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Hamlet Study Guide

Act I

Scene I

·        What time is it as this scene opens? What time is it as it ends?

·        Why is everyone so nervous?

·        For what reason has Marcellus invited Horatio to stand guard tonight?

·        Who does the ghost look like? What evidence is there that he had once been a soldier?

·        Marcellus wonders why Denmark’s industries are working 7 days a week making cannons. What is Horatio’s reply?

·        As clearly as you can, explain the “relationship” between old Fortinbras and old Hamlet, between Norway and Denmark, and between Claudius and young Fortinbras.

·        Horatio mentions the terrible portents that appeared in Rome the night before Julius Caesar fell. What were they, and what have they to do with Denmark?

·        In lines 130-137, what knowledge of ghosts does Horatio display?

·        At the end of this scene, Marcellus shares some of his superstitions with us. What are they, and how do they form a contrast with Horatio?

·        What do these fellows determine to do by the end of the scene?

Scene ii

·        What does the king say that indicates his mixed emotions about the death of Hamlet?

·        Explain “wisest sorrow.”

·        Up to line 16, Claudius is addressing one topic. What?

·        To what topic does he make a transition in line 17?

·        In dealing with the threat of Fortinbras, how does Claudius show himself to be an effective king?

·        What request does Laertes make of Claudius? What is Claudius’s reply?

·        Gertrude and Claudius both make the same request of Hamlet. What?

·        Hamlet says, “I have that within which passeth show, / These but the trappings and the suits of woe.” What does he mean?

·        What is the whole point of Claudius’s scolding of Hamlet?

·        What request does Gertrude make of Hamlet, and how does he reply?

·        In Hamlet’s “too too solid flesh” soliloquy, what opinion does he have of Gertrude and Claudius? What of his father? What bothers him most about Gertrude’s marriage?

·        Explain the joke, “The funeral baked meats / Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.”

·        What amazing news does Horatio have to share with Hamlet?

·        Hamlet quizzes Horatio in extreme detail. To what purpose?

·        What plans do the friends make for later on in the evening?

·        Explain “Foul deeds will rise, / Though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes.”

Scene iii

·        What advice does Laertes give Ophelia about Hamlet?

·        Can Hamlet marry her?

·        List the items of advice Polonius gives to Laertes. (There are 9.)

·        What indication is there that Polonius has spied on Ophelia?

·        What is the difference between Polonius’s and Ophelia’s reaction to Hamlet’s love letters?

·        What kind of young man does Polonius think Hamlet is?

Scene iv

·        What custom of Claudius’s is Hamlet condemning here?

·        What reputation does this custom give them among other nations?

·        Why do Horatio and Marcellus wish to keep Hamlet from following the ghost?

·        What is his reaction to their attempt to stop him?

·        Explain “something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

Scene v

·        Why does the word “revenge” startle Hamlet?

·        Is the ghost in hell or purgatory? What’s the evidence?

·        Shakespeare had Hamlet going to school in Wittenburg; is there a conflict?

·        Why does the ghost refuse to tell Hamlet any details of his “prison house”?

·        What was the story told in Denmark about old Hamlet’s death? What’s the truth?

·        Argue that Claudius and Gertrude were or were not having an affair before old Hamlet’s death. Use the ghost’s speech as evidence.

·        “But virtue, as it never will be moved, / Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven, / So lust, though to a radiant angel link’d, / Will sate itself in a celestial bed / And prey on garbage.” Explain.

·        What, specifically, does the ghost want Hamlet to do about Claudius? What about Gertrude?

·        What does Hamlet mean “that one may smile, and smile, and be a villain!”

·        What is Hamlet’s abrupt change of mood when Marcellus and Horatio come in?

·        “These are but wild and whirling words, my lord.” What is foreshadowed here?

·        What promise does Hamlet exact from Horatio and Marcellus?

·        Explain “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

·        What does Hamlet mean when he says he may “put an antic disposition on”?

·        Examine the deeper meaning of “The time is out of joint—O cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right.”

Act II

Scene I

·        Where is Polonius sending Reynaldo? For what purpose?

·        What does he want Reynaldo to do when he finds people who know Laertes?

·        What, specifically, are some of the rumors he wants Reynaldo to spread?

·        What is the purpose behind this whole charade?

·        What does Polonius mean when he says, “And thus do we of wisdom and of reach, / With windlasses and with assays of bias, / By indirections find directions out”?

·        Ophelia comes in terrified. What has frightened her so?

·        What explanation can we give for Hamlet’s behavior? What explanation does Polonius favor?

·        What does “this is the very ecstasy of love” mean?

Scene ii

·        For what reason has the king sent for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

·        What makes him think that Hamlet will open up to them?

·        They protest that “both your Majesties / Might, by the sovereign power you have of us, / Put your dread pleasures more into command / Than to entreaty.” Explain.

·        Explain, in detail, what news Voltemand brings from Norway. Note that this foreshadows action in Act IV, scene iv.

·        Explain why Polonius’s line, “brevity is the soul of wit,” is SO ironic here.

·        What is the substance of the letter Polonius reads from Hamlet? Why does he leave part of it out?

·        Polonius tells the king that he advised Ophelia that “Lord Hamlet is a Prince, out of thy star. This must not be.” In what way does this disagree with what he actually told her in Act I, scene iii?

·        Polonius hatches a plan wherein he and Claudius can spy on Hamlet. How?

·        What is the double meaning of Hamlet calling Polonius a “fishmonger”?

·        What is the double meaning of “Conception is a blessing, but not as your daughter may conceive—friend, look to ‘t”?

·        What does Polonius mean when he says, “Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t”? What words of Hamlet’s would make him say this?

·        Hamlet makes some dirty jokes about Fortune with his friends. What does this say about his character?

·        Explain the line, “there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”

·        Hamlet catches on right away to what his friends are up to. Cite a line that proves it.

·        Study Hamlet’s “soliloquy” about “What a piece of work is a man” very carefully. What is he saying about mankind in general and about himself in particular?

·        How does Hamlet’s mood suddenly change when he hears that the players have arrived at the castle?

·        In what way does Hamlet make fun of Polonius when he comes to introduce the players?

·        Shakespeare uses Polonius to make fun of the practice of classifying plays. How?

·        Look up Judges 2 in the Old Testament. Why is the reference to Jephthah significant?

·        Hamlet begs the chief player to recite a speech from a play. What is it about?

·        How does Polonius show himself to be a fool for his reaction to this speech?

·        Explain Hamlet’s line, “they [the players] are the abstract and brief chronicle of the time. After your death you were better have a bad epitaph than their ill report while you live.”

·        In his famous soliloquy at the end of this act, Hamlet says, “What’s Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba that he should weep for her?” What is he cursing here in himself?

·        What is the chief failure that Hamlet condemns in himself? Cite two or three lines to support what you say.

·        Explain Hamlet’s line, “The spirit that I have seen / May be the Devil, and the Devil hath power / To assume a pleasing shape.” What does he use this line to excuse?

·        By the end of this soliloquy, Hamlet has hatched a plan to “catch the king.” What is it?

Act III

Scene i

·        What news have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern got for the king about their investigation into Hamlet’s behavior?

·        When they say “crafty madness,” they are echoing an observation earlier made by Polonius. What?

·        When the Queen addresses Ophelia, what does she say about the hopeful cause of Hamlet’s madness and its cure?

·        Polonius says that “with devotion’s visage and pious action we do sugar o’er the Devil himself,” and Claudius replies, in an aside, “The harlot’s cheek, beautied with plastering art, is not more ugly to the thing that helps it than is my deed to my most painted word.” What do these lines mean, and what is Claudius confessing to?

·        When Hamlet says “to be or not to be,” to what is he referring?

·        What is the single thing that keeps a man from killing himself, according to Hamlet?

·        What is “this mortal coil”? What is “the undiscovered country”?

·        When Ophelia appears, she gives “remembrances” to Hamlet. What are they?

·        What does Hamlet mean by “if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty”?

·        Throughout this exchange with Ophelia, what is Hamlet’s attitude toward women in general? Give some evidence.

·        What might have prompted Hamlet’s line, “Where is your father?”

·        What is the double meaning when Hamlet tells Ophelia to go to a “nunnery”? How do both meanings fit?

·        What opinion does Ophelia have of Hamlet after he leaves?

·        What opinion does the king have of Hamlet after he leaves? How does it disagree with Polonius’s opinion?

·        The king plans to send Hamlet to England for what? What does Polonius plan before Hamlet takes off for England?

Scene ii

·        What is some of the advice Hamlet gives to the players?

·        What does Hamlet mean when he says to Horatio, “Let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp / And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee / Where thrift may follow fawning”?

·        What (and who) does he mean when he says “Give me that man that is not passion’s slave”?

·        How do we know that at some time Hamlet told Horatio what the ghost said to him?

·        What indication is there that two months have gone by since the beginning of the play?

·        In the exchange between the player king and queen, find the lines that (probably) Hamlet wrote and inserted.

·        What does Gertrude mean when she says, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks”?

·        What exactly is it that causes the king to jump up and call for light? Does Horatio agree with Hamlet’s interpretation of the event?

·        Hamlet now begins to act “mad” in front of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Give some evidence of this.

·        What is Hamlet’s point in asking Guildenstern to play upon the flute?

·        At the end of this scene, Hamlet is very torn between two emotions. What does he wish to do and not to do?

Scene iii

·        The king here kneels and tries to pray. What does he say that makes us realize he is not willing to give up the throne?

·        What does Claudius mean when he says, “In the corrupted currents of this world / Offense’s gilded hand may shove by justice, / And oft ‘tis seen the wicked prize itself / Buys out the law. But ‘tis not so above. / There is no shuffling, there the action lies / In his true nature”?

·        At the end of his “prayer,” what is the state of his soul? Would he go to heaven if he died on the spot?

·        Hamlet comes up behind Claudius and almost kills him, why doesn’t he?

·        Could Hamlet have killed Claudius? Explain.

Scene iv

·        When Gertrude says “You have your father much offended” and he replies “You have my father much offended,” who and what do they each mean?

·        When Hamlet stabs through the curtain, what does he think he’s doing? (“I took thee for thy better.”)

·        Hamlet says, “As kill a king and marry with his brother.” What’s his mother’s reaction?

·        Hamlet here holds up two pictures to Gertrude. Of whom are they? How does Hamlet compare these two men?

·        Hamlet says to Gertrude, “at your age the heyday in the blood is tame, it’s humble, / And waits upon the judgement.” What does he mean? Which of his obsessions is this related to?

·        Hamlet also says, “sense to ecstasy was ne’er so thralled / But it reserved some quantity of choice.” What’s he mean as regards his mother, and how does this comment on the madness theme?

·        Gertrude says, “Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul, / And there I see such black and grainèd spots / As will not leave their tinct.” What does he make here see?

·        Hamlet complains that Claudius is a “cutpurse of the empire and the rule, / That hath from the shelf the precious diadem stole / And put it in his pocket.” What does this reveal about his real reason for hating Claudius?

·        For what reason does the ghost appear here? Can Gertrude see him?

·        Hamlet complains that “Heaven hath pleased it so, / To punish me with this, and this with me, / That I must be their scourge and minister.” What does “this” refer to, and what state of mind does this speech indicate is in Hamlet?

·        Gertrude asks Hamlet, “What shall I do?” What advice does he give to her?

·        Hamlet tells his mother “I essentially am not in madness, / But mad in craft.” Explain.

·         Referring to his “friends,” R & G, Hamlet says, “ ‘tis the sport to have the engineer / Hoist with his own petard.” Explain.

Act IV

Scene i

·        Does Gertrude keep her promise here to Hamlet?

·        Upon hearing of the death of Polonius, what is Claudius’s first reaction?

·        Where is the disease image here? Why this new theme now? (Or is it new?)

·        What will Claudius do before the sun rises?

Scene ii

·        Why does Hamlet call Rosencrantz a sponge? Do you agree?

·        Why does Hamlet say “The king is a thing . . . of nothing”? What’s the reference?

·        What’s the stage action when Hamlet yells, “Hide, fox, and all after”?

Scene iii

·        The king here regrets that he cannot set the law on Hamlet. Why not?

·        Does his complaint about the affections of the general public still hold good today? Explain.

·        Where’s the disease image?

·        How does Hamlet joke about death and mankind’s common end? Is there anything serious here?

·        How does Hamlet tell the king to go to H---?

·        Point out any other jokes you see here.

·        What line reinforces Hamlet’s obsession with incest between Gertrude and Claudius?

·        In the king’s soliloquy here he reveals his true plan for Hamlet. What is it? What does he say in his speech that indicates the King of England will carry out his request?

Scene iv

·        What orders does Fortinbras give his captain here?

·        What exactly are all these Norwegians going to Poland to fight for?

·        What’s the disease image? What theme does it reinforce? (see scene i)

·        What prompts Hamlet to this, his fourth great soliloquy?

·        How does he feel he compares to the men of Fortinbras’s army?

·        Explain this: “Rightly to be great / Is not to stir without great argument / But greatly to find quarrel in a straw / When honor’s at the stake.” (Explain “stake.”)

Scene v

·        What report has the gentleman brought to the queen?

·        What does the gentleman mean that, “The hearers . . . botch the words up fit to their own thoughts.” Is this a warning to us readers of the play?

·        Ophelia comes in singing. How does this indicate a greater degree of madness than speaking?

·        What’s wrong with “At his head a grass-green turf, / At his heels a stone”?

·        What lines of Ophelia’s indicate that she’s had intimate relations with someone and then been betrayed? How does this relate to the advice Laertes gave her early in the play?

·        What does the king think is the sole cause of Ophelia’s madness? Do you agree?

·        The king lists the many disasters that have befallen them. Name some.

·        What does the multitude yell in support of Laertes? How does this support the king’s earlier assessment of them?

·        What does Laertes mean by “That drop of blood that’s calm proclaims me bastard, / Cries cuckold to my father, brands the harlot / Even here between the chaste unsmirched brow of my true mother”?

·        Explain the irony of “There’s such divinity doth hedge a king / That treason can but peep to what it would, / Acts little of his will.”

·        Compare Laertes’s desire for revenge (and his statements about heaven and hell) to Hamlet’s.

·        As soon as Ophelia comes in, Laertes knows her to be mad. How would you, as the director of the play, indicate this?

·        What does Laertes mean by “This nothing’s more than matter”?

·        Explain Ophelia’s symbolic use of the flowers that she gives out.

·        What does she mean by the famous line, “You must wear your rue with a difference”?

·        Laertes here complains about the manner of his father’s funeral. How does this compare with the same observation made by Claudius in IV, v, 84?

Scene vi

·        Horatio here gets a letter from Hamlet explaining how he got away from R & G. Explain.

Scene vii

·        The king here makes reference to an earlier conversation with Laertes. How do we know?

·        What two reasons does the king give Laertes for not moving swiftly against Hamlet?

·        The messenger comes with letters, whose content shocks the king. Explain why.

·        The king comes up with a plan, seemingly off the top of his head, to help Laertes get rid of Hamlet. What is it?

·        The king reports to Laertes that certain reports from France have made Hamlet envious and jealous. What reports?

·        How do we know, from these reports, that Laertes is an expert swordsman?

·        Explain the king’s line, “There lives within the very flame of love / A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it. . . For goodness, growing to a pleurisy, / Dies in his own too much.”

·        What three-part plan for revenge do the king and Laertes come up with? What is the danger of so complicated a scheme?

·        The queen comes in with news of Ophelia’s death. How does Gertrude say she died?

·        Why is this report of Ophelia’s death the most beautiful poetry in the entire play?

·        What is wrong with Gertrude’s report?

·        Explain, “Too much of water has thou, poor Ophelia, / And therefore I forbid my tears. But yet / It is our trick—Nature her custom holds, / Let shame say what it will. When these are gone, / The woman will be out.”

Act V

Scene i

·        What is the opinion of the clowns regarding Ophelia’s Christian burial?

·        Explain the irony of “the more pity that great folk should have count’nance in this world to drown or hang themselves, more than their even brethren.”

·        Explain the relevance of “the hand of little employment hath the daintier sense” (V, i, 69-70) to Hamlet and his situation in life.

·        What is Hamlet’s general opinion of the skulls and their former owners?

·        Explain the puns in the exchange between Hamlet and the clown in V, i, 122-133.

·        What’s the humorous irony in the clown’s opinions of the lord Hamlet?

·        What clue is there in here as to Hamlet’s age? Do you agree he’s this old?

·        Who was Yorick, and what was he to Hamlet?

·        Compare Hamlet’s reflections on Alexander (207-211) to his earlier reflections on death (IV, iii, 27-28).

·        What is the source of the argument between Laertes and the doctor?

·        What does Gertrude reveal was her desire for Ophelia had she lived? Do you think she means it?

·        With whom do you side in the argument between Laertes and Hamlet? What is the purpose of putting this bizarre fight scene in the play?

Scene ii

·        What does Hamlet tell Horatio about his ocean voyage?

·        What was the content of the letter he discovered in R & G’s packet?

·        What does Hamlet mean when he says of R & G, “They are not near my conscience. Their defeat / Does by their own insinuation grow (58-59)”?

·        Explain the significance of “He that hath kill’d my king and whor’d my mother, / Popp’d in between the election and my hopes, / Thrown out his angle [fishing line] for my proper life, / And with such coz’nage [trickery]—is’t not perfect conscience / To quit [requite] him with this arm?” (64-69)

·        Osric is a wonderfully rich and comic character. What are some of the weaknesses of his character that Hamlet mocks?

·        What does Osric come here to offer to Hamlet from the king?

·        From line 209 onwards, Hamlet begins to reveal some self-doubt. Find two lines where he seems doubtful of his success against Laertes.

·        Analyze the speech, “We defy augury. There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ‘tis not to come; it f be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all. Since no man, of aught he leaves, knows that is’t to leave betimes, let be.” What does this speech tell us about Hamlet’s belief in God and in destiny? What does it reveal about his feelings toward death?

·        Hamlet asks Laertes’s pardon for killing his father. What is the excuse he offers?

·        How does Laertes react to the apology?

·        What is the point of the king throwing a pearl into the cup of wine? What is his real purpose?

·        The king says, in an aside, “It is the pois’ned cup; it is too late.” What does this say about his character?

·        Explain how the plot unfolds at the end to kill all the remaining principle characters.

·        Hamlet says to the crowd, “You that look pale, and tremble at this act.” What do we suddenly realize about the public’s knowledge of this story?

·        What does Horatio intend to do when he says, “I am more an antique Roman than a Dane”?

·        Explain Hamlet’s line, “Absent the from felicity a while, / And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain / To tell my story.”

·        When Hamlet hears that Fortinbras has come in, he says “But I do prophesy th’ election lights / On Fortinbras, he has my dying voice,” what does this say about the succession of the monarchy in Denmark?

·        Why is Fortinbras the last person in the play to speak?

·        BIG QUESTION—Most of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes are destroyed in the end by being brought low by their own faults. Do you agree that this is the case with Hamlet? Explain.