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Scene Study prepares you to perform key scenes for your theater class or audition. We've got all the information you need for a great performance.
Excerpt from Act 3, Scene 1 Monologue: Hamlet
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Understanding the Given Circumstances
- Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, mourns his father, the king, who died less than two months ago.
- Hamlet is disgusted by his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle, Claudius, who becomes king.
- King Claudius and Queen Gertrude have requested that Hamlet stay in Denmark rather than return to school as Hamlet planned. Claudius derides Hamlet for his grief, calling it “unmanly.”
- Hamlet receives a visit from the Ghost of his dead father, who tells him Claudius secretly poisoned him. The Ghost asks Hamlet to avenge him, and Hamlet swears to obey his command.
- Hamlet tells his friends he plans to feign madness to get to the truth. They swear to keep silent.
- Days later at Elsinore Castle, his family home, Hamlet retires to a deserted palace hall where he often walks. Overwhelmed by his life, he contemplates whether suicide is his answer.
Blocking and Movement
In theater, blocking is the process of planning the actors’ physical movements and positions. Be sure to show respect and establish trust when working with scene partners. As you prepare to block this scene, ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the palace hall like? Is there more than one entrance? Are there places to sit or lean? Is Hamlet concerned others will enter, or does he feel free to think in solitude?
- This passage is not just a monologue, but a soliloquy: Hamlet is speaking to himself, or the audience, rather than the other characters. Where does Hamlet direct his speech – outward? Inward? Does it change as he continues speaking?
- Most monologues have a dramatic arc or turning point where the character comes to a decision or realization. What is Hamlet’s realization? Does he have more than one? How does this affect his energy and the tempo of his line delivery?
- Does Hamlet begin his monologue feeling anxious, despairing, contemplative, drained, or something else? How could you show those internal states through movement? How might you draw the audience into Hamlet’s thought process using stillness and contained gestures?
Meaning in Heightened Language
As you prepare this monologue, think how Shakespeare’s use of heightened language informs Hamlet’s character:
- Written in verse, Hamlet’s language is sophisticated and philosophical. How does this reflect his social status, education, and imagination?
- How does cadence reveal Hamlet’s state of mind (i.e., a strong cadence showing clarity or a weak cadence betraying confusion or doubt)?
- Repetition is a device used in heightened language for emphasizing or pondering ideas. What does Hamlet repeat? Why? How can you color these words to show his thought process?
- Poetic imagery also plays an important role in this monologue. Are these the words of a grieving son, a philosopher, or a madman—a role he told his friends he would play?
- Is he contemplating, procrastinating, being out of control, or something else?
- How can you use a pause to reflect his thought process or a new idea?
- Many of the words here are unfamiliar to modern listeners, like “bare bodkin” and “fardels.” How can you clarify your intent or use gestures to help the audience understand? How can you emphasize consonants to help?
Historical Context
Written around 1600, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet reflected the political and social unease of Elizabethan England. Although known as an era celebrating creativity, philosophy, and the humanities, it was also a time of uncertainty, power struggles, and corruption. England was a hereditary monarchy. Queen Elizabeth was already an elderly woman, and childless; without an heir to succeed her, the English people feared political chaos would follow her death. Already courtiers were jockeying for power, creating intrigue and suspicion at Court. To assert their clout, members of Parliament threatened to vote against necessary taxation unless the Queen revoked the monopolies granted to royals and wealthy merchants to manufacture or sell certain goods. Despite her age, Queen Elizabeth kept a tight rein on those lusting for power, but the English people wondered how long that would last.
Beyond power struggles, England faced other difficulties in the final years of Elizabeth’s reign. Religious tensions between followers of the Church of England, the Puritans, and the Catholics divided communities. England became constantly embroiled in wars—all costly in terms of funds and manpower. A bad grain harvest led to inflation and increased poverty. Crime and prosecutions reached an unusually high level, due in part to this poverty. Unwilling to trust the legal system or perhaps to defy it, some took justice into their own hands with murder, rape, poison and other acts of revenge. Amid all of this, or perhaps because of this, Hamlet with its troubled prince was born.
Full Act 3, Scene 1 Monologue: Hamlet
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