Monday September 20, 2010

First Hamlet vocabulary quiz today!
Handout of Hamlet vocabulary 2- quiz next Monday
see at end of blog for a copy, if you loose your handout.

Please keep up with the reading schedule. We might not be covering the assigned reading in class that day, but be prepared for a quick quiz on any day's reading. As well, make sure to post a note each day. You should have three posts as of this time- one for each day's assignment. Remember they are worth 10 points in towards this marking term's homework grade. No post= 0 for that day.

Today in class we are reviewing Act I.5; that's when Hamlet's father's ghosts asks him to seek revenge for Claudius having murdered him.

We are working on the following handout as pertains to the above. If you are absent, make sure you can comfortably define each of the following in terms of the Act I.v.
Define each of the following verbs, noting any positive or negative connotations. In Act I.v, it is the Ghost’s purpose to

corrupt ____________________________________________________________________
help ____________________________________________________________________
save _____________________________________________________________________
destroy _____________________________________________________________________
induct _____________________________________________________________________
seduce _____________________________________________________________________
empower ___________________________________________________________________
infect ____________________________________________________________________
tempt ____________________________________________________________________
enslave ____________________________________________________________________
inspire _____________________________________________________________________
transform ___________________________________________________________________
ensnare ___________________________________________________________________
invade ____________________________________________________________________
use ____________________________________________________________________
guide ___________________________________________________________________¬¬¬

…… his son.

Act III. scene i notes:
Queen Gertrude and King Claudius inquire of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern how their meeting with Hamlet went. They reply he was "most like a gentleman", didn't ask many questions but answered any they had.

Polonius then puts into play his plan for his daughter Ophelia to speak to Hamlet, whilst he and the king listen in, this being to ascertain if Hamlet's madness is really caused by his love for Ophelia.

Hamlet enters and we have his famous to be or not to be speech. Should he kill himself? What are the arguments for and against suicide?

Hamlet and Ophelia converse. She returns his "perfume-lost" love letters. Hamlet plays word games with her, questioning her honesty and telling her to "get thee to a nunnery" for he is "indifferent honest" and an "arrant knave." As he speaks harshly to Ophelia, but perhaps the words are really meant for his mother. He then says, That those that are married already / all but one, shall live"(III.i.160). On that note, he leaves.
Ophelia's very distraught over this noble mind o'er throwned. But the King realizes that love is not the root of Hamlet's madness."His affections do not tend that way." He determines to send the Prince to England., as "Madness in great ones must not unwatched go." Polonious still thinks Ophelia is the cause, but asks King Claudius to let the Queen privately speak with her son about her grief, before he is sent away.
Act III.ii.
Hamlet practices with players / actors and gives them new lines to insert into the play. Shakespeare has him give good advice to being a successful performer. These words hold true today. As well, he tells Horatio of his plans, that he is to "rivit" to the [King's] face." Horatio agrees to watch carefully.
The play: Hamlet makes bawdy allusions with Ophelia, and she notes that he is "merry".
In the play within the play: note that Hamlet tells the King the play is entitled "The Mousetrap." In"The Murder of Gonzago" the former king's death, Hamlet's father's murder, is reenacted. Claudius has a fit and the play is brought to a premature end.
Horatio too has noted the king's behavior and Guildenstern informs him of the king's choler (anger) and that the Queen wishes to speak with him. With both Guildenstern and Polonius, Hamlet plays more word games, augmenting the belief that he is truly mad. The scene ends with the "witching time of night" when Hamlet knows he is capable of action. But to his mother, he must "be cruel, not unnatual"; "speak daggers, but use none."

Act III.iii
The King tells Rosencrantz and Guidenstern to take Hamlet to England.
Polonius informs the King that Hamlet is with his mother. King Claudius' reflects on his actions. Hamlet observes him "a-praying" and so decides not to kill him, because that would mean the King would be forgiven in God's eyes. Remember his father is in Purgatory; how ironic if his murderer goes to heaven.
Act III.iv
Polonius hides behind the arras (curtain), whilst Hamlet converses with his mother. Hamlet kills Polonius. This is an intense scene. What do you think is the nature of the relationship between Hamlet and his mother? He is violent towards her, makes vivid comparisons between his father and her new husband, and overt sexual references. His father's ghost appears- or does it, as only Hamlet sees him- and chides him: "Do not forget. This visitation / Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose"(III.iv.126-7). In the meantime, Gertrude thinks he is crazy and asks him to "sprinkle cool patience". When the ghost leaves, Hamlet explains he "must be cruel to be kind." She should not "go to my uncle's bed"...for "a pair of reechy kisses." The scene concludes with her acquiesing to Hamlet's demands and Hamlet telling her that he is to England with "two school fellows / Whom [he] will trust as adders fanged". (Note that he refers to the "letters sealed" his friends carry. These are a mandate from Claudius to kill the Prince, but Hamlet is aware and relishes the idea "when in one line two crafts directly meet". First though he'll "lug the guts (that's Polonius) into the neighbor room."

Hamlet vocabulary 2
As with the previous, the assessment will be your simply defining the word.
1.To glean - to gather; to collect

2. sovereign (adj)- absolute; totally undisputed / n- king or monarch

3. satirical (adj) – sarcastic, biting, mocking

4. promontory- (noun)- a cliff high above water

5. rogue (noun)- a villain, fiend, scoundrel

6. firmament (noun) – the sky

7. pestilent – (adj)- deadly, likely to cause an epidemic

8. paragon –(noun)- perfect example, model, standard

9. quintessence –(noun)- ideal, essence, perfect model

10. to cleave (verb)- to split, also to adhere

11. malefactions (noun)- evil deeds

12. consummation (noun) completion; achievement

13. calamity (noun)- disaster, cause of great distress

14. contumely (noun)- insulting treatment

15. wantonness (noun)- immorality, extravagance

16. dejected –(adj)- depressed, disheartened

17. abominably –(adverb)- detestably; with hatred

18. to buffet (verb)- to hit or strike

19. clemency (noun)- leniency, mercy

20. to beguile (verb)- to deceive, to cheat

21. contagion (noun)- the cause of a disease

22. fetters (noun)- chains or shackles attached to the ankles

23. to compel- to force

24. mandate (noun)- a decree, an order, command

25. to whet- to sharpen