For Wednesday: Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 2

Can you name one of the actors portraying the famous duo, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

As always, answer two of the following for our next class (or shortly after class)...

Q1: All of Act One is in verse (unrhymed imabic pentameter), but in Act Two, when Hamlet enters in scene 2, he talks in prose throughout the entire act. Why would Hamlet, a prince, insist on speaking prose, which is usually a “low” language of the common people? Also, why does everyone around him, including Polonius, also follow his lead? 

Q2: Hamlet has another famous speech at the end of the Act where he compares himself unfavorably to an actor: “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I…” Why does he, a prince, envy an actor? What can the actor do that he can’t? And why might this be a meta-moment where Shakespeare (a playwright) is marveling at the power of actors (and the theater)?

Q3:  Polonius seems quite willing to exploit his daughter and expose Hamlet’s follies to the King and Queen. Why is this? What does he hope to gain from showing them Hamlet’s love letters? And why does Ophelia (who may be in love with Hamlet) go along with this? Couldn’t she have refused?

Q4: Two of Hamlet’s old friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, arrive to keep watch on him for the king. Hamlet knows they’re dong this, but plays along. However, he probably talks too much. What does he reveal about his state of mind and his character in this passage? In other words, how does Shakespeare show us what’s really going on in his mind when he’s acting “mad”?