Act 5 Sc 2

Act 5 Sc 2

Multiple Choice

Before Hamlet and Laertes enter into the duel. Claudius tries to do which of the following?

• Claudius poisons a cup of wine and gives it for Hamlet to drink, but Hamlet refuses.

• Claudius punches Hamlet in the face.

• Claudius pokes Hamlet with a vey small pin that has very toxic poison on it.

• Claudius prays for Hamlet to win openly to the public watching.

Multiple Choice

Why does Gertrude drink the wine?

• She can't stand watching Hamlet fight. She feels the need to get drunk.

• She's an alcoholic. She figures, "why not drink more?"

• In the spirit of the moment, she drinks to cheer on Hamlet, without realizing that the wine is actually poisoned.

• She wants to show Claudius that she is an independent person.

Multiple Choice

How does Hamlet end up killing Claudius?

• He stabs Claudius.

• He makes Claudius drink the poisoned wine.

• He stabs him and makes Claudius drink the poisoned wine as well.

• He doesn't kill Claudius, Claudius commits suicide after seeing Gertrude die.

Multiple Choice

True or False: Horatio dies in the end.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

What does Hamlet inform Horatio about death?

• Death is inevitable

• That he is afraid of death

• A and B

• None of the answers are correct

Multiple Choice

Hamlet believes in the concept of fate.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Who is Osric?

• The castle jester

• Hamlet's cousin

• A diplomat from Poland

• A court attendant

Multiple Choice

What does the dying Hamlet tell Horatio to do?

• To continue living and tell his story

• That he loves him

• To leave Denmark

• To join him in death

Multiple Choice

Who rules Denmark at the end of the play?

• Horatio

• Cornelius

• Fortinbras

• King Norway

Hamlet Outsmarts Claudius

• The scene begins the day after Ophelia's funeral

• Hamlet is telling Horatio about how he was able to get out of going to England and being killed (Claudius' plan)

• Hamlet switched the letter that Claudius sent demanding that Hamlet be killed with one that Hamlet wrote.

• Hamlet asked that the bearers of the letter (R&G) be killed (isn't this a bit harsh?)

No Remorse

• Hamlet says, "They are not near my conscience. Their defeat does by their own insinuation grow."

• Basically Hamlet doesn't feel bad about arranging the death of his old friends because recently they have been untrustworthy and more on Claudius side than his. (Is this true?)

• Hamlet does admit, that he feels bad about Laertes because Laertes wants to avenge his father's death, just like Hamlet does (finally realizing his actions affect others?)

Enter Osric

• Osric, a courtier, enters. He irritatingly agrees with everything Hamlet says, hoping to flatter him, even when Hamlet says two contradictory statements side by side.

• Hamlet says that it is cold, Osric says, "It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed," and then Hamlet says it is hot and agrees, "Exceedingly, my lord... it is very sultry."

• Osric announces that Claudius sent him to tell Hamlet that Claudius would like him to fence with Laertes.

• Claudius has bet Laertes that Hamlet would win.

• Another servant shows up to call Hamlet to the fight saying that everyone is waiting on him.

Hamlet Suspects

• Hamlet thinks he can win the bet because he has been practicing lately, but says, "Thou wouldst not think how ill all's here about my heart. But no matter."

• He means that he has a strange feeling that something bad will happen but then dismisses it.

• Horatio advises Hamlet against participating in the duel, especially if his gut is telling him not to.

• As before Hamlet ignores Horatio and agrees to the duel anyway.

• "Since no man of aught he leaves knows, what is 't to leave betimes?"

• Hamlet has realized in the last few scenes that death is unavoidable, so he might as well be ready for it.

Let the Duel Begin

• Isn't this odd considering Ophelia's funeral was only yesterday?

• Hall is crowded with spectators (how has Claudius calmed the crowd down, they were yelling for Laertes to be king).

• Hamlet begs Laertes to forgive him (remember he feels bad). He says of Polonius' death, "Hamlet denies it Who does it , then? His madness."

• Hamlet speaks as though madness and he himself are two different people and that it was madness that caused him to kill Laertes' father.

• Laertes says he will not forgive him until he consults with someone about it, but he appreciates the love that Hamlet is expressing.

A Toast

• Claudius tells Hamlet that if he wins the first or second hit, he will drink to his wealth then give him a goblet of wine with an expensive pearl.

• He switches the pearl for poison in the cup without anyone noticing.

• Laertes and Hamlet get their 'blunted' swords.

• Claudius and Laertes have plotted to make Laertes' sword lethally sharp AND laced with poison (so does Laertes really appreciate the 'love' Hamlet expressed?).

• Hamlet gets first hit, but doesn't want a drink of wine yet, Gertrude drinks the wine before Claudius can stop her.

A Scratch

• Laertes wounds Hamlet with his sword, drawing blood.

• Swords get mixed up and Hamlet winds up with Laertes sword.

• Hamlet strikes Laertes with his own poisoned sword.

• Suddenly Gertrud falls from drinking the poisoned wine and Laertes falls as well, saying, "I am justly kill'd with my own treachery," meaning that it is fair that he be killed by his own foul play.

• Why didn't Hamlet die first? He was the first one poisoned.

Death Toll Rises

• As Laertes dies, he tells Hamlet that it was Claudius who poisoned the wine and the sword (wasn't the poisoned sword his idea?) in an effort to have Hamlet killed.

• Laertes also tells him that he will soon die because Laertes struck him earlier with it.

• Hamlet turns to Claudius drives the sword through him and also forces him to drink the last of the wine.

• Basically turning Claudius' plan back upon himself.

Six Deaths and a New King

• Hamlet and Laertes forgive each other before they die.

• Hamlet begs Horatio to live to tell his story and express the wish that Fortinbras be ade the King of Denmark.

• Horatio bids Hamlet farewell, "Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! -- Why does the drum come hither?"

• Hamlet dies.

Long Live the King

• Throughout the last scene, no one realized Fortinbras had returned

• Remember he was marching on Poland

• He has actually invaded Denmark and stormed the castle and secured it

• Thus avenging his father's death

Military Send-Off

• Fortinbras is accompanied by Englishmen who announce that R & G are dead, in accordance with Hamlets falsified letter

• Horatio is horrified at this terrible scene where four people are dead, two more have been announced (remember Polonius and Ophelia are dead as well for a total of 8 bodies, 9 if you count King Hamlet).

• Horatio promises to tell everyone all the events that led to this so that hopefully they won't be repeated.

• Horatio is the wisest character among them so he knows more about what happened than anyone else.

• Fortinbras says Hamlet should be carried out of the room like a soldier and commands his men" "Go, bid the soldiers shot."

Multiple Choice

In Act 5 Sc 2, who does Hamlet tell Horatio will be killed in England instead of him?

• The king of England

• Laertes

• Claudisu

• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern

Multiple Choice

In Act 5 Sc 2, which character is the first to die from the poisoned wine?

• Gertrude

• Hamlet

• Claudius

• Horatio

Multiple Choice

In Act 5 Sc 2, after most of the main characters have been killed, who becomes the new king of Denmark?

• Horatio

• Yorick

• Guildenstern

• Fortinbras

Multiple Choice

In Act 5 Sc w, what does Claudius drop in a goblet of wine just before the duel?

• A jewel

• An ice cube

• His ring

• Poison

Multiple Choice

In Act 5 Sc 2, which character remains alive at the end of the play and promises to clear Hamlet's name by telling his story?

• Fortinbras

• Horatio

• Rosencrantz

• Ophelia

The Ending of Hamlet

It is a well-known fact that Shakespeare's tragedies normally conclude in death, and Hamlet, written in 1600 to 1601, is no exception. The last scene alone reveals the death of six different characters, and that is after the death of Hamlet's father, Polonius, and Ophelia in earlier scenes.

Although the ending is steeped in tragedy, Shakespeare does not fail to provide readers and audiences with beautiful poetry and thought-provoking wordplay amidst the deaths of Hamlet, Laertes, King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Breaking the final scene down into three smaller sections can help to reveal how the tragedy unfolds in a clearer manner to modern readers and can help draw attention to the most important quotes of the final scene.

Part One: Hamlet, Horatio, and the Deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

The beginning of Act 5, scene 2, the final act of the play, begins with a conversation between Hamlet and Horatio, his best friend and loyal companion throughout the play.

Hamlet reveals to Horatio that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who are supposed to be Hamlet's friends, attempted to carry out a plot to have him killed under the order of King Claudius.

Hamlet tells Horatio

• '... I found, Horatio -

  O royal knavery! - an exact command ...

  My head should be struck off'

• Meaning he had discovered Claudius' plan to have the King of England kill him

Good-Bye Frick & Frack

Hamlet then reveals to Horatio that in an act of Revenge against Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he 'devised a new commission, wrote it fair' that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern should be 'put to sudden death'.

The deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern occur off-stage, that is, where the audience does not see the action of the murder but rather only hears a report of it from another character.

Part Two: Osric, the Wager, and Foil Characters

The scene continues with Osric, a courtier sent from King Claudius who announces that Claudius wants Hamlet and Laertes to duel.

Although this portion of the scene seems to be unimportant, it sets up the final part of the scene, which is the actual fencing duel wherein Hamlet, Laertes, Gertrude, and Claudius all die.

Most importantly, Osric reveals that Claudius has placed a bet that Hamlet will win against Laertes, but all of this is part of a larger plot to ultimately murder Hamlet.

Ignoring Horatio's Advice Again

• Horatio doesn't think it's a good idea for Hamlet to agree to the duel

• Hamlet responds to the challenge stating: 'If it be now, 'tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all'.

• Although within the context of the scene this line seems to refer merely to the duel, it carries a much larger meaning in the context of the play, as it seems Hamlet is accepting that he may die at the hand of Laertes. This line seems to be a response to Hamlet's most famous line in the play, 'To be, or not to be' where he famously contemplates whether or not he wants to live, and he seems to arrive at an acceptance that death will come, whether it be now or later on.

Enter Claudius, Laertes, & Gertrude

Before the duel begins, Hamlet apologizes to Laertes. The relationship between Hamlet and Laertes within the context of the larger plot is interesting, and Shakespeare draws a connection between the two characters: both Hamlet and Laertes are seeking to avenge their fathers' deaths.

While Hamlet famously debates whether or not he should take action throughout the course of the play, Laertes is much more proactive and assertive. He intends to kill Hamlet in the duel with a poisoned sword as a way of avenging Polonious's death.

In this way, the characters are foils, that is characters who stand in contrast to one another. However, the word foil has another meaning as well within a fencing context. It is a type of sword used in fencing. Therefore, when Hamlet says, 'I'll be your foil, Laertes' it carries a double meaning, and is a pun, or play on words.

Part Three: The Duel and Four Deaths

The fight begins, and the tragedy quickly escalates. Claudius, who is determined to kill Hamlet, devises a backup plan, in case Laertes is unable to kill Hamlet. He places poison in a cup of wine which he plans to offer to Hamlet during the course of the duel. However, Hamlet refuses the wine.

However, his mother, Gertrude, not knowing the wine is poisoned, raises a toast to her son, and before Claudius is able to stop her, drinks from the poisoned cup. Only a few lines later, Hamlet is scratched by Laertes's poisoned sword, and in the scuffle of the duel, Laertes is also stabbed by his own sword. All of this seems to happen at once, and soon, as he is dying, Laertes reveals that Claudius is behind this plot all along.

Hamlet's Dying Request

• Hamlet asks his friend to tell his story, meaning to reveal that Hamlet was visited by the ghost of his dead father and sought to avenge his father's death.

• Horatio responds with:

  'Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,

  And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest'.

In Summary

The ending of Hamlet contains the deaths of six people, but more importantly, contains important literary devices such as puns and foil characters.

Furthermore, the truth of Hamlet's turmoil throughout the play is revealed, as well as the many murderous actions of Claudius.

The summary and quotes above give a snapshot into the last part of one of Shakespeare's most well-known tragedies and reveal the importance of both major and minor characters in this final scene.

Multiple Choice

How many deaths occur in the final scene of Hamlet?

• 5

• 0

• 6

• 4

Multiple Choice

Consider Hamlet's quote: 'If it be now, 'tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.' What is Hamlet talking about when he says this to Horatio? In other words, what does 'it' mean?

• The fencing duel

• Death

• Rebirth

• War

Multiple Choice

What is a foil character?

• A character that likes to fence

• A character wo is an exact copy of another character.

• A character who is positioned in contrast with another character

• A character who is very bright and shiny

Multiple Choice

What is a pun?

• Th contrasting of two characters.

• A comparison between two similar objexts

• A type of theatrical stage direction used in Shakespeare's plays

• A play on words, which is usually humorous

Multiple Choice

Which character or characters are murdered off-stage in Hamlet?

• Hamlet and Laertes

• Gertrude

• Horatio

• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Multiple Choice

How does Queen Gertrude die in Hamlet?

• She is strangled by Claudius.

• She is stabbed by a poisoned sword.

• She drowns herself.

• She drinks poisoned wine intended for Hamlet.

Multiple Choice

What is Hamlet's final request before he dies?

• That his mother be taken care of by Horatio.

• That his story will be told by Horatio.

• That he be buried beside his beloved Ophelia.

• That Claudius be hanged for treason.

Meaning of 'The Rest is Silence' in Hamlet

The last words of the title character in William Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' have gained a life far beyond the play, the poignant phrase is often used to comment on the conclusion of dramatic or tragic events. In context, they respond to Hamlet's and the play's preoccupation with death.

Ending Hamlet

In dramatizing Hamlet's death, Shakespeare had a lot of work to do to ensure it wouldn't be anticlimactic. Hamlet's death comes almost at the end of Act 5, Scene 2.

The stage is literally strewn with corpses. The sheer volume of death in Hamlet's final scene is commented on by the (few) surviving characters and has frequently been the subject of satire.

The queen is poisoned. Hamlet accidentally kills Laertes with the latter's poisoned sword, and finally kills his uncle, the king, calling him 'thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane'.

Ending Hamlet Cont.

Hamlet's own death comes hundreds of lines after he is mortally wounded by Laertes. He knows he's dying. Hamlet simultaneously tries to process his own death and deal with his responsibilities as the Prince of Denmark.

It's heartrending. Having Hamlet's death so drawn out is fitting for the philosophical prince. It creates the challenge for Shakespeare of ensuring that not a single audience member thinks his tragic hero should just die already, and of crafting a thoughtful conclusion that takes into account all Hamlet's previous grappling with the enigma of death.

Death and the Prince

The audience has seen Hamlet thinking about death since his first appearance on stage in Act 1, Scene 3. Everyone at court reproaches him for brooding over his father's death.

When left alone, he contemplates suicide. For Hamlet, death is associated with the afterlife. What comes after death was a subject of particular anxiety in Shakespeare's England, which was experiencing religious turmoil at the time.

Death and the Prince Cont.

Hamlet's most famous soliloquy, 'To be, or not to be,' engages deeply with the question of what death is and what comes after it.

In this speech, Hamlet imagines death as a long sleep, dying as a means to 'end / The heartache and the thousand natural shocks / That flesh is heir to'.

His longing for peace, however, is counterbalanced by his fear of what might come after death. Hamlet describes death as 'The undiscovered country from whose bourn / No traveler returns'.

Death and the Prince Cont.

• In the final scene of the play, when meditating on the risk of death, Hamlet appears more resigned, saying that 'the readiness is all' when confronting death.

• Hamlet's reflections throughout the play combine to place enormous weight on Hamlet's last words, the words that hint at what he is feeling and thinking. Is he ready?

Hamlet's Last Words

• Hamlet has some time to know he's dying. As the poison works through Hamlet's body, his language becomes increasingly broken, reflecting his physical pain, emotional distress, or both. 

• He says repeatedly to his friend Horatio 'I am dying,' 'I die,' or even 'I am dead.' In Hamlet's last short speech, he makes arrangements for the future of Denmark, of which he is the dying king. He then breaks off short. His last line in the play is 'Which have solicited - The rest is silence.'

Hamlet's Last Words Cont.

• There are multiple possible interpretations of 'The rest is silence.'

• One is that Hamlet sees that death does have the silence - the restful sleep - he longs for. After death comes only the deterioration of the body frequently referenced in the play and famously dramatized in his earlier scene with the skull of Yorick.

• Another is that Hamlet decides that arrangements for political life are less important than confronting his own death and that he should simply be ready for whatever comes.

• Yet another is that Hamlet is simply incapable of continuing and that he is too weak to speak further. In any case, the scene is heartbreaking.

Silence and Interpretation

• Significantly, actors and directors can use silence to interpret Hamlet's last words. 

• Turning the dash preceding 'The rest is silence' into a long pause can set the words apart, implying that 'the rest' refers to death, rather than the rest of Hamlet's speech. 

• Directors may choose to have Hamlet say these words aloud, or as if to himself, or as if meant only for Horatio, in whose arms he is dying.

• It is in part the ambiguity of Hamlet's words that renders them so poignant and powerful. At last, the prince confronts mysterious death, and none of those left behind can fully know what that means.

In Summary

Hamlet spends the entire play thinking about death. He imagines his own death the first time he appears on stage.

His soliloquies reveal that he both longs for death and fears it. In Hamlet's final scene, the prince, newly poisoned, has some time to know he is dying. Shakespeare uses his broken language to reflect Hamlet's physical - and possibly emotional - struggles.

For all the time he's spent meditating on death throughout the play, that's not what he does with his final moments. Only at the last does he break off, uttering his enigmatic last words: 'The rest is silence'.

These may indicate that Hamlet sees death as offering the relief he desires or that he chooses to stop speaking in favor of contemplating his approaching death. It might be that he simply cannot speak any longer.

Meaning of 'Now Cracks a Noble Heart'

~'Now cracks a noble heart~' functions as Hamlet's spoken epitaph. Examining some of the ambiguities and implications of this line from the final scene of William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Now Cracks a Noble Heart: Context

'Now cracks a noble heart' is an appropriately heartbreaking comment on Hamlet's death at the end of Shakespeare's Hamlet. 

The line is delivered by Hamlet's best - his only - friend, Horatio. After this moment, there is only a brief exchange between Horatio, as the guarantor of Hamlet's last wishes, and the invading Fortinbras of Norway, whom Hamlet has chosen to be his successor.

Many productions cut this final exchange so that Horatio's grief for his beloved friend ends the entire play.

Now Cracks a Noble Heart: Context Cont.

• 'Now cracks a noble heart' is poignant in its simplicity. The rest of Act 5, Scene 2 has been full of chaos and murderous plots, and death. The stage is strewn with corpses. Horatio holds his dying friend in his arms and mourns him.

• Hamlet himself is one of the most enigmatic and most analyzed characters in literature. His actions during the play have been subject to endless interpretation by other characters, endless analysis by himself. In the moment of Hamlet's death, Horatio pays tribute to him, quite simply, as a man: not as a philosopher, not as a victim or a hero, not even as a king.

Who Says It? About The Speaker

• Horatio is a darling. From the rest of the play, we know that he is loyal, kind, and devoted to Hamlet.

• Moreover, Shakespeare characterizes him as the ideal man of the Renaissance.

• In Act 3, Scene 2, Hamlet describes Horatio as among 'those / Whose blood and judgment are so well commeddled / That they are not a pipe for Fortune's finger / To sound what stop she please'. This stoicism, and balance of reason and emotion, were viewed as the highest possible attainment of human nature.

• And Hamlet appreciates this: he tells Horatio that he's his favorite person, that he keeps him 'In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart'.

Now Cracks A Noble Heart: Whom Is It About?

• When Horatio says 'Now cracks a noble heart,' he is almost certainly referring to his friend, Hamlet.

• The line can be interpreted, however, as having a double meaning. Consciously or unconsciously, Horatio may also be speaking of his own broken heart.

• As the audience, we never get to see Hamlet as the man Horatio first learned to know and love. 

• From the start of the play, we see Hamlet as grieving, traumatized, obsessed. In saying 'Now cracks a noble heart,' Horatio is affirming a Hamlet of whom the audience may have lost sight. He is affirming a nobility that Hamlet himself has doubted.

  
  

Now Cracks A Noble Heart: Whom Is It About? Cont.

• In Hamlet's final exchange with Horatio, we see Hamlet taking on his responsibilities as king, even as he is dying. 

• When Hamlet finally does die, Horatio is holding him and gives him a farewell of infinite tenderness: 'Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest'

• The rhythm of this couplet is in perfect iambic pentameter, with alternately stressed syllables. The balance of it reflects Horatio's own nature and suggests the peace that he wishes for his friend.

Multiple Choice

In Hamlet, where does most of the prince's philosophical engagement with death take place?

• In his final speech

• In the play's final scene

• In his last words

• In his soliloquies

Multiple Choice

To what theme or themes of Hamlet do the prince's final words chiefly speak?

• Death and the after life

• Revenge

• Power and its abuse

• Love

Multiple Choice

In Hamlet, what is Hamlet's meaning when he says, "The rest is silence."?

• Hamlet sees that death has the silence (restful sleep) he longs for.

• Hamlet decides that arrangements for political life are less important than confronting his own death.

• Hamlet is simply incapable of continuing; he is too weak to speak further.

• All of these are possible meanings.

Multiple Choice

Why were death and the afterlife particularly important to the audiences of Hamlet?

• The play was written in a time of religious turmoil.

• The play was written when everyone was very religious.

• The play was the first to address such subjects.

• These were unconventional subjects for the stage.

Multiple Choice

In Act 5 Scene 2, why does Horatio say 'Now cracks a noble heart'?

• He needs to explain Hamlet's death to Fortinbras.

• He needs to explain Hamlet's death to the people of Denmark.

• He is comforting Hamlet.

• He is grieving his friend.

Multiple Choice

In what verse meter is the following line from Act 5 Scene 2, 'Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince.'?

• Trochaic tetrameter.

• It follows no regular meter.

• Iambic pentameter

• Couplet

Multiple Choice

COmplete the flolowing line from Act 5 Scene 2, 'Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince / and flights of __ sing thee to they rest.'

• Cherubs

• Doves

• Spirits

• Angels

Multiple Choice

How does 'Now cracks a noble heart' function in the context of Act 5 Scene 2?

• It is a suitably lofty epitaph for the philosopher prince.

• It is part of Horatio's attempt to calm the populace.

• Its simplicity contrasts with the preceding chaos and bloodshed.

• It serves to affirm Hamlet's legitimacy as king of Denmark.

Multiple Choice

According to Shakespeare, what ideal qualities of the Renaissance man does Horatio possess?

• He has a perfect balance of reason and emothion.

• He is a loyal friend.

• He is always optimistic.

• He is athletic and scholarly.