [& inevitable] outcome of the play. • Your essay plan will deal with how he evolves throughout the play but, unless it's a straightforward character question [2012], your plan will need to be used along with other relevant plans, eg, Claudius, role of women, theme, etc • The soliloquies are vital in understanding the real Hamlet as they are an insight into his contradictory character Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 1 Address Q/KW, state your stance KQ • Tragic hero - complex character "Valient Hamlet" • Undergoes significant personal growth noble and idealistic, yet also cruel & intolerant, particularly to women "Hamlet the Dane" • The demands the Ghost make on him are "O cursed spite, that more than he is able for – unlike Fortinbras, ever was I born to set it Hamlet is a scholar & a philosopher … not right" a warrior Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 2 A1, S2 - Court Scene KQ • Sensitive nature clear to see. "I shall …. " • Angry with Gertrude for her hasty [& unsuitable] remarriage "A little more than …" • His disdain for Claudius is both strong & understandable given the circumstances "O that this too too …" 1st Soliloquy Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 3 A1, S5 - Ghost Scene KQ • Further traumatised when learns OH was "If thou didst ever …" murdered by Claudius, although also unsure if he should believe Ghost "The serpent that …" • Swears revenge on Claudius and pleads for strength • His oath is important and cannot be broken, honour, etc "O all you …" 2nd Soliloquy Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 4 A2, S2 KQ • Philosophical Hamlet contemplates the wonder of mankind, while also claiming nothing interest him anymore "What a piece …" • Clever - speaks in riddles to R&G "I am but mad …" • Conflict - fearsome Hamlet who swore revenge replaced by indecisive & frustrated Hamlet "Oh what a rogue …" 3rd Soliloquy Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 5 A3, S1 & 2 – Nunnery Scene & Mousetrap KQ • Depressed & suicidal - Hamlet struggles "To be or not to be with the enormity of his predicament &, at …" 4th Soliloquy his lowest ebb, contemplates suicide • Unnecessarily cruel to Ophelia in this KM "Get thee …" • Passionate Swings back to elation when convinced of Claudius's guilt. Resolves to avenge OH [while also respecting OH wish to spare Gertrude] "Tis now the ..." 5th Soliloquy "Let me be cruel …" 5th Soliloquy Consider language of corruption & Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 6 A3, S3 - Prayer Scene KQ • Fails to seize the perfect opportunity to "Now might I do it avenge Old Hamlet. His hamartia - his …" 6th Soliloquy indecisiveness – is clear for all to see as he tries to justify his inability to act • Is Hamlet trying to justify his inability to act OR is his idealism to blame "Why this is hire …" • Irony / A&R – Pathetic fallacy in Claudius's failure to repent "My words fly …" Soliloquy 6th Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 7 A4, S4 & A5, S2 KQ • Again Hamlet's tendency to self-analysis "How all occasions …" & self-criticism is clear - acute / "Of thinking …" awareness of his hamartia • NB: But after this, his actions finally match his words, lead to final scene "O from this time …" 7th Soliloquy • Philosophical to end - Hamlet's final "There's a divinity …" moments see him avenge OH and make peace with Laertes "The rest is silence …" Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 7 A4, S4 KQ • Consider Fortinbras in this scene … unlike Hamlet, a scholar & philosopher, Fortinbras is a warrior and a hero who will avenge his father [as does Laertes] "led a delicate and tender prince, whose spirit, with divine ambition puffed, makes mouths at the invisible event Line 48 - 50 Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 8 Conclusion, readdress Q/KW & 'finish with KQ a flourish' • Despite flaws "Now cracks a noble [indecisiveness, misogyny] Hamlet dies a …" noble death "carnal, bloody and • NB: Hamlet guilty of murder [esp P, unnatural …" indirect R&G] … can we reconcile this?? "Good night, sweet • Readdress Q/KW & conclude with a prince and …" memorable quote Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 1 Address Q/KW, state your stance KQ • Tragic hero - complex character "Valient Hamlet" • Undergoes significant personal growth noble and idealistic, yet also cruel & intolerant, particularly to women "Hamlet the Dane" • The demands the Ghost make on him are "O cursed spite, that more than he is able for – unlike Fortinbras, ever was I born to set it Hamlet is a scholar & a philosopher … not right" a warrior Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 2 A1, S2 - Court Scene KQ • Sensitive nature clear to see. "I shall …. " • Angry with Gertrude for her hasty [& unsuitable] remarriage "A little more than …" • His disdain for Claudius is both strong & understandable given the circumstances "O that this too too …" 1st Soliloquy Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 3 A1, S5 - Ghost Scene KQ • Further traumatised when learns OH was "If thou didst ever …" murdered by Claudius, although also unsure if he should believe Ghost "The serpent that …" • Swears revenge on Claudius and pleads for strength • His oath is important and cannot be broken, honour, etc "O all you …" 2nd Soliloquy Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 4 A2, S2 KQ • Philosophical Hamlet contemplates the wonder of mankind, while also claiming nothing interest him anymore "What a piece …" • Clever - speaks in riddles to R&G "I am but mad …" • Conflict - fearsome Hamlet who swore revenge replaced by indecisive & frustrated Hamlet "Oh what a rogue …" 3rd Soliloquy Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 5 A3, S1 & 2 – Nunnery Scene & Mousetrap KQ • Depressed & suicidal - Hamlet struggles "To be or not to be with the enormity of his predicament &, at …" 4th Soliloquy his lowest ebb, contemplates suicide • Unnecessarily cruel to Ophelia in this KM "Get thee …" • Passionate Swings back to elation when convinced of Claudius's guilt. Resolves to avenge OH [while also respecting OH wish to spare Gertrude] "Tis now the ..." 5th Soliloquy "Let me be cruel …" 5th Soliloquy Consider language of corruption & Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 6 A3, S3 - Prayer Scene KQ • Fails to seize the perfect opportunity to "Now might I do it avenge Old Hamlet. His hamartia - his …" 6th Soliloquy indecisiveness – is clear for all to see as he tries to justify his inability to act • Is Hamlet trying to justify his inability to act OR is his idealism to blame "Why this is hire …" • Irony / A&R – Pathetic fallacy in Claudius's failure to repent "My words fly …" Soliloquy 6th Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 7 A4, S4 & A5, S2 KQ • Again Hamlet's tendency to self-analysis "How all occasions …" & self-criticism is clear - acute / "Of thinking …" awareness of his hamartia • NB: But after this, his actions finally match his words, lead to final scene "O from this time …" 7th Soliloquy • Philosophical to end - Hamlet's final "There's a divinity …" moments see him avenge OH and make peace with Laertes "The rest is silence …" Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 7 A4, S4 KQ • Consider Fortinbras in this scene … unlike Hamlet, a scholar & philosopher, Fortinbras is a warrior and a hero who will avenge his father [as does Laertes] "led a delicate and tender prince, whose spirit, with divine ambition puffed, makes mouths at the invisible event Line 48 - 50 Hamlet – Essay Plan Para 8 Conclusion, readdress Q/KW & 'finish with KQ a flourish' • Despite flaws "Now cracks a noble [indecisiveness, misogyny] Hamlet dies a …" noble death "carnal, bloody and • NB: Hamlet guilty of murder [esp P, unnatural …" indirect R&G] … can we reconcile this?? "Good night, sweet • Readdress Q/KW & conclude with a prince and …" memorable quote