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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

Three Facts about the time in which Shakespeare lived that EVERYONE should know:

1. On November 17, 1558 England crowned a new Queen. This was Queen ___________________

and she ruled until her death, March 24 1603. These 45 years under her rule are referred to by

historians as the __________________________ Age.

2. In 1603, England crowned a new King. This was King ________________________ and he is

most famous for having the __________________ translated into modern English.

3. The most famous actor of the age was __________________________ and he was the first to

play the title roles in such works as HAMLET, OTHELLO, and KING LEAR.

Three Facts about Shakespeare’s Life that EVERYONE should know:

1. The name of Shakespeare’s theater was ___________________________________.

2. The name of Shakespeare’s acting company was ____________________________________

but in 1603, they changed their name to ___________________________________________.

3. Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564 in the town of _________________________________

and he died April 23, 1616 and is buried in the town of _______________________________.

Three Facts about HAMLET that EVERYONE should know:

1. The story of HAMLET is set in the city of ___________________ in the country of

____________________, in which Hamlet is the prince and his uncle, Claudius, is the king.

2. One question that has divided historians and critics over the span of time continues to be, “Is

Hamlet’s ____________________ real or feigned?” In other words, is he sincere or pretending?

3. The reader/audience is allowed to peek inside Hamlet’s brain when he delivers asides and

____________________________, such as the famous “To be or not to be” speech.

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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

Act 1, Scene 1

1. The play begins with the changing of the guard at the castle. Which guard’s shift has ended, and
which guard is taking over?

2. Another guard, Marcellus, brings Hamlet’s friend Horatio along to prove what to him?

3. Who does the ghost look like? What is the ghost wearing?

4. What does Horatio say about Fortinbras Sr. and Fortinbras Jr. of Norway?

5. The Ghost appears a second time but leaves when what happens?

6. The Ghost would not talk to Horatio or the guards, but they think the Ghost will talk to who?

Act 1, Scene 2

1. King Claudius speaks, mentioning the mourning that has taken place the death of his brother
and his marriage to Queen Gertrude as a matter of custom. He then sends Voltemand and
Cornelius on a mission to do what?

2. Laertes is requesting permission to do what?

3. What double meaning is in Hamlet’s line, “Not so, my lord, I am too much i’th’sun”?

4. Hamlet tells Gertrude in reference to his father’s death, “But I have that within which passes
show.” What is Hamlet trying to explain to her?

5. Gertrude and King Claudius talk Hamlet out of going where?

6. In Hamlet’s first soliloquy, he reveals how saddened and angry he is by… ?

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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

7. What is meant by Hamlet’s line, “The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage
tables” ?

8. Upon being notified of the Ghost’s presence, Hamlet suspects that the Ghost will reveal what?

Act 1, Scene 3

1. The scene begins with a brother (Laertes) giving some advice to his sister (Ophelia). What is this
advice?

2. Their father, Polonius, enters and he in turn gives advice to Laertes in what is considered one of
Shakespeare’s most memorable monologues- in fact, some of the lines from this monologue are
quoted often, such as “neither a borrower nor a lender be” and “to thine own self be true.”
What are a few other things that Polonius advises?

3. We don’t know much about Ophelia yet, other than that she is the daughter of Polonius and
that Hamlet has been flirting with her. Why does Polonius order her to stop seeing Hamlet? Is
there any indication that we should feel sorry for her?

Act 1, Scene 4

1. What does Hamlet say about “the party” going on at the castle?

2. Horatio warns Hamlet that the Ghost may “deprive your sovereignty of reason and draw you
into madness.” How do you think this line foreshadows events to come?

Act 1, Scene 5

1. The Ghost mentions that the official story of his death is that a snake bit him. How does the
Ghost say he was really killed?

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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

2. The Ghost is upset that he was “Cut off even in the blossoms of sin, unhouseled, disappointed,
unaneled, no reck’ning made, but sent to my account with all my imperfections on my head.”
What is he saying?

3. What is meant by Hamlet’s line, “O, cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right” ?

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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

Act 2, Scene 1

1. Polonius sends Reynaldo to Paris to do what? Is Polonius a good father?

2. Ophelia enters the scene frightened. What has she just witnessed? What is meant by the line,
“And with a look so piteous in purport as if he had been loosed out of hell to speak of horrors” ?

3. Ophelia describes Hamlet as having acted crazy when she begins her line, “He took me by the
wrist and held me hard.” How would you describe what he did?

Act 2, Scene 2

1. The scene begins with King Claudius and Queen Gertrude speaking to Hamlet’s childhood friends
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. What do the King and Queen ask them to do? How is this similar
to when Polonius sent Reynaldo to Paris?

2. Polonius enters and tells King Claudius that he thinks he knows why Hamlet is so upset, but
before he reveals this information, Voltemand and Cornelius enter to give what news?

3. Polonius tells King Claudius and Queen Gertrude, “Your noble son is mad. Mad call I it, for to
define true madness, what is’t to be nothing else but mad?” What is meant by this?

4. Polonius says Hamlet has been driven mad by his daughter Ophelia’s refusal of Hamlet’s love.
He then reads a poem that Hamlet wrote for Ophelia. Do you think Hamlet is really in love with
her based on this note?

5. Hamlet enters. The King and Queen exit, leaving Polonius alone with Hamlet. What does
Hamlet call Polonius? What else does Hamlet say or do that is unusual?

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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

6. What common phrase comes from Polonius’s line, “Though this be madness, yet there be
method in’t” ?

7. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter. Hamlet calls Denmark a “prison.” What is meant by
Hamlet’s line, “O, God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite
space- were it not that I have bad dreams” ?

8. Hamlet gets Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to admit that they were sent from the King and
Queen to gather information about him. Then, he delivers the famous “What a piece of work is
man speech” which includes the line, “I have of late , but wherefore I know not, lost all my
mirth, forgone all custom of exercise; and indeed it goes heavily with my disposition that this
goodly frame the earth seems to me a sterile promontory…” What is he saying?

9. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell Hamlet that a group of people are coming to visit Elsinore.
Who are these people? Hamlet delivers a key line that sheds some light on whether he is really
crazy or not, “I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from
a handsaw.” What is he implying?

10. What story from Greek mythology does Hamlet begin to recite for the actors? What are some
similarities between the character Pyrrhus and Hamlet?

11. In Hamlet’s final soliloquy in Act II, why does he ask himself, “Am I a coward?” Additionally, in
this same speech, Hamlet devises a plan that involves the actors and his uncle, King Claudius.
What is this plan?

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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

Act 3, Scene 1

1. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern inform the King and Queen that that cannot get Hamlet to admit
why is acting so strangely. They leave, and then the King asks Queen Gertrude to leave. Why?

2. In Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” speech, what is he talking about? When it comes to
dying, is Hamlet afraid or fearless?

3. How does Hamlet treat Ophelia when he sees her? Why does he tell her “Get thee to a
nunnery” ? What does he mean when he tells her “you make your wantonness your
ignorance?”

4. The King thinks he can cure Hamlet’s madness and depression how? Polonius plans to do what?

Act 3, Scene 2

1. A line that is often quoted in college theatre classes and discussed in theatre philosophy is, “the
purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is to hold as ‘twere the mirror
up to nature; to show virtue her feature, scorn her image, and the very age and body of the time
his form and pleasure.” What is Shakespeare saying about the purpose of theatre?

2. Hamlet pulls Horatio aside and asks for his help in detecting what?

3. How would you describe the way Hamlet and Ophelia are acting around one another before and
during the play?

4. What is the title of the play and how is it symbolic? Has Hamlet’s plan worked?

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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

5. Do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern add on to Hamlet’s madness? They are old childhood friends
of his- is there any indication that Hamlet does not consider them friends anymore? What is the
pipe metaphor?

Act 3, Scene 3

1. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern agree to help King Claudius by taking Hamlet where?

2. Hamlet has the opportunity to kill the King, but he does not. Why not?

Act 3, Scene 4

1. Hamlet is very witty when he banters back and forth with his mother as he intends to berate
her. Things very quickly get out of hand and suddenly what happens? What is meant by “Take
thy fortune?”

2. Just as the Queen is starting to feel guilty and understands Hamlet’s anger and sadness, what
happens? Was it real or imagined?

3. What advice does Hamlet give to his mother? Hamlet says, “I essentially am not in madness, but
mad in craft.” Once again, Hamlet is trying to explain what?

4. There is foreshadowing in the line, “But I will delve one yard below their mines and blow them
at the moon.” What do you think this foreshadows?

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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

Act 4, Scene 1

1. What are the King and Queen discussing? How does the Queen describe Hamlet?

2. What is meant by the King’s line, “So, haply, slander, whose whisper o’er the world’s diameter,
as level as the cannon to his blank, transports his poisoned shot, may miss our name and hit the
woundless air” ?

Act 4, Scene 2

1. What does Hamlet call Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? Why?

2. Hamlet is very clever in the way he words things. What is he talking about when he says, “The
body is with the King, but the King is not with the body”?

Act 4, Scene 3

1. The King mentions that he faces a problem with what to do with Hamlet because though he
killed Polonius, he is well liked by the people of Denmark and it will cause a stir if Hamlet is dealt
with by the law. When Hamlet speaks to the King, he is morbidly joking about where the body
of Polonius is. Hamlet says Polonius is in three places- what three places does Hamlet say?

2. What is the King describing when he says, “England… thou mayst not coldly set our sovereign
process, which imports at full, by letters conjuring to that effect, the present death of Hamlet”?
What plan is in motion?

Act 4, Scene 4

1. Fortinbras appears. Who is he again and what is he doing in Denmark?

2. After speaking with a Norwegian Captain, Hamlet remarks that he is confused as to why such a
large army is trying to conquer a small piece of ground in Poland. How does this inspire Hamlet?

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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

Act 4, Scene 5

1. How is Ophelia acting? What is her song about?

2. What is the King talking about when he says, “Her brother is in secret come from France, feeds
on this wonder, keeps himself in clouds…” ?

3. Why does Laertes suddenly appears with a mob?

4. Laertes says of the way Ophelia is acting, “A document in madness: thoughts and remembrance
fitted.” This ties into all the different flowers that Ophelia is passing out. What is the symbolic
meaning of the various flowers?

5. What does the King agree to do in order to explain he is innocent of the murder of Polonius?

Act 4, Scene 6

1. Horatio reads a letter from Hamlet. What does Hamlet say?

Act 4, Scene 7

1. What are the two reasons the King gives for not punishing Hamlet for the murder of
Polonius?

2. The King comes up with a plan that accomplishes three goals: have Hamlet killed, allow
Laertes revenge, and for Hamlet’s death to be acceptable to everyone, even the Queen.
What is this plan? What is the back-up plan?

3. The Queen enters and gives what news? What does Laertes mean when he says, “When
these are gone, the woman will be out”?

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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

Act 5, Scene 1

1. Shakespeare begins the scene with two gravediggers. What was Shakespeare’s purpose in
beginning the scene this way? What are they discussing? What are they joking about?

2. Shakespeare has this scene in a graveyard for both the audience and the characters to
meditate on what? Who is Yorick and what does Hamlet say about him?

3. Why does the Priest say, “Her obsequies have been as far enlarged as we have warranty”?

4. What happens after Hamlet reveals himself at the funeral? What are some things Hamlet
says that are inappropriate?

Act 5, Scene 2

1. What is meant by Hamlet’s line, “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how
we will” ?

2. Hamlet recounts his voyage to England. What happened and how did he survive?

3. A courtier named Osric appears. How does Hamlet mock him? What message does Osric have
for Hamlet?

4. Is Hamlet nervous or afraid to fight Laertes? What is meant by “There is a special providence in
the fall of a sparrow”? “Since no man of aught he leaves, knows aught, what is’t to leave
betimes”?

5. How does Hamlet apologize to Laertes? Hamlet blames the death of Polonius on what?

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HAMLET by William Shakespeare

6. As Hamlet and Laertes duel one another, the King offers Hamlet wine but he sets it aside. Who
ends up drinking this cup of wine?

7. During the third round of the duel, the stage direction from Shakespeare says, “LAERTES wounds
HAMLET; then in scuffling, they change rapiers, and HAMLET wounds LAERTES.” What does this
cause to happen?

8. How does Hamlet kill the King? Are you satisfied with Hamlet’s long talked about revenge?

9. What are Hamlet’s last words? What does he “prophesy?”

10. How does the play end and what is the significance of Fortinbras?

11. Confucius said, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” How does this
quote apply to the Tragedy of Hamlet?

12. List how each of these characters died:

The Ghost Queen Gertrude

Polonius Laertes

Ophelia King Claudius

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Hamlet

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