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Hamlet
Includes questions specifically asking about this Shakespeare play. Questions about the movie version should be placed under "Movies." Questions about Shakespeare should be placed under his category under Authors and Poets.
2,117 Questions
Why does Hamlet feel he must have evidence of Claudius's guilt?
Hamlet is told that his father was murdered by a ghost.
In the Elizabethan period ghosts were seen as omens and not to be trusted, thus the quote:
"What if it tempt you toward the flood my lord,
Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff
That beetle o'er his base into the sea,
And there assume some other horrible form
which might deprive your sovereignty of reason,
and draw you into madness?"
This quote from Horatio shows his worry for Hamlets life if he follows the ghost. Horatio believes that the appearance of the dead kings ghost is an omen.
However Hamlet believes the ghost is trustworthy at this point. however in the later scene, Hamlet begins to worry about the ghost's intentions
"the devil hath power
t'assume a pleasing shape. Yea, and perhaps,
out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses to damn me"
This quote in Act III, scene I shows Hamlets reflection of the ghost and his worries that it is the devil who has taken the form of his father to cause chaos in the world. Hamlet needs evidence to prove the ghost's story about his death so Hamlet organises the players to re-enact the Kings supposed death and observe Claudius for and reaction to prove or disprove the ghost
I hope this helps :)
Explain why Hamlet doesnt take his revenge during claudius's soliloquy?
Ophelia is in love with Hamlet and she may know or suspect that her father's death was an accident. She may also feel that revenge is a man's job, not a woman's, as Beatrice does in Much Ado About Nothing. However, unlike Beatrice and her brother Laertes, Ophelia never shows the slightest inclination towards feelings of revenge.
How does Hamlet describe his personal problem to them?
He says, "I have, of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth, foregone all custom of exercise, and indeed, it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory." He is, of course, telling them what they want to hear. We know that he has not foregone all custom of exercise at all; later he tells Horatio that he has kept in continual practice. This is part of the antic disposition intended to bamboozle the simple-minded Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
In hamlet Whom does the ghost look like?
The Ghost wears something different in every production. At least in the first scene, the text suggests that he should be wearing a suit of armour because of Horatio's description of the ghost to Hamlet, that he was armed "from cap a pe", which means from head to foot, and that he wore his beaver (his visor) up. Notwithstanding this, a number of productions do not have the ghost accoutred in this manner, either because suits of armour are expensive and hard to get, or they are clumsy and make it hard for the actor to act, or they don't match the period the director has chosen or any combination of the above.
Hamlet is suicidal because his father, who was very dear to him, had just been murdered by Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. Within two short months of his father's murder, Hamlet's mother, Gertrude then married that very same Claudius. This is the main reason as to Hamlet's suicidal tendancies but he is also very mixed up in his head due to encounters with his father's ghost.
Where did Shakespeare's Hamlet live?
Hamlet is from Denmark. The play takes place at the castle of Elsinore and it is implied that this is the permanent residence of the court and the Danish Kings. If so, his home "town" is Elsinore Castle, which isn't a town at all. They talk about "the tragedians of the city" who have left the city to come to Elsinore. The play is vague about where this city is, just as it is about Hamlet's home town, since it doesn't matter to the way the play plays out.
What is Hamlet's reactions to Gertrude dying?
Hamlet wonders if anyone will still love him after he has died right after he does his speech to Yorick's skull and ponders what happens after death. "Hamlet" is a play by William Shakespeare.
Laertes thinks that ophelia should have a better funeral service?
Indeed! Ophelia is being given a shortened funeral service out of suspicion that she killed herself. Someone who kills herself died in a state of sin, since suicide is a sin and there was no opportunity to be forgiven, and so she really shouldn't even be buried on holy ground. Someone's pulled some strings behind the scenes, so the priest is compromising by giving her a lackluster funeral. Laertes is upset at this disrespect toward his sister, just as he was upset that his father wasn't mourned with more pomp.
Who Gives Hamlet a task to complete?
The ghost charges Hamlet to perform a three-part task. He is asked to: 1. Revenge the murder of his father. 2. Hamlet is also not to contrive against his mother but to leave her to heaven and her own conscience. 3. Don't go insane during the task
What is reason for delay in Hamlet?
Hamlet delays his desicions because he is simply an indescisive person. Hamlet is trying to choose between his education, what he knows, and the warlike royal traditions, the evil aspects of avenging his father. He is obviously depressed and doesnt like the idea of murdering King Claudius, because as a Christian, murder is morally wrong. He wants to make sure Claudius is the right man to be punished and the preparations for the play within the play are even more delayed because of hamlets Antic disposition.
How many times does the ghost appear in Hamlet?
He appears three times, in four different scenes. First he appears to Marcellus, Bernardo and Horatio in Act one Scene 1. He later appears to them with Hamlet in Act 1 Scene 4. Hamlet follows the ghost offstage then reappears chasing him in Act 1 Scene 5. The two scenes are part of the same appearance. Finally, the ghost appears briefly in the closet scene, Act 3 Scene 4.
Does Hamlet's last speech indicates that he intends physically to harm his mother.?
On the contrary, he says he will speak daggers to her but not use them.
Does Ophelia tell her father something about Hamlet?
Yes, she tells him (somewhat reluctantly) that Hamlet has "made tenders of his affection" to her in Act 1 Scene 3. In Act 2 scene 1 she tells him that Hamlet has appeared in her bedroom half undressed and has stared at her very intently in a weird way.
How does the name Hamlet relate to Shakespeare?
He wrote the play Hamlet. You might think that the name was developed from his son's name- Hamnet, who died about five years before he wrote the play. But you'd be wrong. Shakespeare's son was named after his neighbour Hamnet Sadler, and his daughter, Hamnet's twin, was named for Hamnet Sadler's wife Judith Sadler. The character in the play was called Hamlet (or some variation on that) for three hundred and fifty years before Shakespeare got hold of it.
Thinking that Shakespeare named the character after his son is like thinking that he named the main character in King John after his father, or one of the main female characters in Henry VIII, Anne Bullen, after his wife.
What does Hamlet tell Gertrude to do in act 3?
Good Hamlet cast thy nighted colour off and look like a friend upon Denmark. Do not forever with thy veiled lids seek for thy noble father in the dust. Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity.
Which one might paraphrase as:
My dear Hamlet, stop wearing these black clothes, and be friendly to the king. You can't spend your whole life with your eyes to the ground remembering your noble father. It happens all the time, what lives must die eventually, passing to eternity.
Is there examples of allegory in hamlet?
Yes, lots. It starts at about line 10 of the first scene when Barnardo asks, "Have you had aquiet guard" and Francisco replies "Not a mouse stirring". It ends around line 400 of the last scene when Fortinbras says, "and for his passage the soldiers' music and the rite of war speak loudly for him."
How does Horatio die in hamlet?
Horatio didn't die in Hamlet.
The following is from Wikipedia (search was for Hamlet with Horatio):
Horatio is present through most of the major scenes of the play, but Hamlet is usually the only person to acknowledge that he is present; when other characters address him, they are almost always telling him to leave. He is often in scenes that are usually remembered as soliloquies, such as Hamlet's famous scene with the skull of Yorick. Horatio is also present during the mousetrap play, the discovery of Ophelia's madness (though the role of an anonymous gentleman-courtier has been substituted in this scene), Hamlet's display at Ophelia's grave, and the all-important final scene. He is the only major main character to survive all the way to the end of the play.
In performance, the part of Horatio is the only major part that can't be doubled, i.e. that can't be played by an actor who also plays another character, since he is present in scenes involving nearly every character.
In Hamlet who was loyal to hamlet?
Hamlet's friend Horatio was most loyal to him. Furthermore, in Act 1, scene 5, Hamlet makes Horatio and Marcellus swear loyalty to him and to never reveal what they have witnessed in the woods and Hamlet's interaction with his father's ghost.
Why are Hamlet and claudius unscrupulous adversaries?
Hamlet is mad at Gertrude for happily marrying so soon and to he's Uncle of all people. And as for Claudius, to take the place of Hamlet's father was a villain of a decision. Most of the madness is shown after the Ghost appears and tells what has happened in the past. Revenge for what has happened---Father's brother poisoned me while sleeping in the orchard. Remember me. Act 1, scene 5.
What does hamlet list in lines 15-19 in his soliloquy?
I shall have also cause to speak,
And from his mouth whose voice will draw on
more; But let this same be presently perform'd,Even while men's minds
are wild; lest more mischance On plots and errors,
happen. Let four captains Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage;
For he was likely, had he been put
on, To have proved
most royally: and, for his passage, The soldiers' music and the rites
of war Speak loudly for him. Take up the bodies:
such a sight as this Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot. A dead march.
E
xe
unt, bearing off the dead bodies;
after which a pea
l of ordnance is shot off.
Where are the Literary devices in Hamlet act V?
There are loads of them everywhere. For example, when he is talking about Yorick's skull, he says to the skull: "Now get you to my lady's chamber and tell her--let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come." Talking to inanimate objects (or absent people or abstract concepts) is called apostrophe.
Madness in great ones must not go unwatched in hamlet?
It means that those who have great power (whether politicians, religious people or similar) are extra dangerous if they become corrupt or insane, because their influence will have greater consequences for the people around them. Because of this, they need to be watched with extra care.
Why was Hamlet considered so important?
The tragedy of Hamlet has been around since what is believed to be about 1599. So exactly why has this play been around for so long? Perhaps the most famous quotation comes from the existential dilemma that causes Hamlet to question whether he should continue living or just quit? Put into Shakespeare's brilliant language, Hamlet says, "To be or not to be, that is the question."(Shakespeare). As Hamlet is having trouble in life, he is able to show the voice of a problem that still confronts a large amount of people today. Other than the ever so popular quote, Hamlet really grabs the audience into the play. With ghosts, betrayal, madness, murder, and the famous bloodbath that takes place in the end, Hamlet would even be a major hit in Hollywood today. Yet another reason Hamlet remains around today, is that it brings up so many questions that are still debated today. For example, "To be or not to be, that is the question."(Shakespeare). Well we know the question but what is the answer. Although the book can hint at what the answer is believed to be, it is truly up to the audience to decide for themselves. Furthermore, the tragic play brings about questions of religion, philosophical issues, political issues, psychoanalytical issues, and also feminist issues.
