Act 1 Scene 5 Flashcards
Act 1 scene 5 summary
Ghost and Hamlet onstage alone
Ghost tells him to listen as only short amount of time- he was murdered by Claudius and explains the murder and how painful it was
Ghost criticises Gertrude for adultry and incest but tells Hamlet to leave her to heaven and her own conscience and disappears
Hamlets next soliloquy- he will avenge the death and vows to remember his father to the exclusion of other responsibilities or thoughts
Horatio and Marcellus catch up w him and tell him to say what happened. Hamlet asks then go swear they will never reveal anything he tells them and the ghost underneath the stage adds his voice to entreaty.
They do swear and hamlet takes them offstage to tell them what he heard
Religion act 1 scene 5
The ghost suggests he is from hell ‘sulphurous and tormenting flames’ because he died w out confessing- why can’t kill Claudius later
Revenge act 1 scene 5
The ghosts command to Hamlet requires him to seek justice or vengeance
‘Howoever thou pursuest this act’
- but the difference between them is a source of debate for the audience- is Hamlet right to take the path that he does to serve justice, or is he just seeking vengeance
Father and son relationships
Act 1 scene 5
The ghost commands Hamlet as his father and insists he needs to remember him in an appropriate way
Contrast this with Claudius’ suggestion that Hamlet’s earlier grief is ‘unmanly’ continuing too long and too intensely and with the difficult authoritative relationship between Polonius and Laertes
Appearance vs reality
Act 1 scene 5
As Hamlet realises the depth of Claudius’ deception
Form structure and language Act 1 scene 5
Ghost first words
‘Mark me’ highlighting theme of filial (father and son) duty and responsibility as ghost commands Hamlet and continues through the scene to insist that he avenge the kings murder
Form structure and language
Act 1 scene 5
Sexual insultss
The ghost adds to the accusations of Gertrude and Claudius’ infest
‘Lusty and damned incest’
Gertrude is lowering herself to be with Claudius
‘Praying on garbage’
Form structure and language
Act 1 scene 5
Staging
The ghost speaks beneath the stage ‘swear’
This could if done badly be funny rather than scary
In modern versions it’s often an eerie voice on the theatre sound system
In Globe - he is ‘beneath’ a specific stage direction. He is probably under the trapdoor and can be heard by the audience
Form structure and language
Act 1 scene 5
End of act
5 act structure
Initial set up complete.
Exposition is done now to rising action
Met characters and conflict established
Ends on rhyming couplet
‘O cursed spite
I was born to set it right’
Context in Act 1 scene 5
Religion- the ghost implies he’s coming from Hell or Purgatory because he could not confess before he died
Key quotes
Act 1 scene 5
‘Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder’
‘The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
Now wears his crown’
‘That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
At least I’m sure it may be so in Denmark’
‘List, list, O, list!
If thou didn’t ever thy dear father love—
…Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder
Emotive - hamlets duty to avenge him - along with a little emotional blackmail suggesting if he doesn’t avenge him - he never loved him.
Exclamative repetition
‘The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
Now wears his crown’
Calling Claudius a serpent has connotations of evil, drawing on biblical images and the sibilant ‘sting’ reinforces this.
The final line is dramatic in its shortness
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
At least I’m sure it may be so in Denmark
The difference between appearance and reality is raised again- the plays theme of sight, and the unreliable nature of appearances is important in Claudius’ deception of the court
'Adulterate beast' 'Wicked' 'Falling off was there' 'For me whose love was not dignity' 'Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor' 'Prey on garbage' 'Of life of crown of Queen' 'Leave her to heaven' 'To prick and sting her'
- Ghost to Hamlet
Emotive insults of Claudius ‘adulterous beast’ show his evil nature
The old king does not suggest that she has been previously adulterous or complicit in the murder
The ‘falling off’ suggests Queen has fallen morally as well as stopped to a lower level then she deserved. He genuinely loved her
Gertrude is linked to purity ‘radiant angel’ but even angels fall
‘Of life of crown of queen’ suggests order in importance - feminist interpretation
King urges hamlet not to ‘taint’ his mind against his mother. The caesura emphasises the instruction ‘leave her to heaven’ and her conscience to ‘prick and sting’, the vicious verbs emphasising how she should feel
Old king believes she is moral unlike Hamlet
