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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
Hamlet is clearly based in a Christian milieu. It is not in any way hostile to Christian people, and so is not "anti-Christian". The theology which underlies it may not agree with the theology adopted by your particular sect of Christianity, but only a rabid fanatic would describe the theology of a different sect of Christianity as "anti-Christian". In a couple of respects, the theology appears to be Catholic: Hamlet's father appears to be in purgatory, which is a Catholic doctrine. Also, Catholic doctrine forbids the burying of suspected suicides (like Ophelia) with the full rights of the church or indeed at all. But on the other hand, Hamlet believes that by praying Claudius will cleanse his soul so that he can go to heaven; that is, his sins can be remitted without the assistance of a priest. This is a Protestant Christian idea and not Catholic at all.
But leaving aside questions of what brand of Christianity is being practised in the play, there can be no doubt that, from the first scene where Marcellus talks about the season "wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated" to the last scene where Horatio prays that "flights of angels" will sing Hamlet to his rest, the play is unequivocally Christian in character.
Did shakespeare have a son called Hamlet?
Shakespeare did have a son, but his name was Hamnet. He died when he was eleven years old from unknown causes. Some scholars believe that this incident in his life is what inspired him to write his masterpiece, Hamlet. This seems unlikely since he did not write the play until four years later, after writing most of his great comedies.
What five major troubles does Claudius list that must be simultaneously dealt with?
1. The death of Polonius
2. Hamlet's madness and exile
3. Popular unrest
4. Ophelia's madness
5. Laertes' return from France and attempt to take over the kingdom.
No. There is nothing like that in the play.
Is old King Hamlet's Ghost in Hell waiting to ascend to Heaven?
That's the implication. We're in a pseudo-Catholic universe, so it might be more precise to say that he spends his days in Purgatory, a place intermediate between Heaven and Hell (but pretty hellish), and his nights as a ghost. He's not allowed to talk about it. He might just disappear after he's done giving penance, but more likely he's going to Heaven.
How many months did Hamlet live after his fathers death?
At the play The Mousetrap Ophelia says it is "twice two months" since the senior Hamlet died. After that there is time for Hamlet to leave, for Laertes to hear in France that his father has died, and to return to Denmark, reconcile with Claudius, hear that Hamlet is returned, plan a fencing match and put it into motion: at least a couple of weeks more. It is about four-and-a-half months later.
Why does Hamlet request the play?
In Act 3, Scene 2 Hamlet says: "the purpose of playing...to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure." (Lines 17-20)
Why does claudius jump up while watching the play?
Claudius begins to feel remorseful for killing his brother (Hamlet's father and former king); which is good for Hamlet, since this had been his plan.
"The play's the thing, In which I'll catch the conscience of the king!"
Hamlet's goal is to avenge his father's murder, by proving his uncle, his new king, and step father as a killer.
How does Hamlet's running around the throne room make Hamlet seem more or less insane?
Whether Hamlet runs around the throne room is a matter for the director to decide. There are no stage directions or lines which require him to do so. It can be a good call. When Keanu Reeves played Hamlet (yes, I was there), you only noticed him when he was running around like a maniac; at all other times everything and everybody else on stage became much more interesting than Hamlet. In that particular case, running around did make him seem more insane.
He is saying that all of the married people will live . . . except one. And the one married person who he does not expect to live is, of course, Claudius.
Does hamlet ever tell his mother that he is faking his insanity?
Yes he tells his mother in act three scene four that he really is not mad "My pulse as yours doth temperately keep time,/ And makes as healthful music. It is not madness/ That I have uttered. Bring me to the test,/ And I the matter will re-word, which madness/ Would gambol from."
Scene ii Hamlet is upset because his mother?
hamlet is upset with his mother because she remarried only 2 months after his father's death.
Why does Hamlet not get to England?
on the ship to england, hamlet changes it round, so rosencrance and guildstern get killed instead of him.
Claudius killed the king by pouring poison in his ear?
"And in the porches of mine ears did pour the leprous distillment." So, yes.
In Greek myth Laertes married Anticlia and had a son, Odysseus.
The best known soliloquy in Hamlet is found in which speech of Hamlet's?
Hamlet Act III Scene 1 Hamlet, as usual, is unable to make a decision - this time about whether to kill himself or not - To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die, to sleep, No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep, perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would these fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know naught of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; And enterprises of great pith and moment, With this regard, their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.
The skull belonged to Hamlet's late friend Yorick, a court jester.
What does hamlet think of the custom and how does he fear it affects Denmark's reputation?
"'Tis a custom more honoured in the breach than in the observance." Which means that the Danes would get more honour by not doing it than by doing it. But really, the fact that Claudius favours this custom is probably the main reason Hamlet is against it.
How would you describe Claudius in Act 2 of Hamlet?
Actually in Acts I and II of Hamlet, Claudius seems like a perfectly reasonable guy. In Act I he gives Hamlet some pretty reasonable advice about not mourning too much, names him the heir to the throne, is courteous, wise and decisive--an excellent king. In Act II we see him trying to make enquiries into the reasons for Hamlet's "transformation" as he calls it, while hearing of the success of his diplomatic solution to the Fortinbras problem. In all things he appears the good king and concerned stepfather.
