Hamlet I.iii and I.iv (E10 4B)

Shakespeare is challenging! But it will gradually begin to make sense -- STICK WITH IT!!!




Warm Up:

Re-read Hamlet's "Oh that this too too sullied flesh would melt" soliloquy. Many readers have observed that Shakespeare's plays are actually written as giant poems.

Which text feature most clearly identifies this speech as a poem?

A. it uses a regular rhyme

B. it uses of a fixed number of syllables per line

C. it features a soliloquy

D. it identifies dramatis personae

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Here are a handful of really helpful links to help you make sense of this challenging new text.

Click here to view our in-class presentation notes (updated daily).

Click here for a "modern English" line-by-line translation of the text.

Click here for a how-to guide on making sense of Hamlet's soliloquies.

Click here for the SparkNotes character analyses and scene summaries of the play.

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Homework: For next class, bring in your ROUGH DRAFTS -- we will take part in a peer edit.