Deconstructing Hamlet
Denotations, Connotations, & Literary Elements/Devices/Techniques
Warm Up: Deconstructing quotes
Copy the following notes in your notebook:
Denotation: literal meaning- direct, realistic, found in the dictionary.
Connotation: symbolic, culturally-constructed meaning that influences our interpretation
Example:
Snake
Denotation: Reptile, scaly, no legs
Connotation: Evil, Temptation, Betrayal
Warm Up: Deconstructing quotes
Denotation: literal meaning- direct, realistic, found in the dictionary.
Connotation: symbolic, culturally-constructed meaning that influences our interpretation
Copy chart in notebook & analyze quote for denotation and connotation.
Quote | Denotation | Connotation |
Hamlet: O, that this too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! (1.2.5) | I want my skin to warm and evaporate. I wish God had not organized his people to not kill themselves. The world is useless, bleak, boring to me. | Contemplating non-existence… Hoping to die, hoping to disappear... Everlasting=soul? God? Hamlet seems totally depressed about life...he wants life to be filled money, adventure, |
Warm Up
Quote | Denotation | Connotation |
HORATIO A mote it is to trouble the mind's eye. In the most high and palmy state of Rome, A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets: (1.1.112) | A speck of dust is irritating my brain’s eyeball. In Rome, a little before Julius toppled over, There were dead people everywhere in Rome. | Something small can have a large effect. The ghost is probably a bad omen, something bad is going to happen to Elsinore. |
Quote of the day
Quote | Denotation | Connotation | Literary Elements |
I shall th' effect of this good lesson keep As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother, Do not as some ungracious pastors do, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads And recks not his own rede. (1.3.530) | I’ll listen to your advice and keep my heart safe. But brother, don’t act like ill-mannered priests who preaches certain laws but doesn’t obey them (basically, is a playboy). | Gender expectations and roles - contradiction in terms of gender They have a close brother sister relationship They’re religious... | Similes and metaphors (figurative language) Imagery |
Warm UP: 11/12/13
Quote | Denotation | Connotation | Literary Elements |
Hamlet My father's spirit- in arms? All is not well. I doubt some foul play. Would the night were come! Till then sit still, my soul. Foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes. (1.2.275) | My dad’s ghost? With weapons? Something’s up. I think something is wrong. I want night to come. Until then, I need to chill. Bad acts will surface even though people try to hide them. | Hamlet’s articulate and a thoughtful guy. Hamlet thinks the world is full of backstabbers, of dishonesty… | foreshadowing soliloquy Figurative language |
Quote of the day: 11.13.13
Quote | Denotation | Connotation | Literary Elements |
GHOST I am thy father's spirit, Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confined to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away. (1.5.5) | I’m your dad’s ghost. I am forced to exist between the world (at night) and hell/purgatory during the day. Until my sins(the sins done to me) have been resolved. | Dad is definitely involved in something scandalous...bad..suspective...regretful...extremely violent. Dad will influence current times. | Figurative Language Imagery |
Quote of the Day, 11.15.13
Quote | Denotation | Connotation | Lit. Elements |
The time is out of joint. O cursed spite That ever I was born to set it right! Nay, come, let's go together. (1.5.945) | | | |
Quote of the day: 11/18/13
QUOTE | Denotation | Connotation | Lit. Element |
The sun god kisses dead dogs to give them maggots. Don’t let Ophelia walk in the sun (like a dead dog). Pregnancy is a good thing, but not if your daughter gets pregnant (might get maggots). Get it?! | | |
Quote of the Day: 11/20/13
Quote | Denotation | Connotation |
Hamlet. Why, then 'tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. To me it is a prison. Rosencrantz. Why, then your ambition makes it one. 'Tis too narrow for your mind. Hamlet. O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams. (2.2.1350) | | |
Quote of the Day: 11/25/13
Quote | Denotation | Connotation |
Claudius. [aside] How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience! The harlot's cheek, beautied with plast'ring art, Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it Than is my deed to my most painted word. O heavy burthen! (3.1.1740) | Wow, Polonius’s words stung me, made me feel guilty. Just like a whore’s sins cannot be covered through art, my deeds cannot be erased by my words. | Claudius is righteous...he is shocked that Polonius’s words hurt him. Claudius feels guilty... |
Quote of the Day: 12/2/13
Quote | Denotation | Connotation |
Hamlet (to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me. (3.2.400) | You can call me names, but they won’t affect me. You can try to use me, but I am on to you. | Emphasizes Hamlet’s sassiness, suspicious nature. He is also telling R and G that he thinks they are lying to him. |
Quote of the Day: 12/3/13
Quote | Denotation | Connotation |
Hamlet (to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me. (3.2.400) | | |