Act 1, Scene 1 & Scene 2 Notes (Hamlet)

Question 1

sentinels

Answer 1

soldiers

Question 2

(scene 1) barnardo & Francisco did not enter …., and are acting …

Answer 2

at the same time; jumpy

Question 3

(scene 1) Francisco: “sick at heart” means

Answer 3

nervous, on edge

Question 4

(scene 1) the Dane:

Answer 4

King of Denmark

Question 5

(scene 1) liegemen:

Answer 5

servants

Question 6

(scene 1) Horatio: “a piece of him” means

Answer 6

mind is elsewhere

Question 7

(scene 1) At the opening of this scene they had already seen the apparition …

Answer 7

2x prior

Question 8

(scene 1) apparition:

Answer 8

appearance, typically supernatural

Question 9

(scene 1) this scene presents the … and … sightings

Answer 9

3rd; 4th

Question 10

(scene 1) ghost not necessarily …., otherwise it would have said “….”

Answer 10

King Hamlet; ghost of King Hamlet

Question 11

(scene 1) Students of wittenberg expected to know: …, …; official language of the church was …. we can assume Horatio is speaking …. to ghost; …., …, …: study of …

Answer 11

latin; greek; latin; latin; theology; philosophy; demonology; supernatural

Question 12

(scene 1) Horatio’s role in the play:

Answer 12

validate facts; tell the story

Question 13

(scene 1) usurp: to

Answer 13

overthrow

Question 14

(scene 1) “warlike form” ghost is wearing …., Horatio has seen King Hamlet with ….

Answer 14

armor; that armor before

Question 15

(scene 1) armor=

Answer 15

ominous

Question 16

(scene 1) Horatio on ghost → “Bodes some strange eruption to our state”:

Answer 16

omen, foreboding

Question 17

(scene 1) Marcellus wants to know why soldiers are working at … and why whole country is making …, why men who make ships no longer have …

Answer 17

night; materials for war; sundays off

Question 18

(scene 1) Horatio heard rumor: King Fortinbras … King Hamlet to …. and before that, Fortinbras …→ King Hamlet should be King of … per contract

Answer 18

dared; fight him; waged Norway; Norway

Question 19

(scene 1) King Hamlet only takes a …. of Norway, although Fortinbras would not have done the same

Answer 19

portion

Question 20

(scene 1) Prince Fortinbras is a …→”unimproved mettle…”

Answer 20

hot head

Question 21

(scene 1) Old King Fortinbras is dead, Old Norway now king. There is Prince Fortinbras who put together a …., as he wants to get …

Answer 21

mercenary army of criminals; lands back

Question 22

(scene 1) Prince F. & criminal army: Prince doesn’t care about losing …, doesn’t want to risk his … by using army, he himself is … through going against contract, criminals would do …, wouldn’t have to …. and they have ….

Answer 22

criminals in battle; legacy; a criminal; anything; pay them; no choice

Question 23

(scene 1) Prince Fortinbras has a …. and ….

Answer 23

villanous intent; cunning intellect

Question 24

(scene 1) Bernardo: “portentous figure” → …, …, ghost is considered …

Answer 24

ominous; foreboding; bad

Question 25

(scene 1) Horatio: “A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye”: something caught in his …; he is …

Answer 25

mind’s eye; distracted by something

Question 26

(scene 1) Horatio sees ghost as sign of

Answer 26

something even worse

Question 27

(scene 1) Horatio asked 4 specific questions of ghost:

1. Can you …?
2. Is there any …?
3. Do you know what will happen to …, and can it be ….?
4. Do you have …?

Answer 27

speak; good deed I can do for you; your country (denmark); prevented; hidden treasures under the earth

Question 28

(scene 1) before cock crows, ghost was about to say something:

Answer 28

a story untold

Question 29

(scene 1) Marcellus’s words about Christmas indicate how

Answer 29

deeply religious Denmark is

Question 30

(scene 1) Horatio wants to tell …. of what they’ve seen → act of …; it’s a hard thing, indicating that Horatio is a …, …

Answer 30

Hamlet; duty; loyal; good friend

Question 31

(scene 2) scene 2 takes place at …., so events are …, …, and …

Answer 31

court; official; recorded; legit;

Question 32

(scene 2) Denmark’s idea of …. exhibited through court

Answer 32

hierarchy

Question 33

(scene 2) Claudius’s 1st …. since King Hamlet died, … moment

Answer 33

address to nation; difficult

Question 34

(scene 2) flourish:

Answer 34

trumpet intro

Question 35

(scene 2) green memory:

Answer 35

fresh, recent

Question 36

(scene 2) “Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature/ That we with wisest sorrow think on him/ Together with remembrance of ourselves.” Claudius is saying: best way to remember King Hamlet is to

Answer 36

think of King Claudius; instead of mourning, praise Claudius

Question 37

(scene 2) claudius: “Imperial jointress to this warlike state” reminding everyone that they are about to

Answer 37

go to war

Question 38

(scene 2) dirge

Answer 38

funeral song

Question 39

(scene 2) “As ‘twere with a defeated joy,/ With an auspicious and a dropping eye,/ With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage, In equal scale weighting delight and dole” Claudius presenting the

Answer 39

perfect contradiction of himself

Question 40

(scene 2) Prince F. thinks Denmark is vulnerable because

Answer 40

King Hamlet died

Question 41

(scene 2) Prince Fortinbras is asking Denmark to …

Answer 41

surrender the land they won from Norway

Question 42

(scene 2) King Claudius responds to Fortinbras’s request by …. to his … and …

Answer 42

writing; old; powerless uncle

Question 43

(scene 2) … and … sent with message

Answer 43

Voltemand; Cornelius

Question 44

(scene 2) Laertes wants to ask a question and King Claudius barely …, King Cl. is a …

Answer 44

lets him speak; bully

Question 45

(scene 2) Laertes wanted to go back to …, apparently came back for ….–> he is … as he is not mentioning …

Answer 45

France; King Claudius’s coronation; kissing up; King Hamlet

Question 46

(scene 2) Laertes is a

Answer 46

Francophile and sycophant

Question 47

(scene 2) Hamlet: shakespeare’s most …, smarter than … in which he was …

Answer 47

intelligent character; work; written

Question 48

(scene 2) aside: moment in which character says something

Answer 48

only audience can hear

Question 49

(scene 2) “cousin” (Cl. calls Ham. this): shorthand of …., just means …

Answer 49

people related to you; relative

Question 50

(scene 2) Hamlet: “A little more than kin and less than kind.” means

Answer 50

we might be related but we’re not the same type

Question 51

(scene 2) any act of aggression toward king was equal to .., could result in …., reason why Hamlet had to use ….

Answer 51

treason; hamlet’s death; underhanded insults

Question 52

(scene 2) royal colors of Denmark: … this is what … wears

Answer 52

scarlet & gold; King Claudius

Question 53

(scene 2) Gertrude wearing a version of a

Answer 53

wedding dress

Question 54

(scene 2) Hamlet is dressed head to toe in … → ….

Answer 54

black; mourning clothes

Question 55

(scene 2) Hamlet’s clothing makes him … from …

Answer 55

visually distinct; family

Question 56

(scene 2) Hamlet’s clothing: shows he’s the only one who’s …, everyone else is ….→might make Gertrude …., Cl. would be reminded that he ….

Answer 56

mourning; celebrating life without King Hamlet; guilty; shouldn’t be king

Question 57

(scene 2) Cl. says that Hamlet’s grief is …, …, and a ….

Answer 57

stupid; unmanly; fault against nature

Question 58

(scene 2) Cl. wants Hamlet to stay near so that he can …. so as to reign in ….

Answer 58

watch him; threat of Hamlet stealing back throne

Question 59

(scene 2) Hamlet’s existence is a threat to concept of

Answer 59

King Cl. as legitimate king

Question 60

(scene 2) “I shall in all my best obey you, madam” Hamlet only …. when he says he will obey

Answer 60

addresses his mother

Question 61

(scene 2) … are fired when kings drink

Answer 61

cannons

Question 62

(scene 2) Hamlet’s soliloquy: … on stage, speaking for …., moment when character can …. for audience; Hamlet says his body is …, …, he wants to ….

Answer 62

alone; long time; bare their soul; ruined; dirty; will himself to death