The Analytical Breakdown of Hamlet, Act 1 Notes #2

Notes #2

 Act 1 – Exposition  Act 2 – Complications (Rising

Action)  Act 3 – Climax  Act 4 – Reversals (Falling Action)  Act 5 – Catastrophe / Denouement (& Recognition)

The exposition includes… 1. Main characters, a.k.a. dramatis personae 2. Establishment of time and place, setting 3. Explanation or allusions to the antecedent

action of the story 4. Introduction of the germ of conflict and

dramatic tensions

 Questions  Darkness  WAR!  Ghost

 Mood  Foil  Omens “This bodes some strange eruption to our state.” – Horatio, 1.1.69

 Contrasting mood  Claudius’ rhetoric  Introduction to Hamlet’s melancholy  appearance v. reality  first soliloquy = his true feelings

 Hamlet’s friends = new mood  stichomythia = importance of the information

“… Foul deeds will rise Though all the earth o’erwhelm them to men’s eyes.” – Hamlet 256-257

 Another mood shift: Intimate family conversation  characterization of all  important family dynamics  Social hierarchy  Laertes = partying player  Ophelia = an idealist with no power  Polonius = bumbling fool

 Treatment of Women:     

attempts to control Ophelia expectation of the day =obeys her father “You speak like a green girl…” (101) “Think yourself a baby…” (105) “Ay, springes to catch woodcocks” (115)

 Ghost watch v. Claudius’ party  Hamlet seeking truth  Foreshadows his own downfall:  Vicious mole… stamp of defect… dram of eale…

 Ghost beckons Hamlet  he must follow

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” – Marcellus (90)

 Suspense of entire Act leading to    

this scene Ghost tells all! Do we believe him? Hamlet’s 2nd soliloquy Importance of swearing/oaths Hamlet’s plan to “put and antic disposition on” (172)

“The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right.” -- Hamlet (189-190)

 Course of action becomes more

complicated and the "tying of knots" occurs  Interests clash, intrigues are spawned, events accelerate in a definite direction  In other words: tension mounts and momentum builds!

Hamlet’s Soliloquy: 9 changing moods THE STRUCTURE OF HIS SHIFTING MOODS, PARALLELS PERFECTLY THE STRUCTURE OF THE SHIFTING EPISODES OF ACTION IN THE WHOLE SCENE!

Scene 2: 9 Episodes  #1: 1 – 39  #2: 40 – 85  #3: 86 – 168  #4: 167 – 216  #5: 217 – 309  #6: 310 – 358  #7: 359 – 520  #8: 521 - 534  #9: 535 - 590

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Episode: #1: 1 – 39 #2: 40 – 85 #3: 86 – 168 #4: 167 – 216 #5: 217 – 309 #6: 310 – 358 #7: 359 – 520 #8: 521 - 534 #9: 535 - 590

With your assigned “episode,” complete the following: You will something very similar to last class…  Choose the 5-10 most important lines in your episode  Act them out dramatically  Explain (1) the context, (2) explain why this mini-scene is important to the complications of Act 2, but this time… (3) write two guiding questions re: this passage