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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 is the King worried about Laertes return?
Laertes, in a parallel revenge, seeks revenge against Hamlet for killing his father, Polonius, and the early death of his sister Ophelia. Hamlet does die, but not before Laertes, so Laertes never does get his revenge against Hamlet
How does Hamlet mother feel toward Hamlet?
She is a loving mother. In the first act, she tries to coax Hamlet out of his depression. In the second, she shows her astuteness and concern for Hamlet's wild behaviour: "No doubt it is nothing but the main: his father's death and our own o'erhasty marriage."
But she has no idea of the depth of the horror which Hamlet sees until the closet scene. Although she cares about Hamlet she doesn't really understand him. It is only when he says "Almost as bad, dear mother, as kill a king and marry with his brother." does she realize what is going on.
What news does Voltimand bring to Claudius?
The King of Norway has restrained Fortinbras and prevented him from attacking the Danes.
In act II of Hamlet what does the queen believe caused Hamlet to go insane?
"His father's death, and our o'erhasty marriage." She thinks it's a combination of grief over his father, and anger and confusion over the fact that his uncle is now his father, and is king instead of him. She's not far wrong.
The reason for Ophelia's madness, which is introduced in Act 4 Scene 5, is never directly stated in Hamlet. Probably causes include being instructed by her father and brother to stop seeing Hamlet, with whom she had been romantically involved. After breaking up with him, she watches him apparently go mad, and bears the brunt of one of his angry outbursts.
Shortly after, her father Polonius is murdered by Hamlet himself, leaving her with no family in the area, as her brother Laertes is at school in France.
The combination of these stressful and painful situations most likely leads Ophelia into madness.
Ophelia's madness comes from not only being publicly humiliated by Hamlet but also hearing about how Hamlet murdered her father.
What does ophelia say when hamlet speaks of his father's death?
Claudius advises Hamlet to stop mourning his father's death and start celebrating the marriage between him and Hamlet's mother. He calls Hamlet's attitude"stubborn and unmanly."
A little insensitive considering Hamlet's father has only been dead for 2 months at the time.
What does Hamlet's to be or not to be speech mean?
He is trying to decide what to do about the murder of his father. Does he force the issue with his uncle? Does he go to his mom? "To be or not to be, that is question. To suffer the slings of outrages fortune. To sleep, to dream." Does he kill him self? Or does he get revenge? As you know, he goes for revenge, but he goes through this torment before he decides and by the end of the speech he has decided.
What happens to hamlet in his passage to England?
Hamlet's ship was attacked by pirates. The pirates agreed to return Hamlet to Denmark for a price. He sent word to Horatio and asked him to get ready to meet him. We also learn that his traitorous friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, have met with some dire circumstances.
Polonius didn't have any type of cover or guard while listening in on the conversation and wasn't expecting for Hamlet to notice him, "him"(What Hamlet had thought was the supposed Claudius) It was maybe because Hamlet had thought Polonius was Claudius, but even so.
Polonius hid behind the tapestry or the arras while he was eavesdropping on Gertude and Hamlet. Hamlet thought that it happened to be the king Claudius who was spying on him and had hid behind there, but to his unknowing, after slashing away at the cloth he found that he had killed Polonius. Hamlet, instead of being shocked by killing the man said that he was a fool and hid his body somewhere.
Who is hamlet forced to kill to save his own life?
Hamlet does neither. He is incapable of saving the Kingdom after Polonius interfered with his influence by convincing everyone, even his own mother, that he is mad.
"Mad call I it; for, to define true madness,
What is't but to be nothing else but mad?"
Act 2, Sc. 2
After that, he can do nothing. Even though Hamlet is supposed to be the rightful heir to the throne, he is not only subject to his incestuous uncle, but he is declared mad by a wretched, rash, intruding fool who is so full of himself.
Hamlet's father is not dead two months. His mother is already married to his uncle. Yet Polonius can't bear the fact that a grown man sent his grown daughter a love letter containing his intimate thoughts about her.
Polonius' lines "brevity is the soul of with", "to thine own self be true" and "neither a borrower nor a lender be" might always be considered the most sage and wise words of all time, but they are only considered as such. But they are not inherently wise. They just sound good.
Most people believe that Hamlet was mad, that it was his revenge that destroyed the Danish court. But, it was Polonius' revenge, not Hamlet's, that led to the destruction of the Danish court.
Hamlet's rage began to cool off in Act 3, Sc. 4 when the Ghost told him to talk to his mother instead of carrying out his previous demand to avenge his murder.
But it was too late. Polonius had already poisoned the well by slandering young Hamlet and everything in it died.
That is why the story of Hamlet is such a great tragedy.
Who returns hamlet to denmark after his exile?
Ophelia returns Hamlets gifts because she no longer feels that have any value to her since the sentimental value that they once carried has been lost due to his rude and insane behaviour towards her.
What is the name of Ophelia's brother in Hamlet?
There is nothing in the text that indicates Laertes is in school. He came from France, and wishes to return there after coming back to Denmark to attend King Claudius' wedding.
Hamlet, on the other hand, attended school in Wittenburg, and wishes to retrun there, but Claudius (and more so, Gertrude) convincce him to stay in Denmark. good thing, there wouldn't have been much of a play had he skipped out in the second scene of the play...
What is the tragedy of Hamlet?
The tragic force in Hamlet, according to Gustav Freytag, is when Hamlet, during an interview with his mother, kills Polonius by mistake, thinking that he is killing the king. See Freytag's Technique of the Drama, translated by Elias J. MacEwan, page 191.
Who dies from a poisened chalice in Hamlet?
Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, accidentally drinks the poison. This happened because she was giving a toast to Hamlet after winning the fencing match against Laertes but not knowing that Claudius intended to make Hamlet drink from that cup if the plant to poison him from fencing fails.
What is hamlets conflict throughout the play?
His father died because his uncle poisoned him and that his mother got married to his uncle so fast that she had no time to mourn the loss of her husband.
Polonius dies in Act 3. Ophelia dies offstage in Act 4; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern die offstage sometime after Act 4. Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude and Laertes all die in Act 5.
Where does Hamlet first see the ghost of his father?
Nowhere in the Shakespearean play did Macbeth [c. 1014-August 15, 1057] see his father's ghost. To have had the ghost of Macbeth's father appear would have changed the play's nature and impact. According to the historical record, Findlaech mac Ruaidri, Macbeth's father, may have been killed by Gille Coemgain [d. 1032], who was the first husband of Gruoch ingen Boite [b. c. 1015], Macbeth's Lady.
However, another Shakespeare character, Hamlet,does see (or appear to see) his father's ghost in the play that bears his name.
Does Hamlet decide to go insane so that he can delve deeper into the mystery surrounding his father?
Very possibly. His idea "to put an antick disposition on" comes to him at a moment when he is in extreme emotional turmoil, having just said goodbye to the ghost. It is not clear that he has some kind of fully-formed plan at this point. But as the play develops, he finds that the antick disposition serves him well as a way to protect himself from Claudius's numerous spies, especially Polonius. He uses the play within a play to confirm the ghost's account of his death, but the reputation he has built for himself as a lunatic enables him to behave in a bizarre way on that occasion without surprising most of the court.
Who informed Horatio about the Ghost?
Horatio tell HAmlet that after midnight his father ghost shows up
How does Hamlet plan to catch the conscience of the king?
This line is from Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2.
Prince Hamlet has been told by the ghost of his father, King Hamlet, that Prince Hamlet's uncle, King Claudius, murdered his own brother, King Hamlet. Claudius then married the dead King Hamlet's wife and Prince Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude. Since Hamlet does not know if the ghost is truly his father and telling the truth, he devises a plan that he believes will prove if what the ghost has said is true.
Actors have come to perform at Elsinore Castle for King Claudius and Queen Gertrude. Hamlet asks them to use his altered version of the play, in order to "catch the conscience of the King." The alteration tells the story of a Queen whose husband is murdered by poison. The poisoner then woos the Queen with gifts. Though she rejects him for awhile, in the end she accepts his love. Hamlet plans to watch Claudius' reaction to the altered portion of the play, and discern from that response if Claudius is guilty. His fear of King Claudius' power, and his desire to shame his mother, Queen Gertrude, is the reason for Hamlet's indirect method of accusing the King. If Hamlet's plan doesn't work, he will still be free to pursue other possibilities.
Why does Hamlet not kill the king in act 3?
Well, the basic reason is that they're not in the Chapel. The setting is Claudius's private room, the King's Room. That's stated in the play dialogue. Guildenstern says it: "(the king) is in his retirement..." It's reference to the place Claudius retires for the night, his private quarters. When Claudius left the 'Mousetrap' play, he went to his own room. Claudius prays during the scene, and apparently the idea of praying has led some people to think the scene is in the Chapel, however, the actual play dialogue tells us otherwise. People don't have to be in a chapel to pray, and many people pray in their own rooms, of course, which is what Claudius does.
Hamlet is discouraged from killing Claudius because he finds Claudius praying. Hamlet is afraid that if he kills Claudius at prayer, Claudius's soul will go straight to Heaven. However, the Ghost said, or very strongly implied, that the soul of Hamlet's father was in Purgatory. Hamlet doesn't see it as fair, that he could send Claudius to Heaven, when his own father is in Purgatory. Hamlet decides to wait for another opportunity later, when there's less chance of sending Claudius's soul to Heaven.
They're not that similar.
Guildenstern admits to Hamlet that they were sent for. Not Rosencrantz.
Guildenstern jokes with Hamlet. Rosencrantz doesn't.
Hamlet takes Guildenstern aside for the "recorder lesson" after the 'Mousetrap' play. Not Rosencrantz.
More could be mentioned. When all the details are observed, they're pretty distinct characters.
How old is Reynaldo in Hamlet?
Reynaldo is the spy that Polonius sends over to France to spy on his son Laertes. He is told that he is supposed to ask people in France what Laertes is actually like (does he party, drink, sleep with prostitutes etc.). The reasoning behind Polonius sending Reynaldo over to France is to see if Laertes is actually there studying art, or if he is just playing around.
What is the full name of Shakespeare's play about Hamlet?
First Folio: The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke
First Quarto: The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke
Second Quarto: The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke (first page) and The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke (title page)
Third Quarto: The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke (first page) and The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke (title page)
