| When Act I begins what time of night is it? | Midnight |
| What does Claudius want the King of Norway to do about Young Fortinbras? | Stop him from attacking Denmark. |
| In his first soliloquy, to what does Hamlet compare the kingdom of Denmark? | “An unweeded garden / that grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature / possess it merely” (1.2.139-141) |
| Hamlet compare his father to Hyperion and his uncle Claudius to a satyr. What is a satyr? | Lustful, drunken woodland gods |
| “My father’s spirit – in arms!” What does Hamlet believe this visit from the ghost of his father might mean? | Something is wrong and that there may have been foul play involved in his death. |
| Who says, “A little more than kin, and less than kind”? | Hamlet |
| “Seems Madam? Nay, it is. I know not seems.” Of what does Hamlet accuse his mother? | Hamlet is accusing his mother of faking her grief for Old Hamlet. |
| According to Polonius, how do individuals “of wisdom and of reach,… find directions out”? | By using lies to find the truth. |
| How did Hamlet look when he appeared in Ophelia’s private room? | “Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other. / And with a look so piteous in purport / As if he had been loosed out of hell” (2.1.91-93) |
| What does Polonius believe is wrong with Hamlet? | He believes that Hamlet’s madness is “the very ecstasy of love, / Whose violent property for does itself. / And leads will to desperate undertakings / As oft as any passions under heaven / That does afflict our natures.” (2.2.114-118) |
| Who has Claudius summoned to spy on Hamlet? | Polonius and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern |
| What does Young Fortinbras get for agreeing to stop his aggression against Denmark? | “Old Norway, overcome with joy, / Gives him three-score thousand crowns in annual / fee / And his commission to employ those soldiers, / So levied as before, against Polack” (2.2.76-80) [Voltemand says this] |
| What request does Norway make of Denmark? | Norway asks “that it might please [Denmark] to give quiet pass / Through your dominions for this enterprise” (2.2.82-83) |
| Having presented his theory about Hamlet’s madness to Claudius, how does Polonius plan to prove his theory correct? | He is going to spy on Hamlet in order to find the truth. |
| Of what does Hamlet accuse his friends? | Betrayal |
| Why does Pyrrhus kill Priam? | Pyrrhus was seeking revenge for Priam’s murder of his father Achilles |
| To whom is Hamlet referring when he says “A man that Fortune’s buffets and rewards / Hast taken with equal thanks; and blessed are those / Whose blood and judgement are so well commeddled”? | Horatio |
| In what play does Polonius say he once performed? | Julius Caesar |
| What is the name of the play that reenacts the murder of Hamlet’s father? | The mousetrap |
| Guildenstern tells Hamlet that the King has retired, suffering from choler. What are the two meaning given for choler? | Biliousness and Anger |
| Complete the proverb. “While the grass grows, _______.” | The horse starves |
| According to Hamlet, what is “as easy as lying”? | Playing the recorder |
| In his fifth soliloquy, Hamlet says “Now I could drink hot blood / And do such bitter business as the day / Would quake look on.” What is Hamlet ready to do? | He is ready to kill Claudius. |
| Who does Claudius ask to escort Hamlet to England? | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. |
| Claudius says his crime has “the primal eldest curse upon it.” Explain the allusion. | He is referring to the first murder when Cain murdered his brother Abel. |
| Why does Claudius believe he cannot be forgiven for the murder he committed? | Because he “is still possessed / Of those effects for which [he] did the murder” (3.3.57-58) |
| Hamlet finally has the opportunity to kill Claudius. What is Claudius doing? | Praying |
| Why does Hamlet refrain from killing Claudius at this time? | If he were to kill Claudius at this time, then Claudius would be absolved of his sins and could freely go to heaven, while Hamlet’s father is stuck in purgatory because he was murdered so suddenly. |
| What happens to Polonius as a result of his spying on Hamlet? | Hamlet thinks that Polonius is Claudius and stabs him. |
| Hamlet tells Polonius, “I took thee for they better.” Who did Hamlet believe was behind the arras spying on him? | Claudius |
| During Hamlet’s angry discussion with his mother, who enters the room? | The ghost |
| What does Hamlet ask his mother NOT to do? | Not to tell Claudius of his plan. |
| What does Gertrude fail to report to Claudius about what happened when Hamlet killed Polonius? | That Hamlet thought it was Claudius. |
| When questioned by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about the location of Polonius’ body, to what does Hamlet compare Rosencrantz? | A sponge |
| Why does Claudius say that he cannot “put the strong law on [Hamlet]”? | People like Hamlet so he cannot do anything to him without getting backlash from the kingdom. |
| When questioned by Claudius about the location of Polonius’ body, Hamlet offers three different answers. Where does he say the body is? | At supper, in Heaven, and upstairs |
| In his short soliloquy at the end of scene 3, what does Claudius reveal he is asking England to do with Hamlet? | He is asking England to kill Hamlet for him. |
| In his short soliloquy at the end of scene 3, to what does Claudius compare Hamlet? | “Like the hectic in [his] blood [Hamlet] rages / And thou must cure [Claudius]” To a sickness (4.3.75-76) |
| According to Fortinbras’ Captain, how much is the Polish land worth that Norway is going to war over? | They “go to gain a little patch of ground / that hat in it no profit but the name. / To pay five ducats, five, [he] would not farm it” (4.4.29-31) It’s worth almost nothing |
| Hamlet says, “Rightly to be great / Is not to stir without great argument, / But greatly to find quarrel in a straw / When ____ at stake.” | Honor’s |
| At the beginning of scene 5, Horatio, Gertrude, and a gentleman of the court discuss Ophelia. What happened to her? | She has gone mad. |
| Ophelia sings a song about St. Valentine’s Day. About whom does she seem to sing? | It could be Hamlet or Polonius |
| According to Claudius, what is the cause of Ophelia’s ailment? | It was her grief that caused her to go mad. |
| What do “the rabble” want Laertes to be? | They want Laertes to be king. |
| Ophelia hands out flowers and herbs. What is rosemary for? Pansies? | Rosemary – For remembrancePansies – For your thoughts |
| Ophelia gives herself only of the flowers/herbs. Which one is it? | Rue (A symbol of sorrow or repentance) |
| Besides the manner of Polonius’ death, what else is Laertes incensed about regarding his father? | That he didn’t get the honorable funeral that he deserved. |
| On his way to England, who takes Hamlet prisoner? | Pirates |
| When Laertes asks why Claudius has not proceeded against Hamlet’s criminal acts, what TWO reasons does he give? | Because of Gertrude and because many people still love Hamlet and would be very angry at Claudius if he did anything to him. |
| From whom does Claudius receive a disturbing letter? | Hamlet |
| What TWO things will the King and Laertes do the rapier Laertes will use in the fencing match against Hamlet? | They will sharpen it and cover it in lethal poison. |
| According to Gertrude, what has happened to Ophelia? | She has drowned and “therewith fantastic garlands did she make / Of crow flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples” (4.7.192-193) |
| What do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fail to report to the King and Queen about their visit with Hamlet? | That they have failed at getting the information they were supposed to get. |
| When Hamlet asks Ophelia, “Are you honest?”, what two possible meanings are being suggested? | If she is honest, or chaste. |
| Hamlet tells Ophelia to go to a “nunnery” five times in his conversation with her. What two meanings does the word nunnery have in this context? | A convent or a brothel. |
| After listening to the exchange between Hamlet and Ophelia, what does Claudius conclude about Hamlet’s madness? | That Hamlet is not mad because of Ophelia but because of what Claudius did to Old Hamlet. |
| What action does Claudius plan to take regarding Hamlet? | To send him to England. |
| “Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or a carpenter?” | A gravedigger |
| Whose grave is being prepared as Hamlet and Horatio walk through the graveyard? | Ophelia’s |
| According to the gravedigger, why will the corpse of a tanner decay more slowly than other corpses? | He can keep out water because his skin is so dry. |
| In whose skull does Hamlet take a special interest? | Yorick’s, the King’s old jester |
| What does hamlet reveal about his feelings Ophelia? | That “forty thousand brothers, / Could not make with all their quantity of love / make up [Hamlet’s] love” (5.1.285-287) |
| When Hamlet announces himself to the group in the graveyard, what title does he give himself? | “Hamlet the Dane” (5.1.271) |
| How does Hamlet send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths? | He is changing his own sentence so that instead of his death, it is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that are going to die in England. |
| What does Hamlet say is the reason for wanting to kill Claudius? | Claudius “hath killed [Hamlet’s] king and whored [his] mother; / Popped in between th’ election and my hopes, / Thrown out his angle for [his] proper life / And with such cozenage – is ‘t not perfect . conscience” (5.2.72-76) |
| Before they being to fence, what does Hamlet ask of Laertes? | He asks him for forgiveness |
| As he is dying, what does Hamlet ask Horatio to do? | To give the kingdom of Denmark to Fortinbras. |
Hamlet Quiz Questions
August 23, 2019