Literary Analysis of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Cervantes' Don Quixote

This assignment provides a detailed analysis of William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote. The Hamlet section explores key scenes, character motivations, and thematic elements, including the appearance of the ghost, Hamlet's response to his mother, his soliloquies, and his interactions with Ophelia. The Don Quixote section summarizes Cervantes' life, analyzes the author's advice in the prologue, and examines Don Quixote's adventures, including his encounters with various characters, his consecration as a knight, and his treatment of others. The document provides answers to specific questions regarding plot points, character development, and thematic significance in both literary works. Overall, the assignment offers a comparative study of these two classic pieces of literature.

Shakespeare and Hamlet
1. In the beginning of Act 1, Scene 1, what does Horatio refer to in using “this thing” (What, has
this thing appeared again to-night?”)
How many times has Marcellus seen the ghost before the night he talks with Horatio and
Bernardo (Act 1 Scene 1)
According to Horatio, what does the appearance of the apparition foretell?
2. In Act 1 Scene 2, how does Hamlet response to the queen (his mother) when she asks him to
cast off the sorrow, stop looking for the image of his father in vain, and love the new king as his
father? How does he analyze the word “seem” his mother uses when she asks him “Why seems
it so particular with thee?”
3. In Scene 2 (of Act 1), why does Hamlet say that “Frailty, thy name is woman!”? (What line is
this sentence?)
4. In Scene 3 (Act 1), what does Laertes advise his sister Ophelia to do in her love with Hamlet?
What does their father Polonius respond when he hears about that story between Laertes and
Ophelia?
5. In Scene 4 and Scene 5 (Act 1), what does the ghost ask Hamlet to do and how does Hamlet
think about that? What does he plan to do after the ghost disappears?
6. In Act 2, how does Hamlet treat Ophelia in her account she tells her father? What does
Polonius plan to do to resolve that problem? What is Hamlet’s purpose when he asks the
players to read the speech and perform the drama “The Murder of Gonzago” in front of
Polonius?
7. What is the main content of Hamlet’s monologues in the end of Act 2 (after Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern leave) and in the beginning of Act 3 (“To be, or not to be”)?
Cervantes and Don Quixote
1. Summarize the adventures Cervantes underwent in his life.
2. In the prologue of the novel Don Quixote, what does the author’s friend advise him to do
when he starts to write the novel about the knight Don Quixote? What does author (Cervantes)
imply in this passage?

The author's friend advises Cervantes to compose sonnets, epigrams, or eulogies and write down some
names of grave and title personages as they were the ones which compose it. All Cervantes needs to do
for the marginal citation and authors is put some scrap of Latin or look up to it and put those Latin
quotes in a suitable place. As for the notes at the end of the book, be sure that the author has to use
some big name like goliath. In short, with those big names in a book, that book would become a famous
one. However, after giving out the sarcasm, the author's friends give him more important things. He said
that Cervantes's styles needed to be "smoothly," "Pleasingly," and "Sonorously" as well, as his word
choice had to be a meaningful and well placed. Combined everything, his book needs to make people
laugh and become cheerful, simple but not bored. After receiving his advice, Cervantes could do nothing
but add everything he said into the prologue
3. In chapter 1, what does Don Quixote usually do when he is at leisure? What does he finallydecide to
do as the effect of his habit? What does he prepare for his plan?
In chapter 1, we can see that Don Quixote is in love with books of chivalry. Don Quixote spends “whole
nights from sundown to sun up,” from dawn to dusk” to read all of his books until he is out of his mind.
He also forgets his life as a hunter sells his tillable land to buy more books. The most interesting point is
when he becomes a knight himself, who wants to help people in need. In order to do so, Don Quixote
cleans off his ancient armor and adds some cardboard to his helmet until his helmet fits him.
Moreover, he also named his old horse “Rocinante,” renames himself “Don Quixote de la Mancha.” A
knight will not be a knight without his Lady; therefore, Don Quixote chooses a peasant girl named
Aldonza Lorenzo to be his lover and change her name to Dulcinea Del Toboso. After everything is settled,
he is on his way to his adventure and lets the first person grant him a knight.
4. In chapter 2, whom does Don Quixote meet and how does he treat them in this first sally?
In chapter 2 of Don Quixote, our character meets two maids, a swineherd that he thinks is a dwarf and
the innkeeper in the inn. However, the inn appears as a case in the “Don Quixote de la Mancha” mind.
The innkeeper seems to be a crafty person, trick Don Quixote to sleep outside the inn, feed him some
poorly cooked codfish and piece of bread as black and moldy.
5. In chapter 3, how does Don Quixote get consecrated as a knight?
In chapter 3, after finishing his dinner, Don Quixote talks to the innkeeper to grant him a knight. After
realizing that Don Quixote is out of his mind, the innkeeper wants to use our Character to humor him.
With that purpose in mind, the innkeeper demands that Don Quixote keep watching the “castle” for a
night and grant him the Knight title the following day. However, the night watch is not peaceful as
expected. In that night, Don Quixote attacked two mule drivers and got rock threw at him by the
comrades of those two wounded men. The innkeeper realizes his mistakes and has to consecrate Don
Quixote as a knight. The ceremony is hilarious. The innkeeper uses his account book and reads like
reading a prayer. Innkeeper also must command ladies to give Don Quixote his sword as some queens

give a sword to a knight. Afterward, Don Quixote gets himself on his horse and gets on his way for the
next adventures.