DEAR TEACHERS,

This study guide from the CSC archives was created by Kathleen
Dorman, former CSC Director of Education. It’s packed full of
information about Shakespeare, his language, the play, and our
2015 production of Hamlet

Feel free to photocopy pages for your students!

We’ve also included bonus lessons that correspond with each of

our workshops. For more updates on CSC, we encourage you and
your students to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
@classicstage
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART ONE: SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE AND THEATER
William Shakespeare: An Illustrated Biography.................................................4
Elizabethan England....................................................................................................5
Growing Up Shakespeare...........................................................................................6
London City Living.........................................................................................................7
The Globe Theatre........................................................................................................10

PART TWO: THE PLAY

Illustrated Plot Synopsis.............................................................................................12
Who’s Who?.....................................................................................................................14
Notes on the Play..........................................................................................................15
Quiz: Who are you in HAMLET?...................................................................................17
Table Work: How Actors Unpack Shakespeare’s Language.......................18
What to Watch For........................................................................................................22

PART THREE: Sources

Sources & Acknowledgements...............................................................................24
PART ONE:
SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE AND THEATER
CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 4
ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND
IN 16TH CENTURY ENGLAND,
religion and politics were one and the
same. People believed in the “divine right
ELIZABETHAN TWITTER FEED
of kings”–that is, monarchs were given their A CSC exclusive! We went back in time and got the
right to rule directly from God, and were scoop from the Royals themselves
subject to no earthly authority. In 1534, King (plus Shakespeare, and his dad!) via Twitter.
Henry VIII famously broke from the Catholic
Church when they denied him the right to
a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of King Henry VIII @VIIIKING · 1531
@CatAra you are outta here. This king needs a
Aragon, who had not produced a male #maleheir. #kingsgreatmatter
heir. He declared himself head of the new
Anglican Church, which eventually became Anne Boleyn @AnnieB · January 25, 1533
part of the Protestant Reformation. His @CatAra check me out!!!. You better recognize, I AM
THE NEW QUEEN! #cinderellastory
actions resulted in a time of bitter and
violent religious disputes in England, and
Catherine of Aragon @CatAra · December 1535
the crown changed hands frequently in a The #kingsgreatmatter is literally killing me. Missing
short period of time. my daughter @BloodyMary.

Edward VI @Eddie_the_KING · January 28, 1547

BY THE TIME SHAKESPEARE WAS I’m the King of the world!!!! RIP, Dad @VIIIKING #kidsrule
BORN IN 1564, Queen Elizabeth-Henry #9yearsold #winning

VIII’s second eldest daughter, born to his

Mary Tudor @BloodyMary · July 19, 1553
second wife, Anne Boleyn—was in power. Turn down 4 Protestantism. Turn up 4 Catholicism! This
Her 44 years on the throne provided the one’s for my mom, @CatAra, RIP. #sorrynotsorry
kingdom with more stability than the
previous short-lived reigns of her two half- Queen Elizabeth @GoodQueenB · 1560
siblings, Edward VI (crowned at age 9 and Philip II, Eric XIV of Sweden, Henry of Anjou...So many
suitors. So little time. #singleNready2mingle (j/k I have
dead by age 16) and Mary Tudor (nicknamed work to do) #swiperight
“Bloody Mary” for the nearly 300 Protestants
John Shakespeare @Stratfor_Dad · April 26, 1564
she had burned at the stake). Baptized my son William today @HolyTrinityChurch!
#blessed

QUEEN ELIZABETH’S REIGN WAS A William Shakespeare @BillyShakes· 1589

TIME OF THRIVING CULTURE. English Working on my 1st play! RT with title suggestions. It’s a
comedy w/ a lot of errors.
citizens loved her, nicknaming her “Good
Queen Bess”. Because she remained Queen Elizabeth @GoodQueenB · April 23, 1597
unmarried throughout her rule and did not Saw a HYSTERICAL play by @BillyShakes! Check out
give birth to an heir, a distant relative, King Merry Wives of Windsor! #LoveMeSomeFalstaff
#ChamberlainsMen
James VI of Scotland, was named as her
successor. Both Elizabeth and James were King James 1 @Scotty · March 24, 1603
RIP @GoodQueenB, thanks 4 the throne!
great patrons of the theater, and enjoyed #transformationtuesday #JacobeanEra
Shakespeare’s plays. In fact, King James
honored Shakespeare’s company of actors King James 1 @Scotty · May 19, 1603
with the title of “The King’s Men”, and they Congrats to my boy @BillyShakes and his players.
performed at court regularly. #thekingsmen #royalpatent #Othello
#MeasureForMeasure
Anne Hathaway @ShakesWife · April 23, 1616
RIP/Happy birthday @BillyShakes. Thanks 4 the bed.
@HolyTrinityChurch

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 5

GROWING UP SHAKESPEARE:
Fun, Games, and School
BOYS AND GIRLS began “petty school” around the age of four in order to learn how to read. Girls
left school at age six to be taught at home by their mothers, or, if they were rich, a private tutor. If boys
belonged to a middle class or wealthy family, they could continue on to “grammar school” after leaving
petty school, or they were sent to work in some sort of trade, such as farming. At grammar school boys
would study Latin, drama, poetry, and history for long hours with no desks. Learning Latin was important
for any boy wanting to enter a career in law, medicine, or the Church. Because Shakespeare’s father
made a sustainable living in public and government jobs, Shakespeare was able to attend grammar
school where he likely picked up his love of drama and writing.
FOOTBALL-or soccer, as we know it–was a
popular sport for people in the countryside
around Shakespeare’s hometown. The balls
were made from inflated pigs’ bladders! (LEFT)
Shakespeare makes mention of this sport in
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS: “Am I so round with
you as you with me, that like a football you do
spurn me thus?” Other popular sports of the
day Shakespeare mentions in his works include
tennis, bowling, wrestling, rugby, billiards, and
archery.

FESTIVALS occurred at various

times of the year. One of the most
popular was on May 1st, May Day, the
celebration of the arrival of summer!
Columns were erected (maypoles) and
adorned with ribbons and flowers,
traditionally as part of a dance
(RIGHT). This tradition is reflected in
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: “They
rose early to observe the rite of May.”

RIGHT: Children learned to read using

“hornbooks” like these - a piece of wood
covered with printed-paper, protected
by a transparent sheet of horn.

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 6

LONDON CITY LIVING:
Filth, Fashion, and Fighting
IF YOU LIVED IN LONDON during Shakespeare’s time, you would have encountered overly crowded
streets, heaps of trash on the sidewalk, and the heads of executed criminals placed on poles for all to
see. But amidst the grime, there were also beautiful churches and large mansions filled with nobles and
wealthy merchants. Most items you needed would have been purchased from street vendors, including
vegetables, fruits, toys, books and clothing.

ABOVE: Like New York City today, space was tight. Many buildings were designed with vertical living in
mind, as London quickly became the epicenter of culture in England.

SHAKESPEARE MOVED TO
LONDON to work in the theater. But
theater wasn’t the only cultural event
happening in London. You could also
view bloody tournaments between
animals, and public executions!
Gambling was also popular.

The first theater was built in 1576. Its shape, like The Globe
(ABOVE), was influenced by bear fighting-rings (RIGHT),
which were popular in London at the time. Shakespeare
referenced this Elizabethan sport in Macbeth when Macbeth
states, “They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, but bear-
like I must fight the course.”

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 7

OUTBREAKS OF THE PLAGUE were common in
Elizabethan London. Many Londoners believed the plague
was caused by the various smells throughout the city, so
they carried containers filled with herbs to combat the
stench. What they didn’t know was that the plague was
actually spread by fleas that lived on rats, which were
rampant on the dirty streets.

In 1592, the plague forced London theaters to shut their

doors for two whole years. 12,000 Londoners lost their lives.
With no playhouses to produce his works, Shakespeare
focused his attention on writing narrative poems and
sonnets for wealthy patrons.

CLOTHING WAS A SIGN OF ONE’S RANK so there

were strict rules dictating what citizens could and could
not wear. Those dressing above their status could be
arrested! Exceptions were made for actors as they often
played nobles on stage.

ABOVE: As a rule, the less practical the outfit, the

higher the rank of its wearer. Wealthy men often
wore hats with ostrich feathers for decoration,
and huge “ruff” collars. Wealthy women wore
wide padded dresses with puffy sleeves.

RIGHT: The less wealthy wore practical clothing conducive to labor. While the wealthy were wearing
luxurious fabrics such as silk and velvet, the lower-status citizens often wore rough wool.

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 8

THE COURT
THE COURT OF QUEEN
ELIZABETH I was made up of courtiers,
people who were of a higher class that were
invited to attend the queen as a companion or
advisor. The number of courtiers that attended
Elizabeth ranged from one thousand to fifteen
hundred, and they were housed at the palace
or in nearby lodging. They were paid a small
amount of money, but could make themselves
quite wealthy through accepting bribes from
people who required favors from them. As such,
the court was full of corruption and the queen
had to be discerning about whose advice
she heeded. However, it was a statement of
the queen’s popularity and wealth that she
travelled with such a large entourage.
ABOVE: The procession of Queen Elizabeth I. She is
surrounded by her courtiers, ladies maids, and favored
knights.

FOOLS AND JESTERS were a familiar sight at court. They

traditionally wore motley, a colorful patchwork costume, and
functioned like resident stand-up comedians or clowns. There were two
types of fools: natural, and artificial. In Elizabethan England, mental
and learning disabilities weren’t understood, but those who had one of
these disabilities could earn a living for themselves if they could make
people laugh. Fools of this kind were called natural, meaning they were
born “foolish.” Artificial fools were deliberately foolish or eccentric for
the purposes of entertainment, much like the comedians of today.

CHIVALRY, a code of
ethics that glorified warfare
and armed conflict as well
as the pursuit of courtly
ladies, was revered by ABOVE: A motley fool! Notice that
Elizabethan society. They this fool’s motley costume has
believed that honor was ass’s ears attached, a common
something you attained symbol of foolishness. He also
through physical prowess carries a “ninny stick,” a rod with
rather than moral integrity. a carved imitation of his own face
Some of these values still at the end.
exist in our culture today—
superheroes are often LEFT: One of the most important
heroic because they have figures in the history of chivalry
incredible combat abilities. was Saint George who, according
Legendary knights were to legend, tamed and killed
the superheroes of the a dragon to save a damsel in
Renaissance! distress and convert a city to
Christianity.

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 9

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 10
PART TWO:
THE PLAY
CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 12
CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 13
 WHO’S WHO from CSC’s 2015 Production

murders his brother

∆

marries

∆
∆
killed

∆
∆
∆
∆

kills

∆
∆
Chief CLAUDIUS GERTRUDE HAMLET FORTINBRAS
advisor to New King of Denmark Queen of Denmark Dead King of Denmark Dead King of Norway
HARRIS YULIN PENELOPE ALLEN ∆
son of son of
kil
ls
sacrifices
kills
∆

∆
betrays
POLONIUS HAMLET FORTINBRAS
STEPHEN SPINELLA Prince of Denmark Prince of Norway
PETER SARSGAARD DANIEL MORGAN SHELLEY
∆ ∆ ∆
father of
∆ ∆

best
friends
∆

ROSENCRANTZ GUILDENSTERN
SCOTT PARKINSON ∆ DANIEL MORGAN SHELLEY
∆
LAERTES OPHELIA ∆
GLENN FITZGERALD LISA JOYCE
∆ goes mad & drowns
to spy on
Hamlet’s friends
from school
kill each other
∆

in a duel
HORATIO
AUSTIN JONES

REYNALDO
Polonius’ Servant
DANIEL MORGAN SHELLEY
∆
MARCELLUS BARNARDO FRANCISCO
DANIEL MORGAN SHELLEY JIM BROADDUS SCOTT PARKINSON
Guards at Elsinore Castle

sends to prevent war with

∆

Royal Family
VOLTEMAND Family connection
Courtier Other Royals Work connection
Romantic connection
JIM BROADDUS
Scholars Former romantic connection
Friendship
Working Class Murder GRAVEDIGGER
Dead at the Beginning of the Play
Accidental murder SCOTT PARKINSON

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 14

NOTES ON THE PLAY
I Will Have My Revenge
Hamlet isn’t just any tragedy—it’s a revenge tragedy, a form that was crazy popular
in Elizabethan England, influenced by even older Greek and Roman tragedies. The
most famous of these (aside from HAMLET) is THE SPANISH TRAGEDY, written by
a contemporary of Shakespeare’s named Thomas Kyd. Many scholars believe that
Kyd wrote something they like to call the UR-HAMLET, because they don’t know its
real title (sadly, the entire play has been lost over time) but know that Shakespeare
likely based his own version on this one.

So, what makes for a revenge tragedy? You will generally find these elements: a
hero that wants revenge; a secret murder and a vengeful ghost; madness (feigned
or real); gory scenes and a rising body count; and our hero more than likely dies a
violent death. Sound familiar? The major difference between HAMLET and other
revenge tragedies of the time is that Hamlet takes time to pause before taking
action, calling into question the righteousness of revenge – a rather modern take on Peter Sarsgaard (Hamlet).
a very ancient theme.

Revenge is cyclical—as soon as one party is appeased, the other is incensed to action, bringing both back to where they
started. Have you ever been caught in a cycle of revenge? Can you think of issues in this country and others where
two sides are perpetually trying to get even with one another?

What’s Up with that Skull?

It is perhaps the most famous image in Shakespeare’s most famous play: Hamlet, holding a skull. People often picture
Shakespeare himself as the guy holding the skull—it’s that iconic. It’s also a moment that is frequently misquoted, wrongly
associated with another famous part of this play: Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy. (Go ahead and google image search
“to be, or not to be” and see how many pictures of guys holding skulls appear.)

This confusion is not without reason: both Hamlet’s speech and the moment with the skull show Hamlet facing mortality. It’s no
secret that a lot of characters die over the course of this play (at least eight!), and in a variety of different ways. It’s no wonder
then that Hamlet spends a great deal of time pondering one of mankind’s great dilemmas: if death is inevitable, then what is
the purpose of life?

Scott Parkinson (Rosencrantz), Peter Sarsgaard (Hamlet) &

Daniel Morgan Shelley (Guildenstern).

The skull belongs to Yorick, the old court jester at

Elsinore Castle. The gravedigger Hamlet encoun-
ters in this scene is also considered to be a clown.
Why might Shakespeare plant the morbid image
of the skull right in the middle of the
most comedic scene in the play? What effect does
comedy have on a dramatic moment, or vice versa,
be it on stage, in movies and television,
or in real life?

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 15

Something Rotten Peter Sarsgaard (Hamlet), Harris Yulin (Claudius),
Glenn Fitzgerald (Laertes), Stephen Spinella (Polonius)
In Elizabethan times, people believed that a hierarchy & Penelope Allen (Gertrude).
known as the Great Chain of Being governed the
world. God, as creator, was at the top; various angelic
spirits were next; then humans, who also have spirits
but are tied to their bodies on earth. Things thought
to have bodies but no souls, like animals, came next;
then plants; and lastly stones. Elizabethans believed
that if anyone were to try to overpower this natural
order, unnatural things would come to pass… for
example, a ghost might start to hang around your
castle grounds.

Marcellus, upon seeing the dead King Hamlet’s ghost,

says “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
What does he mean by this exactly? Well, just as God
was at the top of all living things, so were kings and
other rulers above all earthly beings. In his works, Shakespeare often compares the ruling body to the human body: the head of
government is the brains behind the operation. So if the ruler is corrupt, it is as though the head has become unable to reason,
and the rest of the body – the country – becomes diseased, too. Claudius, in killing his brother, has disrupted the natural ruling
order, and this unnatural deed is what is rotten in the state of Denmark.

A lack of reason leads to madness, of which we find plenty in HAMLET. Hamlet tells us that he is just putting on an
“antic disposition,” meaning he’s faking it. Is Hamlet really in control of his “madness,” or is he slowly losing it?
Would a plea of insanity hold up in court today if Hamlet was held accountable for some of his actions?

Speak the Speech

Little is known of Shakespeare’s personal theories
and criticisms of the theatre aside from what his
characters tell us in a select few plays. In AS YOU
LIKE IT, the clown Jaques tells us that “All the world’s
a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
In A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, we see an
example of what not to do via the Rude Mechanicals,
who put on a comically bad version of what will later
become Shakespeare’s drama ROMEO & JULIET.
But it is only in HAMLET that we get an extensive
lecture on what makes for good acting, when Hamlet
speaks to the troupe of actors about to perform his
Mousetrap play. He famously says, “Suit the action
to the word, the word to the action,” and asks them
Harris Yulin (Claudius), Lisa Joyce (Ophelia) & Austin Jones (Horatio) to hold “the mirror up to nature”—instructions that
many an actor still turns to for guidance today.

Throughout this play, Hamlet is very aware of how he is perceived by others—he is constantly performing.
How much of your own life is a performance? What different roles do you play each day?
Do you present yourself differently online than in real life?

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 16

QUIZ: WHO ARE YOU IN HAMLET
1. YOUR IDEA OF A PERFECT SATURDAY NIGHT IS: 6. IF YOU HAD A SUPERPOWER, IT WOULD BE:
A. A debate with yourself questioning your existence A. The power of all knowing
B. Observing your domain B. The power of immortality
C. Partying it up with your man/girl C. The power to always keep the peace
D. A lively game of chess D. The power of persuasion
E. A quiet night with your crush E. The power to turn back time

2. YOUR SENIOR CLASS SUPERLATIVE WOULD BE: 7. YOUR FAVORITE TIME OF DAY IS:
A. Most dramatic A. Midnight
B. Most likely to take over the world B. Sunrise
C. Kindest C. Mid-morning
D. Most loyal D. Evening
E. Most dedicated E. Afternoon

3. YOU GET INTO A FIGHT WITH YOUR PARENTS. 8. YOUR FAVORITE NUT BUTTER IS:
YOU: A. Peanut
A. Know that you are right, and you are going to prove it B. I’m allergic
B. Force them to see things your way C. Honey Peanut
C. Forget it, the problem will go away D. Almond
D. Convince everyone else that you are right until your E. Chocolate Hazelnut
parents have to believe you
E. Try to see things their way 9. YOUR FRIENDS WOULD SAY YOU’RE:
A. Smart
4. YOUR FAVORITE HASHTAG IS: B. Ambitious
A. #TBT C. Cheerful
B. #sorrynotsorry D. Loyal
C. #blessed E. Caring
D. #win
E. #love 10. YOUR FAVORITE COLOR IS:
A. Forrest Green
5. IF YOU WERE AN ANIMAL, YOU WOULD BE A: B. Deep Red
A. Panther C. Bright Yellow
B. Snake D. Burnt Orange
C. Horse E. Sky Blue
D. Fox
E. Puppy

IF YOU ANSWERED MOSTLY:

A. You are Hamlet B. You are Claudius C. You are Gertrude D. You are Polonius E. You are Ophelia

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 17

TABLE WORK:
UNPACKING SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE
IS THIS REALLY WRITTEN IN ENGLISH? Yes, it is! But it’s also poetry. Elizabethans used poetry for
the same reason we still use it today: to express heightened states of emotion. So the language may be
more densely packed with all those great rhetorical devices you learned in English class-metaphors,
alliteration, irony-but it’s definitely still English.

DID PEOPLE IN SHAKESPEARE’S DAY SPEAK IN VERSE? No, no more than we speak in rap
today. But people both then and now enjoy the rhythm and rhyme of verse. It helps us tune in more
immediately, more completely to the feelings and choices of the characters.

IS SHAKESPEARE HARDER FOR ACTORS TO PERFORM THAN REGULAR PLAYS? Actually,

for most actors, Shakespeare is easier! The rhythm of the language makes it easy to memorize. (You know
how song lyrics get stuck in your head, or how you can remember silly little rhymes from when you were a
kid? It’s like that.) And all those rhetorical devices act as clues to tell the actors how their character feels.

To find those clues, a company will begin their rehearsal process with table work.

Shakespeare invented many words and phrases that we use on a regular basis today. Below are some examples.

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 18

Verse or Prose?
All of Shakespeare’s language falls into one of two categories: verse or prose. Prose is what we think of
as everyday speech, without specific rules regarding rhyme or rhythm. Verse, then, can be defined as
giving order or form to the random stress patterns of prose. For actors, verse is often easier to memorize
because of the rhythm. It’s almost like memorizing lyrics to a song.

A quick way to tell verse from prose: lines of verse begin with capital letters, while prose will appear in
paragraph form.

Blank Verse
Blank Verse is the standard poetic form Shakespeare uses in his plays. It can also be defined as unrhymed
iambic pentameter—that is, a line of poetry containing five (“penta” from the Greek prefix meaning five)
iambic feet, not rhyming with any adjacent line. That’s ten syllables all together. The pattern flows easily
for speakers of English, because the stresses match the human heart beat:

ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM

or, a good way to remember the word “iamb” is to think of it as:

i AM, i AM, i AM, i AM, i AM

If you say, “The Yankees and the Mets are famous teams.” with natural inflection, you will have spoken a
line of iambic pentameter.

The YANK | ees AND | the METS | are FA | mous TEAMS

Here are two more:
I TAKE | theSUB | way EV | ery DAY | to SCHOOL
I CAN’T | go OUT | be CAUSE | my HOME | work’s LATE

Now say a line from HAMLET:

HAMLET
A little more than kin, and less than kind.
a LIT | tle MORE | than KIN | and LESS | than KIND

Arepeating combination of stressed and unstressed syllables is known as a foot, which is the basic
unit of verse.
An iamb is a foot of poetry containing two syllables, with an unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable: ta DUM.

Prose
Prose is the everyday language used then and now. Since verse was the conventional method of writing in
Elizabethan England, Shakespeare was actually pushing the literary boundaries by including prose in his
plays.

At first glance, it may seem that Shakespeare used verse and prose to indicate a character’s status (rich,
powerful, educated characters speak in verse; poor common, fools speak in prose) but upon closer look,
you’ll find that many characters go back and forth between verse and prose, and they do so at very
specific moments in the play. Actors pay close attention to when characters speak in verse and when
they speak in prose because Shakespeare made these choices on purpose, and it can tell the actor a lot
about how their character thinks and feels.

Hamlet himself speaks most of the prose in this play, usually as part of his “antic disposition.” He also
drops into prose when addressing his childhood friends and characters with lower status than him, such
as the Gravedigger, who does not seem to realize who Hamlet is when he presents him with Yorick’s skull:

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 19

 HAMLET
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne
me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rims at it.

Why might Hamlet choose to speak in prose to accentuate his madness to the court? Other
characters, such as Polonius and Ophelia, fall into prose along with Hamlet when addressed by him
in this way. Why would they do so?

What was Shakespeare looking to convey to his actors and audiences about these characters by
writing in this way?

Irregular Verse
Shakespeare doesn’t always write verse in perfect iambic pentameter. The rhythmic patterns change,
and so do the number of syllables. This was pretty innovative stuff in Shakespeare’s day. He was one
of the first writers to break form. Just like a change from prose to verse is a clue for the actor, so is a
variation in the verse pattern. Here are some of the most common variations found in HAMLET.

There are many, many examples of irregular verse in HAMLET. What do you think this might tell the
actors about their characters?

Shared Lines & Split Lines

Shakespeare sometimes splits a line of verse, so that two characters share the ten syllables. This is called
a shared line or a split line, and it helps to show quick thinking or strong emotion, as well as creating a
sense of accelerated action. Thus we have both the effect of poetry AND of natural speech.

Have a look at these lines shared by Hamlet and Ophelia as she attempts to return to him the love tokens
they once exchanged:

OPHELIA
There, my lord.

HAMLET
Ha, Ha! Are you honest?

OPHELIA
My lord?

HAMLET
Are you fair?

OPHELIA
What means your lordship?

They scan as:

THERE | my LORD | ha HA | are YOU | hon EST?

my LORD? | are you | FAIR? what | MEANS your | LORD ship?

That’s two lines of verse, shared by two characters, over the course of five sentences that are so simplistic,
they would probably not be taken for poetry on their own!

There is a lot more that is irregular about this passage of text than just the shared lines. What else
do you notice? The line that immediately follows this exchange, spoken by Hamlet, is in prose. Do you
think Ophelia will follow his lead and reply in prose as well?

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 20

Feminine Endings and Extra Syllables
A “feminine ending” is a line of verse that ends with an unstressed extra syllable. The result is that
the rhythm of the verse is thrown off just enough to indicate that the characters feel unsettled about
something. Not surprisingly, almost a quarter of the verse in HAMLET follows this pattern! Here’s a famous
example, spoken by Hamlet:

HAMLET
To be, or not to be, that is the question.

to BE | or NOT | to BE | that IS | the QUEST | ion

Rhetorical Device
A rhetorical device is a technique that an author or speaker uses to have an effect on its audience.
They go beyond the literal meanings of the words, making use of the sounds and the imagery to create
imaginative new ways for an audience to connect with the author’s ideas. Shakespeare would have
studied and known how to make use of a very, very long list of rhetorical devices – but the more common
examples are things that you’ve probably encountered in English class, such as metaphor, simile, and
alliteration.

Rhetoric is the art of speaking or writing effectively.

Hyperbole
One rhetorical device that appears frequently in HAMLET is hyperbole – an embellished statement not
intended to be taken literally, but used to create effect. Hamlet frequently uses hyperbole to try and
convey his extreme emotions to others. Take this example, where upon learning of Ophelia’s death he
tries to compare his love for her to that of Laertes, her brother:

HAMLET
I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers
Could not, with all their quantity of love,
Make up my sum.

When we talk about whether something lives up to its “hype”, we are discussing if the real version is
anything like the exaggerated version, good or bad. Does Hamlet believe in his own hype? Does he
believe that some of the hyperbolic statements he makes are true? Does anyone else believe him?

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 21

WHAT TO WATCH FOR...
QUESTIONS AND THEMES TO CONSIDER
Revenge
• How many different revenge plots are at work in the story of HAMLET? Have revenge tragedies ever
reemerged as a fad in pop culture since Elizabethan times? Can you think of movies or television programs
that include elements of a revenge tragedy? (For more on revenge tragedies, see NOTES ON THE PLAY.)
• In CSC’s production, the director made choices having to do with the ghost of King Hamlet that altered
the standard interpretation of Hamlet’s revenge. How could a production’s interpretation and realization
of the ghost affect how you see the character of Hamlet and the other characters in this play?
• How does this change how you see other characters in this play?

Mortality
• Is Hamlet’s anger at his mother and his uncle justified, or over-amplified by his grief? How does grief
complicate our worldview and our relationships?
• Look for language with imagery of death and decay as you read this play. How might these images be
realized onstage? Consider all of the design elements of the play (costumes, props, set, lights, sound).
• It’s not easy to stage a death scene, let alone one where as many people are killed as in the final scene
in HAMLET. How does the director go about solving this problem? Think of how you would solve it in a
theater like CSC.

Madness
• Is Hamlet definitely faking his madness, or is he slowly going insane? What choices could an actor make to
lead you to believe one way or the other? How could other actors respond to him, and how might this
affect your perception?
• Does Hamlet really love Ophelia? What purpose does her madness serve? What is different or similar
about their madness, and how it might be portrayed onstage?
Family
• Gertrude’s description of Ophelia’s death is often interpreted as commentary on the oppression she
experiences as a woman—Ophelia’s heavy dress is what weighs her down, and in the end, drowns her. Do
you think that Ophelia’s strong sense of duty to her father and brother is to blame for her descent into
madness?
• Hamlet is outraged by his mother’s ability to simultaneously grieve for her late husband while taking on a
new one, causing him to question the legitimacy of her grief. Do you think she complicit in the murder of
King Hamlet? Were she and Claudius carrying on an affair prior to King Hamlet’s murder?
• Most of Shakespeare’s plays deal with father-daughter relationships, not father-son relationships. Why do
you think HAMLET is the play that bucks this trend?

For more ideas on what to watch for, see NOTES ON THE PLAY on page 15.

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 22

PART THREE:
SOURCES
SOURCES
TEACHING SHAKESPEARE
by Rex Gibson

Shakespeare for Dummies

by John Doyle (CSC Artistic Director) and Ray Lischner

The Friendly Shakespeare

by Norrie Epstein

The Genius of Shakespeare

by Jonathan Bate

Brush Up Your Shakespeare!

by Michael Macrone

Essential Shakespeare Handbook

by Leslie Dunton-Downer and Alan Riding

William Shakespeare and The Globe

written and illustrated by Aliki

Eye Witness Shakespeare

written by Peter Chrisp, photographed by Steve Teague

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to all who contributed to this guide:
Braden Cleary, David Heatley, Sophie Rosenthal

This guide created by Kathleen Dorman in 2015, and updated by Marella Martin Koch in 2020.

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY • HAMLET STUDY GUIDE • PAGE 24

 Classic Stage Company (CSC) is the award-winning Off-Broadway theater committed to
re-imagining the classical repertory for contemporary audiences. Founded in 1967, CSC uses
works of the past as a way to engage in the issues of today. Highly respected and widely
regarded as a major force in American theater, it has become the home to New York’s finest
established and emerging artists, the place where they gather to grapple with the great works
of the world’s repertory.

The National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest presents Shakespeare in American Communities.
CSC is one of 40 professional theater companies selected to participate in bringing the finest productions of
Shakespeare to middle- and high-school students in communities across the United States. This is the twelfth year
of this national program, the largest tour of Shakespeare in American history.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the
City Council, and is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Andrew Cuomo and the New York
State Legislature. Special thanks to the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust for supporting Classic Stage Company.

classicstage.org