What? Why? How?

1. What reasons do Laertes and Polonius give for their command to Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet? Are they reasonable?

2. 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)

3. The first scene could be (and has been) cut without damaging the plot. For what reasons would you wish to include it in a performance?

4. In what ways is the language spoken by the apparition different from the normal language of the play?

5. What signs are we given of a potential for madness on Hamlet's part?

6. How does Claudius attempt to establish his popularity in the second scene?

7. How did Old Hamlet tackle foreign policy, and how does this contrast with Claudius?

8. What does Hamlet believe about his father's death before he meets the apparition?

Stagecraft

1. How does Shakespeare create tension in the first scene? How does he surprise us? How does he mislead us?

2. How does Shakespeare invite us to compare and contrast Hamlet with Laertes and Fortinbras?

Imagery and Symbolism

1. Find TWO references to disease or decay.

Themes

1. The ghost comes in 'questionable shape'. Find THREE references to the idea that it may not be what it seems.

2. Find THREE other references to characters not being what they seem.

3. The prince must decide whether and how to act according to his dead father's wishes. Find THREE references to remembering or forgetting.

4. The play suggests that our lives may be controlled by a divine power. Find THREE references to Fate or Providence.
 
 

What? Why? How?

1. In what ways is the Pyrrhus character similar to Hamlet? ?and to Claudius?

2. How might the answer to (1) above help to explain Hamlet's desire to be reminded of this speech 'in particular'?

3. How might we connect the content of Hamlet's supposedly crazy remarks to Polonius to what the prince is actually feeling?

4. Name FIVE different characteristics of Polonius that can be proven on the basis of this act.

5. Why might one suspect that Hamlet's theory that the ghost may be devil is not what has actually stopped him from taking action?

6. What reasons for not acting are suggested by Hamlet himself?

7. What different types of madness do we see in Hamlet during this act?

8. What do each of the main characters feel to be the cause of Hamlet's madness?

9. Why might we agree that Claudius is a good king?

10. How does the Polonius and Reynaldo scene in II.i. contribute to the effect of the play as a whole?

Imagery and Symbolism

1. Find TWO references to disease or decay.

Themes

1. Who is acting a part in this act? In what ways?

2. 'The time is out of joint'. In what ways does Hamlet discover this to be the case during Act Two?

3. Find THREE references to remembering or forgetting our feelings.
 
 

What? Why? How?

1. What do Claudius and Polonius do in scene one, that Hamlet and Horatio do in scene two, that Hamlet does in scene three and Polonius does in scene four?

2. In what respects is the 'Play Scene' (III.ii) a turning point in the play? How is this turn compounded by Hamlet's actions in the 'Closet Scene' (III.iv)?

3. Does Claudius' soliloquy revise or compound your opinion of this character?

4. 'I essentially am not in madness' says Hamlet (III.iv.188). Name four lines spoken by Hamlet in this act which might make you doubt this.

5. Is Hamlet at his worst in scene three or scene four of this act?

6. How do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern seem to have become more immoral since their first appearance in II.ii.?

7. For what reasons might you think that the Ghost in III.iv is an hallucination, and for what reasons might you think it is real?

8. After III.ii., the next time we see Ophelia she is mad. How are the seeds for this planted in this act?

Language and Imagery

1. Find three references to disease or rottenness.

What? Why? How?

1. Claudius begins and ends the act by lying to Gertrude. Name FOUR other aspects of his character that are provable on the basis of what he says and does in this act. Is he still wracked with guilt, do you think?

2. Has Gertrude reformed after her confrontation with Hamlet in III.iv.?

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

4. When Laertes speaks in this act, he often uses hyperbolic (over-exaggerated) expressions. What might this imply about him?

5. Why has Ophelia gone mad? How might this be proven?

6. What does the Queen's speech about Ophelia's drowning suggest about her madness and the reasons for her death?

Themes and Imagery

1. Where is disease imagery used in this act? Find FOUR examples. How is the meaning of this imagery made explicit?

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

3. Nonetheless, in what ways might Hamlet appear to be (morally) better than (a) Fortinbras and (b) Laertes?
 
 

What? Why? How?

1. What do you feel is the point of the gravedigger's riddles and song?

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

3. How old is Hamlet?

4. What does the violent argument between Hamlet and Laertes add to the play?

5. What developments in Hamlet's character are presented through the story of what happened on the boat? (V.ii.1-62)

6. How do Hamlet's motives in killing Claudius seem to have shifted according to his speech beginning 'Does it not, think thee...' (V.ii.63)?

7. What concerns of the play are reinforced in the Osric episode? (V.ii.80-170)

8. Why does Hamlet 'defy augury'? (V.ii.192)

9. What does Laertes say is his motive in still resenting Hamlet? How has he already lost this? How does this contribute to the presentation of revenge in the play? (V.ii.216-223)

10. How might the dying lines of Gertrude, Claudius and Laertes be viewed as typical of the way their characters have been presented throughout the play?

Language and Imagery

1. In V.ii., Hamlet refers to Claudius as "this canker of our nature". What makes this so appropriate?

Themes

1. Which characters view the ending as bloody carnage and which as poetic justice? Why such confusion?

2. Who "wins" in Hamlet? How?