| Identify Bernardo, Francisco, Marcellus, Horatio, and King Hamlet. | Bernardo, Francisco, and Marcellus are all guards at Elsinore. Horatio is Hamlet’s close friend. King Hamlet is Hamlet’s father who was murdered prior to the beginning of the play. |
| What had Bernardo seen at a prior watch? | King Hamlet’s ghost |
| Why does Marcellus think Horatio should speak to the ghost? | Because Horatio is smart |
| What does young Fortinbras want to do? | He wishes to attack Denmark to avenge his father’s honor. |
| Who do the soldiers/guards want to tell about the ghost? | Hamlet |
| Identify King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, Laertes, and Polonius. | King Claudius is the king of Denmark, Hamlet’s uncle and stepfather. Queen Gertrude is the Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother. Laertes is Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother. Polonius is the Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. |
| Where does Claudius send Cornelius and Voltimand? | To Norway; he sent them with letters asking the king of Norway to |
| What does the King tell Hamlet? | That he should stop mourning over the loss of his father and that he cannot go back to school. |
| Hamlet is upset for two reasons. What are they? | His father has recently died and his mother remarried his uncle within two months of his death. The marriage in Hamlet’s time was considered insestuous. |
| What news does Horatio bring Hamlet? | He tells Hamlet that he has seen Hamlet’s father’s ghost |
| What does Hamlet decide to do after he hears Horatio’s news? | Go on watch with the guards. |
| What is Laertes’ advice to Ophelia? | That she should not believe what Hamlet tells her, (get away) from him, and protect her virtue. |
| What is Polonius’ advice to Laertes? | That he should always be himself; listen to everyone, but don’t always give advice; don’t get into quarrels but if you do, win; neither a borrower nor a lender; be friendly but don’t be vulgar; keep your friends close; don’t always voice your thoughts. |
| At the end of Scene III, Ophelia agrees to “obey.” What will she do? | She will take Laertes’ advice and stay away from Hamlett. |
| What did the ghost tell Hamlet? | That he was murdered by Claudius and to avenge his death. |
| Hamlet swears Horatio to two things. What are they? | Secrecy about seeing the ghost, and to go along when he pretends to go crazy. |
| Where does Polonius send Reynaldo? Why? | Paris to spy on Laertes and give money and letters |
| Why does Polonius think Hamlet is “mad”? | He thought that Ophelia rejecting him was too much for him, he’s lovesick |
| Why have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to the castle? | They have come to find out why Hamlet was acting so strange and report their findings to the King |
| What is Polonius’ plan for testing his theory that Hamlet is love-crazy? | He wants Hamlet to see Ophelia. Polonius would eavesdrop on their conversation. |
| Rosencrantz and Guildenstern finally meet with Hamlet, and Hamlet discovers they were sent for by the King. How does Hamlet describe his personal problems to them? What does he tell them? | He tells them that the world was wonderful and that man was the most wonderful part of it but now he finds that they are not as wonderful and he finds no delight in man or woman. |
| What arrangement does Hamlet make with Player 1? | He wants to put his own lines into the play to match the events of his father’s death (an experiment on Claudius’s brain) |
| After Rosencrantz and Guildenstern leave Hamlet, what does he basically say in hissoliloquy? | He called himself a coward for not getting the revenge yet |
| What message do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern carry to the King? What is the King’s response? | They tell him that Hamlet has invited him to see the play. The King is interested |
| Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy is in scene one. In a sentence or two paraphrase his main points. | He wants to kill himself because life is miserable but he is afraid that what comes after death might be worse. |
| Describe Hamlet’s tone when he speaks to Ophelia. | He is very rude and aggressive. |
| What do the King and Polonius decide about Hamlet’s condition after eavesdropping on Hamlet and Ophelia? | They decide that he is not lovesick, but has some other trouble deep inside. |
| Why does Hamlet give instructions to the players? | He didn’t want them to overact, and not to exaggerate, to act natural. He wants it to look natural because they wanted to see Claudius’s reaction. |
| What was the King’s reaction to the play, and what did Hamlet and Horatio decide his reaction meant? | He got up and asked for the lights. They think he’s guilty. |
| What message does Rosencrantz deliver from the Queen? | That the queen wants to have a word with him. |
| The King has Rosencrantz and Guildenstern prepare to do what? Why? | To take Hamlet to England, because the king feels threatened and wants him away from Elsinore, in fact he wants Hamlet dead. |
| Why doesn’t Hamlet kill the King when the King is kneeling? | Because he’s praying. So Claudius will go straight to hell. |
| How does Polonius die? | Polonius was hiding behind the tapestry and Hamlet mistakes him for Claudius and kills him. |
| What would Hamlet have his mother do? | To stop sleeping with Claudius |
| What does Hamlet think of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? | He thinks of them as fools that follow the kings orders, even though the king is just using them. |
| Why must the King “not put the strong arm on” Hamlet? | Because the common people and Gertrude loved Hamlet and he thinks Hamlet is emotionally unstable |
| When the King asks Hamlet where Polonius is, what is Hamlet’s answer? | Not where he eats but … not in heaven but in the place you should be (hell) |
| What is the content of the letters the King sends with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to England with Hamlet | He wants Hamlet to be killed when he reaches England |
| What prompts Hamlet to say, “My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!”? | He learns that Fortinbras is fighting over land that is not worth anything |
| What has happened to Ophelia? | She has gone crazy and some think she is contemplating suicide. |
| Why does Laertes force his way in? What does he want? | He wants revenge for his fathers death |
| What is the content of Hamlet’s letter to Horatio? | He tells him that he has escaped from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and that he is on a pirate ship; he’s a prisoner; he’s being treated well because they want favors; he’s waiting |
| What plan do the King and Laertes discuss to kill Hamlet? | A dual. Laertes says he will put a dab of poison on the sword but if it isn’t enough, he will put poison in a cup. |
| What news does the Queen bring Laertes? | Ophelia has drown |
| What does the King say to Laertes to console him after Laertes and Hamlet are separated? | Don’t worry your time’s coming |
| What did Hamlet do to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? | He replaced the letters and made it to where they were executed |
| What news does Osric bring Hamlet? | The King bets on Hamlet |
| What happens to the King, Hamlet, Laertes, and the Queen? | They all dieKing- Hamlet’s sword killed the KingQueen- drinks out of the poisoned cupLaertes- His own swordHamlet- Laertes’ sword |
| Who does Hamlet recommend to the throne? | His hero, Fortinbras |
Hamlet Test
August 28, 2019