Subject to Authority Unit Exam: Hamlet, The Prince, and Civil Disobedience
Exam Dates: Thursday and Friday, February 24-25.
This exam will be a two-day affair. Day one will consist of one essay over either The
Prince, Civil Disobedience, or Hamlet. You will have the entire period to produce a
neat, hand-written essay on one of the following questions (but you don’t know which
one). Day two will focus on a synthesis of all three texts and will consist of two (2)
parts: passage identification and one essay. For each day you may bring in one (1) 3x5
index cards with notes/outlines you think helpful.
Subject to Authority Exam Day 1
1. Discuss Machiavelli’s views regarding free will. To what extent can historical events
be shaped by individuals, and to what extent are such events the consequence of
fortune and circumstance?
2. Compare and contrast Machiavelli’s portrait of leadership with your own idea of
the qualities and actions of a good leader. Give examples to help illustrate your
point(s).
3. Hamlet is a play about questions. Identify the two or three most important
questions the play raises, and discuss them. Why are such questions important?
What does the play say in response to these questions? What is your response to the
play’s treatment of these questions?
4. Thoreau believes that people should not participate in injustice but that they do
not have to actively promote a more just world. What is the difference between
these two concepts, and why does Thoreau make this moral distinction?
5. Thoreau asks rhetorically, "Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least
degree, resign his conscience to the legislator?" How would you answer this
question? Is compromise on moral issues a necessary part of living with other
people?
Subject to Authority Exam Day 2
1. Discuss Machiavelli’s qualities for a successful Prince. How do both Hamlet and
Claudius meet or fall short of these qualities? Which one would make the better
Prince? Be sure to consider the theme of “appearances and reality” in both texts,
citing specific examples.
2. Discuss Machiavelli on the relationship between Fortune/Providence and human
action/free will. Compare and contrast this with Hamlet’s attitude toward Divine
Providence and how it changes throughout the play. Cite at least three concrete
examples from the play to support your argument.
3. Compare and contrast Hamlet and Thoreau on the issue of conscience. What role
does conscience play in forming human action?
4. Discuss how each author—Shakespeare, Machiavelli, and Thoreau—address the
“common good.” Begin by defining the common good. Discuss the role of
authority/government in promoting the common good. And discuss the role of the
individual in advocating for the common good. Give examples from all three texts.