UNIVERSITAS ISLAM NEGERI (UIN) WALISONGO SEMARANG

Ujian Akhir Semester Genap Tahun Akademik 2015/2016

Mata Kuliah : Prose Poetry Drama
Progdi/Kelas : Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris
Pengajar : Rahmi Widyaningsih,SS.,M.Pd
Waktu : 90 menit

Name : Lola Haolastuti

NIM : 1703046048

Watch Hamlet movie and Read Script of Hamlet then answer the following questions

ACT 1
1. Discuss the various ways in which the first scene of Hamlet shows you that something is wrong
in Denmark. In the first act of Hamlet, we learn something wrong in Denmark through both
natural and supernatural means. Our first hint is seeing the ghost in literature, ghosts don’t
usually hang around castles when everything is just fine. Then Marcellus describes how the
shipwrights are being kept at work seven days a week and all the preparations for war, and
Horatio explains the threat from young Fortinbras. So we know that Denmark is having
political and military problems as well as the religious and moral one implied by the ghost’s
presence.
2. What Impression Does Claudius make in scene 2? Is he a rational man? A good administrator? A
competent ruler? A loving husband and uncle? Explain. As gentleman. From Claudius’s
opening speech, audiences are likely to get the impression that Claudius isn’t overly worried
about the threat of Fortinbras. He’s at least worried enough to do something about it,
however at this point, he believes that handling the situation politically with a letter to
Fortinbras’s uncle (the current king of Norway) should adequately diffuse the entire
situation.
3. What does Hamlet reveal about his own mental state in his first soliloquy? At this point in the
play Hamlet is depressed and in what was called a deep melancholy state which the King
and Queen believe has taken over Hamlet. There are many reasons behind Hamlet’s
depression which include the death of his father, his mother remarrying his uncle so
 quickly, and as a result of the marriage his uncle is appointed as his father’s replacement at
king.
4. What attitude toward Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet do Laertes and Polonius share? What do
they want Ophelia to do? Why? The attitude has shown by Laertes and Polonius toward
Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet is disagree. They oppose the relationship of Ophelia and
Hamlet. In the act 1 scene III reveals Laertes’ and Polonius’s attitude against Hamlet.
When Laertes suggests Ophelia not to fall in love with Hamlet, he says : ”Forward, not
permanent, sweet, not lasting, the perfume and suppliance of a minute ; no more. “Polonius
also expresses almost the same idea when he speaks to Ophelia : “don’t believe his vows, for
they are brokers.” From Laertes’ and Polonius’s speech, its shows that they are untrue,
unabiding and only driven by his impulse. Therefore, they asked Ophelia to no in
relationship with Hamlet anymore.
5. What does the Ghost tell Hamlet? What does the Ghost want Hamlet to do and not to do? Why
does Hamlet need proof that the Ghost’s words are true? The ghost tells Hamlet that his uncle
Claudius murdered him one day by poisoning him as he slept. Hamlet is shocked to hear
this news but not surprised, as he never had fond feelings for his uncle. While he wants
Hamlet to kill Claudius, he exhorts him not to harm Gertrude. He says that her punishment
will be left up to fate. It’s not that Hamlet doesn’t believe his father’s ghost, but if he went
into Claudius and told him that he knew from a ghost that he is a murderer, he wouldn’t
have much credit with that story and be considered crazy. Further, his story would not hold
up in court if he said that he learned all of his intelligence by way of a ghost.

ACT 2
6. What does Polonius think is the cause of Hamlet’s madness? What do Polonius’s diagnosis and
his handling of the situation show us about? He thinks that Hamlet is upset about Ophelia
rejecting him because he is so in love with her. Hamlet’s madness is the result of Ophelia’s
rejection. Ophelia has cut off all contact with Hamlet and has refused his letters. She had
thought that Hamlet was only trifling with her, but it turns out that Hamlet was indeed
deeply in love with Ophelia. Polonius propose a plan to test his theory. Hamlet often walks
alone through the lobby of the cast and at such a time, they could hide behind an arras
while Ophelia confronts Hamlet, allowing them to see for themselves whether Hamlet’s
madness really emanates from his love for her. Polonius attempts to converse with Hamlet,
who appear insane. He hurries away, determined to arrange the meeting between Hamlet
and Ophelia.
ACT 3
7. How do you react to Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia in the first scene of act 3? What evidence
might indicate that Hamlet knows that Claudius and Polonius are watching and listening to
everything that occurs? I think, he is very genius and he can see the situation well, and he can
know about being spied by Claudius and Polonius. He is aware and has feeling about it that
he is being watched by Claudius and Polonius.
8. Hamlet sets up the performance of the “Murder of Gonzago”? What does this reaction tell
Hamlet? The reaction of Claudius take offense at the scene and when they get to the point
where King Gonzago is poisoned, Claudius gets up and leaves. Hamlet determines he has
proven that Claudius killed King Hamlet, Hamlet’s father.
9. What is Hamlet’s reason for not killing Claudius at prayer? Hamlet refuses to kill Claudius
while praying, because he believes that Claudius’s spirit will go to heaven since he is in the
process of asking God for forgiveness, Hamlet knows that his father never had a chance to
repent for his numerous sins before Claudius murdered him and doesn’t think that sending
Claudius’s soul to heaven would be adequate revenge. Essentially, killing Claudius is not
enough for Hamlet, who wishes to send Claudius’s soul to hell for eternity. Hamlet hopes to
kill his uncle while he is excessively drinking alcohol, gambling, or “in the incestuous
pleasure of his bed” in order to ensure that his soul will suffer in hell.
10. How does Hamlet treat his mother during their confrontation in her closet? Is Hamlet’s behavior
overly nasty or justified? Why does Ghost reappear during this confrontation? Hamlet is not
insane, he is jealous of Claudius. Hamlet feels Gertrude should devote herself to him, her
grieving son, instead of Claudius. He wants to kill Claudius, not because the Ghost tells him
to, but because he has psychic hostility toward the same sex parent. Hamlet wants to take
mortal revenge on her, but cannot. The Ghost appears and remind him again to leave her to
heaven. So, Hamlet takes verbal and emotional revenge on Gertrude. He unleashes an ad
hominem attack of her with justification : she has been sleeping with the enemy. Most
importantly, Hamlet kills for the first time. He obviously think it’s Claudius behind the
curtain, but it shows that he has, he thinks, overcome his inability to actively take
vengeance. He wants to take vengeance on Claudius, but he has been too heavily guarded.
Now in his mother’s closet, to have the King spying on him gives him justification for
killing.
ACT 5
11. Discuss the lesson that Hamlet tells Horatio he has learned about life. How does this
understanding change Hamlet? Why is it ironic? The lesson is about carnal, bloody, and
 unnatural acts, of accidental judgments, casual slaughters, of deaths put on by cunning, and
forced cause. It is ironic when Hamlet explain to Horatio how he manage to escape the trap
that was set for him in England. While at sea, Hamlet found the letter the king had sent
Rosencrantz and Guidenstern to England with ordering Hamlet’s death upon their arrival.
Instead, Hamlet wrote a new letter commissioning the deaths of Rosencrantz and
Guidenstern and sealed it with his royal seal.
12. How is Gertrude killed? Hamlet? Laertes? Claudius? Why does Hamlet insist that Horatio not
commit suicide? Gertrude drinks a poisoned cup that Claudius had meant for Hamlet.
When Gertrude faints and Claudius excuse this by lying “she swoons to see her son bleed,”
Hamlet hears Gertrude say it was the cup that killed her.
Laertes is killed dueling with Hamlet. He uses a poisoned foil and cuts Hamlet’s flesh,
barely, but enough for the poison to do its work to kill Hamlet. Hamlet, continuing the fight,
picks up the tainted foil by mistake, so when he wounds Laertes, Laertes is thus poisoned.
Hamlet hears a confession from Laertes, then stabs Claudius with the same poisoned sword
and pours the rest of the poisoned drink down his throat, thus killing him three ways :
sword wound, poisoned sword, poisoned drink. Because the dying Hamlet is aware that
Horatio is the best and most reliable witness to recent events at the Danish court, he asks
him not to commit suicide. Somebody needs to stay alive, Hamlet says, to tell the story of
what happened and how it ended so tragically. Hamlet also needs Horatio to let Fortinbras
know that he has his blessing to take the Danish throne saying : tell him so, with the news,
more and less, which has been asked for.

GENERAL QUESTIONS
13. Hamlet is full of conflicts that oppose people to other people, to society, and to themselves. List
all the conflicts that you can find in the play. Decide which of these is the central conflict, and
explain your choice.
Man vs man Man vs self
Hamlet and Claudius murders Hamlet’s Hamlet Hamlet is at odds with himself
Claudius father and marries his for most of the play. He is
mother. Hamlet doesn’t like plotting revenge and
this and plots revenge. justifying his deeds. He is
During the entire play paranoid and thinks that
Hamlet focuses on revenge everyone is out to get him
and Claudius is struggling until the very end of the play
 to preserve his kingship. when he kills Claudius.
Ophelia and Ophelia is in love with Claudius His guilt is eating him from
Polonius Hamlet. Polonius doesn’t the inside out because Hamlet
like the match because he is around. Claudius knows
thinks that Hamlet is crazy that he has done something
and Hamlet is just tricking wrong. He is really paranoid
Ophelia. Ophelia is torn because he know that Hamlet
between her father and know what he did to Hamlet’s
Hamlet which ultimately father.
drives her to madness and
she kills herself.

The center conflict : the external conflict of Hamlet versus Claudius is the main conflict of
the play as it sets the plot and shows the theme of revenge. This conflict is caused by
Hamlet’s quest for revenge on his uncle, as King Hamlet’s Ghost told Hamlet that Claudius
had poisoned Hamlet’s father as he napped to steal the King’s throne and his wife, Queen
Gertrude. The dead King tells Hamlet that “the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now
wears the crown”. This leads Hamlet to act mad to throw everyone, including Claudius, off
to plan for how he should exact such revenge. This leads Claudius to become weary of
Hamlet especially after Hamlet reenacts a play that similar to King Hamlet’s death and
after Hamlet kill Polonius. And at the end both Hamlet and Claudius are killed.
Why do I choose this conflict? Because from this conflict, other conflicts appear. Such as
Hamlet and Ophelia’s conflict, Hamlet kills Polonius and so on. This conflict is the first that
can destroy all of the element even the Queen is killed by the poisoned cup that Claudius
meant for Hamlet.

PLOT AND CHARACTERS ANALYSIS

PLOT :
In telling the story of a fatally indecisive character’s inability to choose the proper course to
avenge his father’s death, Hamlet explores questions of fate versus free will, whether it is better
to act decisively or let nature take its course, and ultimately if anything we do in our time on earth
makes any difference. Once he learns his uncle has killed his father, Hamlet feels duty-bound to
take decisive action, but he has so many doubts about his situation and even about his own
feelings that he cannot decide what action to take. The conflict that drives the plot of  Hamlet is
almost entirely internal: Hamlet wrestles with his own doubt and uncertainty in search of
something he believes strongly enough to act on. The play’s events are side-effects of this
internal struggle. Hamlet’s attempts to gather more evidence of Claudius’s guilt alert Claudius to
Hamlet’s suspicions, and as Hamlet’s internal struggle deepens, he begins to act impulsively out
of frustration, eventually murdering Polonius by mistake. The conflict of Hamlet is never
resolved: Hamlet cannot finally decide what to believe or what action to take. This lack of
resolution makes the ending of Hamlet especially horrifying: nearly all the characters are dead,
but nothing has been solved.
The play’s exposition shows us that Hamlet is in the midst of three crises: his nation is under
attack, his family is falling apart, and he feels deeply unhappy. The Ghost of the old king of
Denmark appears on the castle battlements, and the soldiers who see it believe it must be a bad
omen for the kingdom. They discuss the preparations being made against the threat from the
Norwegian prince, Fortinbras. The next scene deepens our sense that Denmark is in political
crisis, as Claudius prepares a diplomatic strategy to divert the threat from Fortinbras. We also
learn that as far as Hamlet is concerned, his family is in crisis: his father is dead and his mother
has married someone Hamlet disapproves of. Hamlet is also experiencing an internal crisis.
Gertrude and Claudius are worried about his mood, and in his first soliloquy we discover that he
feels suicidal: “O that this too, too sullied flesh would melt” (I.ii.).
The three crises of the play’s opening—in the kingdom, in Hamlet’s family, and in Hamlet’s
mind—lay the groundwork for the play’s inciting incident: the Ghost’s demand that Hamlet
avenge his father’s death. Hamlet accepts at once that it is his duty to take revenge, and the
audience can also see that Hamlet’s revenge would go some way to resolving the play’s three
crises. By killing Claudius, Hamlet could in one stroke remove a weak and immoral king, extract
his mother from what he sees as a bad marriage, and make himself king of Denmark. Throughout
the inciting incident, however, there are hints that Hamlet’s revenge will be derailed by an
internal struggle. The Ghost warns him: “Taint not thy mind nor let thy soul contrive/Against thy
mother aught” (I.v.). When Horatio and Marcellus catch up to Hamlet after the Ghost’s departure,
Hamlet is already talking in such a deranged way that Horatio describes it as “wild and whirling”
(I.v.), and Hamlet tells them that he may fake an “antic disposition” (I.v.). The audience
understands that the coming conflict will not be between Hamlet and Claudius but between
Hamlet and his own mind.
For the whole of the second act—the play’s rising action—Hamlet delays his revenge by
pretending to be mad. We learn from Ophelia that Hamlet is behaving as if he is mad with love
for her. We see him make fun of Polonius by talking nonsense which contains half-hidden jokes
at Polonius’s expense. Hamlet tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he has “lost all [his] mirth”
(II.ii.). Only at the end of Act 2 do we learn the reason for Hamlet’s delaying tactics: he cannot
work out his true feelings about his duty to take revenge. First, he tells us, he doesn’t feel as
angry and vengeful as he thinks he should: “I[…]Peak like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my
cause” (II.ii.). Second, he’s worried that the Ghost wasn’t really a ghost but a devil trying to trick
him. He decides he needs more evidence of Claudius’s crime: “I’ll have grounds/More relative
than this” (II.ii.).
As the rising action builds toward a climax, Hamlet’s internal struggle deepens until he starts to
show signs of really going mad. At the same time Claudius becomes suspicious of Hamlet, which
creates an external pressure on Hamlet to act. Hamlet begins Act Three debating whether or not
to kill himself: “To be or not to be—that is the question” (III.i.), and moments later he hurls
misogynistic abuse at Ophelia. He is particularly upset about women’s role in marriage and
childbirth—“Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” (III.i.)—which reminds the audience of
Hamlet’s earlier disgust with his own mother and her second marriage. The troubling
development of Hamlet’s misogynistic feelings makes us wonder how much Hamlet’s desire to
kill Claudius is fuelled by the need to avenge his father’s death, and how much his desire fuelled
by Hamlet’s resentment of Claudius for taking his mother away from him. Claudius, who is
eavesdropping on Hamlet’s tirade, becomes suspicious that Hamlet’s madness presents “some
danger” (III.i.) and decides to have Hamlet sent away: Hamlet is running out of time to take his
revenge.
The play’s climax arrives when Hamlet stages a play to “catch the conscience of the king” (II.ii.)
and get conclusive evidence of Claudius’s guilt. By now, however, Hamlet seems to have truly
gone mad. His own behavior at the play is so provocative that when Claudius does respond badly
to the play it’s unclear whether he feels guilty about his crime or angry with Hamlet. As Claudius
tries to pray, Hamlet has yet another chance to take his revenge, and we learn that Hamlet’s
apparent madness has not ended his internal struggle over what to do: he decides not to kill
Claudius for now, this time because of the risk that Claudius will go to heaven if he dies while
praying. Hamlet accuses Gertrude of being involved in his father’s death, but he’s acting so
erratically that Gertrude thinks her son is simply “mad […] as the sea and wind/When they each
contend which is the mightier” (III.iv). Again, the audience cannot know whether Gertrude says
these lines as a cover for her own guilt, or because she genuinely has no idea what Hamlet is
talking about, and thinks her son is losing his mind. Acting impulsively or madly, Hamlet
mistakes Polonius for Claudius and kills him.
The play’s falling action deals with the consequences of Polonius’s death. Hamlet is sent away,
Ophelia goes mad and Laertes returns from France to avenge his father’s death. When Hamlet
comes back to Elsinore, he no longer seems to be concerned with revenge, which he hardly
mentions after this point in the play. His internal struggle is not over, however. Now Hamlet
contemplates death, but he is unable to come to any conclusion about the meaning or purpose of
death, or to resign himself to his own death. He is, however, less squeamish about killing
innocent people, and reports to Horatio how he signed the death warrants of Rosencranz and
Guildenstern to save his own life. Claudius and Laertes plot to kill Hamlet, but the plot goes
awry. Gertrude is poisoned by mistake, Laertes and Hamlet are both poisoned, and as he dies
Hamlet finally murders Claudius. Taking his revenge does not end Hamlet’s internal struggle. He
still has lots to say: “If I had time […] O I could tell you— / But let it be” (V.ii.) and he asks
Horatio to tell his story when he is dead. In the final moments of the play the new king,
Fortinbras, agrees with this request: “Let us haste to hear it” (V.ii.). Hamlet’s life is over, but the
struggle to decide the truth about Hamlet and his life is not.

CHARACTERS :
Hamlet
The Prince of Denmark, the title character, and the protagonist. About thirty years old at the start
of the play, Hamlet is the son of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet, and the nephew of the
present king, Claudius. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for his uncle’s
scheming and disgust for his mother’s sexuality. A reflective and thoughtful young man who has
studied at the University of Wittenberg, Hamlet is often indecisive and hesitant, but at other times
prone to rash and impulsive acts.
Claudius
The King of Denmark, Hamlet’s uncle, and the play’s antagonist. The villain of the play,
Claudius is a calculating, ambitious politician, driven by his sexual appetites and his lust for
power, but he occasionally shows signs of guilt and human feeling—his love for Gertrude, for
instance, seems sincere.
Gertrude
The Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, recently married to Claudius. Gertrude loves Hamlet
deeply, but she is a shallow, weak woman who seeks affection and status more urgently than
moral rectitude or truth.
Polonius
The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court, a pompous, conniving old man. Polonius is the father
of Laertes and Ophelia.
Horatio
Hamlet’s close friend, who studied with the prince at the university in Wittenberg. Horatio is
loyal and helpful to Hamlet throughout the play. After Hamlet’s death, Horatio remains alive to
tell Hamlet’s story.
Ophelia
Polonius’s daughter, a beautiful young woman with whom Hamlet has been in love. Ophelia is a
sweet and innocent young girl, who obeys her father and her brother, Laertes. Dependent on men
to tell her how to behave, she gives in to Polonius’s schemes to spy on Hamlet. Even in her lapse
into madness and death, she remains maidenly, singing songs about flowers and finally drowning
in the river amid the flower garlands she had gathered.
Laertes
Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother, a young man who spends much of the play in France.
Passionate and quick to action, Laertes is clearly a foil for the reflective Hamlet.
Fortinbras
The young Prince of Norway, whose father the king (also named Fortinbras) was killed by
Hamlet’s father (also named Hamlet). Now Fortinbras wishes to attack Denmark to avenge his
father’s honor, making him another foil for Prince Hamlet.
The Ghost
The specter of Hamlet’s recently deceased father. The ghost, who claims to have been murdered
by Claudius, calls upon Hamlet to avenge him. However, it is not entirely certain whether the
ghost is what it appears to be, or whether it is something else. Hamlet speculates that the ghost
might be a devil sent to deceive him and tempt him into murder, and the question of what the
ghost is or where it comes from is never definitively resolved.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
Two slightly bumbling courtiers, former friends of Hamlet from Wittenberg, who are summoned
by Claudius and Gertrude to discover the cause of Hamlet’s strange behavior.
Osric
The foolish courtier who summons Hamlet to his duel with Laertes.
Voltimand and Cornelius
Courtiers whom Claudius sends to Norway to persuade the king to prevent Fortinbras from
attacking.
Marcellus and Bernardo
The officers who first see the ghost walking the ramparts of Elsinore and who summon Horatio to
witness it. Marcellus is present when Hamlet first encounters the ghost.
Francisco
A soldier and guardsman at Elsinore.
Reynaldo
Polonius’s servant, who is sent to France by Polonius to check up on and spy on Laertes.