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| Character | Hamlet | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | |
| Age Range(s) | Young Adult (20-35) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | Depressed, Lamenting, Complaining, Frustrated, Insecure, Afraid | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Period | Renaissance | |
| Genre | Tragedy | |
| Props | A human skull | |
| Description | To be or not to be... | |
| Location | ACT II, Scene 3 | |
Summary
The play is set in Denmark at the Castle Elsinore. King Hamlet has just died and his brother, Claudius, has replaced him and also married his dead brother's wife, Gertrude. Hamlet is still grieving over his father's death.
In the first scene of the play two watchmen, Bernardo and Marcellus, along with Hamlet's friend Horatio, witness the apparition of a ghost that they believe is the spirit of King Hamlet. The ghost doesn't say anything and disappears. They decide to bring Hamlet the next time, thinking that the ghost, if it's really Hamlet's father's spirit, will maybe address his son. That night the ghost appears again and speaks to Hamlet. He says that he is indeed his father's spirit and has come back to reveal the cause of his death, that is he was poisoned by his brother, King Claudius. He asks Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet starts planning the revenge and decides that part of his plan will be to pretend to be gone mad.
A theatrical troupe has arrived to the castle and Hamlet plans to have them perform a play that will remind Claudius of the murder he committed. By watching his reaction to the play, Hamlet will be sure if Claudius indeed killed his father.
In scene 3 of ACT II we find the king and the queen talking to Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in order to try to understand the cause of Hamlet's pain. When they leave the king and Polonius (the Lord Chamberlain of the court), decide to eavesdrop on the conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia (Polonius' daughter) to see if Hamlet is grieving because of his love for her.
When Hamlet enters their room he is talking to himself. He is in pain and is contemplating suicide. "To be or not to be: that is the question...".
In the first scene of the play two watchmen, Bernardo and Marcellus, along with Hamlet's friend Horatio, witness the apparition of a ghost that they believe is the spirit of King Hamlet. The ghost doesn't say anything and disappears. They decide to bring Hamlet the next time, thinking that the ghost, if it's really Hamlet's father's spirit, will maybe address his son. That night the ghost appears again and speaks to Hamlet. He says that he is indeed his father's spirit and has come back to reveal the cause of his death, that is he was poisoned by his brother, King Claudius. He asks Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet starts planning the revenge and decides that part of his plan will be to pretend to be gone mad.
A theatrical troupe has arrived to the castle and Hamlet plans to have them perform a play that will remind Claudius of the murder he committed. By watching his reaction to the play, Hamlet will be sure if Claudius indeed killed his father.
In scene 3 of ACT II we find the king and the queen talking to Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in order to try to understand the cause of Hamlet's pain. When they leave the king and Polonius (the Lord Chamberlain of the court), decide to eavesdrop on the conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia (Polonius' daughter) to see if Hamlet is grieving because of his love for her.
When Hamlet enters their room he is talking to himself. He is in pain and is contemplating suicide. "To be or not to be: that is the question...".
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
|---|
| HAMLET 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, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; 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; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, 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 not 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 pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.--Soft you now! The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remember'd. |
