Class Notes 3/22/10 & 3/23/10

Act 4 scene6

"The Pirate Scence"

- Claudius sent Hamlet to England, told King of England to kill him
-Hamlet is on the ship with Rosencranz and Guildinstern
-Pirates come and capture Hamlet leaving everyone else still on the boat on there way to England
- Hamlet and the Pirates become friends
- he convinces the pirates to take him back to Denmark
- Hamlet writes two letters and the pirates deliver them
-The first one is to Horatio saying, the pirate(messanger) will take Horatio to where Hamlet is, and that there are important things he needs to tell him
- the second letter is for Claudius and it basically says I'm back
-the pirates never appear and are never mentioned again

Deus ex Machina= God in machine
- God pullyed down from ceiling to save the day, fix all problems, does not fit in storyline
-Lots of people think thats what the Pirate scene is in Hamlet

Act 4 Scene 7

-Gertrude comes with the news that Ophilia "drowned"
-iconic image, Ophilia floating with flowers in her hair

Act 5

Setting- outside in church graveyard

2 clowns= poor gravediggers
Malapropism=word you mix up with another word
- the clowns tell many jokes/riddles and malapropisms
- the clowns are comic relief
- they are talknig about wheather Ophilia really did kill herself or not
- Everybody thinks she killed herself(if she really did she would go to hell, and not get a church buryial) Claudias makes sure she is properly buried so she goes to heaven, he also doesn't want Laertes mad at him(he needs Leartes for his plan to kill Hamlet)
- one of the clowns riddles:mason=brick layer, gallows=what you get hanged on, Gravediggers homes he builds last forever

- Hamlet is bothered by the clowns singing as they work, he thinks its rude/disrespectful, but then he thinks that if thats your job you must get used to it
-the clowns are disturbing the bodies throwing skulls all around and burying bodies on top of other bodies
- Hamlet asks how long it takes until the bodies decompose, the clown says 8 /9 years longer if your a tanner(joke)

- Jester=the only one who could tell the truth
- clown shows Hamlet Yurik's skull (Hamlet knew Yurik)
- we find out how old Hamlet is
- why call Hamlet and Fortanbras 'young' if they arent really young at all?

Sophia Meyers