Shakespeare
Hamlet Study Guide
Hoffman
Name:
Act IV
Scene 1
1. What does Gertrude relate to the king? What is the king's fear? (lines 1-15)
A.
Scene 2
2. How does Hamlet receive Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in this scene? How has his attitude
toward them changed?
A.
B.
Scene 3
3. According to Hamlet, where is Polonius? Explain his lines, (lines 22-27)
A.
B.
4. What does the King plan for Hamlet? (lines 67-77) How do Claudius’s inner thoughts contrast
with his outward appearance in this scene?
A.
B.
Scene 4
5. Why has Fortinbras come to Denmark? (lines 1-30)
A.
6. Explain the comparison between Hamlet and the army of soldiers in the soliloquy. (lines 50-69)
A.
7. Describe Hamlet's attitude at the end of Scene 4. (lines 68-69) What vow does he make?
A.
B.
Scene 5
8. What happened to Ophelia and why? (lines 1-104)
A.
B.
9. Why is Laertes angry and what does he desire?
A.
B.
Scene 6
10. What happens to Hamlet on his trip to England? How does he trick and then set up
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
A.
B.
Scene 7
11. Why doesn’t Claudius execute Hamlet for the murder of Polonius? (lines 11-26)
A.
12. How will the Claudius go about killing Hamlet? How does Claudius’s plan reveal his
cunning? Why does Laertes agree to this plan?
A.
B.
C.
13. Review the king’s question to Laertes in lines 122-144. What is the nature of Claudius’s
questions?
A.