Hamlet 1:4

Question 1

‘The King doth wake to-night…’

Answer 1

‘The King doth wake to-night and takes his rouse,/ Keeps wassail, and the swagg’ring up-spring reels’ - H
- loud and drunken behaviour
- wassail is a traditional toast
- reel is an energetic group dance

Question 2

‘But to my mind, though I am…’

Answer 2

‘But to my mind, though I am native here/ And to the manner born, it is a custom/ More honour’d in the breach than the/ observance.’ - H
- shows more honour to break the custom of drinking

Question 3

‘They clepe us..’

Answer 3

‘They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase/ Soil our addition’ - H
- call them drunkards, soil their reputation
- ‘they’ refers to other nations

Question 4

how is Denmark written?

Answer 4

like a tragic hero, a living organism

Question 5

‘for some vicious…’
‘o’ergrowth…’

Answer 5

‘for some vicious mole of nature’ - H
‘o’ergrowth of some complexion’ - H
- the Danish court

Question 6

‘Carrying, I say…’

Answer 6

‘Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect’ - H

Question 7

‘The dram of eale…’

Answer 7

‘The dram of eale/ Doth all the noble substance of a doubt/ To his own scandal.’ - H
- takes only a little bad to ruin a reputation
- whole thing is corrupted

Question 8

‘Angels and…’

Answer 8

‘Angels and ministers of grace defend us!’ - H
- reaction to his father’s ghost
- looks to religion (lives in a catholic world)
- appropriate reaction (objective correlation - T.S Elliot)
- disbelief, fear, shock, emotions - thrown in at the deep end

Question 9

‘Be thou a spirit…’

Answer 9

‘Be thou a spirit of health of goblin damn’d,/ Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,/ Be thy intents wicked or charitable’ - Hamlet
- reaction his father’s ghost
- questioning whether the spirit is good or not (if it is from hell, it is hard to trust what it says)
- illusion

Question 10

religious context of Hamlet

Answer 10

• catholic environment
• Hamlet appears to hold some protestant values from Shakespeare’s time

Question 11

‘So horridly to shake our…’

Answer 11

‘So horridly to shake our disposition/ With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?/ Say, why is this? wherefore? What should we do?’ - Hamlet

Question 12

‘It beckons you to…’

Answer 12

‘It beckons to you to go away with it,/ As if it some impartment did desire/ To you alone.’ - H

Question 13

‘Something is rotten…’

Answer 13

‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.’ - Marcellus