Answer the following questions:

-What is the function of each act in the economy of the tragedy?

Act I sets up the situation, establishing the main characters, and it shows the complicating event of the story (the appearance of the ghost).

Act II contains the beginning of the body of the action, that is to say Hamlet’s plan for revenge.

In act III the action develops and the contrasts between the characters violently break out, rapidly reaching the climax.

Act IV presents the beginning of the downfall, with a rapid degeneration of the events. Act V closes the entire tragedy with a catastrophic conclusion (the death of all main characters).

-Which acts do protasis, epitasis, catastasis and catastrophe coincide with?

Protasis coincides with part of the first act; epitasis covers the last part of the first act and the entire second act; catastasis coincides with the third act and the fourth; the final catstrophe is shown in the fifth act.