The Sonnets

The Sonnets a lyric poem that highlights a particular emotion or feeling in poetic form

Ø The form was developed during the Renaissance in Italy, the most famous writer was Petrarch who wrote a love story through his poetry.
Ø The sonnet was brought to England by Surrey and Wyatt.
Ø Although it suited Italian well, the form had to be altered to properly fit the English language.
Ø One adaptation, among many, was the Shakespearian Sonnet (also known as the English Sonnet).

Formula:
Ø 14 lines with 140 syllables
Ø three Quatrains and one couplet
Ø Unlike Shakespeare’s plays which primarily use blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter), the sonnets use a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG (referring to the end sound of each line).
Ø the first octave (ABABCDCD) lays out a situation or poses a problem
Ø Between the second and third quatrain is a shift of ideas called a volta. (line 9)
Ø the sestet (EFEFGG) resolves the situation
Ø Between the third quatrain and the couplet is a turn from building the case to the conclusion summarized in the last two lines which either summarize or provide a surprise ending.

Iambic pentameter:

Iambic means that the stress is on the second syllable (good-bye)
Pentameter means that each line has five feet (clusters of two syllables)

Ex: Away and mock the time with fair est show;
False face must hide what the false heart doth know.

The Story of Shakespeare’s Sonnets:
Shakespeare’s sonnets tell a story of an author. Most of his poems speak to a handsome young lord (1-126), but the last several are about the poet’s mistress (127-154), who also seems to have become the young lord’s mistress. Though they deal with events that may have happened, there is no conclusive evidence that the sonnets are autobiographical.

The series begins with poems that encourage the lord to settle down and have children so that his beauty will live beyond his years. Many praise the young man and show love and adoration for him – the love of true friendship, not of a sexual nature.

The story then turns when the lord steals the poet’s mistress, or she seduces him. The poet does contend for her, but in the end acquiesces to the lord. Another problem arises when the young man becomes the patron of a rival poet. However, in the end, they reconcile.

Shakespeare concludes with sonnets of his mistress, known as the “dark lady” which means that she was not one of the fair women viewed as the epitome of beauty.

Hamlet Introduction

Hamlet was written around the year 1600, towards the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Being the “Virgin Queen,” many were concerned about the shift in power when she died; as the only rightful heir to the throne was King James VI of Scotland. He was the daughter of Mary, Queen of Scots, and represented a different political faction which went against much of what Elizabeth had established. Thus, much of Shakespeare’s work around this time centered on the concept of the problems that came with the loss of a monarch including uncertainties, betrayals and upheavals.

This play is one of the most hotly discussed pieces in all of literature when it comes to how it ought to be interpreted. But, due to intentional fallacy (the concept that because Shakespeare is dead we cannot actually learn his true intentions), we as readers are left to discuss. This is probably why the play still holds so much power today as people continue to discuss and argue what should be seen within it.

So, what’s the problem? Hamlet is a revenge play, which means that one character is driven to avenge the death of another. In this case, the play begins soon after the death of Hamlet – a greatly beloved king of Denmark and his brother, rather than his son has become the new king. Young Hamlet (our hero) is asked early on to destroy his father’s murderer, but he delays throughout the play. Most of the discussions on the play focus on just that, Hamlet’s procrastination in this area. Other characters: Fortinbras, Laertes and (I would argue) Ophelia also face the issue of revenge for violations to their families, yet they act almost immediately and show that Hamlet’s postponements are unusual. Therefore, the play turns into a character study of the Prince and why he must wait.

Themes:

Impossibility of Certainty – pointing to how many things are unsure in our lives and those of the characters

The Complexity of action – directly related to the prior, to be able to act rightly and purposefully in the light of the dilemma characters face (specifically Hamlet)

Mysteries of Death – both characters themselves and the thoughts of others question eternity

The Nation as a Diseased Body – the state of the country both physically and politically are unequivocally connected throughout

Motifs: support the concepts of the themes

Incest & Incestuous Desire
Misogyny (hatred of women)
Ears & Hearing – specifically their fallibility with language

Act I Notes

Day 1: I.i.
- begins w/question from common men
– showing discomfort of ppl - guards watch w/o reason & on edge
- they’ve seen a ghost
o Horatio (Hor.) is brought to confirm sight § he's doubtful until it appears
- King Hamlet’s ghost (KHG) appears
o leaves when ordered to speak
- Hor. reveals reason for watch
o KH fought K. Fortinbras of Norway
o K.Fort. died & Denmark gained land
o KF’s son builds an army to attack & regain land
- Hor sees this & possible doom ahead as reason for KHG (cites Caesar – other Sh. Play)
- KHG reenters
o Hor tries to make it speak
o guards try to stop it
o KHG leaves when rooster crows
- guards turn to superstition
- Hor only partially believes
– as scholar - he represents audience’s view
– progression into suspension of disbelief
- they will inform Hamlet (H) hoping KHG will speak to him

Day 2: I.ii.
- K. Claudius (KC) speaks (he uses king’s “we”)
o honors bro’s death
o brings joy in marriage 2 queen
o thanks ppl for acceptance of shift
o notes Y.Fort’s plans
– assumed advantage by him § has letter 4 uncle to stop him (uncle’s ppl used)
- Laertes (L) requests & is granted leave to France
- 2 H – KC & Queen Gertrude (QG) question his mourning period
o they seek acceptance for dad’s death
- H fights to show his pain
- KC tries to dissuade him from this and plans to return to Wittenberg (school)
– H agrees 2 stay @ mom’s urging
- H speaks 1st soliloquy (character speaks mind alone on stage)
o wishes he were dead as world is poisoned
o amazed @ shift in mom
o time passed shifts from 2 months to w/in 1
o considers incest b/c of KC’s relation to husband
- he can’t share w/anyone

Day 3: I.ii.160
- Hor. & guards enter
- H & Hor toy w/reasons 4 visit
– highlighting pain w/time & circumstance
- on mention of KH ghost is revealed
- KHG described in detail
- Hor sticks to fact (shows honesty)
- H will join watch & orders their silence
- wonders alone of foul play

I.iii
- Laertes says goodbye 2 sis. – Ophelia (O)
- warns her to be careful w/relationship w/H b/c he is bound by position & she must guard her chastity
- O retorts that he must follow his own advice

Day 4: I.iii.55
- Polonius (P) rushes L, yet gives advice: * see handout
- L leaves
- O is questioned regarding H by P
- P also belittles his “tenders” of love & toys w/the word in his warning
- O tries to defend honor of it
- P warns of the nature of passion & H’s status vs. hers
- O gives in to stay away from H

I.iv.
- H joins watch
- cannon & trumpet spurn discussion
- KC’s partying makes bad name 4 nation
- H speaks of 1 flaw that may destroy all (tragic?)
- KHG enters
- H (though unsure of angel or demon) urges him to reveal why he’s here
- KHG waves for H 2 follow
- men warn of possible death or madness from following & try to stop him
- H takes the risk & follows

Day 5: I.v.
- KHG opens up:
- hints @ pains of “life” in purgatory
- orders H to revenge his murder (H is ready)
- tale of death from snakebite is a lie
- KC killed him w/poison in his ear while sleeping
- KHG is pained watching QG with his murderer
- repeats that H must act, but not against QG
- wants to be remembered
- H reacts - knows it’s a sin, but swears to remember & act
- Hor & guards arrive & ask for news
- ritual oath taken by men to keep secret
- implies that he’ll change his personality, but they can’t let on of knowing this

Act II Notes

Day 1: II.i.
- Polonius is sending Reynaldo to see Laertes
- wants him to check up on L. (spy)
° wants him to imply that he knows L. vaguely
° orders him to bait ppl. that know L. with false (negative) information to see their reaction
- Reynaldo doesn’t understand his reasoning, but will obey
- Ophelia arrives upset
° H. came to her in her room
~ he was disheveled
~ took her hand
~ stared at her
~ nodded 3x before walking out w/o looking away
- P. sees this as pains of love, asks if she was nasty 2 him
° O. says she’s followed her order to stay away
- P. sees her absence as driving him crazy
- they seek the king to explain the situation

II.ii.
- KC & QG have asked Rosencranz & Guildenstern to visit
- hope they can help him by being there
- hope they can inform KC of reasons for strange behavior
- claim it is to help them
- R&G know they are being asked, but could be commanded
- they agree to try

Day 2:
- P. reports
- happy return of men from Norway
- possible reason for H’s lunacy (saves it)
° QG says she still believes it’s KH’s death & their marriage
- Uncle sent to suppress Fort’s acts
– he thought the aim was against Poland (Fort took advantage of him)
- Fort is currently obeying his uncle
- Uncle will fund him w/$3000 for army to go against Poland instead
- he requests passage for the army to get there
- KC will consider the proposal
- P. goes into a lengthy speech (while claiming to be brief)
- he reads a love letter from H to O
- KC asks how she’s reacted to his love
- P. is insulted for her & explains his orders & H’s subsequent behavior
- P. asks them to trust his opinion as he usually isn’t wrong
- KC & P plan to hide and spy on H with O
- H enters reading
– P speaks to him
- H plays with language to drive him away or insult him
- insults role as father, honesty, his daughter, age
- P sees method to his rudeness
- H implies his impending death – which he seems to not mind

Day 3:
- H. greets R&G and they play around catching up
- they toy with ideas (Fortune personified, world going honest, etc.)
- H sees Denmark as a prison, but R&G don’t understand
- they think it’s b/c of his ambition (we know diff.)
- H. plays on his “insanity” and being attended
- H knows they were sent for & provides reason (confusing)
- R&G break news of the arrival of players
- H notes how people shifted their opinion once KC was crowned
- H connects to the players in his “madness”
- P enters
– H again attacks him in ref. to daughters

Day 4:
- H welcomes players
- H wants a speech
– about Priam’s death (king of Troy) and his queen’s reaction (Hecuba)
- H shows respect for the art of acting througout
- H requests “The Murder of Gonzago” with a bit of his own writing in it
- H. soliloquy
- goes into comparison btwn himself and the players
- they act the emotions w/o cause, yet he (with great cause) is inactive and prone to rhetoric instead of revenge
- focuses and sees players as a way to catch KC
– by acting out something “like” the murder and watching him

Act III Notes

Day 1: 3.1
- R&G report on Hamlet
~ He’s upset w/o telling cause
~ suffers from “crafty” madness
~ found joy in players who will perform (K&Q invited)
- KC/Pol/Oph begin setting up Hamlet
~ O pretends to read
~ Pol’s instructions spark KC’s conscience
~ there is question of when/if Hamlet knows he’s being watched

- Hamlet soliloquy
~ hits on suicide again
~ realizes unknown is why people suffer through life

- Ham & Oph
~ he denies her & attacks her “honesty”
~ toys with truth of his feelings
~ orders her to a nunnery (convent or brothel?)
~ frames his dislike of women & marriage

- Recap
~ KC sees through madness & love
~ fears true cause
~ he’ll send Ham to England to get tribute $
~ Pol. wants QG to try to get through to him first

3.2
- Ham instructs player on how to perform the additions
- Ham asks Horatio to watch KC during performance as imitation of KH’s murder is played out
~ they will later discuss and judge ghost’s motive based on it

Day 2:
- Ham plays as others enter o Confuses KC
o Jokes w/Pol for having played Julius Caesar
o points to Oph’s chastity and the marriage

- dumb show is meant to act out events around death
o play speaks to the same topic
o Queen overdoes love & dedication to husband
o King is realistic, but in love - reactions
o QG claims woman protests too much
o KC questions offensiveness of “The Mousetrap”
o Ham continues to toy/defend
- Ham & Hor agree on reaction

Day 3:
- R&G show KG is upset
o Ham toys w/their words pointing to the eliciting of guilt

- Ham is asked to see QG - R questions Ham’s cause for grief
o “advancement” is mis-taken by R&G

- Ham shows his anger @ R&G using metaphor of playing a recorder

- alone, Ham recaps his feelings
o keep drive for action
o leave mom out of it

3.3
- R&G sent w/ Ham to England to remove his madness
o he makes the crown look bad
o R speaks to role of king as essential to all the people

- Pol heads to spy
- KC gives soliloquy
o Discusses his guilt over the act of murder
o Ponders possibilities of regret while enjoying spoils

- Ham finds KC in prayer
o Resolves not to kill and allow him to go to heaven
o Must wait until he’s sinning
- KC reflects on his prayers – that he didn’t mean (could Ham have done it?)

Day 4: 3.4
- Pol hides
- QG tries to reprove Ham, but he turns it on her
o Goes so far as to accuse her

- QG yells
– Pol makes himself known, but is killed
o Ham thinks it’s KC

- Ham compares her husbands
o QG pleads he stop

- KHG appears (only to Ham)
o Ham thinks it’s a reminder to act
o Ham tries to convince her of what he sees & keep his resolve
o QG thinks he’s crazy
o Ham begs she make things right

- seems Ham feels charged by god
- Ham claims madness in action, not mind
o off to Eng with aim to avoid treachery

- Ham takes Pol’s body with him

Act IV Notes

Day 1: 4.1
- QG reports Ham’s acts
o KC marks personal danger (meant 4 him)
- Ham will be shipped 2 England
– must be excused
o R&G sent to him
o KC wants act separate from them

4.2
- Ham hid body
- Insults R, claiming he’s KC’s sponge of info.

4.3
- KC can’t punish Ham b/c of public opinion
- Ham is brought & questioned
o Uses circle of life to confuse & insult KC
o References afterlife to point to KC’s sins
o Reveals body is under stairs
- KC orders Ham prepare 4 Eng.
- To self reveals hope for King of Eng.
o He owes DM after battle
o Charged with death of Ham

4.4
- Fort. arrives for escort through DM
o wants to see KC
- Ham, R&G meet a captain
o Capt. Frames battle plan
- Aim to gain worthless land
- Useless beyond claim of victory, yet being guarded by Pol.
- Ham soliloquy
o sees all events movitating him
o questions own inaction
o perceives greatness ni ignoring trivial fights, but not with honor on the line
o he sees flaw in inaction
- 20,000 will give lives for worthless land they can’t fit on/in
o driven towards bloody act

4.5
FOILS EMERGE!!!!
- man frames Oph’s madness to QG
- QG will see her, but feels guilty
- Oph is clearly insane
– singing songs tied to parental and physical love
- KC gives overview
o Secret burial
o L’s return
– hearing rumors & blaming KC
- L bursts in w/supporters for revenge & kingship
- Any calm would dishonor him as son
- KC denies involvement
- Oph. enters and replaces L’s anger w/sadness
- Pol. was not properly buried
o they’ll speak

4.6
- sailors bring letter from Ham to Hor
- Ham used kidnapping by pirates as favor to leave ship 2 Eng
- Wants to inform Hor of new info
- Hor must bring men to king, then go see Ham

4.7
- L learns Pol was not the aim, but questions punishment
- KC defends decision
o To avoid upsetting QG
o Ham is loved by the masses
- Letter arrives for KC
o Ham wants to speak w/him re: events on boat
- KC includes L in plot against Ham
o make “accident” happen against him
o Ham will fence L (w/bet on the line)
- L will poison his blade
- KC will provide a poison drink
- QG reports Oph’s death (in great detail)
o she allowed herself to be drowned in a stream

Act V Notes

Day 1: 5.1

– serves as comic relief after such a powerful act, but not wasted with truth
- the “clowns” deal with the issue of ritual
– what is the proper burial?
- their caste is shown through mistakes in wording
- there was a case in 1554
– where water “killed” a man
- they see her wealth as influence
- men jest about honors of grave digging (Adam, joke)
- Ham sees error in clown’s jovial attitude and treatment of the dead
- ponders the life of the discarded bones
- Ham interacts with the clown who jokes with him as Ham has with others
- Clown gives people’s view of Hamlet situation
- He’s been a grave digger all Ham’s life – point to dying once we are born?
- Question as to Ham’s age regarding remarks of 30 years…
- Ham wonders about the life of the bones
- Yorick’s skull is found – sparks speech complimenting “To be…”
o Memory is what makes life last
- Existentialism referring to cycle of life constantly shifting
- Oph and the mourners enter
- L fights with the priest b/c she is not receiving full rites (questionable death)
- QG claims she wished Oph would have married Ham
- L leaps in the grave in a show of sadness
– wants to be buried alive with her
- Ham comes forward and announces himself “the Dane” – title for king....
- Ham takes offense to his “bravado”
- he claims he feels more pain
- Ham will have his day
- KC placates L with references to the plot

Day 2: 5.2
- Ham explains events on the ship
~ found the letter requesting his death
~ wrote a new letter to kill R&G
~ pirates arrived - R&G got between 2 powerful forces by choice
- now he must act before news returns, but no longer wants to wait anyway
- regrets his treatment of L, but couldn’t help himself
- Osric brings KC’s request o Ham messes with him & keeps interrupting
o KC bet 6 horses against 6 French swords that L won’t hit Ham 3 times out of 12
o Ham agrees
- Ham continues to treat Osric like he had Pol. after he leaves

Day 3:
- Lord calls for Ham 2 come to the fight
o Ham is ready
o Hor warns him & suggests he not go through with it
o Ham accepts his fate (sparrow speech)
– he is ready if death comes
- The fight
o Ham tries to explain himself to L
o Blames madness and lack of intent
o Still can’t forgive on level of honor, but will accept
o Ham notes his lesser skill in swordplay
- KC offers a pearl for Hamlet’s cup (a way to get the poison in?) if he gets one of the first 3 hits
- Ham does
- KC tries to get Ham to drink of the cup, but QG does instead
- L feels badly about going through with the killing
- Ham spurns him – claiming L is just toying with him (he may be)
- L & Ham fight and swap rapiers – they are both hit w/the poison
- QG dies from the poison
- L confesses that Ham too is finished and that KC is to blame
- Ham attacks KC and forces him to drink the poison
- L apologizes and releases Ham of guilt
- Hor wants to die too, but Ham makes him promise to set the record straight
- Ham expects Fort to take the throne
- Fort is amazed at the sight
- Ambassador reports death of R&G from Eng
- Hor will announce the tale to all
- Fort requests a soldier’s burial for Ham for the royal he would have been (appropriate?)