Hamlet

Question:

Answers:

1. 
   bmadnick Teacher
   High School - 11th Grade

   This is the play that Hamlet asks the traveling troupe of actors to perform. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have asked the troupe to perform at the castle, and Hamlet is delighted when he discovers they are coming. Hamlet adds some lines to the play to be spoken by the actors. "The Murder of Gonzago" mirrors the events that have occurred in Denmark. It's about a king who is poisoned by another man, but before the king dies, he talks with his wife about love, death, and remarriage. This is where Hamlet has asked the actors to add lines in the play to reflect what Hamlet feels is his mother's betrayal to his father. In the play, the queen promises to never remarry, especially someone who murders her husband, but the king says she will forget her promise once he is gone. Claudius takes offense at the play, and when they get to the point where the king is poisoned, Claudius gets up and leaves. Hamlet feels he has proven that Claudius killed his father.

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/hamlet

   Rate answer:

    

   • Flag as inappropriate

   Posted by bmadnick on Sunday July 6, 2008 at 4:30 PM
   
   

2. 
   kctallman Teacher
   High School - 11th Grade

   This is the play within a play.  Hamlet asks the traveling actors to put on a play that is similar to the circumstances of his father's death.  Hamlet also inserts lines into the original play to sharpen the focus on King Hamlet's death.  Hamlet and Horatio carefully watch King Claudius for any signs of recognition or guilt which Claudius does provide.  This is the proof that Hamlet needs to determine that the ghost is an honest ghost and that Claudius did kill King Hamlet.

   Rate answer:

    

   • Flag as inappropriate

   Posted by kctallman on Thursday August 14, 2008 at 9:24 AM
   
   

You can now ask questions directly from Facebook, add the Ask a Teacher App from eNotes!