Hamlet 2:1

Question 1

what does Polonius ask Reynaldo to do?

Answer 1

• pretend to know Laertes but only a little (‘not well’ ‘in part him’)
• spread small rumours about L in order to be given (true) information by others

Question 2

‘As thus: ‘I know his father and…’

Answer 2

‘As thus: ‘I know his father and his friends, And in part him’.’ - Polonius to Reynaldo

Question 3

‘there put on him/What…’

Answer 3

‘there put on him/ What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank/ As may dishonour him’ - Polonius to Reynaldo
- come up with small rumours and spread them
- none so extreme as to dishonour him

Question 4

‘Ay, or drinking…’

Answer 4

‘Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling,/ Drabbing - you may go so far.’ - P to R
- examples of things Reynaldo could say, common ideas about students’ behaviour
- everything Ophelia can’t do
- ‘drabbing’ is visiting sex workers
- shows a very different attitude to sex when it comes to L than O (GENDER)

Question 5

‘My lord, that would…’

Answer 5

‘My lord, that would dishonour him.’ - R to P
- reynaldo has different ideas about what is dishonouring than Polonius (P is out of touch)

Question 6

‘You must not put…’

Answer 6

‘You must not put another scandal on him,/ That he is not open to incontinency’ - P to R
- draws the line between occasional and habitual behaviours

Question 7

‘But breathe his…’

Answer 7

‘But breathe his faults/ so quaintly/ That they may seem the taints of liberty’ - Polonius
- “casually mention them as if they were the minor indiscretions of youth”

Question 8

‘And I believe it…’

Answer 8

‘And I believe it is a fetch of warrant’ - Polonius
- justifiable plan (warranted)
- P has a need to know everything
- make sure he’s not staining the family name

Question 9

‘Your bait of…’

Answer 9

‘Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth’ - P
- tell small lies so people will share what they know about L’s behaviour
- cunning

Question 10

‘By indirections…’

Answer 10

‘By indirections find directions out’ - P

Question 11

courtly love

Answer 11

• unfulfilled love, cannot happen
• pining becomes madness (‘ecstasy of love’)

Question 12

‘I have been so…’

Answer 12

‘I have been so affrighted!’ - Ophelia
- reaction is to tell her father (a good girl)

Question 13

what does Ophelia say hamlet has done?

Answer 13

‘as I was sewing in my closet,/ Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac’d,/ No hat upon his head […] his knees knocking each other […] he comes before me’

Question 14

‘as I was sewing…’

Answer 14

‘as I was sewing in my closet’ - Ophelia
- “invitation only” space
- his presence is inappropriate, he is transgressing
- gone to find her (‘he comes before me’) - deliberate display of the antic disposition

Question 15

‘with his doublet…’

Answer 15

‘with his doublet all unbrac’d,/ No hat upon his head’ ‘stockings fouled,/ ungart’red and down-gyved’ - Ophelia
- a bit stereotypical, ‘antic disposition’
- his appearance makes him seem mad

Question 16

‘his knees knocking…’

Answer 16

‘his knees knocking each other’ - Ophelia about Hamlet

Question 17

‘And with a look so…’

Answer 17

‘And with a look so piteous in purport/ As if he had been loosed out of hell/ To speak of horrors’ - Ophelia
- “as if he had come from hell to talk of how horrible it is” - ghost link

Question 18

‘Mad for…’

Answer 18

‘Mad for thy love?’ - Polonius

Question 19

‘He took me by the…’
‘He falls to…’

Answer 19

‘He took me by the wrist, and held me hard’ - O
‘He falls to such perusal of my face/ As ‘a would draw it.’ - O
- inappropriate
- “he stared at my face as if he were going to draw it”

Question 20

‘He rais’d a sigh…’

Answer 20

‘He rais’d a sigh so piteous and profound/ As it did seem to shatter all his bulk/ And end his being’ - Ophelia
- he seems to trying to appear love-mad

Question 21

‘This is the very…’

Answer 21

‘This is the very ecstasy of love’ - Polonius

Question 22

‘What, have you given…’

Answer 22

‘What, have you given him any hard words of late?’ - P
- blames Ophelia

Question 23

‘as you did command…’

Answer 23

‘as you did command, I did repel his letters, and denied/ His access to me.’ - O
- ignored him as L and P said to
- love-sick as a consequence of rejection

Question 24

‘That hath…’

Answer 24

‘That hath made him mad.’ - P
- Ophelia ignoring Hamlet has made him crazy

Question 25

‘I am sorry that…’

Answer 25

‘I am sorry that with better heed and judgement/ I had not quoted him. I fear’d he did but trifle,/ And meant to wreck thee’ - P
- accepts responsibility
- he read Hamlet wrong

Question 26

‘it is as proper to our…’

Answer 26

‘it is as proper to our age/ To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions’ - P
- self-awareness