Hamlet Study Guide Questions - MRS. WALDREP'S WEBSITE



Hamlet Study Questions

Act I, Scene i

1. What appears to the watchmen, and what form/appearance does it use?

2. Who originally questions its reality? 3. What is the effect when the guards strike at it with their partisans (weapons)?

Act I, Scene ii

1. What two conflicting moods does Claudius describe in the first two sentences of this scene?

2. As soon as he is acknowledged on stage, Hamlet is criticized by his mother and uncle for his mood. What is his mood, and what are its signs?

3. Hamlet's first longer speech contrasts “seeming” and “being.” What images does he use to describe “seeming”?

4. Hamlet's first soliloquy starts with a suicidal thought. Summarize this speech and tell why he is feeling this way.

5. Horatio announces one reason for visiting Elsinore; Hamlet tells him he has another. What are the reasons? 6. How does Claudius attempt to establish his popularity in this scene?

7. What has Fortinbras threatened to do? How does Claudius deal with this threat?

Act I, Scene iii

1. Laertes, speaking to his sister Ophelia, makes accusations about Hamlet's love for her. Summarize these accusations.

2. Polonius sends his son off to university in Paris with a list of advice. Summarize the advice Polonius gives.

3. What, above all, does Polonius finally advise? Why?

4. Polonius then continues Laertes' accusations to Ophelia about Hamlet. What is he implying about Hamlet's intentions? What key words or phrases imply this?

5. What does Polonius want done about Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship?

Act I, Scene iv

1. According to Hamlet, what impressions do the king's wassail celebrations create in the eyes of other countries? What proportion of corruption to virtue is necessary to create an impression of corruption?

2. Why does Hamlet speak to what may well be a creature from Hell?

3. Hamlet does not fear the ghost, but Horatio suspects it of sinister motives. What are they?

Act I, Scene v

1. What does the ghost mean by "a forged process of my death"?

2. What did the king’s queen seem to be when he was alive? What contradicts this seeming?

3. Hamlet is horrified after hearing the ghost's story. How does he explore appearances and realities? What does Hamlet vow to do?

4. Hamlet swears Horatio and Marcellus to secrecy even if he "put[s] an antic disposition on." What does he mean? 4. 5. 5. What does Hamlet mean when he exclaims, “the time is out of joint”?

Act I (as a whole) Questions

1. What similarities are there in the thoughts contained in each of the soliloquies in this act? (In I:ii after Claudius and the court leave and in I:v after the ghost leaves) 2. What does Hamlet believe about his father’s death before he meets the apparition? 3. How did King Hamlet deal with foreign policy, and how does this contrast with King Claudius’ way? 4. What signs are we given of a potential for madness on Hamlet’s part? 5. Write two references to disease or decay in Act I. 6. The ghost comes in “questionable shape.” Write two references to the idea that it may not be what it seems. 7. The play suggests that our lives may be controlled by a divine power. Write three references to fate or providence in Act I.

Act II, Scene i

1. On what mission does Polonius send Reynaldo? What strategies is he told to use?

2. What does Polonius mean when he says "By indirections find directions out"?

3. In what state has Hamlet appeared to Ophelia? What does he say and do to her?

4. How does Polonius explain Hamlet’s behavior?

Act II, Scene ii

1. Why have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern been summoned to Elsinore by the king? What is their mission, and what has created the need for it?

2. The ambassadors to Norway report that the King there believed his nephew was preparing to invade Poland. What was the real invasion target, and how does Norway react?

3. What does Gertrude mean when she says, "More matter with less art"? What accusation is she making about Polonius?

4. What does the rhymed love note to Ophelia argue?

5. What reason for refusing Hamlet does Polonius say he gave to Ophelia? Is his claim true?

6. How does Polonius plan to test his theory of the cause of Hamlet’s madness?

7. After Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern meet, Hamlet accuses them of being sent for. What gives them away?

8. What amusement do they promise Hamlet?

9. What does Hamlet reveal to them about his state of mind?

10. After the first player delivers a sample speech, Hamlet orders Polonius to arrange for the players to stay. He makes two arguments, one about actors' power and one about “using” or treating others. Summarize his two points.

11. What play does Hamlet request for the next day?

12. In his second soliloquy at the end of Act II, why is Hamlet is disgusted with himself? What triggered that disgust?

13. What plan develops from Hamlet's disgust and the meeting with the players as he completes the soliloquy?

Act II (as a whole) Questions

1. What events are told in the monologue the player’s recites for Hamlet? In what ways is the Pyrrhus character similar to Hamlet?

2. Why might one suspect that Hamlet’s theory that the ghost may be a devil is not what has actually stopped him from taking action? What other reasons for not acting are suggested by Hamlet himself? 3. Why might the reader think that Claudius is a good king?

4. Polonius, Gertrude, and Claudius believe different causes are the reason for Hamlet’s madness. What does each of these characters feel to be the cause of Hamlet’s madness?

5. Write two references to disease or decay in Act II.

Act III, Scene i

1. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern claim that Hamlet spoke to them "with much forcing of his disposition." What do they mean?

2. How do Claudius and Polonius plan to discover the root of Hamlet's problem?

3. When Polonius tells Ophelia to walk carrying a prayer book, what does he say are "oft to blame for"? What irony can you see in this speech? How is the irony emphasized in the King's response?

4. Hamlet's most famous soliloquy, "To be or not to be...," compares death to what? Explain why it is an appropriate comparison.

5. Why does the idea of death appeal to Hamlet?

6. What is "the rub" which balances the appeal of suicide?

7. Hamlet's conversation with Ophelia is deliberately confused by double meanings, particularly with the usage of the words honesty (which can mean chastity as well as truthfulness) and nunnery (which can be a convent or slang for a brothel). What does Hamlet mean when he says that beauty will sooner transform to a bawd than chastity can translate (transform) to beauty?

8. What does he mean when he says about women that "God hath given you one face and you make yourselves another," and why is he so angry about that?

9. What does Hamlet say about marriage? What has influenced his view of marriage?

10. Ophelia believes this is real proof of Hamlet's madness. Do you agree? Why or why not?

11. What does King Claudius intend to do about Hamlet’s state of mind?

Act III, Scene ii

1. Hamlet begins the scene by giving very particular instructions to the actors. Why is he so concerned they get it right?

2. In a speech to Horatio, Hamlet lists the reasons he admires his friend. Summarize the reasons.

3. What do Hamlet and Horatio intend to watch for during the play?

4. The Dumb Show is a device used to show the plot of the play before the performance to help an audience follow the main play better. Effectively, there's a play (the Dumb Show) within a play (The Murder of Gonzago, Hamlet's mouse-trap for the king) within a play (Shakespeare's Hamlet). Why does Shakespeare use this technique of a play within a play within a play?

5. For The Murder of Gonzago, Hamlet has added some speeches of his own before the performance; these are probably parts of the debate between the Player King (Duke Gonzago) and the Player Queen (Duchess Baptista). What do they argue about, and why would Hamlet add this to the play?

6. In explaining the villainy in the play to Claudius, Hamlet says, "we that have free souls, it touches us not." What does he mean?

7. Is Hamlet’s plan to “catch the conscience of the king” successful? What is Claudius’ reaction to the play, and how is it a turning point?

8. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern approach Hamlet again to question him about his behavior. Hamlet and Guildenstern have an argument about playing a recorder. What does the recorder symbolize?

9. Hamlet ends the scene with another short soliloquy where he works himself into a killing rage: “Now could I drink hot blood.” Once in his rage, what must he prevent himself from doing? Who does he most want to kill?

Act III, Scene iii

1. Claudius and Rosencrantz both agree that Hamlet's madness is a danger to the stability of the Denmark. What does Claudius order as an immediate remedy?

2. What is Polonius' next plan for discovering Hamlet's secrets?

3. Claudius has an important soliloquy which confirms his guilt to the audience, and emphasizes his lack of true repentance. What does he argue would be necessary to prove such repentance, and why is he really unable to pray for forgiveness?

4. Hamlet, on his way to his mother's chambers, finds Claudius kneeling with his back turned. Why does Hamlet decide against killing him at that moment?

5. What is the irony in Claudius' final two lines of the scene?

Act III, Scene iv

1. What is the result of Polonius' third spying attempt?

2. Hamlet says his action was no worse than killing a king and marrying his brother. Why is it that Gertrude doesn't suddenly realize the whole truth from this?

3. What is Hamlet's bitter complaint against his mother?

4. Why does the ghost reappear in the midst of this scene? What has Hamlet done and not done?

5. Why would Hamlet's madness be a useful excuse for Gertrude?

6. What does Hamlet insist Gertrude should do to gain forgiveness, and how does this relate to Claudius' soliloquy in the previous scene?

7. Hamlet is suspicious of his two traveling companions. What imagery does he use to describe their plotting?

Act III (as a whole) Questions

1. Tell three dramatic surprises in Act III. 2. The next time the reader sees Ophelia, she is mad. How are the seeds for her insanity planted in Act III? 3. Write two references to disease or rottenness in Act III.

Act IV, Scene i

1. What is Claudius’ main fear in the immediate aftermath of Polonius’ death?

Act IV, Scene ii

2. What does Hamlet refuse to tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

Act IV, Scene iii

1. What image does Hamlet use to warn Claudius he's only king temporarily?

2. Claudius ends the scene by writing a letter. To whom is the letter written, and what order does it contain?

Act IV, Scene iv

1. What's the value of the land Fortinbras' army is marching to capture in Poland? What will the invasion itself cost?

2. Hamlet's soliloquy in this scene is self-critical. Summarize what he says is his main fault.

Act IV, Scene v

1. Ophelia's songs during her first appearance in this scene deal with love, death and sex. What do the songs tell us about her at the moment?

2. Give two reasons why Laertes is a danger to Claudius' throne.

3. What does Claudius offer to Laertes as assurance that he had no part in Polonius' death?

Act IV, Scene vi

1. Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet explaining how he escaped from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. How did he escape?

Act IV, Scene vii

1. What reason does Claudius give Laertes for Hamlet's killing of Polonius?

2. What are his two reasons for not charging Hamlet with murder?

3. Claudius reveals that Laertes is famous for his skill with the rapier (a fencing weapon) and that Hamlet is envious of this fame. How does Claudius plan to exploit this envy to give Laertes a chance for publicly guiltless revenge?

4. How does Laertes refine the plan?

5. What announcement does Gertrude make at the end Act IV? How did it happen?

Act IV (as a whole) Questions

1. Has Gertrude reformed after her confrontation with Hamlet in III:iv? Why do or don’t you think so? 2. Claudius begins and ends this act by lying to Gertrude. Tell two other aspects of his character and the evidence (what he says or does) that shows each aspect.

3. In what ways does Hamlet appear to change during this act?

4. Why has Ophelia gone mad?

5. What do scenes five and seven suggest about what commitment to taking revenge does to people?

Act V, Scene i

1. The two clowns make a comic mockery of the coroner's inquest into Ophelia's death. What was the outcome, and why do they mock it?

2. In their riddle, why are gravediggers the best builders? What is the point of the gravedigger’s riddles and song?

3. What do the gravediggers throw around the stage carelessly?

4. Who does Hamlet recognize among their clientele? Summarize Hamlet’s description of this person.

5. In what ways do Hamlet’s reactions to the skulls in the graveyard seem to suggest a change in his outlook?

6. Where do Laertes and Hamlet wrestle, and what do they fight over at this particular moment?

Act V, Scene ii

1. What, according to Hamlet, were the king's orders sent with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to the king of England?

2. How did Hamlet hoist the messengers with their own petard (turn their plan against them)? What does this show about the development of Hamlet’s character?

3. How have Hamlet’s motives for killing Claudius changed according to his speech beginning, “Does it not, think thee. . .”?

4. What does Hamlet realize about the relationship between himself and Laertes?

5. Hamlet has a sort of premonition of what's about to happen. Why does Hamlet “defy augury”?

6. What does Hamlet say to Laertes when he arrives for the duel? What is the symbolic significance to this?

7. The duel scene is the most complicated set of actions in the play. Who scores the first two hits? Who celebrates this and with what are the first hits celebrated? What happens as a result?

8. How does Laertes feel about continuing with Claudius' plan?

9. Who scores the third hit?

10. Who scores the fourth hit, and with whose weapon?

11. What does Laertes mean when he says to Osric that he is "as a woodcock to mine own springe"?

12. What's the significance of Laertes’ final speech?

13. How does Claudius die?

14. What does Horatio attempt to do when he calls himself a Roman rather than a Dane? Why does he want to do this?

15. Why does Hamlet prevent Horatio’s attempt?

16. What "election" does Hamlet support Fortinbras for?

17. What do the ambassadors from England report?

Act V (as a whole) Questions

1. How are the dying lines of Gertrude, Claudius, and Laertes typical of the way their characters have been presented throughout the play?

2. Which characters view the ending of the play as bloody carnage and which as poetic justice? Why such confusion? Which point of view do you take? Why?

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