Hamlet review
1.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
‘2.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true.
3.
I’ll have grounds
More relative than this: the play’s the thing
Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.
4.
Madness in great ones must not unwatch’d go.
5.
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
6.
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes
I will be brief: your noble son is mad.
7.
Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meats
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.
8.
O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon ‘t,
A brother’s murder.
9.
My lord, he’s going to his mother’s closet:
Behind the arras I’ll convey myself,
To hear the process.
10.
The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
Now wears his crown.
11.
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
12.
Give me some light: away!
13.
What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form
and moving how express and admirable!... And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
man delights not me.
14.
Good night, sweet prince;
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
15.
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation.
16.
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d
His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter!
17.
He took me by the wrist and held me hard;
Then goes he to the length of all his arm;
And, with his other hand thus o’er his brow,
He falls to such perusal of my face
As he would draw it.
18.
For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood,
A violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,
The perfume and the suppliance of a minute,
No more.
19.
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
20.
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
21.
‘Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world: now could I drink hot blood,
And do such bitter business as the day
Would quake to look on.
22.
Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country from whose bourn
No traveler returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
23.
My words fly up, my thoughts remain below:
Word without thoughts never to heaven go.
24.
Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t.
25.
Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats
Will not debate the question of this straw:
This is the imposthume of much wealth and peace,
That inward breaks, and shows no cause without
Why the man dies.
26.
How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience!
The harlot’s cheek, beautied with plastering art,
Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it
Than is my deed to my most painted word.
27.
May one be pardoned and retain th’offence?
In the corrupted currents of this world
Offence’s gilded hand may shove by justice,
And oft ‘tis seen the wicked prize itself
Buys out the law. But ‘tis not so above.
28.
One that was a woman, sir; but, rest her soul, she’s dead.
29. Explain the Freudian interpretation of Hamlet.
30. Give the three reasons Claudius says he had for murdering his brother.
31. Who is Fortinbras?
32. Give the two meanings of the word “foil” as they apply to this play.
33. Explain one social aspect of the Elizabethan Age.
34. Why doesn’t Hamlet kill Claudius when he catches him alone after the play?
35. Explain the feminist interpretation of Hamlet.
36. What does Hamlet mean by “to be or not to be”?
37. Why was Elizabeth’s big sister nicknamed “Bloody Mary”?
38. Why does Polonius send a servant to France after Laertes?
39. Why is Hamlet almost never acted in its entirety?
40. What kinds of realizations does Hamlet reach in the famous scene where he holds Yorick’s
skull?
41. What was the Spanish Armada?
42. Describe the Elizabethan theater.
43. Why do Hamlet and Laertes get into a fight at Ophelia’s funeral?
44. Define dramatic irony. Give an example from Hamlet.
45. Why are Polonius and Laertes suspicious of Hamlet’s intentions regarding Ophelia?
46. According to Hamlet, why do more people not commit suicide?
47. What is a soliloquy?
48. Explain the “new” interpretation of Hamlet.
49. Give the setting of this play.
50. What was the First Quarto?
51. Does Hamlet love Ophelia? What is the evidence?
52. What does Marcellus mean by “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”?
53. How does Polonius attempt to prove his theory on the cause of Hamlet’s madness?
54. Explain what a tragic flaw is.
55. Explain the deconstructionist interpretation of Hamlet.
56. Explain how England first became a Protestant nation.
57. What does Hamlet mean when he says “there’s a Divinity that shapes our ends,/ Rough-hew
them as we may”?
58. Explain the concept of catharsis.
59. What was the First Folio?
60. What is the Church’s opinion of Ophelia’s death?
61. Why does Claudius send a letter to Norway?
62. Whom does Claudius mean when he says “us”?
63. What does Hamlet seem to mean when he says he may “put an antic disposition on”?
64. How does the king’s bet on the fencing match insult Hamlet?
65. What is blank verse?
66. Explain how an aside works.
67. Explain the concept of the fool or clown.
68. Explain the concept of purgatory.
69. Explain the rise and fall in action over a five-act play.
70. Explain the point of no return.
71. Who is Osric?
72. Identify the two characters who most compare with Hamlet.
73. Explain the absurdist interpretation of Hamlet.
74. What two requests does the ghost make of Hamlet?
75. Why does Hamlet kill Polonius?
76. What is an acting company?
77. Explain what a tragic hero is.
78. How does Hamlet feel about sending Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths?
79. In his confrontation with his mother in her room, what two requests does Hamlet make of
her?
80. What other character in the play does Osric resemble?
81. Where do Hamlet and Horatio attend college?
82. What is the other name of The Murder of Gonzago?
83. How does Hamlet feel about Denmark in its current condition?
84. How would Shakespeare’s audience have viewed Gertrude’s marriage to Claudius?
85. How does the queen apparently feel about a relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia?
86. Why are Horatio and Marcellus reluctant for Hamlet to go with the ghost?
87. For what two reasons is Claudius afraid to openly punish Hamlet for killing Polonius?
88. Observing two different people in action pushes Hamlet into two different soliloquies in
which he berates himself for not taking action. Name these two people.
89. How to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern attempt to amuse Hamlet?
90. Why is Fortinbras going to attack Poland?
91. In Act 4, after the confusion over Polonius’ death, whom do the Danish people demand to be
king?
92. How is Polonius’ burial insulting?
93. Explain how the First Quarto apparently got published.
94. Why does Laertes become angry with the priest at Ophelia’s funeral?
95. According to the clown in the graveyard, why is it a good idea to send Hamlet to England?
96. Before Ophelia’s funeral, what three people know that Hamlet has returned to Denmark?
97. What happens during Hamlet’s confrontation with his mother that convinces her that he’s
really crazy?
98. Who will be the next King of Denmark?
99. How would an acting company portray the disappearance of a ghost?
100. Who besides Hamlet knows of Hamlet’s plan to entrap Claudius with the play?
101. According to Claudius, why should Hamlet stop mourning his father?
102. Where does Laertes go to college?
103. Why are the clowns digging up old bones in Act 5?
104. What advice does Hamlet give the players about acting?
105. Why has the acting company in Hamlet gone on the road with their performances?