Minnesota State University Mankato Shakespeare Tragedy Hamlet Act 5 Discussion participate by asking thoughtful questions and explaining your ideas about t

Minnesota State University Mankato Shakespeare Tragedy Hamlet Act 5 Discussion participate by asking thoughtful questions and explaining your ideas about the readings and lectures in one page.please move beyond“like/dislike” and“agree/disagree. These posts can be informal, but remember that your classmateswill understand what you’re talking about better if you can point to
specific act, scene, and line numbers. Discussions will align with
reading assignments. the disscusion is going to be about Hamlet act 5 and I will provide you with a reading guide for the acts for hamlet and also this is a link for the act 5 on youtube: Hamlet
Reading Guide
Act 1, scene 1:
Soldiers on nightwatch see a ghost in the appearance of the dead king Hamlet. Horatio explains that Denmark is
preparing for war against Norway and suggests that the appearance of the ghost is an omen. He attempts to speak
to the ghost, but it vanishes when the cock crows, and Horatio resolves to tell young Hamlet of this event.
• Why does the ghost appear in armor?
• What history underlies the coming war with Norway? How is this significant to the story of the play?
Act 1, scene 2:
The new king, Claudius, addresses the Danish court, proclaiming his grief over his brother’s recent death, but joy
for his marriage to his brother’s widow. Laertes asks and receives permission to return to university in Paris.
Claudius and Gertrude both criticize Hamlet for continuing to wear black in mourning for his father and refuse his
request to return to university in Wittenberg. Left alone, in his first soliloquy (“O that this too too sullied flesh
would melt,” 1.2.129 ff) Hamlet unfavorably compares his uncle to his father and bemoans his mother’s weakness
in marrying again. Then, Horatio comes with news of the ghost.
• How does Claudius manipulate the court to support his rule in his opening speech?
• What conflicting views of death and mourning do the royal family hold? How does Claudius criticize
Hamlet’s mourning?
• How does Hamlet’s soliloquy demonstrate his emotional state? What is significant about the way he
compares his father and uncle?
• How does Hamlet react to Horatio’s description of the ghost?
Act 1, scene 3:
Preparing to depart for Paris, Laertes offers his sister Ophelia counsel about her romance with Hamlet. Their
father Polonius appears and gives Laertes a mouthful of quotable advice, then demands that Ophelia reveal what
they were talking about before he came. Polonius warns her, much less kindly than Laertes, against believing
Hamlet’s lines and forbids her from associating with the prince.
• What patterns characterize the advice Polonius gives his son? Are these admonitions worthwhile, or is there
anything problematic about them?
• How does Laertes’s opinion about Ophelia and Hamlet’s romance compare to Polonius’s? What factors
concern them, respectively? How does each man present his advice? Significance?
• What sense of family relationships does this scene give us?
Act 1, scene 4:
Hamlet and Horatio wait on the battlements for the ghost to appear, and Hamlet criticizes his countrymen’s custom
of heavy drinking. When the ghost appears, Hamlet asks it to explain why it has appeared, but the ghost beckons
him to follow it away from the other men. Horatio is concerned that the ghost means to harm him, but Hamlet
follows it, and the men follow him at a distance.
• What significance does Hamlet’s speech against drunkenness have to the main story of the play?
• What do Hamlet’s words to the ghost and Horatio’s fears reveal about the Elizabethan understanding of
supernatural events?
Act 1, scene 5:
The ghost tells Hamlet it is his father, cursed to burn during the day and walk at night until his earthly sins are
purged, and then asks Hamlet to avenge his murder. The ghost reveals how Claudius murdered his brother and
seduced the queen, but tells Hamlet not to act against Gertrude in his revenge, then vanishes. Hamlet vows to think
of nothing but revenge. Joined by Horatio and the soldiers, Hamlet swears them to secrecy while the ghost,
offstage, repeats the command to swear. Hamlet warns the men that he might act strangely in the future, but they
should not even hint that they know anything.
• What is noteworthy about the way the ghost reveals the details of the murder? What does it dwell upon, in
what order, and why?
• Why does the ghost ask Hamlet to direct his vengeance only at Claudius, not the queen?
•
What is significant about the way Hamlet promises to take revenge?
Act 2, scene 1:
Polonius sends a servant, Reynaldo, to Paris with money for Laertes, but asks him to learn any gossip about
Laertes first. Polonius advises the method of suggesting that Laertes engages in various immoral behaviors to elicit
confirmation or denial from the Parisians Reynaldo talks to. Ophelia enters, distraught, and relays that Hamlet
burst into her private sitting room, very disheveled, and stared at her in a strange way for a long time while sighing
heavily. Polonius interprets this behavior as love-induced madness brought on by Ophelia’s dutiful rejection of
Hamlet’s advances.
• Why does Polonius choose this method of checking up on his son? How does he justify slandering Laertes
in this way?
• What is noteworthy about Hamlet’s appearance and behavior as Ophelia describes it? Is this part of his
feigned madness? If so, why give Ophelia a private performance, if the masquerade is meant for Claudius?
• How does Polonius acknowledge his mistake in thinking Hamlet was only trifling with Ophelia? How
might this apply to his other opinions?
Act 2, scene 2:
Claudius and Gertrude greet Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, childhood friends of Hamlet whom they have invited to
court to get close to Hamlet and find out what’s causing his strange behavior. Polonius brings the ambassadors
returned from the king of Norway, who has deterred young Fortinbras from war against Denmark by giving him
funds for an attack on Poland instead. Politics taken care of, Polonius reveals his theory about the cause of
Hamlet’s madness, reading aloud some of the letters and bad poetry he had given Ophelia, and he and Claudius
plan to test the theory by contriving and observing a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet enters, reading,
and the king and queen depart, leaving Polonius to attempt a conversation in which Hamlet utters a mix of sense
and nonsense. Polonius trades places with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Hamlet gets them to admit that the
king and queen sent for them, then explains that he’s depressed. R & G tell him he may be cheered up by the
traveling actors they met on the way, and when the players arrive Hamlet greets them familiarly and attempts to
recite a favorite speech from one of their plays. The lead player takes over, and once he is done Hamlet requests a
particular play to which he would like them to add a speech he will write. Left alone, Hamlet gives his second
soliloquy (“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!” 2.2.488 ff) comparing the actor’s passionate embodiment of
fictional emotion to his own inability to act on his real grief and anger. He then voices his plan to test the ghost’s
veracity and Claudius’s guilt through the requested play, which will show a murder just like Claudius’s murder of
old Hamlet and hopefully prompt a guilty reaction.
• Why do the king and queen think Rosencrantz and Guildenstern will be able to help them understand
Hamlet? Are there any flaws in this plan or the way they set it up?
• How does the news about Fortinbras point to the intergenerational tensions throughout the play? How does
Fortinbras compare to Hamlet and/or Laertes here?
• How does Polonius characterize Ophelia and Hamlet’s romance and his own interference when talking to
the king and queen?
• What “method” (2.2.205) does Polonius find in Hamlet’s apparent madness?
• What is significant about the way Hamlet describes his depression to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
(2.1.263-80)? How does this compare to the emotions he expresses when alone?
• Why does Shakespeare spend so much time on the conversation with the players and the recitation of lines
from a play about the fall of Troy? How is this significant to the themes of the play?
• How does the “rogue and peasant slave” soliloquy (2.2.488 ff) reveal Hamlet’s attitude toward his own
behavior? How does this self-reflection seem to affect his path to revenge? (Or does it?)
Act 3, scene 1:
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern report to the king and queen that they have not learned the cause of Hamlet’s
behavior. Polonius and Claudius then plant Ophelia to wait for Hamlet and withdraw to observe. Hamlet enters
with his third soliloquy (“To be, or not to be” (3.1.56-88), considering the known troubles of life against the
frightening unknowns of death. Ophelia attempts to return some gifts to him, but Hamlet denies them and asks
ambiguous questions about her honesty, accuses himself of moral failings and her of female deceits, and ultimately
tells her to go to a nunnery. Alone, Ophelia bemoans the degeneration of Hamlet’s once noble mind and character
and her own sadness in having to witness it. The king and Polonius enter, Claudius deciding that Hamlet’s
behavior is not insanity but some kind of scheming; therefore he will send Hamlet on a diplomatic trip to England
for a distraction. Polonius advises that first, Gertrude should talk to Hamlet alone to seek the source of his
behavior.
• What is significant about the king’s aside in response to Polonius’s aphorism about deceit (3.1.44-54)?
• What bearing does the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy (3.1.56-88) have on Hamlet’s revenge plot?
Alternatively, what does this soliloquy reveal about his character and state of mind?
• Why does Hamlet say such things to Ophelia? How does this factor into his revenge plans?
Act 3, scene 2:
Hamlet tries to tell the players how to do their job and proclaims his affection for Horatio, asking him to watch the
king’s reaction to the play. When the rest of the court arrives, Hamlet talks nonsense, flirts with Ophelia, and
comments on the play, which begins with a dumb-show of the actions before the players repeat along with their
lines. When the players perform the murder, Claudius stands abruptly, disrupting the play, and when everyone else
has left, Hamlet confirms the king’s reaction with Horatio. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter with a message
calling Hamlet to his mother’s sitting room, and again try to ask Hamlet what’s wrong with him; Hamlet accuses
them of trying to play him like an instrument. Alone, Hamlet plans to speak cruelly to his mother but refrain from
physical injury.
• What is significant in Hamlet’s advice to the players? What bearing does this have on his own behavior or
the play’s questions about performance vs genuineness?
• Why does Hamlet speak so flirtatiously to Ophelia after being so mean to her in the previous scene?
• Why does Hamlet have to remind his heart to “lose not thy nature” (3.2.386)?
Act 3, scene 3:
Claudius arranges to send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to England along with Hamlet, and they proclaim the
importance of protecting the kingdom by protecting its ruler. Polonius tells the king his plan to eavesdrop on
Hamlet and Gertrude and promises to report back. Claudius’s soliloquy (“O, my offense is rank,” 3.3.36)
acknowledges his guilt, which overpowers his ability to pray for divine forgiveness. He contemplates God’s mercy,
but realizes he can’t repent or be pardoned while he continues to benefit from his crime. Nonetheless, he forces
himself to kneel in prayer, and Hamlet finds him thus and sees a possible opportunity to kill Claudius. However, if
he were to kill Claudius while he prays, the king’s soul would go to heaven; in contrast, old Hamlet died without
being able to confess his sins, so his soul suffers in Purgatory. Hamlet resolves to wait until Claudius is drunk or
otherwise not religiously occupied and continues to meet his mother. Claudius then reveals that he has prayed
without penitent thoughts, negating his prayer.
• How do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s ideas about protecting the king contribute to the political climate
of the play? Is this just sycophancy or is there merit in it? How do such ideas align with the Danes’
apparent acceptance of Claudius’s succession after the old king’s death?
• What does Claudius’s soliloquy suggest about his self-awareness in relation to his crimes? How does he
understand sin and redemption? What motivates his attempt to pray?
• How do Hamlet’s ideas about prayer compare to Claudius’s?
• Does Hamlet’s hesitation here seem well founded? Or is it a lame excuse?
Act 3, scene 4:
In Gertrude’s room, Polonius hides behind a tapestry to eavesdrop. Gertrude attempts to scold Hamlet, but he
scolds her back until Polonius becomes alarmed and calls for help; Hamlet abruptly stabs through the arras and
kills him, apparently thinking it was Claudius. Hamlet half-accuses Gertrude of murdering the old king, but then
focuses on comparing old Hamlet and Claudius via a pair of paintings. He suggests that Claudius is inferior to the
old king and older women cannot feel love/attraction anyway. While he’s heaping uncomfortably colorful language
on her, the ghost appears to renew Hamlet’s desire for revenge, but only Hamlet seems to see it, and Gertrude
interprets his one-sided conversation as madness. Hamlet insists that she examine and confess her own sins and
avoid sex with Claudius. She promises to reveal nothing he has told her, and he mentions his suspicions of
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as he drags Polonius’s body offstage.
• Why does Gertrude think Hamlet will murder her (3.4.21)?
• Why does Hamlet think it’s Claudius behind the arras? How does he react to discovering Polonius instead?
• Why does Hamlet concentrate on comparing old Hamlet and Claudius (instead of explaining the murder)?
How does this seem to affect Gertrude?
• Why does the ghost appear only to Hamlet here, even though it has appeared to others before now?
• Why does Hamlet go into so much detail about Gertrude and Claudius’s sexual activities?
Act 4, scene 1:
Gertrude tells Claudius about Hamlet’s killing Polonius in her room, and Claudius worries that they will be
blamed for not keeping Hamlet under control. Claudius sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to learn where Hamlet
took the body and plans a counsel to deflect blame from himself.
Act 4, scene 2:
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ask Hamlet about the body, and he accuses them of being the king’s tools.
Act 4, scene 3:
Claudius reveals that Hamlet is popular with the people, so they can’t punish him for the murder. The king
questions Hamlet about the body and receives some philosophical riddles about mortality and a hint at the location
of the corpse. Left alone, Claudius reveals that he is sending letters with R & G requesting the English king to
execute Hamlet on arrival.
• What significance lies in Hamlet’s comments about death and worms? How do they speak to the larger
themes of the play?
Act 4, scene 4:
On the way to the ship, Hamlet and his attendants encounter Fortinbras and his army, who are waiting for
Claudius’s permission to march across Denmark on the way to capture a worthless piece of Polish land. In his
fourth soliloquy (“How all occasions do inform against me” 4.4.32 ff) Hamlet unfavorably compares himself to the
Norwegians who are ready to risk their lives for a meaningless cause, while he has not done the same for his
righteous vengeance. He resolves to think bloody thoughts.
• What is the greater significance of Fortinbras’s assault on a barren patch of Polish land?
• What does Hamlet’s soliloquy say about the distinction between humans and animals? How does this idea
apply to his vengeance?
• Why is it important that Hamlet compares himself to Fortinbras and his army?
• Does this soliloquy mark a turning point in Hamlet’s path to vengeance?
Act 4, scene 5:
Gertrude tries to avoid seeing Ophelia, who has been driven mad by her father’s murder (and perhaps other
circumstances), but lets her in eventually. Ophelia sings bits of songs that sound like nonsense. Claudius catalogues
the misfortunes that have arisen recently, ending with Laertes’s return to Denmark and arrival with a mob.
Claudius clams him down, but then Ophelia reappears, singing and handing out herbs and flowers, and Laertes
despairs until Claudius promises to reveal the culprit behind everything.
• Why does Gertrude agree to speak with Ophelia? What does this suggest about the political state of the
kingdom?
• How does Claudius deflect Laertes’s anger and bring him around to his side?
• How does Ophelia’s madness compare to Hamlet’s pretended madness? Does any meaning lie in her songs
and rambling?
Act 4, scene 6:
Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet, who was captured by pirates and returned to Denmark in return for (royal)
favors.
Act 4, scene 7:
Claudius explains to Laertes why he couldn’t directly punish Hamlet for killing Polonius; they are interrupted by
letters proclaiming Hamlet’s sudden return. Claudius plots with Laertes to contrive a fencing match between
Hamlet and Laertes, for which Claudius will arrange for Laertes to have a sharp blade while Hamlet’s is blunted.
Laertes plans to put poison on the blade as well, and Claudius will have a poisoned drink to offer Hamlet as a
back-up. Gertrude enters bearing the news that Ophelia has drowned.
• How does Claudius manipulate Laertes to agree to the plot? What tactics does he use, and why are they
effective?
• What is noteworthy about Gertrude’s description of Ophelia’s death?
Act 5, scene 1:
Two gravediggers discuss a death they think was a suicide, but which the coroner judged accidental. Hamlet and
Horatio enter and wonder at the casual attitude the gravediggers have toward their profession, since they are
singing as they toss old bones out of the grave that will now be reused. Hamlet waxes philosophical about death’s
ability to level worldly differences in status and then talks with the gravedigger about the grave’s new and old
tenants. Learning that a skull belonged to the old court jester, Hamlet recalls this old acquaintance and continues
his philosophizing. A skimpy funeral party approaches, and the priest explains that the church doesn’t allow any
fuller funeral rites because of her questionable death. Hamlet realizes the dead woman is Ophelia, and he and
Laertes argue about which of them feels more grief and should be buried with Ophelia.
• Why is Ophelia getting a Christian burial even though she committed suicide? What do the gravediggers
think of this? How does the priest suggest she should be buried?
• Why does Hamlet spend so much time pondering the equalizing power of death here? Is it important that
he’s doing so in a graveyard, unlike his earlier thoughts on mortality in the castle? Does his philosophical
perspective persist into his reaction to Ophelia’s death?
• Why is this funeral scene not laughable? (How do the actors need to perform all this to keep it serious?)
Act 5, scene 2:
Hamlet tells Horatio about discovering his death sentence in the letters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern carried; he
replaced it with a new letter ordering that the bearers be executed. A pompous courtier, Osric, interrupts the
conversation, and Hamlet makes fun of his clothes, flowery language, and general posturing. They set weapons and
wagers for the duel. Hamlet apologizes to Laertes, blaming his madness for the insults; Laertes accepts, but his
honor insists on the duel, so they fight. Claudius prepares (poisoned) wine for Hamlet, but Gertrude drinks her
son’s health with it instead. As the fight continues, Hamlet and Laertes somehow exchange swords, each has
managed to wound the other with the poisoned blade, and then the queen collapses and dies. Laertes, knowing he
will die of the poison, exposes the poisoned blade and the king’s poisoned drink. Hamlet stabs Claudius with the
sword and forces him to drink from the cup. Laertes and Claudius die, and Hamlet asks Horatio to tell his story
before dying himself. Fortinbras arrives and claims the kingdom but honors Hamlet’s nobility.
• Why does Hamlet send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths? Why does he feel no remorse?
• What relevance does the interlude with Osric ha…
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