Hamlet

Question 1

what is the first line of the play

Answer 1

BARNARDO: “Who’s there”
note: the importance of beginning the play with “who” rather than something like “what”, sets the intention of the play.

Question 2

Atmosphere in the first scene, when they know the ghost is abroad at night

Answer 2

“tis bitter cold / And I am sick at heart”

Question 3

first mention of Hamlet (play’s protagonist)

Answer 3

after they’ve seen the ghost
“Let us impart what we have seen tonight / Unto young Hamlet”
he is called young hamlet, but there are mentions of hamlet the king which are references to his father

Question 4

Claudius’ first line

Answer 4

“though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death the memory be green”

Question 5

“our sometime ______ , now our _____ “ - Claudius talking about Gertrude.

Answer 5

sister, queen

Question 6

“With ____ in funeral and with ____ in marriage, / In equal scale weighing ______ and ____” - Claudius talking about Gertrude. What is the technique?

Answer 6

mirth, dirge, delight, dole.
The predicate of this sentence is separated from the subject by a lengthy parenthesis as the king builds to the climax of this point.

Question 7

LAERTES first line:

Answer 7

“My dread lord”
This is said to Claudius.
“dread” meaning respected, feared.

Question 8

HAMLET first line:

Answer 8

“A little more than kin, and less than kind.”
Said to Claudius, note “kind” meaning natural.

Question 9

The “____ still hang” on Hamlet

Answer 9

“clouds”. His mother and Claudius, are urging him to stop lamenting his father’s death.

Question 10

In Hamlet’s first key speech, “not alone”, the speech starts with “seems”.

Answer 10

“seems”
“nay its, I know not ‘seems’”
RHETORICAL DEVICE: Syndeton.
“not alone” and the subsequent lost of four parallel items with “nor”.