"Remember
Me":Retribution and Reconciliation in Hamlet
By
Mary Ellen Dakin
Revere High
School
Revere, MA 02151
Introduction
From
the most ancient texts to the most modern, the relationship between parents
and children has been a constant source of drama. Nurturing and inspiring
at its best, demanding and destructive at its worst, this relationship
between generations ties the past to the future with invisible strings.
In Act I, Scene 5 of Hamlet, a dead father calls for revenge, and
a son is forever changed. The poet Seamus Heaney describes Hamlet as "pinioned
by ghosts." In this lesson, students will examine the Ghost’s influence
upon Hamlet, and the ways in which the Ghost’s speech (lines 43-92) contribute
to the themes of corruption, revenge, and forgiveness.
Goals: To determine the Ghost’s
purpose and the nature of his influence upon his son through an analysis of
the text; to question, listen, and contribute to ideas in small group and whole
class discussions; to compare a stage and film production of this scene through
an analysis of the verbal and nonverbal components of each performance.
Skills: Close reading of literary
texts; making inferences; examination of the denotations and connotations of
words; analysis of the organization of a speech; critical viewing.
How Long: 2-3 class periods.
Suggested Grade Level: 9-12.
Lesson
1.Preview: To prepare students for today’s task, list the following verbs
on the board or distribute them on a handout. Tell students that at the end
of the lesson, they will choose the verb or verbs that they think best express
the Ghost’s purpose in confronting his son on the ramparts.
In Act
I.5, it is the Ghost’s purpose to
corrupt
help
save
destroy
induct
seduce
empower
infect
tempt
enslave
inspire
transform
ensnare
invade
use
guide
…his
son.
Briefly discuss
and define each verb. Note the positive and negative connotations of each.
2.Guided reading, lines 1-48: Before assigning readers for the parts
of Hamlet and the Ghost, ask students to simply look at the first 98 lines
of scene 5. How many of those lines are Hamlet’s? (only 12!) What might
that imply about their relationship, about the Ghost’s influence over
Hamlet, and about Hamlet’s state of mind?
Begin
a reading of lines 1-48, stopping after Hamlet says, "O, my prophetic
soul! My uncle!" Encourage discussion about the nature of the Ghost,
and about where this conversation is heading. (Why is it suffering? Where
does it come from? What exactly does the Ghost mean when it uses the word
"revenge"? What sort of action does "revenge" require?
Can you think of any modern stories or examples of revenge? What are the
consequences of revenge?)
3.
Unlocking the language in lines 49-98, the Ghost’s speech: Distribute
a copy of the Ghost’s speech with room for synonyms and/or definitions.
Read
aloud, or listen to an audio recording of this speech, instructing students
to circle any words they do not understand. There will be many! Working
chronologically through the speech, ask students to identify the words
in each line that they do not know, recording these on the board. Using
the explanatory notes found in the Folger text and/or dictionaries or
a Shakespearean concordance, assign small groups of students to a part
of the list; encourage groups to define words based upon context clues
first. Groups will share their work with the class.
Arrange
a second oral reading of the Ghost’s speech. This can be done line by
line or sentence by sentence, but make sure that everyone has the chance
to read aloud.
4. Finding the argument: Tell
students that, using the language as a guide, they will work in small groups
to find a way to divide the Ghost’s long speech into several logical parts.
List these categories on the board:
Moral corruption
Physical corruption
Forgiveness / hope / redemption
Using three different colored highlighters
or pens, tell groups to scan the speech and circle any words or phrases that
name or describe the three categories.
Using the language as their guide,
groups will divide lines 49-98 into three different sections, and label each
section of the speech according to what seems to be its main topic. (Students
usually site the first 16 lines as pertaining to moral corruption, the middle
section up to "O Horrible" as having to do with physical corruption,
and the final segment as pertaining to redemption.) Encourage groups to share
their work in a whole class discussion.
5. Analyzing the theme / thesis
of the argument: Just what does the structure of the Ghost’s speech reveal?
Are the Ghost’s ideas arranged by order of importance, and if so, what is the
order…least to most or most to least important? Are the Ghost’s ideas arranged
in a cause/effect pattern?What does this speech reveal about the nature of the
Ghost? Encourage students to wonder about these things in a whole class discussion.
6. Analyzing the Ghost’s influence
upon Hamlet through comparative viewing:
Tell students that they are now ready
to watch and listen to a stage performance, an interview with a director, and
a film performance of these lines.
Tell students that one of the most
basic decisions that any acting company must make at this point concerns the
nature of the relationship between Hamlet and the Ghost. (Remind students that
they too will need to address this issue when they complete the activity on
the Ghost’s purpose that was introduced at the beginning of this lesson.)
Visit this
Hamlet on the Ramparts Website with your students. Together,
you will view a stage production of this scene performed by the Georgia Shakespeare.
GEORGIA
FESTIVAL PRODUCTION OF HAMLET (1999)
(Go
to Tutorials & Guides: Staging the Ghost for a tutorial on this Georgia
production where students can also listen to interviews with the dramaturg of
this production.) Finally, students will view this scene in a film, preferably
the Zefferelli production.
Students
will view these resources with eyes and ears attuned to the Ghost’s attitude
toward Hamlet and Hamlet’s reaction to what he sees and hears. Prepare students
for critical viewing by distributing a Critical Viewing and Hearing Guide
and assigning groups of students to specialize in each of the categories.
Follow the
viewing activity with a whole class discussion in which students share their
observations.
7. Extending the lesson: Assign
students to complete the sentence introduced at the beginning of the lesson.
Instruct students to select the word or words that best complete the sentence,
and then to write a paragraph explaining their choices with evidence from the
text and from the class discussions.
