The “To be or not to be” speech is probably the single most famous passage in literature, English or otherwise. I am sure you have heard it — the first ten lines anyway — before now. What makes it so memorable? How is it different from his soliloquy in Act I, Scene II, beginning “O that this too too solid [sullied,sallied] flesh would melt”?
Read Derek Jacobi’s commentary on the speech. Do you find his argument persuasive? Why or why not? What advantages derive from reading and performing the scene in this way? What problems arise from doing so?
However sympathetic we may be to Hamlet, given the nearly impossible situation in which he finds himself, his treatment of Ophelia is unspeakably cruel. Why does Hamlet treat Ophelia as he does? Is his apparent anger justifed? Is it simply part of his feigned madness? Or can you imagine another reason?
One weakness of shortened versions of Hamlet is that the character of Claudius tends to be turned into merely a stock villain. In the original play, he is more complex than that. How does Shakespeare complicate him? Imagine this situation from his perspective. Are any of his actions to this point in the play (not before) evil?
Shakespeare was, of course, a man of the theatre: an actor, a director, a writer, a manager. He has great fun commenting on the theatre in general and the current (at the time he was writing) state of the theatre in England. We saw this last class with his comments on the fad of casting a play entirely with children. Where does he do more of this kind of commentary on the theatre in Act 3? Does what he says still hold true?
Meanwhile, one reason Hamlet is considered one of the greatest of all roles for an actor to play is that the character himself is an actor, and perhaps a great one. What evidence do you find for this judgment in this act?
The dialogue between Queen Gertrude and Hamlet at the end of Act 3 is powerful, but it is important that you pay close attention to how Hamlet’s tone changes partway through. What is the change, when does it happen, and what causes it?