Hamlet
ACT TWO
Read Act 2.1.1-83
Determining Polonius’s Values
Below is a diagram of Polonius. Find words in lines 1-83 that are or infer character traits or
values. Place these words or descriptions on your diagram with the line citation next to them.
Below the diagram, give a summary on the conclusions you came to in this activity.
Conclusive Summary:_____________________________________________
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Read Act 2.1.84-143
Ophelia and the Newly Mad Hamlet
What is Hamlet up to in this scene? Why is he treating Ophelia this way? Why Ophelia,
of all people?
Does Hamlet love Ophelia? If not, how does he show this? If yes, what possible reasons
could he have for putting on this show for her?
What about Ophelia-does she love Hamlet? What is her reaction to his behavior? Try to
pinpoint her feelings for him in the lines.
Read Act 2.2.187-237
Exploring the Language
The use of double entendre
Double entendre is the trick whereby authors set up words and phrases so that they have
two meanings-a clean one and a bawdy one. Search lines 187-237 for them.
Next, look at 2.2.240-254. There is a series of double entendres in the exchange
between Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who claim to live about the waist of
Lady Fortune: favors, privates, secret parts.
Why might Hamlet be using these words? Does he mean to be bawdy?
The use of pun
Like double entendres, puns have two levels of meaning; however, it is not required that
one of the levels of meaning have sexual connotation. Look in lines 187-237 for an
example of a pun.
Focus on Act 2.2.445-574
What’s Hecuba?
Shakespeare, like other authors, often refers to people and situations in classical Greek
and Roman literature. Find some classical allusion in this passage.
1.
2.
3.
What are some possible reasons for Hamlet’s interest in the relationships in this trio and
how do their relationships mirror or not mirror the plot of Hamlet?
Focus on Act 2.2.576-634
Piercing Questions
1. Is it obvious to the audience or the reader that Hamlet is alone onstage? What
else, then, cold he mean when he begins, “Now I am alone”??
2. Why is the prince calling himself a “rogue” and a “peasant slave”?
3. Hamlet compares himself to the player. What does this comparison reveal about
Hamlet’s self perception?
4. Throughout Hamlet, much violence is done to ears. How does Hamlet’s “cleave
the general ear” relate to other “ear” references? Shakespeare uses the word “ear”
twenty-seven times in this play. Do any of these resonate with you?
5. Hamlet uses a lot of theatrical terminology in his speech. Find some examples,
(“cue,” “stage,” “play”). Why might Hamlet be thinking in theatrical terms? Find
lines or phrases that explain why Hamlet thinks himself a cowards. Do you think
he is a coward, or is he acting cautiously by looking for external evidence to prove
Claudius’s guilt?