Cesar Santoyo

AP LIT
Period 4
November 29, 2021
Hamlet Notes and Analysis
DUE: NOVEMBER 29, 2021 (80 Pages Total)
Take notes on: Characters, Key Concepts, Language, Questions, Summaries of acts and scenes
(Some so far) Key Concepts: Love, Loyalty, Honor, Revenge, Guilt, Art

ACT 1: Scene 1
 Characters:
o Bernardo, Francisco, Horatio, Marcellus, Ghost (looks like the king)
 Key concepts:
o The Ghost looks like the previous king, also the ghost keeps coming back
 Language:
o When the ghost first shows up Bernardo and Marcellus give a shocked tone, they
couldn’t believe what they saw, the ghost for example “How now, Horatio, you
tremble and look pale. Is not this something more than fantasy? What think you on ’t?”
 Questions:
o Could the ghost be coming back for something, revenge or vengeance or could
something else go on?
 Summary:
o So far, our characters, Bernardo, Francisco have been on duty, on the wall to
guard and warm of any coming dangers. After this then Horatio and Marcellus
enter. Once they have another chat, Francisco leaves and then shortly after enters
the ghost. Bernando states it looks like the king, the ghost then disappears,
throughout this act the ghost comes back two more times, the people on guard talk
about what to do with the ghost but they don’t really go anywhere with their ideas
because they get interrupted by the ghost, then They exit.

ACT 1: Scene 2
 Characters:
o Claudius, king of Denmark, Getrude the queen, the council, Polonius, Laertes,
hamlet
  Key concepts:
o King of Denmark gives a speech to Cornelius and Voltemand,
o The king and queen talk to hamlet about his grief of his father, and how he should
move on, thing live and die
o Hamlet is being asked to stay since he is the next in line of succession
o
 Language:
o “Memory be green”- color of green could be referring to envy,
o “I am too much in the sun”- could refer to hamlet going crazy
o “
 Summary:
o The scene starts off with the king of Denmark giving a speech. After the speech
was over Hamlet walks in and the king and queen begin to talk to hamlet about
his father, the king. They begin to talk to Hamlet about his grief and how he
should begin to move on from his father as death is something natural. After this
conversation Hamlet the king and queen as Hamlet to stay in Denmark as he is the
next line of succession. Later Hamlet gets informed about the ghost king and he
will join the crew and go look at it himself

ACT 1: Scene 3
 Characters:
o Enter Laertes and Ophelia, his sister
 Key concepts:
o Ophelia loves Hamlet (?)
o Polonius tells Ophelia to not trusts Hamlet's love
o
 Language:
o “As watchmen to my heart”- Ophelia is taking this lesson of hamlet as something
of importance
o
 Summary:
o The scene begins with Laertes and Ophelia talking about Hamlet and his love for
Ophelia, and how Ophelia should watch out. Polonius and Ophelia begin to chat
about Hamlet's love and how it could not be real and not to trust his vows.

ACT 1: Scene 4
 Characters:
o Enter Hamlet, Horatio and Marcellus
  Key concepts:
o Hamlet wants to follow the ghost hoping to talk to the ghost
 Summary:
o The scene starts off with Hamlet and the gang at the lookout awaiting the dead
king. Now that the ghost arrives, Hamlet begins to talk to the ghost. The ghost
talks to the ghost and the ghost waves to Hamlet as if it wants to follow him.

ACT 1: Scene 5
 Characters:
o Enter ghost and Hamlet
 Key concepts:
o The ghost is hamlets father
o His father's spirit is doomed to walk for a certain term to walk the night
o THE UNCLE KILLED HIS FATHER
 Language:
o “Serpent” - refers to the uncle as slimy and terrible as he got on the thrown
 Questions:
o For what reason did uncle kill father?
 Summary:
o This final scene revolves around Hamlet and the ghost continuing their
conversation the ghost reveals to him he was murdered by Hamlet's uncle. Later
on, Hamlet shows the gang the ghost and made them swear to never speak of what
they saw, he then showed them the ghost.
ACT 2: Scene 1
 Characters:
o Enter old Polonius with his man, Reynaldo
 Key concepts:
o It seems as Hamlet is mad Ophelia that she did not accept his love
 Questions:
o Could Hamlets weird action because by the experience of his father's meeting?
 Summary:
o The scene starts off with a conversation between with Polonius and Reynaldo and
giving him some advice. After the conversation with Reynaldo, he leaves and
Ophelia enters worried, something about Hamlet seems strange. Hamlet meets
with Ophelia however it did seem to worry Ophelia, then she describes what
happens to Polonius

ACT 2: Scene 2
 Characters:
o Enter King and Queen, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Attendants.
 Key concepts:
o It seems as though people are noticing Hamlet's transformation
o Polonius talks about Hamlet being mad(crazy)
o Polonius reads Hamlet's love letters(?)
o Enter the players
 Language:
o The language used in the letter of love describe Hamlet's love within the letter to
Ophelia
 Questions:
o Why is beautified a vile phrase?
o I couldn’t understand but I assume the players are the actors(?)
 Summary:
o This scene has the king, queen, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern talking about
Hamlet's transformation. Polonius informs the king that people from Norway are
here to talk. Polonius talks about Hamlet being “mad”, as in crazy. Polonius goes
 into detail about what is making Hamlet mad, he thinks Ophelia is making him
mad. Hamlet is approached by Polonius after the conversation, with the king and
queen. Hamlet talks about Ophelia towards Polonius; this would prove to
Polonius that Hamlet is in love with Ophelia. Polonius continues to talk to
Hamlet, and realizes he will stop Ophelia and Hamlet to meet with his daughter.
Hamlet, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz have a chat about Denmark, and the true
purpose of their arrival. After the conversation with Guildenstern and Rosencrantz
left Polonius enters the room. Polonius and Hamlet talk about actors however
Hamlet then goes back to talk about his daughter, Ophelia.

ACT 3: Scene 1
 Characters:
o Enter King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Lord
 Key concepts:
o Everyone still talks about Hamlets true state, and the king and queen talk about
the conversation Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had with hamlet
o Hamlet doesn’t seem to want marriages to exist (?)
 Language:
o “The heartache and the thousand natural shocks”- the pain hamlet feels during the
moment
 Questions:
o To be or not to be?
o Did Hamlet really love Ophelia? Did he ever?
 Summary:
o In the beginning of the scene everyone who entered in the beginning talked about
the state of Hamlet and the true reason to why he is acting the way he is. The king
and Polonius set up the trap for the king to truly see how Hamlet acts around
Ophelia. Hamlet and Ophelia then begin to talk about their love and many other
things. After Hamlet leaves the king and Polonius begin to talk about what just
happened. Describing his love as lies, but they do discover that he is not mad but
something else troubles him.
ACT 3: Scene 2
 Characters:
o Enter Hamlet and three of the Players
 Key concepts:
o The play will be use to see the uncle's guilt of the murder
o Hamlet seems to think his father died two hours ago; this could be a test of some
sort.
 Questions:
o Does the uncle feel anything for watching the play
 Language:
o The speaking of a free soul could be referring back to his father as he is not a free
spirit.
o Choler: one of the four bodily humors, identified with bile and believed to be associated with
a peevish or irascible temperament.
 Summary:
o Hamlet and player begin speaking, more so hamlet is speaking towards the player.
The player then leaves and now entering Polonius, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz.
They begin talking about the play and ask them to bid the players make haste.
Horatio then enters, him and hamlet begin to have a chat. Hamlet, Polonius and
the king begin to talk about the upcoming play. The play begins and seems to
describe the death of his father. Something seems to spook the king during the
play, maybe the guilt struck him with fear now. After the play the queen asks to
speak to Hamlet.

ACT 3: Scene 3
 Characters:
o Enter King, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.
 Key concepts:
o King and gang continue to speak about the madness of Hamlet
 Questions:
o Is hamlets madness because of his father? Or is it really love but he doesn’t know
it yet
 Summary:
o They begin to talk about hamlets madness, however after Polonius leaves the king
speaks to himself. The King begins to talk about the murder of his brother, and
talks about the guilt that comes with it. Hamlet enters and draws his sword and
talks about the revenge that had plagued him.
ACT 3: Scene 4
 Characters:
o Enter queen and Polonius
 Key concepts:
o Polonius and the queen seem to have schemed something
o Polonius has been stabbed, has been killed
o The queen cannot see the ghost, this could imply only specific people can see the
ghost
 Language:
o “Daggers enter in my ears”- physically murdering Polonius but killing his mom
with words
o
 Questions:
o Who else can the ghost????
 Summary:
o The scene doesn’t start with hamlet and the queen talking but its Polonius and the
queen. Then the queen and Hamlet begin talking about what happened to the king.
Things get out of hand and Hamlet stabs Polonius thinking he was rat. After the
death of Polonius Hamlet begins to yell at the queen, calling her a hypocrite. After
this comes the ghost, the ghost tells hamlet to essentially apologize to what has
happened. The queen tells hamlet that she could not see anything that happened to
hamlet, as she could not see the ghost.

ACT 4: Scene 1
 Characters:
o Enter king and queen, with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
 Summary:
o The queen talks to the king about Hamlet's murder and his madness. The king
asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to go find Hamlet and to bring back the body.

ACT 4: Scene 2
  Characters: Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern
 Key concepts:
o Hamlet has hidden the body
 Language:
o Metaphor: “Knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear”, this could be a metaphor for
the lies the king has spoken towards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern or just the
kings lies in general
 Questions:
o Will the body be recovered???
 Summary:
o As hamlet safely stowed the body, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter. They
begin to question Hamlet on the whereabouts of the body. In the end Hamlet
wants the king to be brought to him.

ACT 4: Scene 3
 Characters: King, Rosencrantz, Hamlet
 Key concepts:
o After this conversation the king has had enough Hamlet and wants him dead.
 Summary:
o Hamlet is now captured and King and hamlet talk about where the body is.
Hamlet is talking about where the body is, but not where the body really is. He
talks about heaven, the creatures eating his corpse but not where his location is.
Hamlet heads towards England, the king wants Hamlet dead.

ACT 4: Scene 4
 Characters:
o Fortinbras, hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern
 Summary:
o Hamlet and the captain begin to talk, about the info on Poland and this little patch
of ground, then hamlet gains the knowledge of Norwegians plan to wage war over
the patch of ground that doesn’t have anything of worth except the name.

ACT 4: Scene 5
 Characters:
o Horatio, Queen and gentlemen
 Key concepts:
o Ophelia has become mad, similarly to Hamlet
  Language:
o The songs of Ophelia could be used to describe the grief she is feeling towards
her father
 Questions:
o Could Ophelia see the ghost??
o The ghost of her father??
o Could Grief be mistreated as a sickness, going mad?
 Summary:
o The scene starts off with the queen talking with Horatio and a gentleman. The
gentleman informs the queen about Ophelia and her becoming mad. Ophelia
begins to sing. After she is done the king tells Horatio to watch over Ophelia. The
king describes the effects of Greif and what it has turned Hamlet and Ophelia.
Laertes comes into the kingdom and wants the king; Laertes wants his father.
Laertes begins to question how his father died; he will be revenged. After Laertes
monologue is over Ophelia begins to sing again. The king later promises Laertes
to avenge Polonius death.

ACT 4: Scene 7
 Characters:
o King and Laertes
 Questions:
o Will hamlet die ?
 Summary:
o In this scene Claudius tells Laertes that hamlet killed Polonius, so Claudius joins
Laertes in killing Hamlet, to avenge Polonius. The begin to plan for the murder of
Hamlet, they come up with the idea of making it look like an accident with a
fencing match between Laertes and Hamlet, then they will also poison him if this
“accident” doesn’t get the job done.

ACT 5: Scene 1
 Characters:
o Gravedigger and another
 Summary:
 o Two gravediggers are talking about the people that are dead and who should be
saved or not. Then entering Hamlet and Horatio, the gravediggers and hamlet
continue to talk. However, a particular skull catches Hamlets eye, the skull of a
jester. Then Hamlet and Horatio see the king, queen and Laertes escorting the
coffin, the coffin of Ophelia. Hamlet does realize it was Ophelia until it became
obvious with what the queen had said. Hamlet then attacks Laertes and they begin
fighting over Ophelia. After the fight, everyone still continues to talk about
Hamlet's madness.

PDF:
https://shakespeare.folger.edu/downloads/pdf/hamlet_PDF_FolgerShakespeare.pdf