Hamlet Exam Terms

Allusion

An indirect or passing reference to an event, person, place, or artistic work

Aphorism

concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle

Apostrophe

speaker addresses either an absent person or a non-human object, idea, or being

Aside

a short speech from a character that is spoken directly to the audience

Deus ex machina

a plot device used when a seemingly unsolvable conflict or impossible problem is solved by the sudden appearance of an unexpected person, object, or event

Hyperbole

a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect

In media res

a literary technique where a story begins in the middle of the action

Metaphor

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles

Metonymy

a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it

Parallel structure

a writing technique where multiple phrases, clauses, or sentences within a piece of text have the same grammatical structure

Personification

a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Rhetorical question

a question posed by a writer or speaker not to elicit an actual answer

Simile

a figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as, than, or resembles

Soliloquy

when a character in a dramatic work speaks directly to the audience, expressing their inner thoughts

Symbols

something (often an object, event, character, or action) that is used to represent something else

Synecdoche

a literary device where a part of something is substituted for a whole, or a whole is substituted for a part

Themes

WHOLE SENTENCES that are central ideas or underlying messages explored in a literary work

Hamlet

• protagonist, son of the murdered King of Denmark

• told to get revenge and not harm mother by ghost of his father

• Pretends to be crazy to mask the meaning of his actions

• kills Claudius, Laertes, Polonius, and Rosencratz/Guildenstern

• Slow to action, which causes his demise

• Death by the poison on Laertes sword

Gertrude

• hamlet’s mother

• Queen of Denmark

• Marries her late husbands brother, Claudius

• killed by drinking the poison that was meant for Hamlet

Claudius

• Brother of the murdered King of Denmark

• Murdered him for the crown, power, and Gertrude

• Wont repent for his sins and give up what he gained

• Murdered by Hamlet

Ghost (King Hamlet)

• Murdered by Claudius

• Tells Hamlet to get revenge by killing Claudius, but not to harm Gertrude

Ophelia

• Hamlet’s lover, Polonius’ daughter, Laertes sister

• Refuses Hamlet’s advances bc Polonius told her too

• Goes crazy when she discovers her father’s death

• Commits suicide, but still gets a Christian burial

Polonius

• Father of Ophelia and Laertes

• Sneaky, talks a lot, pompous, tries to get more power by observing Hamlet for the king

• Murdered by Hamlet because he was spying on Hamlet and Gertrude, and Hamlet thought he was Claudius

Laertes

• Son of Polonius, and brother to Ophelia

• Goes away to Paris (Misses father’s death and Ophelia beginning to go crazy)

• Fast to action to get revenge for father’s murder

• Manipulated by Claudius to fight Hamlet

Horatio

• Hamlet’s best friend

• Supports hamlet and is his only confidant

• Only person left alive besides Fortinbras

Fortinbras

• FOIL to Hamlet

• Prince of Norway

• Trying to get revenge for the murder of his father and the stolen lands by the deceased King of Denmark

• Successful in revenge because he is quick to act

• Believes Hamlet would have made a good king

Marcellus

• guard for Denmark

• Sees ghost with the other guard and Horatio

• Says: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”

Rosencrantz/Guildenstern

• Two idiots that were childhood friends of Hamlet

• Betrayed Hamlet and spied on him for Claudius

• Too stupid so they don’t realize Hamlet’s fake madness

• Sent to their death by Hamlet’s forged letter