Scene summaries Flashcards
1
Q
Act 1 Scene 1
A
- ‘Who’s there?’
- Guards meet with Horatio
- Show him the Ghost of OKH
- Ghost dressed in battle armour
- Disappears when Horatio tries to speak to him
2
Q
Act 1 Scene 2
A
- Soliloquy: ‘O that this too too solid flesh would melt’
- Claudius’ first public address to the court
- Threat of Fortinbras is explained
- Hamlet is left alone onstage and laments his situation
3
Q
Act 1 Scene 3
A
- ‘To thine own self be true’
- Laertes gets ready to leave for university
- Polonius gives him life lessons
- He and Laertes both separately warn Ophelia of Hamlet’s intentions
4
Q
Act 1 Scene 4
A
- ‘Angels and ministers of grace defend us! Be thou a spirit of health or a goblin damned?’
- The ghost appears to Hamlet and the men
- Hamlet follows despite the others warnings
5
Q
Act 1 Scene 5
A
- Soliloquy: ‘O all you host of heaven! O earth! And shall I couple hell?’
- Hamlet speaks with the ghost who tells him to avenge his ‘foul and most unnatural’ murder
- Hamlet plots to put on an ‘antic disposition’
6
Q
Act 2 Scene 1
A
- ‘This is the very ecstasy of love’
- Polonius instructs Reynaldo to spy on Laertes
- Ophelia comes in dishevelled, reporting Hamlet’s frightening behaviour
- Polonius decides to tell the King
7
Q
Act 2 Scene 2
A
- Soliloquy: ‘O what a rogue and peasant slave am I’
- Polonius and the king plot to spy on Hamlet’s interactions with Ophelia in order to determine the cause of his madness
8
Q
Act 3 Scene 1
A
- Soliloquy: ‘To be or not to be’
- Ophelia is ‘loos[ed]’ to Hamlet as the King and Polonius watch
- She returns the love letters
- When Hamlet says ‘where is your father’ he turns violent
- He then plots the play
9
Q
Act 3 Scene 2
A
- The Mousetrap
- Soliloquy: ‘‘Tis now the witching time of night’
- Hamlet and Horatio watch Claudius as he watches the Mousetrap play
- He calls for ‘Light’ and leaves after witnessing the murder replicated
10
Q
Act 3 Scene 3
A
- Soliloquy: ‘Now might I do it pat, now he is praying’
- Claudius soliloquises about his guilt, and reveals he’s struggling to pray
- Hamlet enters behind him and doesn’t kill him, ironically because he believes Claudius is praying
11
Q
Act 3 Scene 4
A
- The Closet scene
- ‘How now! A rat!’
- Hamlet confronts Gertrude about her remarriage to Claudius
- He stabs Polonius through the arras, believing it to be Claudius
12
Q
Act 4 Scene 1
A
- ‘My soul is full of discord and dismay’
- The queen, distressed, tells Claudius that Polonius is dead
- Claudius decides to take action and sends R+G to find Hamlet
13
Q
Act 4 Scene 2
A
- ‘To be demanded of a sponge […] that soaks up the king’s countenance, his rewards’
- R+G confront Hamlet, who refuses to tell them where Polonius’ body is
14
Q
Act 4 Scene 3
A
- ‘Do it, England/ For like hectic in my blood he rages’
- The king confronts Hamlet and reveals he is sending him to England
- He reveals to the audience that he will also send a death order
15
Q
Act 4 Scene 4
A
- Soliloquy: ‘How all occasions do inform against me’
- Hamlet sees Fortinbras’ army who are travelling through Denmark to Poland to fight ‘for an eggshell’
- This inspires Hamlet
