Analysis

To help you look at any scene in Hamlet and interrogate it, it’s important to ask questions about how it's written and why.

Shakespeare’s plays are driven by their characters and every choice that’s made about words, structure and rhythm tells you something about the person, their relationships or their mood in that moment. You should always try and ask yourself, like actors do, why is the character saying what they are saying or doing what they are doing? What is their motive?

Just like Detectives, we need to look for clues to help us answer those questions each time and below you can find some interrogation techniques we use to analyse text, introduced by the actors that use them. 

  • Analysing Hamlet’s Language

    Hamlet has 37% of the lines in the play, making his the biggest part. His actions also drive the plot forward. He has several soliloquies in Hamlet and each of them tells you a lot about his character. In this video, Paapa Essiedu explores his first soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 2. You can see Paapa performing the soliloquy at the start of the video before he explains some of the things he looks for in a speech to help him understand how the character is feeling.

    Having watched Paapa exploring the speech, how do you think Hamlet comes across in Act 1 Scene 2? Take a look at the video of Jonathan Slinger performing the same speech in the 2013 production. How is this version different? Think specifically about the three things Paapa talked about:

    • Punctuation
    • Word sounds
    • Line endings

    Questions to consider

    Having watched both different performances of the same speech, ask yourself:

    • How are the two interpretations of Hamlet’s speech different?
    • Do the actors’ choices bring out different things about the character? How would you describe the character in the 2016 production and how would you describe him in the 2013 production?
    • Do you notice the same sounds and breaks in both versions or have the actors treated them differently?

    What can we learn about Hamlet from this soliloquy? Ask yourself:

    • What kinds of emotions is Hamlet experiencing in this scene and how can you tell this from the text?
    • Paapa describes Hamlet’s first soliloquy as less confident but, as he moves through the play, his later speeches become much more structured and possibly more confident. Do you agree? Can you find evidence of any differences in this speech compared to Hamlet’s later speeches? How do the sounds, line endings and punctuation compare?

    Using Paapa’s strategies we’ve started to look at what the language Hamlet uses tells us about him in this Act 1 Scene 2 soliloquy. See if you can complete the grid and finish four points which explain what this speech reveals about the character at this point in the play.

    Point

    Hamlet is disgusted with his mother for re-marrying Claudius.

    Evidence

    'married with mine Uncle'

    Explanation

    The alliteration here could emphasise Hamlet’s disgust at his mother’s marriage, an image he keeps returning to throughout the speech, calling their marriage bed ‘incestuous’ and detailing the amount of time that his father has been dead for. These details seem to indicate that he is unable to think about anything else and is struggling to process his emotions.

    Point

    Hamlet has a low opinion of the world and thinks it is getting worse.

    Evidence Select an option

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    Point

    Hamlet comes across as distressed by his father's death and is upset by other people's reactions.

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    What else can I do to explore Hamlet’s language?

    • Try applying these same strategies to all of Hamlet’s soliloquies to look at any changes in his language and behaviour. A soliloquy shows you a character’s true thoughts and a lot can be learnt about Hamlet from looking at these moments of truth. How much of his plot against Claudius is in place from the start? What events or influences further encourage Hamlet to take revenge on his uncle?
    • Take a look at the things he says immediately before and after his soliloquies. Shakespeare often creates these comparisons to show you something.
    • Keep a record of the images Hamlet uses. Hamlet uses imagery of disease and decay a lot and you can find out more about this in the Analysing the imagery section. Think about why this might be. When in the play does Hamlet start to use the imagery of disease and decay.
  • Analysing the imagery

    As with all Shakespeare’s plays there are lots of types of imagery used in Hamlet. It’s a great idea to keep a list of key quotes and examples of these types of imagery in each act and who uses them as you explore the play.

    Here are three types of imagery that come up a lot in Hamlet and are useful to look out for:

    DISEASE IMAGERY

    • Disease imagery is used throughout the play. Hamlet believes Denmark was once a healthy state which has become sick and corrupted. This is set up in Act 1 when one of the guards says 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark' (Marcellus, 1:4). The events immediately before the play starts have led Hamlet to believe that people have descended from a state of purity to corruption and decay. In Act 2, Hamlet links women’s bodies with dead dogs and describes the children that they have as maggots, saying 'For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog/ being a good kissing carrion - have you a daughter?' (Hamlet, 2:2)
    • How many examples of disease imagery can you find in the play and what do they reveal about the characters who use them?

    PERFORMANCE IMAGERY

    • From the start of the play, Hamlet is concerned with the difference between acting and being. When Gertrude asks him why his father's death seems particularly important to him, he replies, ‘'Seems', madam - nay it is, I know not 'seems'.' (Hamlet, 1:2). He also thinks about the difference between acting and action when he meets the players later in the play, comparing himself to the travelling actors. Hamlet very consciously chooses to behave, or act, in different ways throughout the play, even saying he will put on ‘an antic disposition’ (Hamlet, 1:5). These thoughts link with his own struggle about whether or not to 'act’ and whether or not to take revenge.
    • How many examples of performance imagery or references to acting and performing can you find in the play? How many characters use these images and when in the play do they occur?

    RELIGIOUS IMAGERY

    • Religious imagery is used by most characters in this play. We get the sense that Denmark is a Christian country. Hamlet and Claudius pray to God at different points, desperately wrestling with their own consciences.
    • Take a closer look at the extract from Act 1 Scene 5 here to explore how religious imagery is used in Hamlet’s first encounter with the ghost of his father. Why do you think Shakespeare uses religious language so much in this early scene? How does the religious imagery and language affect Hamlet’s thinking throughout the rest of the play?
    Ghost
    I am thy father’s spirit,
    Doomed for a certain term to walk the night
    And for the day confined to fast in fires
    Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
    Are burnt and purged away. List, list, O list,
    If thou didst ever thy dear father love -
    Hamlet
    O God!
    Ghost
    - Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder!
    Hamlet
    Murder!
    Ghost
    Murder most foul - as in the best it is -
    But this most foul, strange and unnatural.
    Hamlet
    Haste me to know't that I with wings as swift
    As meditation or the thoughts of love
    May sweep to my revenge.
    Ghost
    I find thee apt,
    Now Hamlet, hear:
    ’Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,
    A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark
    Is by a forged process of my death
    Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth,
    The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
    Now wears his crown.
    Hamlet
    O my prophetic soul!
    My uncle!
    Ghost
    Ay that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
    With witchcraft of his wits, with traitorous gifts -
    O wicked wit, and gifts that have the power
    So to seduce - won to his shameful lust
    The will of my most seeming-virtuous Queen.
    O Hamlet, what a falling off was there.
    But soft, methinks I scent the morning air.
    Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard -
    My custom always of the afternoon -
    Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole
    With juice of cursed hebona in a vial
    And in the porches of my ears did pour
    The leprous distilment, whose effect
    Holds such an enmity with blood of man
    That swift as quicksilver it courses through
    The natural gates and alleys of the body
    And with a sudden vigour it doth possess
    And curd - like eager droppings into milk -
    The thin and wholesome blood. So did it mine
    And a most instant tetter barked about
    Most lazer-like with vile and loathsome crust
    All my smooth body.
    Thus was I sleeping by a brother’s hand
    Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched,
    Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
    Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled,
    No reckoning made but sent to my account
    With all my imperfections on my head.

    Thinking about Act 1 Scene 5 we’ve started to look at what the religious imagery and word choices in the scene tell us about how the ghost of Old Hamlet influences Hamlet.

    Read Act 1 Scene 5 and take a look for any religious imagery or references. See if you can complete the grid and finish four points which explain how the ghost of Old Hamlet uses religious imagery and language to influence his son.

    Point

    The ghost uses strong religious imagery to tell Hamlet how he died and that Claudius killed him.

    Evidence

    'The serpent that did sting thy Father’s life/ Now wears his crown'

    Explanation

    Serpents are traditionally associated with evil and cunning, as the form that the devil takes in the garden of Eden in order to persuade Eve to eat from the forbidden fruit. By using this same religious image to describe Claudius’ actions the ghost is describing Claudius as devil-like.

    Point

    The ghost of Old Hamlet makes Hamlet feel guilty when he explains that his spirit cannot rest or go to heaven until he is avenged.

    Evidence Select an option

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    Point

    The ghost encourages his son to question Gertrude’s innocence and suggests that she’s a fallen angel.

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  • Analysing Hamlet and Ophelia's Relationship

    Hamlet and Ophelia have a complex relationship. We only see them on stage together in Act 3 but Ophelia’s conversations with Polonius and Laertes, as well as the fact that Hamlet has given Ophelia gifts, suggest they have had a past relationship and know each other.

    This film looks at strategies that you can use to explore any Shakespearean duologue but focuses on the first part of the Nunnery Scene in Act 3 Scene 1, as Ophelia returns Hamlet’s gifts to him. Take a look and see what you can work out about the state of their relationship at this point in the play and what we learn about their history together from this scene.

    Having watched Natalie and Paapa exploring the scene, what can you say about their relationship? Who controls the conversation and how is language being used between the two characters? Take another look at the next part of the nunnery scene in the Investigate section and try applying the same strategies, looking for the three things Natalie talked about:

    • Shared Language
    • Questions and Answers
    • Status

    This form of analysis can be applied to any duologue. Try looking at these things in other duologues in the play to help explore the dynamic between characters, like Hamlet and Gertrude in Act 3 Scene 4.

    QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

    What can we learn about their relationship? Ask yourself:

    • Why does Ophelia constantly refer to Hamlet as ‘My Lord’ in this scene and later scenes? Why would she do this when they used to have a close relationship and how might this change affect Hamlet’s attitude to her?
    • Both characters use some of the same language. How many shared words or ideas can you find in the scene?
    • The characters use quite transactional language such as ‘discourse’ and ‘commerce’. What other strategies do they use to create distance between them? Why might Hamlet want to distance himself from Ophelia? Why might she want to distance herself from him?

    Using Natalie’s strategies we’ve started to look at the language Hamlet and Ophelia use and ask: what does this tell us about their relationship? See if you can complete the grid and finish four points which explain what Act 3 Scene 1 reveals about the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia at this point in the play, using evidence from any point in the scene.

    Point

    Hamlet feels betrayed by Ophelia and possibly knows that she has been sent by Polonius.

    Evidence

    ‘Are you honest?’

    Explanation

    Hamlet repeatedly questions Ophelia’s honesty and this language is emphasised through Ophelia’s repetition of the word ‘honest’. This constant questioning of a person whom Hamlet has trusted in the past suggests that he feels she is now lying to or betraying him, whether directly or through her behaviour

    Point

    Ophelia is trying to keep Hamlet at a distance.

    Evidence Select an option

    Explanation Click text to edit

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    Point

    Ophelia avoids answering Hamlet’s questions and seems uncomfortable talking to him.

    Evidence Click text to edit

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    What else can I do to explore Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia?

    What can we learn about their relationship? Ask yourself:

    • Try looking at shared language, questions and answers and status in Act 3 Scene 2, when Ophelia and Hamlet speak before the play. This is their only other conversation on stage. How is this moment different to Act 3 Scene 1?
    • Explore Ophelia’s conversations with Laertes and Polonius in Act 2. These descriptions of her relationship with Hamlet give us an indication of the relationship they had in the past. What was their relationship like? Look at Polonius’ actions in response. How has he interfered in their relationship before and how does he interfere during the play? Would Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet have been different without Polonius’ interference? Why does she listen to her father? How aware do you think Hamlet is of Polonius’ influence and how might this affect his opinion of Ophelia?
  • Analysing the Themes

    As with all Shakespeare’s plays there are lots of themes that occur in Hamlet. It’s a great idea to keep a list of key quotes and examples of these themes in each act as you go through the play, looking at who uses them and where they come up.

    Here are three themes that come up a lot in Hamlet and are useful to look out for:

    Theme of Madness

    • It's hard to state whether Hamlet is really 'mad' or whether he is acting like he is mad. This can be interpreted differently in different productions of the play. For example, in Act 3 Scene 4 Hamlet kills Polonius but a company of actors would need to agree whether or not Hamlet does this out of madness or whether it is an accident of mistaken identity.
    • Hamlet remarks that he’ll put on an 'antic disposition', meaning he will play mad to fool Claudius. However, are there occasions when his behaviour descends into real madness? Ophelia appears to genuinely become mad after she loses her father. She sings and speaks in disjointed sentences in Act 4 Scene 5 and eventually commits suicide.
    • How many examples of madness can you find throughout the play? Who do you think is genuinely mad and who do you think is imitating madness?

    Theme of Mortality

    • Death and the theme of mortality is introduced to us in the first few scenes of the play. We discover that the former King of Denmark has died and has returned as a ghost to avenge his murder. This theme can be seen in the rest of the play through Hamlet’s discussion of death and life and what it means to be alive as well in the different characters’ reactions to death. When Claudius asks Hamlet where he put Polonius’ body, for example, Hamlet replies 'At supper…Not where he eats, but where he is eaten /…We eat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots’ (Hamlet, 4:3) highlighting the fact that everyone dies and life is futile. When Hamlet returns to Denmark and sees the gravediggers removing old bones, he offers a similar reflection that everyone ends up being dead in the ground.
    • How many different reactions can you find to death in the play? How do other characters respond to loss and death in comparison to Hamlet? What different viewpoints can you find?

    Theme of Revenge

    • In Act 1 Hamlet is tasked with avenging his father’s death. After trapping Claudius and proving his guilt Hamlet then deliberates on how best to get revenge and this forms the action of the play. However, it is not just Hamlet who loses a father or loved one and seeks revenge; Laertes also returns and wants to avenge his father’s murder by killing Hamlet, and Prince Fortinbras who has the final lines of the play is seeking revenge for his own father’s death in war against Denmark. In fact, we learn from Horatio in Act 1 Scene 1 that it was Old Hamlet who killed Prince Fortinbras’ father in battle.
    • Why do you think Shakespeare includes Prince Fortinbras in the story? How many parallels between him, Laertes and Hamlet can you find? What are the differences in their attitudes to revenge? Which character is more decisive? Laertes is even hailed as a possible future king when he returns at the end of the play; why do you think Shakespeare includes this detail?
    Hamlet
    Come, come, and sit you down. You shall not budge.
    You go not till I set you up a glass
    Where you may see the inmost part of you.
    Gertrude
    What wilt thou do? Thou wilt not murder me -
    Help, ho!
    Polonius
    (Hidden) What ho! Help!
    Hamlet
    How now! A rat! Dead for a ducat, dead!
    Polonius
    O, I am slain!
    Gertrude
    O me, what hast thou done?
    Hamlet
    Nay, I know not. Is it the King?
    Gertrude
    O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
    Hamlet
    A bloody deed - almost as bad, good mother -
    As kill a king and marry with his brother.
    Gertrude
    As kill a king?
    Hamlet
    Ay, lady, it was my word.
    Hamlet
    - Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell:
    I took thee for thy better. Take thy fortune;
    Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.
    - Leave wringing of your hands. Peace, sit you down
    And let me wring your heart. For so I shall
    If it be made of penetrable stuff,
    If damned custom have not brazed it so
    That it be proof and bulwark against sense.
    Gertrude
    What have I done, that thou dar'st wag thy tongue
    In noise so rude against me?

    Thinking about Act 3 Scene 4 we’ve started to look at how the theme of mortality affects Hamlet’s relationship with his mother.

    Read Act 3 Scene 4 and take a look at the references that both characters make to death. See if you can complete the grid and finish four points which look at the theme of mortality in this scene asking: What references to death and mortality are there in this scene?

    Point

    Gertrude seems afraid of Hamlet, questioning whether he might murder her.

    Evidence

    'What wilt thou do? Thou will not murder me? / Help, help, ho!'

    Explanation

    Gertrude’s repeated use of questions here suggests she is unsure of Hamlet and does not trust him in this scene. The fact that she asks him directly whether or not he will kill her indicates that his behaviour must be unstable and also foreshadows Hamlet’s actions later in the scene, when he kills Polonius, suggesting that he is capable of ‘murder’ at this point in the play.

    Point

    The murder of Hamlet’s father by Gertrude’s new husband makes Hamlet angry and threatening towards Gertrude.

    Evidence Select an option

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    Point

    Hamlet implies that people who spy and interfere deserve death.

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