Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Step Four B2.1 READING SHAKESPEARE.WEB

William Shakespeare Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

K E Y S

William Shakespeare Page 16 – exercise 2 Page 7 – exercise 1 1 The old King Hamlet 2 Polonius 1 Six 3 The old king’s funeral and 2 Because of the plague in London. Gertrude’s marriage 3 The best tragic actor in 4 The old king Hamlet Shakespeare’s time. 5 Just before midnight 4 Between 1599 and 1602. 6 Claudius 5 Unofficial transcripts of Shakespeare’s plays. Page 16 – exercise 3 (suggested answers) 1 sensitive 2 ambitious CHAPTER 1 3 independent Page 10 – exercise 1 Page 17 – exercise 4 A 3 B 6 C 1 D 5 E 4 F 2 1 refuse to do Page 10 – exercise 2 agree, decide, expect, hope, 1 Night time offer, seem 2 Hamlet and the ghost of his father old King Hamlet 2 want somebody to do 3 (suggested answer) The ghost has allow, ask, expect, help, just appeared. persuade, tell 4 (suggested answer) The ghost is 3 keep doing going to speak to Hamlet. enjoy, (not) mind, practise, Page 10 – exercise 3 spend time, stop, suggest 1 B 2 A 3 B 4 A 4 let somebody do Page 16 – exercise 1 help, make 1 C 2 E 3 A 4 D 5 F 6 B k e y t o t h e a c t i v i t i e s

Page 17 – exercise 5 Horatio, who was a close friend of 1 suggested 2 persuaded 3 decided Hamlet’s, that they had seen a ghost 4 refused 5 stop 6 spend 7 enjoyed on the battlements. 8 wanted/hoped 3 Hamlet’s letters to Ophelia, which Page 18 – exercise 6 she kept in a secret place, generally finished with a short love poem. 1 act 2 appreciate 3 celebrate 4 Hamlet, who thought he might have 4 compete 5 conclude 6 confess imagined the ghost, was confused 7 confirm 8 converse 9 crown and unsure of what to do. 10 decide 11 educate 12 explain 5 Ophelia, who was sewing at the 13 express 14 hesitate 15 inform time, was shocked when Hamlet 16 invite 17 permit 18 react suddenly appeared in her room. 19 satisfy 20 suspect 6 The death of King Hamlet, which Page 18 – exercise 7 was completely unexpected, 1 appreciate/appreciated 2 crowned surprised everyone at court. 3 concluded 4 suspicion 5 expression Page 28 – exercise 4 Page 18 – exercise 8 1 expecting 2 wait 3 injured 1 D 2 G 3 J 4 H 5 A 6 I 7 B 8 C 4 damaged 5 sensitive 6 sensible 9 E 10 F 7 borrow 8 lend 9 took 10 picked up 11 gain 12 win 13 lost Page 19 – exercise 9 14 missing 1 on 2 its 3 but/although 4 very 5 out 6 with 7 one 8 where Revenge in Elizabethan Drama CHAPTER 2 Page 34 – exercise 1 Page 20 – exercise 1 1 The Spanish Tragedy 2 Between 1588 and 1593 1 A 2 B 3 B 4 A 3 Violence was shown on stage in Page 20 – exercise 2 Elizabethan revenge tragedies. In 1; 2; 4 Roman times it took place off stage. 4 Because law court procedures were Page 20 – exercise 3 often corrupt and inefficient. 1 B 2 B 3 A 4 A 5 Because his themes are universal Page 26 – exercise 1 and timeless. 1 C 2 B 3 A 4 A 5 D 6 B Page 34 – exercise 2 Page 27 – exercise 2 1 C 2 D 3 A 4 B 1 Hamlet refused to go to the wedding of his mother and Claudius, which had CHAPTER 3 taken place soon after old King Hamlet’s death. Page 35 – exercise 1 2 Two of the castle guards told 1 C 2 E 3 F 4 A 5 B 6 D

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Page 35 – exercise 2 Page 44 – exercise 6 1 nodded 2 bumped into 3 stabbed 1 A 2 B 3 A 4 B 5 A 6 B 7 A 8 B 4 mooching around 5 recite 9 A 10 B 6 catch ... out Page 44 – exercise 7 Page 35 – exercise 3 1 U 2 U 3 C 4 U 5 B 6 C 7 U 8 U 1 B 2 A 3 B 4 A 5 A 6 B 9 B 10 B Page 42 – exercise 1 Page 44 – exercise 8 1 B 2 A 3 B 4 B 5 A 6 B 7 B 8 B 1 cheer 2 find 3 going 4 cut Page 42 – exercise 2 5 lighting 6 catch 1 Hamlet Page 45 – exercise 10 2 Claudius and Gertrude 1 A 2 D 3 B 4 A 5 D 6 D 7 B 8 C 3 Gertrude 4 Polonius 5 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern CHAPTER 4 6 the main actor (in the company of Page 46 – exercise 1 actors) 1 C 2 F 3 A 4 E 5 B 6 D Page 42 – exercise 3 (Suggested Page 46 – exercise 2 answers) 1 sinners 2 summons 3 gestures 1 Why did Claudius invite 4 heir; throne 5 nunnery Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to Elsinore? Page 46 – exercise 3 2 What did Claudius ask Rosencrantz 1 Ophelia and Hamlet and Guildenstern to do? 2 In a passage/In the castle 3 Where did Rosencrantz and 3 (suggested answer) Hamlet is Guildenstern see the actors? thinking, perhaps he’s worried. 4 Which speech did Hamlet ask the Ophelia is surprised or nervous. main actor to recite? 4 (suggested answer) Hamlet is going Page 43 – exercise 4 to speak to Ophelia. 1 Claudius could/might/may be a Page 46 – exercise 4 good king, but it’s too soon to say. 1 B 2 B 3 A 4 B 2 Hamlet must be a popular person at Page 54 – exercise 1 university because he has a lot of friends. 1 B 2 C 3 B 4 A 5 D 6 A 3 Gertrude might/may not know that Page 55 – exercise 2 Claudius killed her first husband. 1 despite/in spite of 4 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern can’t 2 However be very fit because they never do any 3 Despite exercise. 4 although/even though 5 Ophelia must love flowers because 5 despite/in spite of her room is always full of them.

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Page 55 – exercise 3 closely with researchers planning the 1 about 2 at 3 for 4 on 5 up 6 of reconstruction. Excavation of the site 7 about 8 on 9 for 10 like 11 to began in 1987, but it wasn’t until 1991 12 of 13 of 14 about 15 with 16 of that work began on the foundations. 17 to 18 with When Sam died in 1993 construction work had just started on the theatre Page 56 – exercise 4 itself. Three and a half years later in 1 was made of wood 1997 the Globe was ready to receive the 2 were given to public. 3 was destroyed in a fire So, what did the first Globe look like? 4 is situated on the Nobody knows for sure but we can 5 is traditionally celebrated get a good idea from picture maps, or Page 56 – exercise 5 panoramas, of the period. 1 T 2 T 3 B 4 T 5 B 6 C 7 C 8 B One in particular by Claes Van 9 B 10 B 11 T 12 B 13 B 14 C 15 T Visscher, who probably never visited 16 T 17 C 18 C 19 C 20 C 21 T London himself, clearly shows the architecture and location of the old Page 57 – exercise 7 Globe Theatre. In his panorama, the The Globe Theatre Globe is octagonal in shape. The original Globe was an Elizabethan In 1989 a small part of the Globe theatre that opened in 1599 in itself was excavated. From what they Southwark, on the south bank of the uncovered, archaeologists were able Thames, in an area now known as to conclude that it had actually been a Bankside. It was the third of three 20-sided, not 8-sided, building and had popular theatres located in the area, a diameter of 100 feet, that is about the other two being the Swan and 30.5 metres. the Rose. Like all the other theatres As regards the interior of in London, the Globe was closed Shakespeare’s theatre there are no down in 1642 by the Puritans, who pictures from the period in existence thought theatres encouraged immoral of it, but there is one of the Swan. In behaviour. 1596 a Dutch traveller called Johannes The project to rebuild the Globe was de Witt attended a play there and the idea of the American actor, director later made a sketch of the interior, and producer Sam Wanamaker. During which proved very useful for the his first visit to London in 1949, he went reconstruction of the Globe. However, in search of Shakespeare’s theatre, almost nothing survives to suggest but there was only an old sign on a what the stage of the theatre was like, wall that said: “This is on or around so the architects had to use evidence where Shakespeare had his Globe.” from existing buildings of the period. Twenty-one years later he founded an Huge amounts of research were done educational charity in order to raise to make sure that the theatre was as money for the building of a replica. accurate a reproduction as possible. He spent the next 23 years working The builders used the same kind of

4 k e y t o t h e a c t i v i t i e s wood the original builders would have Page 65 – exercise 2 used: green oak. They used the same 1 Hamlet techniques and tools to shape them as 2 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern carpenters in Shakespeare’s time used. 3 Gertrude They also used the same kind of reeds 4 Gertrude to thatch the roof. The new theatre 5 The ghost was the first thatched roof building 6 Polonius permitted in London since the Great Fire of London in 1666. Page 65 – exercise 4 As in the original Globe, the theatre is 1 manage to open to the sky and has a stage that 2 wisely projects into a large circular area, 3 knelt surrounded by three tiers of covered 4 trembling with fear seating. Tickets to stand in the yard 5 blind – no sitting allowed – are available 6 It’s all in your mind for every performance. Due to modern Page 66 – exercise 5 Health and Safety regulations, only 1 ’d better not interrupt 1,300 people are allowed in during 2 ’d better get a show, less than half the estimated 3 ’d better do 3,000 of Shakespeare’s time. 4 ’d better not tell Plays are normally performed between May and the first week of October. Page 67 – exercise 7 In the winter, the theatre is used 1 D 2 A 3 C 4 A 5 B 6 D 7 C 8 B for educational purposes. Tours are available all year round. CHAPTER 6 1 1599 2 Swan 3 (old) sign on the wall 4 1997 5 picture maps Page 68 – exercise 1 6 twenty 7 stage 8 green A 2 B 6 C 5 D 4 E 1 F 3 9 Great Fire 10 3,000 Page 68 – exercise 2 1 Gertrude and Ophelia CHAPTER 5 2 (suggested answer) She’s wearing a Page 58 – exercise 1 thin white dress and she has flowers in her hair. 1 D 2 F 3 B 4 E 5 A 6 C 3 (suggested answer) Sad, tired Page 58 – exercise 2 4 (suggested answer) Gertrude is 1 distress 2 ambassadors 3 villain going to speak to Ophelia. 4 mercy Page 68 – exercise 3 Page 58 – exercise 3 1 upset 2 down 3 away 4 m i n i s t e r s 1 B 2 A 3 B 5 prison Page 65 – exercise 1 Page 74 – exercise 1 1 B 2 A 3 B 4 A 5 B 6 B 7 B 8 B A 10 B 5 C 12 D 3 E 9 F 6 G 1 H 7 I 11 J 4 K 2 L 8

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Page 74 – exercise 2 CHAPTER 7 1 Claudius 2 Hamlet 3 Claudius Page 82 – exercise 1 4 Gertrude 5 Claudius A 2 B 6 C 5 D 3 E 4 F 1 Page 75 – exercise 4 Page 82 – exercise 2 1 completely 2 make 3 careful 1 B 2 A 3 B 4 B 4 clench 5 seriously 6 tightly Page 82 – exercise 3 Page 75 – exercise 5 1 B 2 A 1 had waited 2 hadn’t told Page 90 – exercise 1 3 wouldn’t have sent 1 A 2 D 3 C 4 A 5 D 6 A 4 would/might have understood Page 91 – exercise 2 5 hadn’t killed 1 was it Page 76 – exercise 6 2 isn’t it 1 F 2 D 3 C 4 E 5 A 6 B 3 hasn’t it Page 76 – exercise 7 4 don’t they 5 hadn’t he 1 had no idea 6 shall we 2 in case he is 3 hadn’t been so Page 92 – exercise 3 4 been made for 1 Hamlet is his longest play, isn’t it? 5 to allow him to 2 It’s got over 4,000 lines, hasn’t it? Page 77 – exercise 8 3 It wasn’t the first play Shakespeare wrote, was it? 1 toes 2 mind 3 face 4 fingers 4 Everyone knows that ‘To be or not to 5 eye 6 head be, that is the question’ is a quotation from Hamlet, don’t they? London in Shakespeare’s 5 The play has been filmed over 50 times times, hasn’t it? Page 81 – exercise 1 6 Brad Pitt has never played Hamlet, 1 Because they thought theatres had has he? a bad influence of people. 1 F 2 R 3 R 4 F 5 F 6 R 2 At the Theatre. Page 92 – exercise 4 3 Because many people died during 1 of 2 about 3 before 4 about 5 in the plague known as the Black Death. 6 of 7 at 8 like 4 Because they were not allowed to live in London. Page 92 – exercise 5 5 It was a place where merchants 1 arrangements 2 traditional could do their business. 3 references 4 symbolic 5 especially 6 Because it was outside the city’s 6 openly 7 fashionable 8 friendship boundaries. Page 93 – exercise 6 1 her 2 since 3 it 4 However 5 either 6 that 7 by 8 was

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Page 94 – exercise 7 1 2 3 1 R E C I T E 4 G E S T U R E O H 6 P 5 M U R D E R 7 A 8 U P O 7 B A R E F O O T A N A M O A N E T O R T Y 9 T R U S T I L R I O E 10 N U N N E R Y M 11 B E 11 C U R T A I N 12 N H A P T E S R S E A 13 R O S E M A R Y

CHAPTER 8 Page 103 – exercise 4 Page 95 – exercise 1 1 shake 2 take 3 win 4 make 5 announce 6 act A 2 B 4 C 1 D 3 Page 104 – exercise 5 Page 95 – exercise 3 1 She‘s been looking after 1 B 2 C 3 A 2 I’ve never seen Page 103 – exercise 1 3 he’s gone 1 B 2 A 3 A 4 A 5 B 6 B 7 A 8 B 4 I’ve been applying/has offered 9 B 10 A 5 We’ve been going 6 has been saving up/she’s finally got Page 103 – exercise 2 1 knew him Page 104 – exercise 6 2 forty thousand brothers 1 have been made 3 think twice about 2 have been invited 4 it will 3 has been cleaned 5 live to tell 4 have been put out 5 have (already) been brought 6 has (just) been announced

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Page 105 – exercise 7 Page 109 – exercise 3 1 B 2 B 3 D 4 A 5 C 6 B 7 A 8 D 1 Ophelia is with Hamlet. It could refer to page 50, any part from the Hamlet on the screen top half of the page. Caption: open Page 109 – exercise 1 response. 2 It refers to page 97, lines 9-11. 1 The films by Olivier, Kozintsev, Caption: open response. Zeffirelli and Branagh 3 On the right of Mel Gibson, as we 2 Olivier’s film, for best Picture and look at the poster, is Gertrude (Glenn Best Actor Close, at 43 she was only 7 years 3 Branagh’s film older than Gibson). On the left, in 4 The films by Olivier and Kozintsev descending order: Ophelia (Helena 5 Almereyda’s film Bonham Carter); Claudius (Alan 6 The films by Zeffirelli and Branagh Bates); Polonius (Ian Holm); King 7 Olivier 41; Smoktunovsky 39; Hamlet, Hamlet’s father (Paul Branagh 36; Gibson 34; Hawke 30 Scofield). 8 open response 4 The wedding of Claudius and Page 109 – exercise 2 Gertrude (which is referred to by Open response. Students might find it Shakespeare but is not a scene in the interesting that the Oscar for Best play). Hamlet is shown from behind, Actor has only been awarded once to and on his own and in dark clothes, to an actor playing a Shakespearean role show how he does not take part in the (Olivier), or that the author of Dr. celebration and doesn’t approve of it. Zhivago wrote the script for the 5 Open response. Russian Hamlet, or that the ‘action’ After Reading actor Mel Gibson played Hamlet. Page 110 – exercise 1 A 8 B 6 C 5 D 9 E 2 F 7 G 4 H 1 I 3

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1 1 B; 2 D; 3 A; 4 A; 5 C; 6 D; 7 B; 8 A. 2 Open response.

1 FIRST For each question 1-8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits BEST according to the text.

1 In chapter 1, how does Hamlet feel on his return to Denmark from Wittenberg? A Eager to discover how his father has died and avenge him. B Offended that his mother has not spent enough time in mourning. C Surprised that his mother has chosen his father’s brother as her new husband. D So involved in his own grief he can’t think about the feelings of his mother. 2 In chapter 2, how does Hamlet feel after meeting the ghost? A He has no doubt that he must kill Claudius and avenge his father. B He suspects that the ghost might not be real, but feels he must avenge his father. C He feels even more offended by his mother’s behaviour than he did before. D He needs proof of Claudius’ guilt before avenging his father. 3 In chapter 3, what is Polonius’s reaction to the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia? A He thinks that Hamlet’s strange behaviour is caused by his love for Ophelia. B He suspects that Ophelia has been seeing Hamlet secretly for a long time. C He is surprised when Ophelia shows him Hamlet’s letter, because he hadn’t known about their relationship before. D He is flattered by the idea that his daughter might marry a member of the royal family. 4 In chapter 4, which of the following is the best description of how the characters react to the performance of the play? A Hamlet is pleased because he has found out what he wanted to know. B Claudius is offended because he is sure that Hamlet wants to insult him.

C Gertrude is sad because she suspects that Hamlet might hate her. D Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are worried because they don’t know what to report to Claudius. 5 In chapter 5, how does Hamlet behave in the scene with his mother? A He accuses his mother of having conspired with Claudius to kill his father. B He shows remorse for having killed Polonius instead of Claudius. C He challenges his mother to explain how she could have married Claudius. D He tells his mother he is sorry for having spoken so violently to her. 6 In chapter 6, Hamlet meets some Norwegian soldiers on their way to attack Poland, because Norway and Poland are disputing a small piece of land. How does Hamlet feel after this meeting? A He thinks it is absurd that so many men should fight over a piece of land so small. B He thinks that Norway and Poland should dedicate themselves to more serious matters. C He suspects that Norway might be planning an invasion of Denmark. D He feels guilty that he hasn’t achieved more in his plans to avenge his father. 7 In chapter 7, which characters suggest using poison in the fencing competition? A Claudius, Laertes and Gertrude B Claudius and Laertes C Claudius D Laertes 8 In chapter 8, which of the following does not happen in the final duel? A Claudius accidentally drinks poison that is intended for Hamlet. B Laertes is cut with a poisoned sword that is intended to be used on Hamlet. C Hamlet is cut with a poisoned sword, according to plan. D Gertrude accidentally drinks poison that is intended for Hamlet.

2 FIRST You see this announcement in your school’s English-language magazine.

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