Hamlet: Act 3 quiz

1. Good night. But go not to my uncle’s bed. Hamlet In this play we are shown over and over again how powerless women are in their society. They don’t stand a chance against men. Brothers seem to find it only natural to tell their sisters how to live their sex life. A son sees nothing wrong with telling his mother whom she may sleep with. After killing Polonius Hamlet finally gets his mother’s undivided attention and by the end of their conversation he seems to get her to understand him. He tells her he is only pretending to be crazy and asks her to keep it a secret from his uncle. At this moment Gertrude is put into position to choose a side and perhaps unaware of it she chooses Hamlet’s. She agrees not to tell about Hamlet’s madness as well as not to sleep with Claudius.

2. These words like daggers enter in my ears. Gertrude In Gertrude’s room, Hamlet screams and wants to make her realize she is doing wrong. This specific line is connected with what Hamlet says in the end of act two, that instead of actually using a dagger on her he will “speak daggers” to her. We also once again see how attackable ears are in Denmark. This has been a recurring theme in the play. Now Gertrude’s ears are being attacked and as a result her opinions are changing.

3. Our wills and fates do so contrary run… Player King These words tie in with the concept of Fortune, which keeps coming up in the play. Despite the fact that we may plan our lives out, our fate will come and take over. The Player King connects it to finding a new partner when your previous one is dead. This is something Hamlet has not yet understood – he cannot fathom how his mother could marry someone else so quickly. These words also apply to what’s happened to Hamlet. Whatever plans he had before the play began, he now has to avenge his father’s murder. It is clear that Hamlet’s will is against the idea – he wonders “why me?” and does not want to follow what fate presents him with. But he does anyway, he can’t oppose it, his ends are none of his own.

4. …blessed are those Whose blood and judgment are so well commeddled… Hamlet Hamlet’s adoration for Horatio is founded on Horatio’s stoicism. Horatio doesn’t allow himself to be manipulated by fate by staying constant no matter what it throws at him. He also does not allow himself to be ruled by his emotions. Hamlet does the opposite. From the moment the ghost gives him his task, Hamlet complains. He gets so angry at his mother that she thinks he’s going to kill her. His most dreadful act done when he is passion’s slave is his murder of Polonius. Unlike the person he admires, Hamlet is very much like a pipe for Fortune. Soon he’ll say that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern try to play him like a pipe when he finally loses it and acts on his feelings.

5. How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience. Claudius Claudius finally admits that he has a conscience and that he feels guilty. This quote is important because we have never seen Claudius show a conscience before. Even though we know that he killed Hamlet’s father, we see Claudius show no regret for what he did. He doesn’t speak of why he murdered Hamlet’s father until 3.3 where he says “the crown, mine own ambition, and the queen.” From this line we see that he killed Hamlet’s father for a reason. We can understand that maybe Claudius is in fact human and not just a power-crazed maniac. Claudius shows a side of himself that we have never seen before.

6. …the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er… Hamlet This quote states that when you plan to do something and then think about it a lot, you fail to complete it. This may be Hamlet’s greatest barrier to overcome. He plans to kill himself but thinks too much about it and doesn’t. He plans to kill others like Claudius, but thinks too much and can’t. every time Hamlet does this, he fails to take action. It seems unlikely that he will ever take action until he acts spontaneously, without thinking.

7. …am I then revenged To take him in the purging of his soul… Hamlet Hamlet says this as he sees Claudius praying right after the play. He could have easily killed him then, but decided against it because he was praying and getting rid of his sins. This shows us that Hamlet is a perfectionist and does not do anything unless it is under perfect conditions. Hamlet could also be procrastinating, as he doesn’t actually want to kill the king, but rather sees it as a duty to kill him.