Hamlet Act I - key scenes Flashcards
How does the new king, Claudius, divert attention from the uncomfortable reality of his new marriage to Gertrude in his opening speech? (give 2 quotes)
Using clever paradoxes and perfectly balanced phrases,and glossing over the marriage
“with mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage”
“our sometime sister, now our queen”
What hints at Claudius’s insecurity in his opening adress? (quote)
His repetition of Laertes’ name
“What wouldst thou be, Laertes”
underlying sense of insecurity
What cold remark does Gertrude say to Hamlet after expressing his grief about his dead father? (act 1, scene 2)
“all lives must die”
How does everything appear to Hamlet in his first soliloquay?
“weary, stale, flat”
He expresses profound despair, disappointment , disgust, anger, sorrow and grief
What does Hamlet mean when he says “frailty thy name is woman” ?
He feels betrayed by his mother and believes all women are false and their emotions shallow
What does Hamlet remark at the end of Act 1, scene 2, that hints at the ominous events to come?
He is convinced “All is not well” and suspects “some foul play”
Remarks “foul deeds will rise”
What does the Ghost ask Hamlet to do in Act 1, scene 5?
“Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder”
What does the Ghost reveal about his death in Act 1, scene 5 of Hamlet?
“The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
Now wears his crown”
After being asked by his father’s ghost to revenge his death, Hamlet is traumatised that he is the person chosen to solve Denmark’s problems
“O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!”
