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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
Polonius (stabbed from behind a tapestry), Hamlet (poisoned by Laertes' sword), Laertes (also poisoned by his own sword), Gertrude (drinks Claudius' poison)and Claudius (stabbed, and forced to drink his poison) all die onstage. Ophelia (drowned), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (hung?) all die offstage.
What does the Kings closing soliloquy reveal hamlet?
Nothing much more than Claudius has already told us, that "of Hamlet our dear brother's death the memory (is) green" and he has taken "our sometime sister, now our queen . . . to wife." Of course we learn a great deal about how Hamlet feels about his father, his mother and his uncle, and things generally: "How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world".
When and where does Hamlet take place?
Hamlet takes place in the 17th century in the 800's and the area is inside the castle in Elsinore, Denmark.
What is Hamlets reaction when polonius tells Ophelia not to see him anymore?
Hamlet isn't present when Polonius tells her this. So how and when does he come to know it? Is it during the scene Ophelia describes to Polonius in 2,1? Ophelia doesn't tell her father that she had time to communicate anything to Hamlet when he "comes before" her. It is clear that Ophelia is holding something back from the story she tells her father, but it does not seem that this is it. Maybe it is in scene 3,1 when Ophelia returns the things (whatever they may be) that she has "longed long to redliver". Apparently it has been some time between 1,3 when Polonius tells Ophelia to lay off Hamlet and 3,1 since it has been "many a day" since they have spoken and she has "longed long" to deliver the mysterious love-tokens (although she may be implying that she had lost interest in him long before the events in 1,3).
In any case, Hamlet does not seem to react at all to the fact that Ophelia has been avoiding him of late. He is possibly unaware of it. The romantic relationship between Ophelia and Hamlet is uppermost in Ophelia's mind, but Hamlet has other things to think about. He only seems to focus on her when he realizes that she has allowed herself to be a lure in Claudius's trap for him.
How are Hamlet and Horatio alike and unlike?
hamlet acts more on impulse, horatio balances this out by thinking tghings through more logically, although they are both great thinkers
Hamlet says of Horatio "thou hast been as one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing, a man that Fortune's buffets and rewards hast ta'en with equal thanks; and blest are those whose blood and judgment are so well commeddled that they are not a pipe for Fortune's finger to sound what stop she please." But this is not a fair assessment: Horatio has hardly had "the motive and the cue for passion" that Hamlet has. Although he is fairly calm throughout the play, nothing is directed at him to disturb the calm.
Hamlet and Horatio only disagree once: over whether Hamlet was right to arrange for the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Horatio thinks (and most of us would be inclined to agree) that it is a harsh sentence to visit on two chumps who did not know that their commission would result in Hamlet's death (it was sealed remember) and who think they are only doing their patriotic duty to the King.
Horatio can see this because he is able to stand back from the action and observe it and judge it. Hamlet is, through no choice of his, in the thick of the action. He would love to be able to stand back and observe and judge it. He tries, but he cannot. He hates being "a pipe for Fortune's finger to sound what stop she please", or even a pipe that Guildenstern can play. But he cannot help it: when the circumstance is there he must act: he must stab the man behind the arras NOW without thinking; he must board the pirate ship NOW without thinking; he must jump into the grave NOW without thinking. Eventually he sees that "there is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow" and that it is futile for him to try to take control of his life, observe it, plan it, and execute what he has planned.
Hamlet recognizes that Horatio's status as an observer means that he must stay on to tell Hamlet's story. He is not part of the action as much as he might care for Hamlet. He is an onlooker.
But in essence the two men are not unlike which is why there is such an intuitive bond between them. What would Horatio have done, had his father been murdered, his mother married the murderer, his father's ghost come back calling for revenge and his girlfriend's father been a meddling spy who used everyone closest to him as a spy? Would he have done much different from what Hamlet did? Probably not.
What character in Hamlet is a foil character?
Laertes is a foil to Hamlet. Unlike Hamlet he does not reflect upon the task at hand, which is avenging his father's murder. He does not think about whether it is morally correct to conspire with the king, Claudius, to kill Hamlet for revenge. Fortenbras could also be considered a foil to Hamlet because he is just the opposite of Hamlet when it comes to decisions and following them through. B.Gene apex ;)
Why are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Denmark?
It says in my Hamlet book that "Claudius and Gertrude set Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two boyhood friends of Hamlet, to spy on him to discover the cause of his apparent madness. After the returned ambassadors announce their success in stopping Fortinbras's planned invasion of Denmark, Polonius report his 'discovery' that Hamlet is mad for love. Claudius is unpersuaded but agrees to join Polonius in spying on Hamlet”.
What 3 questions does Marcellus raise in Hamlet?
In "Hamlet," Marcellus' first question is why the guard has suddenly starting keeping such a strict watch in Denmark. Next, he wants know why Denmark is suddenly making and importing a lot of weapons. He also wants to know why shipbuilders are working around the clock now.
How did Hamlet Shakesphere die?
The play about Hamlet was totally made up by William Shakespeare - there was no 'real' Hamlet.
What three things does the ghost ask Hamlet to do?
1. Kill the king ("If thou didst ever thy dear father love, revenge his foul and most unnatural murder")
2. Lay off Mom. ("nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught")
3. "Remember me."
Where does hamlet have a confrontation with gertrude?
Polonius is one of those people who, once he gets an idea, there's no shifting it. He has formed the idea that Hamlet is mad for Ophelia's love, and suggests that this can be proven by spying on the two of them from a concealed place. Claudius is not persuaded at all by this: "Love? His affections do not that way tend." But Polonius has a new idea (which is basically the same as the old one) that his ideas may be proven by spying on Hamlet's conversation with Gertrude from a concealed place. Claudius just wants to get rid of him by sending him to England.
Polonius therefore views the conversation with Gertrude as his last chance to prove his theory. "If she find him not, to England send him, or confine him where your wisdom best may think."
What did Hamlet tell Horatio he stole from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
After the performance of the Mousetrap (or The Murder of Gonzago), Claudius retires and attempts to pray for forgiveness for his crime. But how, he asks himself, can he be forgiven since he is "still possessed of those effects for which [he] did the murder: [his] Crown, [his] own ambition, and [his] Queen." These are the things which he got as a result of the murder of his brother.
What happens in the play-within-a-play in hamlet?
It is called "The Murder of Gonzago" or "The Mousetrap" and depicts the murder of a king, whose widow then marries the murderer. Sound familiar?
How does king Claudius react the play?
He leaves part way through. The similarity of the crime depicted in the play and his own drives him crazy and he can't watch it any more. How do we know this? Because in the next scene Claudius is berating himself for the murder. "Oh, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven. It has the eldest primal curse on it--a brother's murder."
3 What does Hamlet decide after his chance encounter with a captain in Fortinbras army?
What he says he decides is, "O from this time forth my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth." It's an open question whether that is a decision or a knee-jerk reaction, which he'll soon forget about.
What advice does laertes give to his sister before going to France in Hamlet?
He tells her not to get too involved with Hamlet or her reputation might suffer if he is unable to marry her. She responds that he shouldn't give hypocritical advice which he himself wouldn't take.
What would be the most used quote from Hamlet?
""A truant disposition, good my lord.""- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.2""Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meatsDid coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.""- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.2""In my mind's eye, Horatio.""- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.2""He was a man, take him for all in all,I shall not look upon his like again.""- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.2""Season your admiration for a while.""- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.2""In the dead vast and middle of the night.""- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.2""A countenance more in sorrow than in anger.""- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.2""The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel.""- William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.3
What is the paragraph talking about at the end of act 2 in hamlet?
Hamlet is making comparisons between the emotions which the actors portray and real emotions as they are felt by people. Just prior, the lead actor had given a very moving speech and had managed to make tears run down his face, now Hamlet, who has every cause for an emotional tirade, must hold his own emotions in check until he can prove Claudius's guilt, and he plans on using the play to make Claudius betray himself.
Which character in Hamlet is told Get thee to a nunnery?
Hamlet himself, while angry with Ophelia. This is probably actually refering to a brothel, as Hamlet no longer trusts Ophelia's honour
Why didnt Hamlet kill King Claudius when he sees him praying?
Because he thinks Claudius will go to Heaven if he kills him right then. As in many of Shakespeare's plays, the characters are Catholic, and believe that a person's fate in the afterlife depends on whether they get to confess their sins right before they die. Hamlet's father is in something like Purgatory because Claudius murdered him in his sleep, without getting a chance to confess. Hamlet feels it isn't true revenge if he sends Claudius to Heaven...he's really doing him a favor. He decides to wait and kill him right as he's committing some sin, to be sure he goes to Purgatory or Hell.
Ironically, Claudius feels he isn't able to successfully confess his sins, since he's not willing to make proper contrition by giving up the crown and his wife. If Claudius is right, Hamlet could still have sent him to Purgatory by killing him. Hamlet doesn't know this, so he misses his chance.
Curiously, according to Catholic theology, simply praying does not absolve you from the effects of the sins--that can only be done by a priest. (That is why they have confessionals--otherwise people would just pray and not bother going to confession) Therefore even if Claudius were praying it would not wipe clean any sins he had recently committed (including murdering his brother for which he surely had not received absolution from a priest). The idea that it might do so, and that Claudius can struggle with whether his prayer will work to do so are entirely Protestant ideas. Indeed, there is a struggle between Catholic and Protestant concepts in Claudius's soliloquy and in the play as a whole.
Why have Hamlet and two friends arranged for the theatrical troupe to perform at the palace?
It lightens the mood after the extremely tense and emotional Act 3 Scene 1, and before we get into the equally emotional scenes around the Mousetrap play.
Why does Laertes' behavior at Ophelia's funeral make Hamlet so angry?
Hamlet had no real reason to be angry with Lartes at Ophelia's funeral. His angry towards Lartes was a factor of the grief he had over just finding out that Ophelia was dead.
Hamlet swears horatio for two things what are they?
Hamlet and Horatio do not run into each other at the very beginning of the play; it Act I Scene 2 before they meet, and Hamlet already has one soliloquy under his belt. Nor does he talk at all about swearing until after he has seen and talked to the ghost, in Scene 5. Then he asks Horatio and Marcellus to swear "Never make known what you have seen tonight," and "Never to speak of this that you have seen," and "Never to speak of this that you have heard, " which are all pretty much the same thing. He also gets them to swear "never, so help you mercy, how strange or odd soe'er I bear myself . . . note that you know aught of me." This is a bit different. The first three oaths are "don't tell anyone about the ghost." but the fourth one is "If I start acting weird, don't let on that you know the reason why."
