Hamlet

Question 1

Oedipus Complex

Answer 1

The attachment of a child to parent of opposite sex and aggressive feelings towards the parent of the same sex - Freudian theory

Question 2

Marxist theory

Answer 2

Focus on class structure
Hamlet mocks Claudius’ true motives of getting economic power and climbing social hierarchy

Question 3

Feminist theory

Answer 3

Women are dominated by men
Male characters are strong, females are weak/passive/submissive and used as pawns in patriarchal society e.g Oph used by Pol and Gert used by Ham

Question 4

What is existential nihilism?

Answer 4

Life has no intrinsic meaning or value, human/humanity is insignificant

Question 5

What is metatheatre?

Answer 5

Aspects of a play which draw attention to it being a play e.g a play-within-a-play, pretending to be mad, making audience look up

Question 6

Act 1

Answer 6

Scene 1 - Horatio sees ghost
Scene 2 - Court, Hamlet soliloquy on incestual marriage
Scene 3 - Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes
Scene 4 - Hamlet sees ghost
Scene 5 - Hamlet decides to avenge his father

Question 7

Act 2

Answer 7

Scene 1 - Ophelia tells Polonius of Hamlet’s mad behaviour
Scene 2 - Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, asks to perform Murder of Gonzago

Question 8

Act 3

Answer 8

Scene 1 - Meeting of Hamlet and Ophelia being spied upon, ‘To be or not to be’
Scene 2 - Play is performed
Scene 3 - Hamlet unable to kill Claudius whilst praying
Scene 4 - Gertrude closet, Polonius killed

Question 9

Act 4

Answer 9

Scene 1 - Hamlet refuses to tell R&G where Polonius’ body is
Scene 2 - Claudius sends Hamlet to England
Scene 3 - Fortinbras orders army to go to Danish king
Scene 4 - Ophelia mad, Laertes returns
Scene 5 - Horatio gets letter from Hamlet to meet him
Scene 6 - Claudius and Laertes plan duel/poison, Ophelia drowns

Question 10

Act 5

Answer 10

Scene 1 - Gravedigger/skull/ Yorick
Scene 2 - Duel takes place, everyone dies

Question 11

RSC Tennant Production

Answer 11

Theme of surveillance through CCTV cameras, spying, someone watching every move

Question 12

Laurence Olivier Production

Answer 12

• Emphasis on Oedipus complex in closet scene as young actress plays Gertrude, Hamlet lies on her on bed, close proximity (psychoanalytical lens - Freud)
• Winding stairwells echo Hamlet’s mind
• Melancholic and introspection - focus on existential crisis
• To be or not to be - edge of cliff with dagger to show indecision between life and death, closes his eyes to show lost in thought - existential crisis

Question 13

Maxine Peake production

Answer 13

• Hamlet puts on antic disposition
• Hamlet’s madness hyperbolic/comedic
• Holds gun to head in ‘to be’, reflects suicide

Question 14

Dramatic effects

Answer 14

Stage directions
Tension
Dialogue
Interrogative
Juxtaposition
Metaphor
Simile
Entrances/Exits
Pace
Suspense
Dramatic irony
Monologue
Soliloquy
Aside
Foreshadowing
Metatheatre
Prose
Blank verse
Dramatic ark
Unseen listener

Question 15

CS Lewis

Answer 15

“Hamlet is haunted, not by the physical fear of dying, but of being dead.”

Question 16

AC. Bradley (2)

Answer 16

“Hamlet assumes without questioning that he ought to avenge his father”

“Hamlet is unable to carry out the sacred duty, imposed by divine authority, of punishing an evil man by death.”

Question 17

Hippolyte Taine

Answer 17

“The story of moral poisoning”

Question 18

Coleridge

Answer 18

“Hamlet’s mind is constantly occupied with the world within”

Question 19

Elaine Showalter

Answer 19

“Ophelia is deprived of thought, sexuality and language, she represents the strong emotions that Elizabethans thought womanish.”

Question 20

Caroline Spurgeon

Answer 20

“The number of images of sickness, disease and the idea of a tumour or an ulcer is descriptive of the unwholesome condition of Denmark morally.”