Shakespeare’s Hamlet
It has been said that if Shakespeare is the greatest playwright ever born, and Hamlet is his greatest play, the
Hamlet is the greatest play ever produced.
I want you to read Hamlet very actively. In your reading and annotating of Hamlet, prepare
the following questions each day for discussion. You do not have to write a response unless
instructed to do so in class.
You should annotate in your text each reading and be prepared to cite quotations as
answers/responses to in-class discussion. Always be ready with the line numbers of the
quotations you use.
Act I
1. Hamlet and young Fortinbras are foils of one another. Come prepared to discuss
this.
2. Find and scan several passages of poetry that you see as you read.
3. In Act I, scene 2, beginning in line 132 is Hamlet’s first soliloquy. Read and annotate
this soliloquy carefully. Using direct quotations to support your answer, be ready to
discuss Hamlet’s dilemma. Be ready to discuss Shakespeare’s nearly constant use of
classical allusion.
4. Using direct quotations, be ready to discuss how Polonius treats his son much
differently than he treats his daughter. Give specific examples.
5. At the end of Act I scene 4, Shakespeare introduces the idea of madness when
Horatio asks, “What might deprive your sovereignty of reason/And draw you into
madness? Think of it.” (line 80) And then, at the end of Act I, Hamlet speaks of
“put[ting] on an antic dispostion.” (line 190)

Be prepared to discuss why Hamlet might be /could be going mad and what
you think an “antic disposition” might mean. Support everything with direct
quotations.
Famous Quotes:
“Frailty, thy name is woman.” Who said this?
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be,/For loan oft loses both itself and friend,”
and “This above all: to thine own self be true,/And it must follow, as the night
the day/Thou canst not then be false to any man.” Who said this?
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Who said this?
“The time is out of joint.” Who said this?
Act II (An Act about Spying)
1. Gertrude knows why Hamlet is “going mad.” What does she say is the reason? Find
a quotation for each of the following regarding Hamlet’s “madness”:
 Gertrude
 Claudius
 Polonius
2. In Act II, scene 2, line 390, Hamlet tells Guildenstern, “I am but mad north-northwest. When the wind is southerly I know w hawk from a handsaw.” Be ready to
explain this quote in class.
3. Be ready to discuss Hamlet’s plan for the players. What will he do?
4. Ready Hamlet’s second soliloquy (2.2.560) very carefully. Be ready to answer (and
support with Hamlet’s words) the following considerations/questions:
 What themes and images dominate this speech?
 What changes are revealed in Hamlet when this speech is compared to his
first soliloquy?
 Make a short list of all the names/monikers Hamlet calls himself.
Famous Quotes:
“Though this be madness, yet there is method in it.” Who said this?
“The play’s the thing/Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” Who said
this?
“Why, then, it is none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad but thinking
makes it so.” Who said this?
Act III
1. Act III opens with Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy – the “To be or not to be”
soliloquy. Make note of the primary images and themes of this soliloquy. Look back
at the first two soliloquies (1.1.135 and 2.2.560) and be ready to discuss how Hamlet
is changing. Be very specific in noting these changes.
2. Find the speech where Ophelia states that she thinks Hamlet truly is mad/crazy.
What has happened with her and Hamlet that has driven her to feel this way?
3. Examine Hamlet’s conversation with the actors about the plan for the play. What
does Hamlet (Shakespeare) reveal about his opinions about play acting, play
directing, the effect of drama, drama as a paradigm of life.
NOTE: Pay attention here. Many directors use these directions (from
Shakespeare) as a basis for directing actors.
4. Read Claudius’ “prayer” very carefully (3.3.40). Be ready to discuss what Claudius is
actually saying/asking for here. What kind of prayer is this really?
5. Act III scene 4 is a pivotal scene. Many scholars view this scene with Oedipal
overtones. Think about this as you read Scene 4.
 What is revealed about Gertrude’s character in this scene?
 What is Hamlet’s judgment of Polonius?
 Why does the Ghost reappear in this scene?
Famous Quotes:
“Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.” Who said this?
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Who said this?
“Get thee to a nunnery.” Who said this? What does it mean?
Extra Credit: Write Polonius’ obituary for the newspaper and read it to the class.
Act IV
1. Scene 2 opens with the image of a sponge. Be ready to discuss how Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are “sponges.”
2. Using quotations, explain Claudius plan to destroy Hamlet.
3. In Act IV scene 4 is Hamlet’s last (long) soliloquy. Read this very carefully and be
ready to answer/discuss the following:
 How is the tone and diction of this soliloquy very different from the previous
three?
 What event spurs this change in Hamlet? Be able to explain the event.
 Find a line that definitively shows Hamlet’s change.
4. What is the subject of Ophelia’s songs?
5. What anxieties does Ophelia provoke in Claudius?
6. Describe the contents of Hamlet’s letter to Horatio.
7. What ultimately happens to Ophelia?
Famous Quotes: “O, from this time forth/My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!”
“When sorrows come, they come not single spies/But in battalions.”
“Revenge should have no bounds.”
Act V
1. What are some of the puns/plays on words that Hamlet and the gravedigger make
together?
2. Read Hamlet’s scene with poor Yorick (5.1.187) very carefully. Be ready to explain
this (difficult) line:
“Now get you to my lady’s chamber and tell her, let he paint an inch think, to this
favour she must come. Make her laugh at that.”
3. Osric says to Hamlet: “I thank your Lordship, it is very hot.” To which Hamlet
replies: “No, believe me, ‘tis very cold. The wind is northerly.”
 It actually is hot outside. So what does Hamlet mean when he says “The
wind is northerly.”
4. Osric is a new, but important character. What is Hamlet’s attitude toward Osric?
Whom does Osric replace?
5. What crucial act does the king permit that finally reveals his treachery?
6. What view of Hamlet’s character and of their relationship does Horatio express in
his “sweet prince” speech?
7. Why is the last speech of the play given to Fortinbras?
Famous Quotes:
“Sweets to the sweet.” Who said it and about whom?
“The cat will mew and dog will have his day.” Who said it and what does it
mean?