Question

Reread lines 158-159. In what way do these lines sum up the conflict Hamlet feels? Cite textual evidence in your response.

Answer 1

Answer: Hamlet is angry at his mother for getting married to his uncle so quickly after his father's death.

Explanation:

Hamlet is Shakespeare's great tragedy about a man who seeks revenge after his father is murdered by his uncle, Claudius. To add to Hamlet's misery and despair, his uncle got married to his mother, less than a month after his brother's death.

In these particular lines from Act I, Scene II, Hamlet protests over their marriage and criticizes his mother. He is angry at the female gender, claiming that women are weak:

''Frailty, thy name is woman!''

Hamlet explains that even animals would have mourned longer than his mother. According to him, the tears on her cheeks had not even dried, and yet she jumped into ''incestuous sheets". Hamlet expresses his concern for the future and is aware that no good can come out of this marriage. However, he decides he will not confess his feelings to other people at this point. Note that later, when Hamlet meets the ghost of his father, he will devise a plan to act as a mad man and revenge him.