Name______Period______

Hamlet: A¢ I, Scene v

Hamlet and the Ghost each refer to the marriage of Claudius and Gertrude as incestuous (I.ii.162, I.v.49). Is marriage to one’s deceased brother’s widow incest? The question actually occupied an important place in English politics in the sixteenth century. Henry Tudor, the pretender to the English throne, won the crown by conquest after defeating the army of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. In order to strengthen his hold on the crown, he arranged for his eldest son, Arthur, to marry Katherine of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, the most powerful European monarchs of the time. Unfortunately, Arthur died soon after the wedding. His younger brother Henry, after becoming King Henry VIII, married Katherine. Henry and Katherine were married for more than twenty years but, despite repeated pregnancies, only one daughter, Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon Mary, survived infancy. Henry, desperate for a male heir, tried to have his marriage annulled because marriage with his brother’s widow was incestuous. Unfortunately, church authorities were divided on the question. (The fact that Katherine’s nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor, was the most powerful person in Europe may have had something to do with the church’s problem.) Henry ended up annulling the marriage on his own authority, thereby precipitating the split of the English church from Rome. Ancient history? Not to the Elizabethans. Henry immediately married Anne Boleyn and their daughter (born while Katherine was still alive) became Queen Elizabeth I —who was still queen when Hamlet was written. Clearly, Hamlet believes that the marriage of Claudius and Gertrude is incestuous. Just as clearly, the nobles of Denmark do not. 1. Is Hamlet surprised when the Ghost asks him to revenge his father’s murder? Is he surprised when he learns who the murderer is?

2. Do father and son have the same opinion of Claudius? (Compare I.ii.142– 146 and I.v.49–52.) Would others in the court, not knowing about Claudius’ crime, see Claudius as this inferior to his dead brother?

3. How did Claudius murder Old Hamlet? 4. What does the Ghost tell Hamlet to do about his mother?

5. Read Hamlet’s second soliloquy carefully (I.v.99–119). What does Hamlet say he has learned? In other words, what general piece of wisdom does he want to save from this encounter (I.v.115). Does this new information shock us? Or is Hamlet just “growing up”? (When did you first learn that you couldn’t always trust people?) Notice how quickly Hamlet moves from the specific (Claudius) to the general (“one”). Compare the same movement he makes from the specific person (Gertrude) to “frailty, thy name is woman” (I.ii.150). Given this soliloquy, how soon would you expect Hamlet to take his revenge? 6. What happens when the others find Hamlet? What does he ask them to swear? What does his mention of an “antic disposition” (I.v.192) suggest about his future plans? How might you expect Hamlet to be acting when next we see him?