Andrew Schwefler
Period 2
2/8/17
Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark
For each character, cite quotes and other evidence (commentary ok too) of their motives and intrigues. Whats REALLY
going on with these people? What are the possibilities? Quote chosen (Act, Scene, Line #s) eg: Hamlet: No (III, i, 96)
Act Hamlet
Act I Haste me to know't, that I,
with wings as swift As
meditation or the thoughts
of love, May sweep to my
revenge. (I, v, 35-37)
I shall in all my best obey
you, madam. (I, ii, 124)
Hamlet has returned to
college to find out that his
uncle had married his
mother. He is not very
happy about this and will
not listen to his uncle, but
will still listen and obey his
mom. Near the end of Act I,
he finds out that Claudius
was the murderer of his
father, and plans to get
revenge on him
Claudius
But you must know your
father lost a father, That
father lost, lost his, and the
survivor bound In filial
obligation for some term To
do obsequious sorrow. But
to persever In obstinate
condolement is a course Of
impious stubbornness. Tis
unmanly grief. It shows a
will most incorrect to
heaven (I, ii, 93-99)
We pray to you, throw to
the earth this unprevailing
woe and think of us as of a
father; for let the world take
note, you are the most
immediate to the throne (I,
ii, 110-113)
Claudius is now the King of
Denmark. Hamlet is still sad
about the death of his
father, and Claudius tells
him to get over it., but yet
tells him that he is next in
Gertrude Polonius
Good Hamlet, cast thy Look thou character. Give
nighted color off, And let thy thoughts no tongue, Nor
thine eye look like a friend any unproportioned thought
on Denmark. Do not forever his act. Be thou familiar, but
with thy vaild lids Seek for by no means vulgar. Those
thy noble father in the dust. friends thou hast, and their
Thou knowst tis common; adoption tried, Grapple
all that lives must die, them unto thy soul with
Passing through nature to hoops of steel, But do not
eternity. (I, ii, 70-75) dull thy palm with
entertainment Of each new-
Let not thy mother lose her hatched, unfledged
prayers, Hamlet. I pray courage. Beware Of
thee, stay with us. Go not to entrance to a quarrel, but,
Wittenberg. (I, ii, 122-123) being in, Bear t that th
opposd may beware of
Hamlets mother, Gertrude, thee. Give every man thy
is telling Hamlet to be nice ear, but few thy voice. Take
to her new husband and to each mans censure, but
stop grieving about his dead reserve thy judgment.
father. She says that death Costly thy habit as thy purse
is a part of life and it was his can buy, But not expressed
fathers time to go. Gertrude in fancy (rich, not gaudy)
is also asking him to stay (I,iii, 65-78)
with her and the King. She
is on the Kings side, but Poloniuss son, Laertes, is
also still cares for her son. leaving for college. He tells

Act II Ill have these players
Play something like the
murder of my father
Before mine uncle. Ill
observe his looks;
Ill tent him to the quick. If
he do blench,
I know my course. The
spirit that I have seen
May be a devil, and the
devil hath power
T assume a pleasing
shape; yea, and perhaps,
Out of my weakness and
my melancholy,
As he is very potent with
such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me. Ill
have grounds
More relative than this. The
plays the thing
Wherein Ill catch the
conscience of the King. (II,
ii, 623-634)
In Act II, Hamlets starts to
pretend he has gone mad
line for the throne. Claudius
is being somewhat mean
and rude to Hamlet by
telling him to get over the
recent death of his father,
but trying to win Hamlets
trust by saying he is next in
line for the throne.
Something have you heard
Of Hamlets transformation,
so call it, Sith nor th exterior
nor the inward man
Resembles that it was.
What it should be,
More than his fathers
death, that thus hath put
him So much from th
understanding of himself
I cannot dream of. I entreat
you both That, being of so
young days brought up with
him And sith so neighbored
to his youth and havior (II,
ii, 4-12)
With Hamlet starting to act
crazy, Claudius is now
knows something's not right
and wants to get to the
bottom of it. To find out why
Hamlet is acting so strange,
he sends Hamlets friends,
Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern, to spy on him
Claudius wants to know if
She wants her son and the
new man she loves to get
along.
Greturde is now worried for
her son for he is starting to
act crazy. Hamlet is starting
to act insane, and his
actions are beginning to
worry and alarm her. If she
knows the truth about the
death of her husband or
was involved in the killing of
him, she may be nervous
about Hamlet finding out the
truth.
his son to be on his best
behavior while he is away at
college. Polonius wants his
son to stay out of trouble
and not ruin their family
reputation.
Madam, I swear I use no
art at all.That hes mad, tis
true; tis true tis pity, And
pity tis tis truea foolish
figure, But farewell it, for I
will use no art. Mad let us
grant him then, and now
remains That we find out the
cause of this effect,
Or, rather say, the cause of
this defect, For this effect
defective comes by cause.
Thus it remains, and the
remainder thus. (II,ii, 104-
112)
She took the fruits of my
advice; And he, repelleda
short tale to make Fell
into a sadness, then into a
fast,
Thence to a watch, thence
into a weakness, Thence to
a lightness, and, by this
declension, into the
madness wherein now he
raves And all we mourn for.
 so people will not be
suspicious of him. He
needs to know if Claudius
is the actual murderer of
his father. To find out if
Claudius is the murder of
his father, Hamlet sets up a
fake play that would be
very similar to how
Claudius killed his father.
Based off of how CLaudius
reacts, Hamlet will know
the truth.
Act III Thou wretched, rash,
intruding fool, farewell.
I took thee for thy better.
Take thy fortune. (III, iv,
32-33)
Hamlet now knows for sure
that Claudius killed his
father, King Hamlet. He
found out that Claudius
was the killer based off of
his reactions from the play
within the play. Hamlet then
begins getting revenge for
his father by attempting to
kill Claudius. He attempts
to kill Claudius by stabbing
the curtain in scene 4, but
ends up being Polonius. He
thought Polonius was
Claudius spying on him.
Hamlet knows about the
murder of King Hamlet.
I like him not, nor stands it
safe with us To let his
madness range. Therefore
prepare you. I your
commission will forthwith
dispatch, And he to England
shall along with you. The
terms of our estate may not
endure Hazard so dangerous
as doth hourly grow Out of
his lunacies. (III, iii, 1-7)
Claudius now knows that
Hamlet is on to him due to
the play, so he needs to get
Hamlet out of the picture so
the truth does not get
revealed. He convinces
everyone to send Hamlet off
to England, but Claudius
plans to have Hamlet killed
on his journey there.
What wilt thou do? Thou
wilt not murder me?
Help, help, ho! (III, iv, 26-
27)
Gertrude is still very worried
about Hamlet and the state
he he is. She is starting to
be afraid of him and thought
that he was going to kill her.
You cannot call it love, for
at your age The heyday in
the blood is tame, its
humble, And waits upon the
judgment. And what
judgment Would step from
this to this? (III, iv, 78-81)
(II, ii, 136-142)
Polonius helps Gertrude
find the reason why Hamlet
is starting to go mad. He
believes that Ophelia is the
source for Hamlets
craziness. Polonius told
Ophelia to stay awake from
Hamlet, which made go into
a serious state of sorrow.
Behind the arras Ill convey
myself To hear the process.
Ill warrant shell tax him
home. And, as you said (and
wisely was it said) 'Tis meet
that some more audience
than a mother Since nature
makes them partialshould
o'er hear The speech, of
vantage. Fare you well, my
liege. Ill call upon you ere
you go to bed And tell you
what I know. (III, iii, 29-36)
Polonius plans to hide
behind the curtains and
listen in on the conversation
between Hamlet and
Gertrude. He plans to learn
all about Hamlets motives
and actions. However, his
actions like this lead to his

Act IV Hamlet has been sent to
England to his death,
however escapes when
pirates attacked his ship.
He is now going back to
Denmark to finish his plan
on avenging his father by
killing Claudius. In this act,
I would say that Hamlet is
no longer pretending to go
insane because he is
actually going insane.
death for when Hamlet
thinks that he is Claudius
and stabs him through the
curtain.
Laertes, I must commune Gertrude still loves her son Rest in Pepperoni
with your grief, Or you deny and is still worried about the Never Forgeteroni
me right. Go but apart, state he is in, but she is
Make choice of whom your starting to be afraid of him
wisest friends you will, And for what she witnessed in
they shall hear and judge Act III. Gertrude is also
twixt you and me. If by playing both sides. She is
direct or by collateral hand on Claudiuss side and
They find us touched, we Hamlets side.
will our kingdom give, Our
crown, our life, and all that
we call ours, To you in
satisfaction; but if not, Be
you content to lend your
patience to us,
And we shall jointly labor
with your soul To give it due
content. (IV, v, 226-236)
Laertes comes to Claudius
after hearing about the
death of his father. He
thinks Claudius killed him
and now wants revenge.
However, Claudius tells him
that Hamlet killed Polonius
and the two join forces.
Claudius and Laertes come
up with a plan to kill Hamlet.
Laertes gets revenge and
Claudius gets rid of a threat.
Act V Here, thou incestuous,
Drink off this potion. Is
murdrous, damnd Dane, and he will get away with it.
thy union here? Follow my
mother. (V, ii, 356-358)
Hamlet finally gets
revenge for his father by
killing Claudius, but also
dies in the process. By Act
V, Hamlet has gone
completely mad and is no
longer pretending. He
forces Claudius to drink the
poison and completes his
goal on getting revenge for
his father.
Analysis Hamlet did complete his
main goal of killings his
fathers murderer, but went
crazy in the process and
caused a horrible chain of
events when he killed
Polonius.
Claudius thinks that his plan
of killing Hamlet will work
Hamlet. When watching the
During the duel, he tells his
wife that their son will win.
She then goes to drink the
poison wine. This is where
his plan begins to fall apart.
In the end he does succeed
in killing Hamlet, but he too
dies with him.
Claudius murdered his own
brother to get his wife and
the throne. He would
persuade people to trust
him, like he tried to do to
Hamlet and what he
succeed to do to Laertes.
He wanted to kill Hamlet for
he feared he would ruin
everything that he has
done. In the end, he failed
and was killed by Hamlet.
Gertrude drinks the poison Rest in Spaghetti
wine that was meant for Never Forgetti
duel, she lifts up Hamlets
wine glass. Claudius tells
her not to drink the wine,
but she does not listen to
him and ends up dying. It is
unclear if this act was
intentional or just by
accident. She could have
drank the wine in order to
save her son or she drank
the wine because she was
thirsty.
Gertrude was a good Claudius wanted to uphold
mother who loved her son, his familys reputation and
but also had feelings for her try to gain power. He would
husband. Most of the time, spy on Hamlet to learn
she was on Hamlets side about his actions and
and worried for him when motives, which got him
he started to act insane. killed in the end.