Hamlet Act 1Scenes 2-4

HAMLET ACT 1 Scene 2
1. What is odd about Hamlet’s appearance in the opening of scene two?

-He’s dressed all in black and is very rude/abrasive towards his mother and step father.

2. Explain (give at least two reasons) why Claudius needs to justify his marriage in the opening of scene two.

-Marrying a brother’s wife (even if he’s deceased) is considered incest in this situation.

-The marriage comes very quickly after the old King’s death, so Claudius needs to pretend they have had time to mourn respectfully according to social norms.

3. Laertes asks the King for leave to do what, specifically?

-Laertes asks the King for permission to go back to France.

4. Explain Hamlet’s insult when he says, “A little more than kin and less than kind.”

-Claudius is ‘more than kin’ because he is both an uncle and now a step father to Hamlet. Totally awkward family situation. The new King is ‘less than kind’ because Hamlet resents him for marrying his mother, especially because it was so soon after his father’s death.

5. Explain Hamlet’s use of pun in the line, “Not so my lord, I am too much in the sun.”

-He resents being the (step) son of Claudius, so it is too much to be both his father’s son and Claudius’ as well.

6. In Hamlet’s first soliloquy it is obvious that what troubles him most is?

-That his once dear mother married Claudius rapidly after the death of his beloved father. Hamlet also suggests that her tears for the old King were perhaps a ruse.

7. What does Hamlet mean by the following lines

-Hamlet denies that his grief is put on or overly dramatic. He tells the Queen that sorrow doesn’t have a look and it can’t be faked, but he wears the black clothes and mourns outwardly so others know the extent of it.

8. What does Hamlet say about the baked meats and the funeral and the wedding.

-The wedding of the Queen to Claudius was so soon after the funeral of his father that the leftover meat from the mourning feast was used for the wedding banquet. This is both distasteful and a bit gross metaphor because recycling meat is not sanitary.

9. What news does Horatio, Marcellus and Barnardo bring to Hamlet.
            -They explain how the guard watch have seen the ghost of old King Hamlet, or at least his semblance. Hamlet is exceedingly eager to investigate.

Act 1 scenes 3-4

1) What is Laertes advice to Ophelia?

-Laertes, in typical older brother fashion, tells Ophelia not to grow too attached to Hamlet because he may or may not love her; even if he does truly adore her, as the heir to the throne, Hamlet is not free to marry or love whom he wishes.

2) How does “The canker galls the infants of the spring/ too oft before their buttons be disclos’d” fit into the ideology of the decaying garden?

-What Laertes means is that love than hurt/kill the recipient if it is not truly meant. Plus, he is telling Ophelia not to have any other relations with Hamlet because it ruins her in the eyes of society. Ophelia is a flower that could be easily damaged by Hamlet ( a canker).

3) What analogy does Ophelia give to her brother as an answer to his advice? What does she mean?

-Ophelia tells her brother not to show her a difficult mountain path, while himself taking a rosy garden stroll. She is essentially telling him to follow his own advice and not get in any inappropriate relations with women.

4) List five of the “few precepts” that Polonius gives to Laertes.

-Do not gamble

-Do not lend or borrow money

-Listen to every man, but don’t speak all your thoughts aloud

-Be charming, but not crude or offensive

-Don’t get in a fight, but if you do, kick their butt

5) In lines 105-109, what is the metaphor that Polonius uses to describe Hamlet’s words of love?

-Polonius tells Ophelia that Hamlet’s words are like fake money. They look great and shiny, but are worthless.

6) List and explain one metaphor found in the lines 115-135.

-“These blazes, daughter/ Giving more light than heat, extinct in both/ Even their promise as it is a-making,/ You must not take for fire.”

-Polonius is telling Ophelia that Hamlet’s passion (and hers) look and feel great, but are actually neither under closer inspection. He tells her not to fall under the trap of love or it’s passions, nor believe that Hamlet does either.

7) What is Polonius’ command to Ophelia?

-Polonius forbids Ophelia from speaking with or hanging out with Hamlet.

8) In scene 4, what is Hamlet talking about in lines 13-38?

-In the beginning of scene four, Hamlet’s monologue is about the flaw every man posses. Hamlet says that every man has a fault that can bring about his own ruin. He implies Claudius’ is drinking. Unknowingly, Hamlet is also foreshadowing his own future fate.

9) Why doesn’t Horatio want Hamlet to follow the ghost?

-Horatio is nervous for Hamlet to follow the ghost because he believes that the spirit might be evil and lead Hamlet into physical death or psychological madness. Plus, they do not know its motives and thus are unaware of what it desires.

10) What is Hamlet’s command to the three guards?

-Hamlet tells the guards to keep going and not to follow him. He tells them that once the Ghost has concluded its business, he’ll catch up.