Hamlet's best friend who is a student and attends Wittenberg
"Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen"
Claudius acknowledging that he married his dead brother's wife
Polonius
Aide to King Claudius
"Cast the nighted color off, and let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark."
Gertrude speaking to Hamlet telling him to stop looking at her like he hates her.
Laertes
son of Polonius who wishes to return to France for college
"Frailty thy name is woman!"
Hamlet, talking about his mother Gertrude
"I pray you all, if you have hitherto conceal'd this sight, let it be tenable in your silence still."
Hamlet speaking to Horatio and the guards about seeing the Ghost
Fortinbras
Prince of Norway, looking to avenge the death of his father and reclaim land from Denmark.
"The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown"
"the 'snake' that killed me is Claudius" Ghost
"Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, with juice of cursed hebona in a vial, and in the porches of my ears did pour the leprous distillment"
The Ghost to Hamlet, "Claudius killed me by pouring poison in my ears"
Gertrude
The Queen of Denmark, mother of Hamlet and wife of Claudius
Ophelia
Polonius' daughter who is in love with Hamlet even though his royal position would prevent their marriage.
"This above all: To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man"
Prior to leaving for France, the most important advice Laertes receives from Polonius.
Claudius
King of Denmark, Uncle to Hamlet, brother of the former king
Hamlet
Prince of Denmark, recently returned from school in Wittenberg
How long did Gertrude wait before she remarried?
2 months
The Ghost
Appears to Hamlet and tells how the former king died.
Denmark
Setting of the play
Norway
The country that lost to King Hamlet Sr.
Wittenberg, Germany
Where Hamlet attends college
France
Where Laertes wants to return to
Blank Verse
Upper-class language in poetic form
Prose
lower-class language in normal speech form
Is this blank verse or prose?
HAMLET
No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him thither with
modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it: as
thus: Alexander died, Alexander was buried,
Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth; of
earth we make loam; and why of that loam, whereto he
was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel?
Imperious Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away:
O, that that earth, which kept the world in awe,
Should patch a wall to expel the winter flaw!
But soft! but soft! aside: here comes the king.
Prose
- uses normal language
- normal punctuation
Hamlet is speaking it, so it may signal madness
Is this blank verse or prose?
LAERTES
Lay her i' the earth:
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest,
A ministering angel shall my sister be,
When thou liest howling.
Blank Verse
Blank Verse
-starts with capital letters om each new line
- deep thought, reflective
- expresses emotion
Soliloquy
a long speech spoken by a signal character, typically alone on stage.
Monlogue
a long speech given by a character, usually other characters are present
Is this blank verse or prose:
BERNARDO
Last night of all,
When yond same star that's westward from the pole
Had made his course to illume that part of heaven
Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself,
The bell then beating one,--
Blank Verse
-starts with capital letters om each new line
- deep thought, reflective
Pun
A play on words that sound alike or have similar meaning
Updated: Apr 29, 2023
Cite this page
The Tragic Hero's Downfall: Polonius' Fear for the Family Name. (2018, Jan 09). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/hamlet-act-i-3-essay
