I am reading Hamlet in my English class, and we are breaking it up by acts. If someone could help me understand what is going on in each act that would be great. I will be reading the third act this week.
Thank you
Rachael, go here:
[www.sparknotes.com] />
Les
Raechel,
One trick is to write down summaries- scene by scene,or act by act.(practice gets you better at this) Try to predict 'what happens next.' Then note if that's what happened.
Also, read it out loud- even to yourself. The words flow better and make more sense when spoken. If you can get a classmate or two to help out, that works well- people can take on different parts.
pam
Here it is in McWhirtle form by Jan Hodge (posted without permission, but I cannot imagine he would object):
Prince Hamlet's uneasy;
he's met with a spectre
that told him his father
was wickedly slain.
Now duty demands a
retaliatory
dispatch of the villain
to cancel the stain.
But murder his uncle?
He's married his mother-
is Denmark's new king. What
a spot to be in!
He sits here, head hanging,
deliberatively
deploring his plight and
adrift in chagrin.
He well understands his
precarious footing-
his need to proceed as
forbearance admits,
and mocking a manic
personification,
plays games of intrigue with
a couple of twits.
Some actors appearing,
he seizes the chance to
pursue his objective
by using their play,
adapting the script and
theatricalizing
the murder to catch out
his uncle. Touché!
The king, feeling guilty,
asks God for forgiveness,
but vainly-though Hamlet,
observing him there,
in spite of his clearly
incriminatory
behavior refuses
to slay him at prayer.
Yet chastising mama,
he haply discovers
Polonius spying-
a nasty surprise-
and recklessly stabs him.
(Expostulatory
intruders do sometimes
invite such demise.)
Laertes returns to
avenge his dead father
and finds his dear sister
half out of her mind,
her life in all senses
deteriorating:
her father's been killed and
her lover's unkind.
Laertes spots Hamlet
and they exchange words at
the grave of Ophelia
(who drowned in a brook),
though he and the king have
collaboratively
made plans to kill Hamlet
by hook or by crook:
a challenge to swordplay,
a poisoned épée and
a death-dealing draught to
make sure of the deed.
(We have here a perfect
exemplification
of amoral statecraft
made lawful by need.)
The fencers each suffer
a wound that proves mortal,
the queen drains the chalice,
the king gets his due-
a terrible price for
ameliorating
that rottenness which had
made Denmark a slough.
With Claudius, Gertrude,
Laertes, and Hamlet
all dead in this rush of
coagulate gore,
the state must effect the
legitimitizing
of Fortinbras, named to
bring order once more.
Nice summary.
For an overall encapsulation, not detailing different Acts, there's this one by Stanley J Sharpless:
Prince Hamlet though Uncle a traitor
For having it off with his Mater;
Revenge Dad or not?
That's the gist of the plot,
And he did - nine soliloquies later.