Hamlet for IB Lit & Lang Paper 2

to be or not to be -ham the man

Author

idk

Plot: Prince Hamlet of __________ seeks revenge after the ghost of his late _________ reveals that he was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle, ________, who has taken the throne and even married Hamlet’s _______. Hamlet delays ________ as he questions morality, truth, and existence as a whole, leading to a chain of deception, _________ (real/feigned), and a tragic ending involving the death of major figures.

Denmark, father, Claudius, mother, action, madness

Name the character: Intellectual, indecisive, philosophical; struggles with revenge, morality, existence; represents internal conflict and complexity of action vs inaction 

Ham the man

Name the character: king + antagonist; manipulative, guilt-ridden; represents corruption, power, moral decay

Claudius

Name the character: Hamlet’s mother; passive, loyal to Claudius and indifferent towards former spouse; represents moral ambiguity, complicity

Gertrude

Name the character: innocent, obedient; driven to madness by loss and control from others; represents fragility + impact of patriarchy

Ophelia

Name the character: Ophelia’s father; advisor; controlling, verbose; represents deception and surveillance

Polonius

Name the character: foil to Halmlet; impulsive/action-driven; represents revenge without hesitation

Laertes

Name the character: loyal friend to Hamlet; rational + stable; represents reason and truth

Horatio

Name the character: takes the throne of Denmark after the tragic events of the play’s closing scenes

Prince Fortinbras of Norway

Themes (name 7)

Revenge/justice, appearance vs reality, madness (real vs feigned), mortality, existence, corruption/decay, action vs inaction

Core techniques (name 6)

Soliloquies (provide deep insight into Hamlet’s thoughts), dramatic irony, symbolism, foils (Hamlet vs Laertes, Hamlet vs Fortinbras), imagery, meta? (play within a play)

What does Yorick’s skull symbolize?

Mortality, inevitability of death, equality in death

What does the ghost symbolize?

Rrevenge, uncertainty, illusion vs reality

What does the play, “The Mousetrap,” symbolize?

Revelation of truth, illusion/appearance vs reality

What do the flowers that Ophelia hand out symbolize?

Innocence, madness, hidden meanings

What does disease/decay symbolize?

Corruption in Denmark (“something is rotten”)

Historical context: Written around _____ during the _____________ era, the play reflects Renaissance ___________ (focus on individual thought) and anxieties about monarchy, succession, and morality. Beliefs about ghosts, the afterlife, and ________ tragedies were common in Elizabethan theater. The play also reflects tensions between medieval ________ beliefs and emerging _________.

1600, Elizabethan, humanism, revenge, religious, skepticism

Key quotes

“To be or not to be--that is the question” -Hamlet

• Act 3, scene 1

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” -Marcellus

• Act 1, scene 4

“[...] the play’s the thing / Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king” -Hamlet

• Act 2, scene 2

“Frailty, the name is woman!” -Hamlet

• Act 1, scene 1

“Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio” -Hamlet

• Act 5, scene 1

“[...] there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so: to me is is a prison” -Hamlet

• Act 2, scene 2

What types of prompts fit this piece?

• Revenge

• Internal conflict

• Madness/descent into madness

• Power/corruption

• Appearance vs reality

• Mortality/death

• Morality/ambiguity

• Action vs inaction

Which other pieces studied could be paired and how?

• Frankenstein (ambition, consequences, internal conflict)

• The Metamorphosis (isolation, existential struggle)