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Objectives
This activity will help you to gain a clear understanding of the events of Act 3 Scene 2 – the scene in which the court watches ‘The Mousetrap’. You will examine key themes and the ways in which the characters (and the relationships between them) are presented.
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Outcomes
By working through this activity you will:
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create a ten-frame storyboard of Act 3 Scene 2.
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Resources
To complete the activity you will need access to:
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Kar2ouche Hamlet Content Library
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1. First read the text/listen to the audio of Act 3 Scene 2.
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2. Now open the Act 3 Scene 2 storyboard. This consists of ten blank frames plus labelled opening and closing frames.
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to open Act 3 Scene 2 storyboard
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3. Using the prompts and questions below to help you with this, fill in the blank frames in the storyboard. The study question have been divided into five sections, but it is up to you to decide how many frames you allocate to each of these sections.
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Lines 1-55: ‘Well go make you ready.’
In this section of the scene, Hamlet gives advice to the players before their performance. There are many references to acting in this play. For example, in Act 1 Scene 2 Hamlet speaks of the outward signs of mourning as ‘actions that a man might play’ (line 84) and in Act 5 Scene 2 he describes his rapid reaction to the threat of execution in terms of a ‘prologue’ and a ‘play’ (lines 30-31).
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Why is it so important to Hamlet that the players do not overact their parts, but ‘hold the mirror up to nature’?
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Lines 56-101: ‘Get you a place.’
Hamlet explains his scheme to Horatio and asks for his help.
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Why does Hamlet admire and trust Horatio?
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How do we know that Hamlet has already confided in Horatio? (See lines 86-7)
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What does Hamlet want Horatio to do during the players’ performance?
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When Hamlet hears the court is about to arrive he says, ‘I must be idle.’ What does he mean?
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Lines 102-163: ‘As woman’s love.’
The court enters and Hamlet converses with the King, Queen and Ophelia before the performance.
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How does Hamlet’s conversation with Ophelia here contrast with their last one?
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How much time has passed since Hamlet first saw the Ghost?
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What evidence is there at the end of this section that Hamlet is judging all women by his mother’s behaviour?
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Lines 164-279: ‘Lights, lights, lights!’
The play begins with a prologue, which gives a brief summary of the situation as it stands at the beginning of ‘The Mousetrap’.
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Claudius does not react to this part of the performance. What reasons could there be for this?
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Do you think Hamlet suspects that his mother may have had some involvement in his father’s death? (See lines 189-90 and 194-5)
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Do you think Claudius hears Hamlet’s speech at lines 270-3, or is he simply reacting to what he sees on the stage? Think carefully about how you could represent this moment.
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Lines: 280-end
With Claudius’ reaction Hamlet believes that he now has evidence to confirm the Ghost’s allegations.
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How would you describe Hamlet’s behaviour after the king has rushed out?
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How does Hamlet treat Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when they return?
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Look carefully at Hamlet’s closing soliloquy. What does the reference to Nero indicate? What did the Ghost say in Act 1 Scene 5 about how Hamlet should treat his mother?
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4. Drag and drop your completed frames into a template in the printing screen, and print your storyboard.
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5. Present your storyboard to the group and explain the choices you made in creating your frames, and the aspects of the scene you intended to highlight in your version. Listen to other members of the group as they present their storyboards. Are there any amendments you would like to make to your storyboard in the light of this discussion?
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6. Use the work you have done on this scene to help you to answer the following essay question.
TITLE: Consider the significance of Act 3 Scene 2 to the play as a whole.
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