Shakespeare
Hamlet Study Guide
Hoffman
Name:
Act I
Answer the questions in complete sentences.
1. Act 1 Scene 1: What is Horatio's opinion of the ghost before and after he sees it? What does the
ghost look like?
A.
B.
2. Act I Scene 1: Explain the political unrest that takes place in Denmark at the beginning of the
play. (lines 90-120)
A.
3. Act I Scene 1: Mood is the feeling, or atmosphere, that that a writer creates for the reader.
What mood is established in this scene?
A.
4. Act I Scene 2: What recent events have altered Hamlet’s disposition? What effect had his
personal tragedy had on Hamlet’s view of life and human nature?
A.
B.
5. Act I Scene 2: Explain Claudius’ comments to Hamlet regarding his father’s death. What
advice is given? (lines 90-121)
A.
6. Act I Scene 2: How does Hamlet respond when Claudius and Gertrude urge him to cast off his
melancholy? What impression do you have of Claudius in this scene? How does he address
Hamlet’s grief?
A.
B.
C.
7. Act I Scene 2: Explain Hamlet’s feelings in his soliloquy. How does he feel about his father’s
death and mother’s marriage? (lines 133-164)
A.
B.
8. Act I Scene 3: Compare Laertes’ advice to Ophelia (lines 20-41) with Polonius’s command to
Ophelia. (lines 132-145)
A.
B.
9. Act I Scene 3: What do we learn about Polonius’s character in this scene? What so we learn
about Ophelia?
A.
B.
10. Act I Scene 4: While waiting for the ghost, Hamlet muses on the nature of evil in human
beings. What are his thoughts?
A.
11. Act I Scene 4: Explain Horatio’s fear about the Ghost. (lines 77-86)
A.
12. Act I Scene 4: How does Hamlet react when the ghost beckons to him?
A.
13. 12. Act I Scene 4: How does the ghost of King Hamlet describe his murder? What motive does
the ghost attribute to Gertrude? How does the ghost want Hamlet to deal with Gertrude?
A.
B.
C.
14. Act I Scene 5: What does Hamlet mean when he says he will "put on an antic disposition"?
Why do you think he will do this? (lines 188-202)
A.
B.
15. Act I Scene 5: What is Hamlet’s response to the ghost’s command? What lines suggest that he
has begun to formulate a plan? What lines suggest that Hamlet does not feel totally at ease
with his role as avenger?
A.
B.
C.
REVIEW TERMS:
Exposition:
Protagonist
Antagonist
Allusion
Irony
Blank Verse
Heroic Couplets
Theme
Imagery
Motif