Flashcards
ACT 3 SCENE 1
Cards in this deck (5)
- 1Line 50-51 (Claudius' confession)Claudius - "(Aside) How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience!"
*This proves to the audience the fact that it was actually him that killed the King even before the mousetrap scene and that he is suffering from his actions mentally - paranoid.
*Helps the ghost to be taken more seriously as what was said was true. Audience will listen more intently the next time he comes up on stage. - 2Lines 56 + 60 + 64 + 66 (Hamlet's suicidal thoughts)Hamlet - "To be, or not to be - that is the question"
"To die, to sleep -"
"To die, to sleep -"
"That sleep of death"
*Hamlet is questioning whether to take his life and face the consequences that may face him in his 'death sleep'.
*The repetition of 'To die, to sleep-' demonstrates that he is haunted by these thoughts, using the dash at the end of the line to represent him pausing to ponder the choice that he is having to make. This portrays him as being confused and almost start to actually become mad as the tine of the speech is very secular and almost chant-like with the repetition of sleep and death.
*These feelings could be a result of having lost his father, indicating to the audience that his death has impacted enough for him to deliberate taking his own life. - 3Lines 75 - 76 (Ease of suicide)Hamlet - "When he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin?"
*In this line Hamlet is highlighting the irony in the fact that suicide is so easy compared to the hard work mentally and physically in people's everyday lives.
*Quietus - A legal term meaning the full payment of a debt OR the idea of peace and rest.
*The legal term could represent that Hamlet is intending to make Claudius pay for what he did to his father, which therefore would bring him peace. However it could also mean that the character of Hamlet is considering whether the only way he can have peace and rest is by killing himself.
*The alliteration used with the 'B' allows the character to spit out the words and demonstrate to the audience the anger that he feels towards Claudius or maybe even the irony of the ease of suicide. - 4Line 85 (Death imagery)Hamlet - "Sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought"
*The use of the adjective 'pale' can be insinuating death and ghosts. This demonstrates the fear that he feels towards taking his own life (makes him feel sick).
*He could be referencing himself thinking about how his father died, and how that is making him mad (Causing an illness). As being pale could also mean to be ill, which shows that this may be where Hamlet starts to realise that his madness is not just put on for show, but rather becoming an actual part of him. - 5Line 121 (Nunnery)Hamlet - "Get thee to a nunnery"
*He is expressing his pent up anger towards his mother's betrayal as she haas been unfaithful and incestuous when she married his uncle. He therefore tells Ophelia to go to a nunnery as he believes it is the best chance a woman has of being faithful and not sinning.
*He believes all women are deceitful (due to his mother's actions), showing how much they affected him and caused his madness to start.
*It also demonstrates self-guilt and loathing as he wants her to go to a nunnery so she can't breed someone like him (his guilt at the actions and thoughts he is having).
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- A level English (Hamlet) Flashcards on ACT 3 SCENE 1, created by Hannah Vivancos on 02/04/2018.
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- Hannah Vivancos
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