Title – Introducing Hamlet

By – Stephanie Pellegrino

Primary Subject – Language Arts

Grade Level – 9-12

Hamlet on Jerry Springer lesson ideas:

Have volunteers for each character come up on “stage” (at the front of the room). You can assign parts or have them draw out of a hat. Each character needs a name tag that is large enough for the audience to read and a cue card. You can limit the amount of information on the cue cards, depending on how you want to break up the episode. If you only want to do one episode, include all of the information. If you want to use this format to check for understanding and predicting outcomes, limit the information to the relationships between characters. You play Jerry Springer and read off the important information for the storyline to develop.

Episode ideas:

• 1st Episode:
  Either play out the entire tragedy in this episode or limit to introducing the characters and information through Act II or III. Remember, the characters should be listening to you as you explain to the audience the various events, and the characters should act accordingly.

• 2nd Episode:
  Check for understanding by asking those who are not yet dead to return to the stage. Each character should recap the story from his/her point of view and predict the next course of action. This should include information from the first two or three acts, as well as predicting what will come next for each character and why the student thinks the way s/he does. End with the audience asking questions of the characters and your own “Final Thought” on the ensuing events.

• 3rd Episode:
  Again check for understanding, but this final episode takes place at the end of the play, and should only include Horatio and Fortinbras, who recount the final tragedies from their own points of view (Fortinbras would rely on rumor more than fact here). End with the audience writing a “Final Thought” about what happened and what the characters/audience should learn from these events.

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  Jerry Springer works best for at least the first two episodes, but any talk show format would be appropriate, too.
  

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  You could add to the suspense by inviting other characters, such as the gravedigger and the ‘play within a play’ actors to join the panel
  
  .

Cue Cards:

1. Claudius
   You poisoned your brother while he slept, but no one knows about it. You married Gertrude, his widow, after only a month. You think Hamlet suspects what you did, and plots with Laertes (seeking revenge for his father and sister’s deaths) to kill Hamlet in a duel. You accidentally kill Gertrude when she drinks poisoned wine that was meant for Hamlet.

2. Laertes
   You hate Hamlet.
   
   • Polonius (your father) – Hamlet killed him on ‘accident’ while he was spying on Hamlet and Gertrude.
     
   • Ophelia (your sister) – she went crazy after Hamlet rejected her and then killed your father. She drowns herself.
     
   • Claudius – convinces you to fight Hamlet. You kill each other.

3. Hamlet
   You are pretending to be crazy.
   
   • Ophelia (your girlfriend) – you think all women are betraying whores. You deny loving her.
     
   • Claudius (your uncle) – he murdered your father and married your mother.
     
   • Gertrude (your mother) – doesn’t know your father died (poison in his ear)
     
   • Horatio – your only true friend left.
     
   • Polonius (Ophelia’s meddling father) – you accidentally kill him.
     
   • Laertes (Ophelia’s brother) – you kill each other.

4. Horatio
   You are Hamlet’s closet friend, but can’t figure out why he’s gone crazy. You do know that he saw his father’s ghost (so did you), but you can’t tell anyone.

5. Ophelia
   You go crazy after Hamlet calls you a whore and tells you he never loved you.
   
   • Hamlet – your long-time boyfriend.
     
   • Polonius (your father) – was killed by Hamlet, which adds to your insanity.
     
   • Laertes – (your brother) who is studying in Paris.

6. Gertrude
   You have a close relationship with Hamlet, but you are a bit nervous around him.
   
   • Hamlet Senior (your husband of thirty years) – one month after his death, you married Claudius (his brother).
     
   • Claudius – your current husband of one month.
     
   • Hamlet (your beloved son) who goes crazy for no apparent reason.
     
   • Ophelia – Hamlet’s unfortunate girlfriend.
     
   • Polonius – your advisor/Ophelia’s father.
     
     You die by drinking poisoned wine.

7. Polonius
   You are arrogant. Your speeches are long-winded and you jump to conclusions without factoring all available evidence. Your pompousness leads to your death.
   
   • Ophelia (your daughter) – you don’t want her to be with Hamlet. You think her rejection of him caused his insanity.
     
   • Laertes – your son
     
   • Gertrude – You die because you are spying on her and Hamlet, and Hamlet mistakes you for Claudius.

8. Rosencrantz
   You and Hamlet were students together. Claudius hires you to take Hamlet to England and have him killed. Hamlet finds out about the plot and has you killed instead.

9. Guildenstern
   You and Hamlet were students together. Claudius hires you to take Hamlet to England and have him killed. Hamlet finds out about the plot and has you killed instead.

10. Fortinbras
    You are the prince of Norway. Your father was killed by Hamlet’s father, so you want to attack Denmark to avenge your father. You have received word of odd occurrences in Elsinore castle. Hamlet names you as the heir to the Danish throne with his dying breath, and you arrive just after he dies. You claim the throne and order Hamlet to be buried with full military honors.

11. Ghost of Hamlet Sr.
    You are Hamlet’s father. In life, you killed Fortinbras Sr. in battle, which causes Fortinbras to invade Denmark, before you were murdered by your brother, Claudius. You appear first to Horatio and then to Hamlet. You tell Hamlet of your murder and order him to avenge your death, which causes him to feign insanity and sparks the tragedy that follows.

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Stephanie Pellegrino

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