Tuesday and Wednesday, 2/24-25 - Yah. Sorry 'bout yesterday ; )

• P&P

• Quick J6 spot check (Tues)

• Announcement: I'll be gone Wednesday, so here is the assignment: Begin working on as much of J7 as you can answer. We will continue Act 3 when I return. Please pray for our time at the doctor. Blessings, my little poppies!

J7 - Hamlet: Act 3 (consult Leithart and Hamlet itself)

1. Though fundamentally opposites, how are Ophelia and Claudius similar, according to Leithart? 
2. What tendencies do Hamlet and Claudius share?
3. How is Claudius a complex character (in other words, how is he more than mere monster)?
4. What factors contribute to Hamlet's hatred of marriage (and women in particular)?
5. What is the double-edged nature of the play (what is doubly significant about the death of the player king and his murderer)? In other words, how does the court interpret it? How does Claudius interpret it?
6.  What is Claudius struggling with when Hamlet finds him praying? Explain his biblical allusion ("primal eldest curse"), his distinction between earthly and heavenly justice, and his subsequent dilemma (what would be required of true repentance?).
7. Explain how Hamlet's deliberation in killing Claudius shows us he is increasing in madness (specifically as it pertains to vengeance).
8. Explain several of the ways in which the death of Polonius is the turning point ("lynch pin") of the play.
9. What is ironic about Hamlet's attempt to hold up a mirror to Gertrude? What does this tell us about Hamlet's moral constitution? 
10. Given that the murder of Polonius is the murder of another father, what can we expect to see in the immediate future?