HAMLET ALPHABET BOOK

Eric Kroetsch

INSTRUCTIONS

2. Compose a Hamlet alphabet book complete with illustrations. Example “A is for the anger that Hamlet feels towards his mother and his uncle Claudius”.

A

A is for Avenge

Hamlet feels a responsibility to avenge his father’s murder by his uncle Claudius, but Claudius is now the king and well protected.

B

B is for Betrayal

Prince Hamlet was not only devastated by his father’s death; but also betrayed by his mother’s marriage.

C

C is for Claudius

As a main character in Hamlet, Claudius is shrewd, lustful, conniving king that was married to Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude.

D

D is for Death

The aftermath of his father’s murder, Hamlet is obsessed with the idea of death. The Ghost in the play symbolizes the spiritual consequences of death. William Shakespeare wrote, “Death is a fearful thing.”

E

E is for Elsinore Castle in Denmark where the play is set.

F

F is for Fortinbras

Fortinbras is the young Prince of Norway, whose father the king was killed by Hamlet’s father. He wishes to attack Denmark to avenge his father’s honor.

G

G is for Gertrude

Gertrude is the beautiful Queen of Denmark and Hamlet’s mother. She was married to Claudius. In my opinion, Gertrude was a selfish mother, even though she loved Hamlet very much.

H

H is for Hamlet

Hamlet is most famous for his quote, “To Be or Not to Be, that is the question.” He is the main character in Hamlet.

I

I is for Impossibility of Certainty

What separates Hamlet from other “revenge” plays is that the action we expect to see is constantly put off as Hamlet tries to achieve more certain knowledge about what he is doing.

J

J is for Justice

In the end, justice reaches its conclusion in the moment when Hamlet finally kills Claudius.

K

K is for Killing

In the final scene, characters are killed one after the other, poisoned, stabbed, and executed.

L

L is for Laertes

Laertes is Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother.

M

M is for Marcellus and Bernardo

Marcellus and Bernardo are the officers who first see the ghost walking through Elsinore Castle.

N

N is for NunneryHamlet told Ophelia "get thee to a nunnery”.

O

O is for Ophelia, the love of Hamlet.

Ophelia is the most innocent of all; dying for no reason.

P

P is for Polonius

Polonius is the Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court, a pompous, conniving old man. He is the father of Laertes and Ophelia.

Q

Q is for Queen Elizabeth, Hamlet was written around the year 1600 in the final years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. “A clear and innocent conscience fears nothing.” is a quote from the Queen.

R

R is for Revenge

In Hamlet, virtually all of the action is centered on the concept of revenge.

S

“Sweets to the Sweet, farewell!”Gertrude’s most famous line. It was said to Ophelia at her burial, she was scatteringflowers on her.

T

T is for the “To be or not to be” Soliloquy that stands the test of time; almost all English-language people know this line.

To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous

Fortune,Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep

No more; and by a sleep, to say we end

The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural

shocksThat Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished. To die to sleep,

To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's

the rub,For in that sleep of death, what dreams

may come,When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause. There's the respect

That makes Calamity of so long life:

For who would bear the Whips and Scorns

of time,The Oppressor's wrong, the proud man's

Contumely,The pangs of despised Love, the Law’s

delay,The insolence of Office, and the Spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When he himself might his Quietus make

With a bare Bodkin? Who would Fardels

bear,To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after

death,The undiscovered Country, from whose

bournNo Traveller returns, Puzzles the will,

And makes us rather bear those ills we

have,Than fly to others that we know not of.

Thus Conscience does make Cowards of us

all,And thus the Native hue of Resolution

Is sicklied o'er, with the pale cast of

Thought,And enterprises of great pitch and

moment,With this regard their Currents turn awry,

And lose the name of Action. Soft you now,

The fair Ophelia? Nymph, in thy Orisons

Be all my sins remembered.

U

U is for Under the Stairs, that is where Hamlet hid Polonius' body.

KING CLAUDIUS asks,

“Where is Polonius?”

HAMLET replies,

“In heaven; send hither to see: if

your messenger find him not there,

seek him i' the other place yourself.

But indeed, if you find him not within

this month, you shall nose him as you

go up the stairs into the lobby.”

V

V is for Vengeance

Hamlet spends much of the play contemplating his vengeance against his father's murder.

W

W is for William Shakespeare, famous playwright and poet.

Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest writer in the English language.

X

X is for Xanthocomic

Xanthocomic equals yellow-haired. Hamlet is usually portrayed as yellow-haired, although nothing in the play indicates that.

Y

Y is for Yorick’s Skull

Yorick’s Skull symbolizes the physical consequences of death.

Z

Z is for Zzz, aka Sleep

The three Z’s refer to Hamlet’s speech. “To die to sleep no more; by a sleep, to say we end this heartache.”

THE END