Hamlet Reading Questions

                                                Name: Vanessa Luna

Hamlet Reading Questions

Act I
1. What is the Ghost wearing when he come on stage? When before, according to Horatio, had he been seen wearing it?

-He is wearing a king’s wardrobe. He is dressed in clothes a king would dress in.

2. Marcellus asks someone to “tell me…/Why this same strict and most observant watch/ So nightly toils the subject of the land…” What is the
answer?
-Fortinbras is planning on attacking as revenge for his fathers death.

3. What story from the past does Horatio relate?
-He talks about Julius Caesar and how he was murdered.

4. What makes the ghost disappear?
-The rooster

5. Note all of the different matters of court business that Claudius attends to at the opening of 1.2. How does he try to comfort Hamlet? Does it work?
-

6. In Hamlet’s first soliloquy (“O that this too too solid flesh would melt…”), what does he tell the audience is so upsetting to him?
-Hamlet is upset that his mom is marrying the man that murdered his father.

7. “Foul deeds will rise,/ Though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes” (~1.2.256-­‐7) What does Hamlet mean by this?
-By this Hamlet means that people will find out what they made.

8. What advice do both Laertes and Polonius give to Ophelia?
-They tell her to not fall in love with Hamlet

9. What is particularly “foul, strange, and unnatural” about King Hamlet I’s death? (see 1.5)
-The dead king was poisoned but people think that he got bitten by a snake.

10. What does Hamlet write down after seeing the ghost? Where does he write it?

-Hamlet says he will get revenge for his father. He writes in on a notebook.

11. To what oath does Hamlet make Horatio and Marcellus swear?

-Hamlet tells them not to tell anyone about the ghost.

Act II
1. What is Polonius employing Reynaldo to do? What instructions does he give to him?

-Polonius wants Reynaldo to go to Paris. He wants him to spy at Laertes to see what he is doing.

2. What report of Hamlet’s behavior does Ophelia give to Polonius in 2.1? What
specifically does she tell him about how he was acting? What other words are used to describe Hamlet’s behavior (especially his actions) throughout these acts? When Hamlet appears in 2.2, how would you characterize his speech?
Ophelia tells Polonius that Hamlet looked like he was “loosened from hell”

3. What news does King Claudius receive from Norway in 2.2? What is the status of the impending invasion from act 1?
-Norway is trying to invade Denmark but the invasion is stopped. Fortinbras decides to invade Poland instead.

4. What speech does Hamlet ask the Player to perform in 2.2? What event in history/literature is being recounted in this speech? Who is Pyrrhus?

-The Aenead. The event that is being retold in the speech is the Trojan war. Pyrrhus is the son of the Greek hero Achilles.

5. In his second soliloquy (“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I”), what is Hamlet’s response to the player’s speech? What aspect of the Player’s speech does he specifically comment on?

-It motivates him for his revenge. He really liked the speech.

Act III
1. Does Hamlet behave differently toward Ophelia than Polonius and Laertes? How does he treat her during the “Mousetrap” play that the players perform?
-Hamlet treats Ophelia differently than he does Polonius and Laertes because Hamlet acts mean one second and the next he says inappropriate things to her.

2. What is the point of the play Hamlet calls “The Mousetrap” (The Murder of Gonzago)? What are the differences between this version of a king’s murder and that which we have been told of in Hamlet?
- It is called the mousetrap because it is a way for Hamlet to figure of if Claudius did kill his father. The difference in the two stories is that in the play he is poisoned and it ends there. In the story told by the ghost people think he is killed by a snake in the garden.

3. At the end of 3.2, Hamlet “could drink hot blood” (360) as he goes off to visit his mother. On the way, he finds the King in prayer. Why does he not slay him in this moment (3.3.77 ff.)?
-He does not kill Claudius because he is praying. If Hamlet were to kill him then it is assumed that he will go to heaven because he was forgiven for his sins.

4. What is the intended purpose of Hamlet’s visit to his mother’s chamber? How does he turn the tables on her? What instructions does he give to her?

-Hamlet is called to talk to his mom. Hamlet accuses Claudius of murdering his dad. He tells his mother to not tell anyone that he pretending to be crazy.

5. What happens to Polonius during the conversation between Hamlet and Gertrude? Who else barges in on -their conversation?

-Polonius is killed by Hamlet. The ghost barges in on their conversation.
6. At the end of act 3, Hamlet reminds his mother that he has been sent on a foreign mission by the King (this resolution comes in 3.1) Where is he going? Why does Hamlet think he is being sent away?

-Hamlet thinks he is being sent away because they think he is crazy. He is being sent to England.

Act IV
1. What is the real reason, as revealed at the end of 4.3, Claudius has sent Hamlet away?

-Claudius sent Hamlet to England so that they can kill him. (Decapitate him.)

2. What has Hamlet done with the body of Polonius? What kind of a funeral did Polonius receive, according to the King (4.5)?
-Hamlet hid the body. The king believes that he did not receive a respected funeral because he was just buried. His death was unexpected and no one was at his funeral. 

3. On his way out of Denmark, Hamlet encounters a captain from the army of Fortinbras (4.4). Where are they headed? What are they fighting for?
-They are headed to England. They are fighting for a piece of land that isn't worth much. 

4. How is Ophelia described in the stage direction that marks her entrance to 4.5? What does she sing about in her songs? What does she hand out to the court?
-They think she has gone insane. She sings about her fathers death and her love her Hamlet. She also says that she is not a virgin anymore. 

5. What news does the Messenger bring of Laertes in 4.5? Has he returned to Denmark alone? Compare his state to Hamlet’s report at 4.7.
-The messenger tells Laertes that his father is dead. He has returned to Denmark with his gentlemen. Laertes is furious about his fathers death but is happy to see Ophelia and is worried about her because she has gone insane. 

6. Note how Laertes describes his motivation for revenge in 4.5. What is driving him?
-His motivation is to get revenge for his father's death. 

7. What turn of events does Hamlet report to Horatio in his letter in 4.6?
-He tells Horatio that he has been kidnapped and that Horatio should go and get him. 

8. Claudius comes up with a very complicated plan for Laertes to execute his revenge in 4.7. What is it? Notice what Laertes wants to do (4.7)!
-Claudius tells Laertes that if he finds Claudius guilty of his father's death then he will had over the thrown to Laertes. If Laertes finds Claudius innocent then Claudius will help him find who killed his father. 

9. How do we learn of Ophelia’s death? What are its odd circumstances?
-They found her in the river. She drowned. She committed suicide 

Act V
1. At the opening of act five, one of the two Clowns (rustics, or men of lower class, not clowns as we understand the word) is puzzled that Ophelia will receive a proper burial. Why? How does the Second Clown explain this treatment (5.1.22)? (Also, note the Priest’s reluctance in the proceedings)
-They were puzzled because she received treatment as if she was wealthy and a virgin. He doesn't think the treatment is fair. 

2. Whose skull does Hamlet recognize in the graveyard?
-The Jesters 

3. How long has the “grave-­‐maker” been working at his craft? What events coincided with his first day on the job?
-Since Hamlet was little. Hamlet's father killed Fortinbras father. 

4. Hamlet imagines that the dirt that the Clown is digging could actually be who? What happens to these great figures in Hamlet’s imagining?
-Julius Caesar. Caesar is imagined to be decayed into the dirt. With the dirt he is decayed in, it will be used to block water from entering from a hole. 

5. There are two surprising stage directions in 5.1: Laertes, then Hamlet, “leaps into the grave.” What are they fighting over?!
-They were fighting over who loved Ophelia more. If Laertes was determined to be buried alive with his sister than Hamlet would have done the same thing. 

6. Hamlet did inherit something from his father that proves quite useful in his stratagem against Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. What is it?
-He played along with what they were saying. He tricked them into thinking he was clueless about what Claudius sent them to watch him for. 

7. What causes Hamlet’s death (and is also the cause of death for the entire Danish court (including Hamlet I))?
-Hamlet was poisoned by a sword. They had poisoned the sword and also poisoned a drink.

8. What is Laertes’s dying wish? Is it fulfilled?
-Laertes dying wish is for Hamlet to forgive him. Hamlet does forgive Laertes therefore his wish is fulfilled. 

9. Just before Hamlet dies, he offers his “dying voice” to Fortinbras. What does he mean by this? What is going to happen to Denmark after the play?
-His dying voice are his last words. After the play, Fortinbras will have control over Denmark. 

10. What orders does Fortinbras give at the end of the play? What is the significance, do you think, of this action?
-His orders are to give Hamlet an honorable death (Carry him like a solider.) The significance of this action is to let Hamlet die with honor. He thought that his reputation will be ruined and his story wouldn't be told, however, Fortinbras gave him the honorable death he wanted.