So much to get caught up on!
First: Hamlet vs. Polonius — How many references to sex are there in this repartee?
Second: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern — What is this beautiful passage doing here? What is Hamlet’s problem?
“What a piece of work is a man” as seen in modern films.
Third: The players — How does this scene add to (and complicate) the drama that is Hamlet?
Fourth: What is happening in Hamlet’s head? Do choral reading of the “rogue and peasant slave” speech.
On to Act III! “To Be or Not to Be”!!!
Does anyone on stage hear Hamlet’s soliloquy “To be or not to be”? How might that change the scene?
One more: Paapa Essiedu
The nunnery scene (if there is time)! Explain your staging decisions, including setting (time and place), spying elements (who is spying, and where are they?), tone (when/does Hamlet realize he’s being spied upon?), and movement (Hamlet and Ophelia’s actions). What do you think about the use of the pronouns “thee” and “you”?
H/W: Finish reading Act 3. Answer the following questions about “The Mousetrap”:
1. In 3.2.72 (depending on your edition), we find out that Hamlet has, indeed, told Horatio “the secret” about his father’s death. Keep in mind, however, that absolutely no one else has the least reason to suppose that the king died of anything but natural causes. How might the audience, then, interpret the play?
2. In the section before the skit, as well as in the section after it, Hamlet utters several lines that might make it seem that he is angry about not having an inheritance. Find one and explain it.
3. How should Hamlet and Ophelia act together? How would the queen, king, and Polonius interpret Hamlet’s words to her?
4. In line 128, the phrase “miching mallecho” literally means “hidden evil.” To what could this allude (remembering the monologue of the First Player when Hamlet hatched the Mousetrap plot)?
5. In lines 142-147, if you do the math, you can figure out how many years King Hamlet and Gertrude were married. So, what is the answer?
6. What is wormwood? Why does Hamlet utter this word?
7. In lines 223-248, Hamlet explains the plot of the play. What is different about the play as opposed to the actual murder? How might Claudius interpret this?
8. Which “16 lines” are the ones that Hamlet added, do you think?
9. What exactly is Claudius’s reaction to the skit?
10. After the play, Hamlet asks Horatio whether he thinks the trap worked: Was Claudius’s reaction enough to prove guilt? Look at Horatio’s answers. Does he think it was enough?
11. How does Hamlet’s speech change in lines 312 and 313?