to reveal the power-seeking, the jostling for place, the hidden motives, the courteous superficialities that veil lust and guilt, to condemn the hypocrisy and treachery and general corruption.
Introduction
* As the greatest dramatist in the world
literature，Shakespeare is remembered by the entire world for centuries and his works are read, put onto the stage, loved and memorized with an intense passion.
2) “To die—to sleep/No more; … The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks /That flesh is heir to, …” :
“To die—to sleep” : To die is to sleep. “No more”: to die is to be no more. “The heartache, … That flesh is heir to ”: all kinds of sufferings (shocks) that naturally occur to human beings (“flesh”—human body); “natural shocks”: attacks made by nature.
“spurns”: insults, contempt, disdain.
“That … takes”: the people of endure at the hands of the unworthy.
“quietus”: the final settlement of an account.
I. TOPIC： Hamlet（Act 3, Scene 1, lines 55-86） II. OBJECTIVES: A） Introduction B） The main idea of “Hamlet” and its themes C） A study of the text
1. The main idea of Act 3, Scene 1 2. Key points 3. Stylistic features 4. Comment on “Hamlet” D） Assignment
The main idea of Act 3, Scene 1
1. to focus on the deep conflict within Hamlet. 2. open amid agitation and gloom. 3. Hamlet’s brooding. 4. father’s ghost. 5. to be torn between the demands of his emotions
The chief elements:
1.The stories of murder and revenge 2.The appearance of a ghost 3.The performance of a play within a play 4．Whether he was mad
Themes
3) “To die—to sleep. /To sleep—perchance to dream： ay, there’s the rub! /For in that sleep of death …/When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, /Must give us pause. ”：
and the hesitant skepticism of his mind. 6. to reveal this conflict in several famous and
eloquent soliloquies. 7. The “To be or not to be” soliloquy is central to Hamlet’s
comments.
Key points
1) “To be , or not to be—that is the question:/Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer/The slings and arrows …fortune/Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/And by opposing end them.
Further explana来自ion：Hamlet is depressed and disillusioned when he hears his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle and his father’s being murdering. He feels everyone and everything is tainted so that he is torn between emotions and the hesitant skepticism of his mind. It can reveal Hamlet’s personality—the complex deep conflict.
“perchance”：maybe. “rub”：obstacle, impediment. Here it refers to the doubt or difficulty. “shuffled off this mortal coil” ： end this life; “mortal coil”：turmoil of mortality, human life. “give us pause”：make us hesitate.
“The insolence of office”: the haughty and contemptuous behavior shown by holders of high governmental posts./ the contempt held by the people of high rank.
4) “There’s the respect /That makes calamity of so long life./For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, … /The insolence of office, and the spurns/That patient merit of th’ unworthy takes,/When he himself might his quietus make,/With a bare bodkin? ” :
“To be , or not to be—that is the question”: to live on in this world or to die; to suffer or to take action; to take action or to do nothing; to be：to exist. “in the mind to suffer”: passively to suffer “slings and arrows”: attacks. “to take arms against a sea of troubles”: to take up arms against troubles that sweep upon us like a sea. The “troubles” is pictured as advancing like some overwhelming tide.
* “Hamlet” is the first of the great tragedies, is generally regarded as Shakespeare’s most popular play on the stage and can be reckoned as the summit of all Shakespeare’s works.
* The story of “Hamlet” is about the revenge of Prince Hamlet, based on an old Danish legend of the 13th century widespread in northern Europe .
The main idea of “Hamlet”
Further explanation：
Hamlet here gives the reasons why he does not want to commit suicide. He feels hesitant to kill himself because he thinks that some terrible dreams may trouble him after his death.
1. the vengeance of a son 2. to die suddenly 3. the wedding 4. to brood 5. ghost’s appearance 6. to pretend to be mad 7. to estrange himself from his friends 8. the performance of a play within a play 9. sent him to England 10. Ophelia's death. 11. a fencing match 12. to drink the poisoned wine 13. to kill Claudius