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Lesson 6

We will continue our analysis of Act 4, Scene 7. We will examine a visual representation of Ophelia and compare its interpretation to the original text.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I analyze Act 4, Scene 7 through a political lens?

  • Can I analyze parallels between Hamlet and Laertes?

  • Can I analyze a visual interpretation of a passage from Act 4, Scene 7?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Hamlet, William Shakespeare, Simon and Schuster, 2003
  • Digital Access
    • Ophelia, Sir John Everett Millais, Wikipedia, 1851

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will review our answers to the homework questions about lines 145–221 from Act 4, Scene 7.

In groups, discuss your answers to the following questions:

  1. What is the plan for killing Hamlet? What is Laertes’s role? What is Claudius’s role?

  2. What news does Gertrude bring?

  3. How do Gertrude and Laertes react to this news?

  4. How does Claudius react?

  5. What ideas about politics and power does this scene address?

Capture key takeaways from this discussion on your Political Lens Note-Taking Tool.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

We will reread select lines from Act 4, Scene 7 to explore the parallels between laertes’s story and Hamlet’s story.

Reread and annotate Lines 126-146 of Act 4, Scene 7.

Use the following questions to guide your annotations:

  1. What does Claudius compare love to in this speech? What effect does his use of metaphor have on the meaning of his speech? What parallels does the metaphor have to Hamlet’s emotional and mental experience?

  2. What does Laertes say he is willing to do to demonstrate his love for his father? What parallels does this vow have to Hamlet’s emotional and mental experience? How is it different?

Discuss your answers in a group.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss

We will reread gertrude’s description of Ophelia’s death more closely to examine its use of imagery.

Reread and annotate Lines 190-208. Use the following questions to guide your annotations:

  1. What imagery does Gertrude use when describing Ophelia’s death? What effect does it have on the meaning of the scene?

  2. Identify at least three examples of personification in her speech. What effect do they have on the meaning of the scene?

Discuss your answers in a group.

Activity 4: View

We will analyze a visual representation of Ophelia’s death and examine the role of Ophelia in cultural mythology.

Feminist critic Elaine Showalter observes, "Though she is neglected in criticism, Ophelia is probably the most frequently illustrated and cited of Shakespeare’s heroines."

One of the most famous illustrations of Ophelia is the painting Ophelia by artist Sir John Everett Millais.

Use the Visual Analysis Tool to closely examine the painting. As you view the painting, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. What lines from Gertrude’s speech did the artist choose to focus on?

  2. Which lines did the artist choose to omit?

  3. How does this artistic interpretation compare to the text?

  4. For you, how effective is the painting in portraying the text? Why?