Hamlet Soliloquy Questions
“O that this too too sullied flesh would melt…” (1.2.129-59)
1. Paraphrase each sentence or unit of meaning.
2. What does Hamlet seem to want?
3. How does he feel?
4. Why?
5. Whom does he compare to Hyperion?
6. Whom does he compare to a satyr?
7. Whom does he compare/contrast to Niobe?
8. To what incest does he refer?
9. Why might Hamlet say, “I must hold my tongue” (1.2.159)?
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Hamlet Soliloquy Questions
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Hamlet Soliloquy Questions
“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I…” (2.2.488-544)
1. Of whom is Hamlet jealous? Why?
2. According to Hamlet, “What would he do/Had he the motive and the cue for
passion” that Hamlet has (2.2.498-99)?
3. Other than a “muddy-mettled rascal” and a “John-a-dreams, unpregnant of
my cause” what two insults does Hamlet question then call himself?
4. Paraphrase the lines, “I should ha’fatted all the region kites/With this slave’s
offal” (2.2.518-19).
5. Between line 520 and 526, what does Hamlet criticize in his own behavior?
6. What plan does he devise?
7. Why does he think this will work?
8. Why does he bother creating this complicated plan?
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Hamlet Soliloquy Questions
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Hamlet Soliloquy Questions
“To be, or not to be…” (3.1.56-90)
1. What two options does Hamlet consider?
2. What would death end?
3. What might death begin that seems fearful to Hamlet?
4. What are some of the “ills” that Hamlet says humans “bear” during life (3.1.76,
81)?
5. How does he evaluate human beings?
6. How does this characteristic of human beings, the answer to #5, affect
“enterprises of great pitch and moment” (3.1.86)?
7. What is a soliloquy?
8.Why does this soliloquy really end after the phrase “name of action” (3.1.88)?
9. However, how might Hamlet’s comments to Ophelia relate to his soliloquy?
Consider why he may have decided to treat her the way he does treat her.
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Hamlet Soliloquy Questions
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Hamlet Soliloquy Questions
“How all occasions do inform against me/ And spur my dull revenge!” (4.4.3266)
The following questions will help you paraphrase each of the soliloquy’s 10 sentences. The
number of the question is the number of the sentence to which it refers.
1. What does Hamlet criticize about himself?
2. What type of life does he criticize?
3. How does he evaluate those who live this type of life?
4. According to Hamlet, who gave humans the ability to reason and for what
purpose do we have this ability?
5. What two possible reasons does Hamlet give for his inaction?
6. In your own words, what does Hamlet say encourages him to act?
7. What does Hamlet think of Fortinbras? Why?
8. What motivation for action does Hamlet support?
9. How does Hamlet contrast himself to the men in Fortinbras’s army? What is
ironic about the land these men fight to control?
10. Paraphrase Hamlet’s final resolution.
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Hamlet Soliloquy Questions
“Alas, poor Yorick,” a monologue and dialogue of death (white 5.1.174-207;
orange 5.1.190-223)
174-185 (190-202)
1. Whose skull does Hamlet hold?
2. How does Hamlet describe this person in life?
3. How did this man treat Hamlet when Hamlet was a boy?
4&5. How does this realization affect Hamlet? (orange 2nd ½ of 3, all 4)
6. What does Hamlet place on the skull in his imagination? (orange 5)
7, 8, 9, & 10. Name at least one specific thing Hamlet misses from this individual?
11 & 12. What does Hamlet dare the skull to do? (Last two before “Prithee, Horatio)
198-207 (209-223)
1. What transition does Hamlet imagine for the body of Alexander the Great?
2. For Julius Caesar?
3. What might the answers to 1 & 2 imply about the individual Hamlet notices in
line 207 (224)?
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