AP Literature and Composition
Hamlet Socratic Questions
1. In what ways does the ghost influence Hamlet’s decisions? Can Hamlet trust it? Should he?
2. What are the women’s lives like at Elsinore? Are Ophelia and Gertrude responsible for what
happens to them?
3. In what ways do Laertes and Fortinbras act as foils to Hamlet’s character?
4. Hamlet enjoys mocking Polonius, but is Polonius really a fool? Does he deserve to die? Do you
believe that any of the characters who are killed deserve to die? If so, why?
5. Why does Hamlet so often delay killing Claudius? Why not kill him when he is praying?
6. Although it is a tragedy, there are many comic moments in Hamlet. What types of humor does
Shakespeare seem to use, and for what purpose (when and why) do such moments occur?
7. What is the difference between blank verse and prose and why does Shakespeare switch
between the two? In speaking to Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the audience,
Claudius, Gertrude, and the Players, does Hamlet use verse or prose? What does his choice tell
us about these relationships? Do any other characters alternate between verse and prose like
this?
8. What are the functions of the theatrical troupe and its performance? How is “action” a relevant
issue to the play as a whole?
9. To what degree can Claudius be seen as simply evil? Does he not have any redeeming personal
qualities? Is Claudius a bad king? Would Hamlet have made a better one?
10. Why does Shakespeare have Hamlet’s return to Denmark take place in a graveyard? Has
Hamlet changed while he has been away?
11. Under what circumstances could Hamlet be called both a hero and a villain? Who is ultimately
responsible for the “unfortunate” events that occur in the play – events such as Hamlet’s losing
the crown, Polonius’ murder, Ophelia’s suicide, Laertes’ trickery, and Hamlet’s death?
12. Do you consider Hamlet to be ultimately optimistic or pessimistic?
AP Literature and Composition
Hamlet Socratic ANSWERS
1. In what ways does the ghost influence Hamlet’s decisions? Can Hamlet trust it? Should he?
Isn’t the ghost’s admonishment to Hamlet to revenge his “unnatural” death what sets the plot in
motion? Yet Hamlet for good reason must listen to his doubts (the ghost might be an evil spirit). Also,
what proof does Hamlet have of his father’s murder other than what the ghost has said? It is not until
after “The Mousetrap” is played and he witnesses Claudius’ reaction to it that Hamlet admits to
Horatio that the Ghost can be trusted. So his testing of the ghost is valid. YET… he also says in Act I
that things that arise like the ghost are either devils or angels, but cannot be the souls of men. Is
Hamlet a tool of God, or of the Ghost?
2. What are the women’s lives like at Ellsinore? Are Ophelia and Gertrude responsible for what
happens to them?
Women of this time are either tools of statecraft (Laertes’ warning to Ophelia that Hamlet may not be
free to marry her even if he wanted to) or at least objectified as less able than men (Hamlet’s
condescending admonishments for Gertrude to not sleep with the King).
3. In what ways do Laertes and Fortinbras act as foils to Hamlet’s character?
Laertes and Fortinbras are both men of decisive action. All three have lost their fathers, yet Laertes
and Fortinbras are ready to take action to revenge those deaths, while Hamlet must first plan his
attack. Fortinbras is a natural leader of men (acquiring more land, threatening attack to avenge old
Fortinbras’ death and reclaim their lands.
4. Hamlet enjoys mocking Polonius, but is Polonius really a fool? Does he deserve to die? Do you
believe that any of the characters who are killed deserve to die? If so, why?
Polonius does not deserve to die, yet the exposure of his faults (fawning upon the king, his use of
underhanded methods of gathering information, even spying on his son abroad) makes him seem less
than human. It is easy to say he deserved to die when the character is reduced to sub-human status.
The same goes for R&G: although buffoons, do they really deserve to die? True, they are tools of a
wicked king, so does their tacit agreement to do his will make them evil, too? Is Hamlet a tool of God,
or of the Ghost?
5. Why does Hamlet so often delay killing Claudius? Why not kill him when he is praying?
He first must have proof that the ghost is as real as its accusations.
He cannot in good faith kill Claudius unless the crime has incontrovertible proof.
He reasons that killing Claudius while praying would not be enough; it would send Claudius to heaven
while Old Hamlet still suffers in Purgatory.
6. Although it is a tragedy, there are many comic moments in Hamlet. What types of humor does
Shakespeare seem to use, and for what purpose (when and why) do such moments occur?
Grim humor: “You have much wronged your father” “No, you have much wronged my father.” “He
(Polonius) is a’ dinner… not what he eats, but what’s eating at him.”
Low humor (puns) exemplified by the Gravedigger as well as by Hamlet
Situational irony: R&G handing over their own death sentence to the English king
The over-earnest Polonius and Osric
7. What is the difference between blank verse and prose and why does Shakespeare switch between the
two? In speaking to Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the audience, Claudius, Gertrude, and the
Players, does Hamlet use verse or prose? What does his choice tell us about these relationships? Do
any other characters alternate between verse and prose like this?
Speaks in Prose to
Speaks in Blank Verse to
R&G
The audience
Claudius
Horatio (almost always)
Gertrude
The Players
Ophelia
Polonius
This signifies he uses blank verse as a sign of respect and honesty, while Hamlet speaks prose to those
beneath his station (as a nobleman to a commoner) or to those he does not respect.
8. What are the functions of the theatrical troupe and its performance? How is “action” a relevant issue
to the play as a whole?
They function to leverage the action of the real play… to draw out Claudius, to expose him for the
murderer he is, to verify for Hamlet the veracity of the Ghost’s words. Action in relationship to the
play as a whole… we continually see Hamlet’s delay in acting upon his heart, his charge to revenge
the unnatural death.
9. To what degree can Claudius be seen as simply evil? Does he not have any redeeming personal
qualities? Is Claudius a bad king? Would Hamlet have made a better one?
Does Claudius redeem himself even a little when we hear him admit he won’t be forgiven of his sins as
long as he holds on to the crown and to the queen? What about the King’s official reason he gives in
Act I for marrying Gertrude (to preserve the state of Denmark) – was it to justify his unholy act? What
of his action regarding young Fortinbras’ threats to invade Denmark – to opt for diplomacy rather
than head-on conflict with the neighboring country? Would Hamlet have made better decisions?
10. Why does Shakespeare have Hamlet’s return to Denmark take place in a graveyard? Has Hamlet
changed while he has been away?
Hamlet has come face to face with the real possibility of death (the letter) and unlooked for fate (what
seemed like inevitable death, the Pirate attack, becomes his saving grace). Hamlet has indeed
changed. Where his “antic disposition” was supposed to throw off the king’s suspicion, it actually
aroused it, and in dropping his façade of madness, Hamlet now at least is more forthright, honorable,
and no longer fighting on the level of his enemies (king and Polonius) who used subterfuge, lies, and
misdirection against him. He takes the moral high ground. And now, facing the grave, we see the
beginning of a man who no longer toys with death, who no longer sees it as a distant joke, but as the
very real equalizer of Mankind. All greatness and glory of the individual is lost to physical corruption,
just as all greatness of Denmark lost in the death of Old Hamlet and corruption of the State.
11. Under what circumstances could Hamlet be called both a hero and a villain? Who is ultimately
responsible for the “unfortunate” events that occur in the play – events such as Hamlet’s losing the
crown, Polonius’ murder, Ophelia’s suicide, Laertes’ trickery, and Hamlet’s death?
Before we lay all blame at Claudius’ feet, consider this: Claudius is the necessary antagonist for the
play, for who else would Hamlet oppose? And yet, isn’t Hamlet also fighting himself? While in
Oedipus Rex we have Oedipus nobly and unknowingly undermining himself (he is his own worst
enemy, but for noble reasons) in Hamlet, we see Hamlet as his own worst enemy in regards to
indecision and delay. Where Oedipus is taking on the holy charge to purge his state of the source of
the plague (himself), Hamlet is only acting in revenge… and acting against all that is holy (for even
revenge is prohibited by the Bible.) This unholy thing that has spurred Hamlet to action, ultimately
exposes the sins of Claudius, and yet is also could be said to be responsible to the deaths of at least
Laertes and Hamlet. Is Hamlet a tool of God, or of the Ghost?
Claudius is indeed responsible for Hamlet’s loss of the crown, and (as in all good tragedy) this one
event touches off a cause-and-effect cascade… Hamlet upsets Ophelia, who in part causes her father to
spy on Hamlet, who kills Polonius, whose death sends Ophelia into madness and her own death, whose
death causes Laertes to plot with Claudius, and because of that plot, Gertrude, Laertes, Hamlet, and
the king all die.
12. Do you consider Hamlet to be ultimately optimistic or pessimistic?
Is this play about trust? Illusion and reality? Action arising out of our passions? Or thought that
precedes a careful plan? Giving oneself to the moment, and to fate, and to the Providence of God? Is
Hamlet’s ultimate surrender to the moment (leaving it up to God, if you will) strong enough to rescue
the pessimism, trickery, and frustration of the other four acts?