“Though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t.”
Students further develop close reading skills as they examine Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The tragedy of Hamlet develops many central ideas, including revenge, mortality, madness, and the tension between action and inaction. Students analyze the play through the close study of Hamlet’s soliloquies and other key scenes to determine how Shakespeare’s language and choices about how to structure the play impact character development and central ideas. The showing of a filmed version of the play in select lessons supplements students’ understanding of plot and background points and encourages them to consider actors’ interpretations of the text.
Lesson |
Text |
Learning Outcomes/Goals |
| 1 | Hamlet, Act 1.1: lines 1–61 (Reading: lines 1–190) | Students begin their study of Hamlet by reading and viewing Act 1.1. Students explore Shakespeare’s language, initial plot points, and the setting of the play. Students begin to analyze the language, meaning, and implications of the first scene. |
| 2 | Hamlet, Act 1.2: lines 90–110 (Reading: lines 90–110) | Students encounter the character of Hamlet for the first time through the eyes of his uncle and now stepfather Claudius. Following a reading of the first part of the soliloquy, students continue to work with standards RL.11-12.3 and RL.11-12.4 by engaging in a discussion about how Claudius introduces and develops Hamlet. Specifically, they address the impact of Claudius’s word choices and the manner in which he introduces the audience to Hamlet as a character through Claudius’s accusations of an excessive and unmanly grief. Students acquire a preliminary understanding of the characters of Claudius and Hamlet through their communication with each other. At the same time, they begin to determine the emergence of concepts such as gender roles, the concept of duty, and mortality in this scene. |
| 3 | Hamlet, Act 1.2: lines 110–121 (Reading: lines 110–132) | Students read the end of Claudius’s monologue to Hamlet. Having previously focused on the development of Hamlet’s character, students now shift their focus to the development of Claudius in this monologue. After reading the new addressed standards SL.11-12.a, c, students listen to a reading of an excerpt of Claudius’s monologue and engage in small-group discussion focused on the development of Claudius. |
| 4 | Hamlet, Act 1.2: lines 133–149 (Reading 133–164) | Students begin reading Hamlet’s first soliloquy in which he laments his situation and mourns for his father. Students continue to focus on the development of Hamlet’s character. They consider the impact of Shakespeare’s choice to introduce Hamlet from two perspectives, first from Claudius’s point of view, then in his own words. After listening to a reading of the full soliloquy, students discuss the development of Hamlet’s character at the beginning of the soliloquy. |
| 5 | Hamlet, Act 1.2: lines 149–164 (Reading: lines 133–164) | Students continue reading and analyzing Hamlet’s first soliloquy, lines 149–164 from Act 1.2 of Hamlet. Students engage in a discussion about the meaning of these lines and how Shakespeare develops Queen Gertrude through this soliloquy. Students also continue to work with standards RL.11-12.3 and RL.11-12.4 and talk explicitly about Shakespeare’s language that is “particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.” |
| 6 | Hamlet, Act 1.3: lines 1–55 (Reading: lines 1–145) | Students read and analyze lines 1–55 from Act 1.3 of Hamlet, Laertes’s farewell monologue to Ophelia and a brief conversation between Ophelia and Laertes. Students engage in a discussion about the meaning of these lines and how Shakespeare develops the characters of Laertes and Ophelia. This selection also provides an opportunity for students to engage with concepts such as gender roles, family duty, and chastity—concepts that arise again in Unit 3 in relation to Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own. |
| 7 | Hamlet, Act 1.5: lines 99–119 (Reading: lines 1–119) | In this lesson, students read and analyze lines 99–119 from Act 1.5 of Hamlet, Hamlet’s soliloquy following his conversation with his father’s ghost. Students engage in discussions about the impact of Shakespeare’s word choices on the development of central ideas such as revenge and action versus inaction. |
| 8 | Hamlet, Act 2.2: lines 576–607 (Reading: lines 445–634) | In this lesson, students read and analyze lines 576–607 from Act 2.2 of Hamlet. This selection is a soliloquy in which Hamlet criticizes himself in contrast to an actor who has just recited a passionate speech. Students discuss the meaning of the soliloquy and analyze Shakespeare’s figurative language and how it contributes to central ideas such as action vs. inaction and revenge. |
| 9 | Hamlet, Act 2.2: lines 607–634 (Reading: lines 576–634) | In this lesson, students continue their analysis of Hamlet’s third soliloquy with a focus on how the introduction of a key plot point—that Hamlet will stage a play to determine the guilt of his uncle—serves to move the play along as well as further develop Hamlet’s character. Students discuss how these elements—plot, character, order of action—interact in order to develop the drama. |
| 10 | Hamlet, Act 1.2: lines 133–164; Act 1.5: lines 99–119; Act 2.2: lines 576–634 | In this Mid-Unit Assessment, students use textual evidence from one of Hamlet’s first three soliloquies to craft a formal multi-paragraph essay about how Shakespeare develops Hamlet’s character in relation to other characters. |
| 11 | Hamlet, Act 3.1: lines 64–84 (Reading: lines 64–98) | In this lesson, students begin to explore Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy. Students focus on how Shakespeare’s word choice impacts the meaning of the passage, with attention to his use of beautiful and engaging language to examine one of the central concerns of literature and the human experience. Students are assessed on their ability to discuss how Shakespeare’s language portrays Hamlet’s tone towards life and the contrast he sets up between life and death. |
| 12 | Hamlet, Act 3.1: lines 84–98 (Reading: lines 64–98) | In this lesson, students continue their analysis of Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy while shifting focus from the use of figurative language to the development and interaction of central ideas in the soliloquy. Students also consider how the central ideas in this passage relate to others in the play and how the interaction impacts the overall meaning of the drama thus far. |
| 13 | Hamlet, Act 3.1: lines 99–130 (Reading: lines 31–63 and 99–130) | This is the first of two lessons on the dialogue between Hamlet and Ophelia. In this lesson, students listen to a reading of the staging of a dialogue between Hamlet and Ophelia and then read the beginning of the dialogue in lines 99–130 of Act 3.1. In the beginning of the dialogue, students focus on the development of Ophelia’s character in relation to the other characters in the scene. |
| 14 | Hamlet, Act 3.1: lines 131–162; review Act 1.3: lines 13–48 (Reading: Act 3.1, lines 131–162) | In this lesson, students read Act 3.1, lines 131–162, the conclusion of the dialogue between Hamlet and Ophelia. Students continue to read and discuss the dialogue in pairs, focusing on the development of Ophelia’s character in relation to Hamlet. Students also review Laertes’s monologue to Ophelia from Act 1.3, lines 13–48, comparing Hamlet’s and Laertes’s words to Ophelia and discussing how she develops in relation to both men. |
| 15 | Hamlet, Act 3.1: lines 163–175 (Optional Activity: lines 176–203) | In this lesson, students read and analyze Act 3.1, lines 163–175, Ophelia’s monologue on Hamlet’s madness. Students analyze Shakespeare’s use of figurative language and discuss Ophelia’s perspective and her characterization of Hamlet. |
| 16 | Hamlet, Act 3.3: lines 40–103 (Reading: lines 29–103) | In this lesson, students read and analyze two rich soliloquies that include Claudius’s confession to King Hamlet’s murder and Hamlet’s decision to delay killing Claudius. Students engage in a discussion about how Shakespeare orders the action and further develops the characters of Claudius and Hamlet through these soliloquies. |
| 17 | Hamlet, Act 3.4: lines 41–102 (Reading: lines 1–102) | In this lesson, students read Act 3.4, Hamlet’s murder of Polonius, his confrontation with Gertrude, and her repentance. Students listen to a reading of the whole scene. Then they reread Hamlet’s confrontation with Gertrude and her repentance, using a jigsaw activity to analyze Hamlet’s monologues. |
| 18 | Hamlet, Act 4.4: lines 34–56 (Reading: lines 1–69) | In this lesson, students read Hamlet’s final soliloquy (Act 4.4, lines 34–69), paying particular attention to lines 34–56. Students discuss how Shakespeare continues to develop Hamlet’s character in this passage. Students also consider larger ideas related to Hamlet’s character. |
| 19 | Hamlet, Act 4.4: lines 56–69 (Reading: lines 34–69) | In this lesson, students use annotation to focus on central ideas they encounter in Hamlet’s last soliloquy (Act 4.4, lines 34–69). Earlier lessons in this unit focused on central ideas within a single soliloquy. This lesson requires students to analyze central ideas as they develop across multiple scenes in the play. This builds on the work students did in the previous lesson and provides scaffolding for the Module Performance Assessment, which requires analysis of central ideas across the module’s three texts. |
| 20 | Hamlet, Act 5.1: lines 254–289 (Reading: lines 1–68 and 224–319) | In this lesson, students listen to a reading of the opening of Act 5.1 before reading a passage in which the characters gather at Ophelia’s grave. As students read the scene, they analyze and discuss how the setting impacts other elements in the drama. |
| 21 | Hamlet, Act 5.1: lines 254–289 (Reading: lines 254–289) | In this lesson, students reread the scene at Ophelia’s grave (Act 5.1, lines 254–289) in order to analyze how Shakespeare develops the characters through their responses to Ophelia’s death. This lesson follows a lesson in which students completed a close reading of the scene that explored students’ literal understanding of the text and demonstrated how the setting of a scene impacts other dramatic elements. Previous lessons in the unit focused on analysis of central ideas or narrative elements. This lesson integrates both standards for a complex analysis of how character development impacts central ideas. |
| 22 | Hamlet, Act 5.2: lines 239–332 (Reading: Act 4.7: lines 141–186 and Act 5.2: lines 239–332) | In this lesson, students read and analyze lines 239–332 from Act 5.2 of Hamlet, in which Hamlet and Laertes fence and then wound each other with the poisoned blade. Students also listen to a reading of the conversation between Claudius and Laertes to provide context about the plan to kill Hamlet. Students analyze how central ideas that were introduced and developed throughout the play interact during the play’s final scene. |
| 23 | Hamlet, Act 5.2: lines 344–398 (Reading: 333–398) | In this lesson, students finish their reading of Hamlet and analyze the play’s tragic resolution in which Hamlet, Laertes, Claudius, and Gertrude all die. To support their analysis, students view a film representation of the fencing match and the resulting action. |
| 24 | Hamlet | This lesson comprises the first of two parts of the End-of-Unit Assessment for 11.1.2. In this lesson, students collect evidence to support their analysis of how central ideas interact and build on one another in Hamlet. |
| 25 | Hamlet | This lesson comprises the second part of the End-of-Unit Assessment for 11.1.2. In this lesson, students draft a multi-paragraph response to the End-of-Unit Assessment prompt: Identify two central ideas from the play. How do these ideas interact and build on one another over the course of the play? In your response, identify and discuss at least one literary device that Shakespeare uses to develop or relate these central ideas. |
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