ACT II discussion Questions:
Remember--you are to answer ONE question, and follow up on someone else's answer by adding on to, or expanding on their thoughts.
1. Why does this act open with Polonius and Reynaldo? What does this tell us about Polonius's character and what theme or motif does it introduce in the play?
2. How does the interaction between Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern help to explain what's wrong with hamlet? Why are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Denmark?
3. Hamlet's "Oh what a rogue and peasant slave am I" is the first of his soliloquies. What is he saying and how does this set of words help to move him to action?
4. What does hamlet decide to do at the end of this speech?
Remember--good answers paraphrase evidence from the text at the very least. Good responses to other's answers add to them--they do not just echo and repeat what that person has said.
Hamlet decides to make the players that just showed up in Denmark to put on a play of how Claudius murdered Old Hamlet. Hamlet wants to see how Claudius reacts to the play of Old Hamlet's murder, he wants to know if Claudius did actually murder his father or not. Hamlet feels he will know if the ghost was right or not through this play because either Claudius will look guilty or he won't.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the reason Hamlet decides to put on a play about Claudius murdering King Hamlet is to see the emotional reaction from Claudius.
DeletePlus with Hamlet with not only seeing Claudius's reaction, he could also see his mothers reaction as well. By letting his mother see Claudius's reaction it could help convince her that her son isn't crazy
DeleteFrom here, this leads into the partnership of Hamlet and Gertrude. By seeing Claudius' reaction she begins to believe Hamlet more. They then start tot plot against Claudius together.
DeleteAct 2 opens with Polonius sending Reynaldo to spy on Laertes to continue to the theme of revenge in the play. Polonius and Reynaldo act as a parallel to the ghost of King Hamlet and Prince Hamlet, because Reynaldo is sent to pretend to befriend Laertes to spy on him, similar to Hamlet, who acts crazy to spy on Claudius.
ReplyDeleteI agree. At this point, Hamlet is still suspicious and angry over the fact that Claudius might be the murderer of his father and how Polonius acts with spying reemphasizes the corruptness and distorted state of Denmakr in Hamlet
DeleteAt the end of the act, Hamlet decides to conduct a play reminiscing the death of the King. He wants to observe Claudius's reaction because he knows Claudius will react to the play if he is the true murderer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you're saying and I think another important detail is that the whole point of Hamlet using the play to decide if Claudius really did murder his father is for Hamlet to decide if he is going to actually take revenge on Claudius.
DeleteI agree that hamlet is using his friends to act out this cruel murder scene to find out what Claudius and his moms reaction is to the murder. I also agree with Brandt that it is important to show that this is how hes deciding if he is going to get revenge for his fathers murder.
DeleteAt the end, Hamlet decides to have the players who have come to town to perform a play in which there is a murdering of a King. Then Hamlet will watch Claudius react and use that to decide if Claudius really did murder his father or if the ghost was lying to him.
ReplyDeleteIn addition it seems Hamlet wanted to ridicule his mother by adding a scene in which an actor described the queen in the mock play as being a betraying wife who stayed in power only to remain in power.
DeleteI agree with this because of when Hamlet says," The play's the thing
DeleteWherein I'll catch the conscience of the King." I think he is also trying to determine if he is sane or not and if the ghost was even real by the truth behind the ghosts speech.
-Sebastian Gralla
To add on to this, he wants to see the kings reaction to see if he truly killed his father so he can begin to exact his revenge upon him
DeleteAct two opens with Polonius and his servant Raynaldo in which Polonius is instructing Raynaldo to go to Paris to give letters and money to his son Laertes but while he is there to talk to other Danish residents and see if Laertes has been up to anything but in a very discreet manner. This shows Polonius character reveals a man who does seem very dedicated and certainly has the best intent for his family and interests but carelessness and foolishness follow in hand. This shows a theme of deceit and blindness of other characters that follows throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of Hamlet's speech he decides that he is going to put on a play that reenacts his father's death. By doing this Hamlet wants to watch Claudius's reaction to the death of the king. And with Hamlet wanting revenge he need to watch his reaction so he can tell if Claudius really did kill his father. Then if Claudius does show to be guilty Hamlet wants to get his revenge.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of Act 2, hamlet's speech concludes with a decision to have the players put on a play that simulates the murder of his father and the adultery committed by mother. The intent of this action is to watch the reaction of his uncle/new king/step father Claudius and determine if he is truly guilty of the murder. This is how Hamlet determines if he should believe the Ghost and actually avenge his fathers murder. This is shown when he says," The play's the thing
ReplyDeleteWherein I'll catch the conscience of the King."
-Sebastian Gralla
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ReplyDeleteActII opens with Polonius sending Reynaldo to bring laertes notes and money. However actually is a bigger plot to spy on his son qand see if he is gaming, drinking, and partying. He is to do this by asking other students and pretending to become friends with him.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the cause of Polonius' mistrust? Is it justified?
DeleteHamlet gets the idea to make the players act out a play about claudius murdering his father old Hamlet. With this idea he feels he can confirm whether or not King Claudius truly did murder his father and what his reaction would be when he realizes that hamlet knows what happened
ReplyDeleteI agree that he wants to see Claudius's reaction. Too add he also wanted to see what his mother would do, that is why he told the actors to make sure that the wife in the play was being this betraying lady who just wanted to remain in power.
DeleteAt the end of Hamlets speech he comes up with an idea to create a play about the death of his father to see if his uncle will react or admit to killing the king. He wanted to know if his ghost dad was right about getting revenge on his uncle.
ReplyDeleteThis also led to the teamwork of Gertrude and Hamlet.
DeleteWho changes most in their personal views in this act and why?
ReplyDeleteThe interaction between Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern shows that Hamlet has lost trust for everyone. After he found out his father was murdered he became paranoid, distancing himself from everyone. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are in Denmark because they work for the king and in doing so they receive many benefits (Gold Diggers). Later on in the piece they are tasked with taking Hamlet out of Denmark to England. In many ways their job is to distract and entertain Hamlet.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree! Hamlet feels that he can't trust anyone anymore and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are in Denmark for possibly the money or other benefits that they will receive. They will do what it takes to get those benefits.
DeleteAt the end of the "O, what a rogue and peasant slave I am" speech Hamlet decides to have the players act out a murder in the play so that he can see if Claudius acts guilty. The murder in the play will closely resemble the murder described by the ghost of Hamlets father. "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."
ReplyDeleteI agree, I feel like he was so disappointed that he didn't have a plan for Claudius and Gurtrude, that he took a lot of time thinking of one and now he finally has the play.
DeleteAt the end of the "O, what a rogue and peasant slave I am" speech Hamlet decides to have the players act out a murder in the play so that he can see if Claudius acts guilty. The murder in the play will closely resemble the murder described by the ghost of Hamlets father. "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."
ReplyDeleteRosencrantz and Guildenstern were sent by the king and queen to spy on Hamlet and find out what he knows, however, Hamlet sees through their act and stops them in their tracks. Their scenes together show how much Hamlet has been sought on revenge, and how this way of thinking has an effect on this actions as a human.
ReplyDelete(What does hamlet decide to do at the end of this speech?) He decides he's going to host a play to set up Claudius and find out the truth about what happened to his father.
ReplyDeleteHe keeps his eyes on Claudius the whole time to watch his every move and reaction to the play. The play he sets up is the same exact events that he had been told by the ghost of his father.
DeleteThat way Claudius would know that he had knew about what had happened with his father. That he was going to pay.
Delete(What does hamlet decide to do at the end of this speech?) Hamlet decides to put on a play too find out the truth and to see if Claudius is really guilty or if the ghost of his father is lying and is actually a form of the devil.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of Act II, Hamlet decides to construct an elaborate plan to confirm his suspicions of king Claudius' betrayal against old Hamlet. His plan is to reenact his father's murder in a play, and to observe Claudius' reaction to it. Depending on his reaction Hamlet will then know that what his father's ghost had told him, that Claudius truly murdered his own brother, is true or not.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of Act, Hamlet comes up with a plan that he thinks may work in his favor. Hamlet comes up with the idea to create a play with the same exact events he heard from the ghost of his father. While doing the play he keeps his eyes on King Claudius to see his reaction he has to the play.
ReplyDeleteHamlet watches Claudius' reaction so he has evidence showing him that the ghost is right
DeleteAt the end of hamlets speech he decides to put on a play explaing/portraying what had happened with Claudius. As he did that he watched Claudiuses reactions.
ReplyDeleteWhile Claudius watched the play he payed attention to Claudius to see if had felt any type of shame or if he had felt bad for not telling Hamlet about it.
DeleteThe reason he decided to do this was to make sure the ghost had given him the correct information before he acted upon it.
DeleteAt the end of his long speech he had put on a play for everyone showing what had happened with Claudius and his mother and how they killed his father, in doing that Hamlet sat there emotionless staring blatantly at Claudius waiting for him to realize that Hamlet knows their little secret.
ReplyDeleteHamlet seemed to be enjoying the play more than everyone because he knew he intentions of the play. I agree with you, it's important to see how Claudius responds to the play and also how the plays sets up rage in everyone.
DeleteAt the end of the speech Hamlet decided to put on a play. The play was to display what Claudius had done to hamlet's father. While the play is going on he is to watch and see how his uncle reacts if it haunts him then the ghost is right if it doesn't then he doesn't have evidence of the ghost being truthful.
ReplyDeleteAfter this death hamlet slowly looses trust in everyone around him you can tell this distinctly. This people around his dad and around him receive many benefits so he can not trust anyone and becomes paraniod and on the look at for anything suspicious
ReplyDeleteHe loses faith in everyone around him except Horatio
DeleteAt the end of the speech, Hamlet decides to have the player act out the death of his father in from of everyone. The main purpose of the play is to see Claudius' reaction to the play and with this, Hamlet hopes to draw conclusions about the murder of his beloved father. We know his when he says, I'll have these players play something like the murder of my father before mine uncle (2.2 59)
ReplyDeleteHamlet decides that if he wants to find out if Claudius is guilty of his father's murder he has to see his reaction to a play that depicts the murder. Hamlet doesn't know if he can trust what the ghost is telling him, so before he acts, he wants to make sure that it is true.
ReplyDeleteHamlet's "Oh what a rogue and peasant slave am I" soliloquy is basically him beating himself up. He is disgusted with Polonius and Gurtrude and is disappointed that he doesn't have a plan yet of what he is going to do about that situation
ReplyDeleteHamlet feels that he is responsible to avenge from his father’s death.
DeleteThey are in Denmark visiting Hamlet, they have been sent by Claudius and Gertrude to find the reason behind Hamlet’s sudden bizarre behavior and cheer him up as he is unable to recover from his father’s death. Claudius wants to know what he knows about his father’s death and what his intentions are. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern encounter with Hamlet, he questions them as to why they are in Denmark. Hamlet feels Denmark is a prison as he is troubled by the death of his father and he suspects that his uncle Claudiusis is the one who killed his father. Hamlet feels he is respoinble to avenge from his father’s death.
ReplyDelete*responsible
DeleteAct two opens with Polonius sending his servant Reynaldo to Paris to spy on his son Laertes. This tells us that Polonius is a concerned father and wants to make sure everything what it is said to be with his son. The theme that is introduced in this opening Act is the theme of disloyalty, when Reynaldo is sent to spy on Laertes this shows Polonius does not trust his son and this shows disloyalty within their relationship.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to know that Claudius and Gertrude do the same thing. They send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet.
DeleteIn Hamlets soliloquy "O, What A Rogue And Peasant Slave Am I" He comes up with the plan to put on a play of his fathers murder to try and get a reaction out of Claudius. He comes to this plan at the end of the soliloquy. In the beginning of the soliloquy Hamlet talks about how Claudius treats him like a kid and Hamlet is not able to stand up to him. Hamlet does not see very highly of himself and even says in the soliloquy that if any one else was acting this way he would kill them and feed them to the vultures in the statement "I should have fatted all the region kites".
ReplyDeleteQuestion 4: What he decides to do that the end of this very long speech is to go ahead and put on a play that will help him figure out whether Claudius is really guilty or if the ghost has just been sent by the devil to trick him. I also agree with Carly's reply it is important that Claudius and gurturde do the same thing.
ReplyDelete# 1
ReplyDeleteThe scene opens with Polonius and Reynoldo to show the sneaky and methodical nature of Polonius.