Question

C Après la lecture

Which words in the scene look alike except for an accent?
What do the words mean? Why do you think the scene is called
L'accent grave? What is the connection between
the scene and Shakespeare's play, Hamlet?
French Textbook: Bien Dit!

Answer 1

Words that look alike: a means have, à means to. où means where, ou means or.

The title might be Accent Grave because the teacher is trying to be serious about conjugating the verb, être, while Hamlet is being serious about the meaning of where we are in life-- or in daydreams-- , and the meaning of choices as "to be or not to be. . ."

That is an allusion to Hamlet's famous soliloquy in the play by Shakespeare.

The title is a pun. In French, grave means "serious" but it is also the accent mark that differentiates ou from où. In English, grave has different meanings, sharing the "serious" definition with the French, but also meaning the excavation where a dead body is buried.

This may be an allusion to the scene in Act V where Hamlet and Laertes fight in the newly-dug grave of Ophelia about their love for her.