Today we started out by looking at our poetry and history tests for the Victorian age. Thankfully Mrs. Loconte agreed to make the history portion a quiz if that made our marks higher. Thank you Mrs. Loconte. After sorting that out we moved on to Hamlet. We reviewed Scenes II, III, and IV. We established that:
- Hamlet is witty and suicidal
- The queen married Claudius after a little less than a month
- Laertes's advice to Ophelia is sound
- Ophelia is much more concise than Laertes
- Polonius's advice to Laertes is good, but is all about appearances, rather than substance (though we cannot determine whether his father has already given him advice about character)
- Hamlet gives three causes for people's vices: birth, habit, and fate
After that we did Scene V. The following is a spoiler. Do not read until you've read Scene V. Hamlet talks with his father's ghost. Turns out that Claudius poured poison into old Hamlet's ear while he was sleeping and told everyone he died from a snake bite. Hamlet Sr. tells Hamlet Jr. to avenge his death (kind of implying that he ought to kill the king) but to leave his mother out of because Hamlet Sr. loved his wife, and you know, she's his mother. Hamlet Jr. won't tell his friends what the ghost said because he's not quite sure who to trust. He makes them promise to never tell that they saw the ghost...and if he happens to "go crazy" in the near future, well, just go with it. He's not sure what his plan is yet, but pretending to be crazy seems to be the logical next step to buy time.
Hopefully this helps clear up any lingering questions because the Act I quiz is Thursday. This quiz will be composed of quotes. You will need to identify the speaker and explain the quote. Interesting observation by Rachel, for those of you who missed it, the bombing at the Boston Marathon mirrors To An Athlete Dying Young by Housman. Just food for thought.
Very thorough, Bethany. Thanks.
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