Hamlet: Study Questions – “Big” Questions
1) Hamlet as a dramatic character is uniquely defined by his soliloquies. By rough count there
are eight of these rhetorical performances. Try reading through all of them, independent of the
play they inhabit. What can you learn about a character who talks this way, and who reveals
these characteristics? I.e., listen to the purely private Hamlet. Who is he? What is he telling us?
To what extent does Hamlet correspond to classical or medieval notions of tragedy? What (if
anything) is Hamlet's fatal flaw? Why does he hesitate to act after promising his father's ghost
that he will avenge his murder? Compare/contrast the protagonist's decisiveness and will to act
in Macbeth.
2) Note the various familial relationships in Hamlet. Compare and contrast the family unit of
Polonius / Laertes / Ophelia with Hamlet's relationships to the Ghost of Hamlet Sr., to Gertrude
and to Claudius. Like Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras are sons confronted with a father's death.
To what extent do they function as foils to Hamlet? What do they have in common? How do
they differ?
3) Why does Hamlet wait so long to kill Claudius? What are the reasons for his hesitation?
How valid are they? How many times does he have the opportunity to attack Claudius? What
are his reasons for not doing so?
4) After worrying the problem of action for 4.5 acts, Hamlet finally takes vigorous action. What
are the motives for these acts? How do they relate to his initial charge of revenge? For example,
why does he kill Claudius?
5) Hamlet is often described as a play about the conflict between thought (or words about
thoughts) and action. Consider this idea in terms of the character and the plot. Then, consider it
more deeply, in terms of the discrepancy between emotion and expression: i.e., the problem of
representation, through words or acts, of internal states.
6) Hamlet is a play in which nothing can be taken at face value: appearances are frequently
deceptive, and many characters engage in play-acting, spying and pretense. What deliberate
attempts are made at deception? Are the intended audiences deceived? While some deceptions
are perpetrated in order to conceal secrets, others aim to uncover hidden truths. Which are
which? To what extent are they successful? Note references to appearances, disguises, pretense,
seeming, masks, acting, etc.
7) Pay attention to the treatment of the women characters Gertrude and Ophelia. Is there any
basis for the Freudian interpretation of an Oedipal attraction between Hamlet and his mother?
Hamlet does seem obsessed with his mother's sexuality. How old is Hamlet? How old do you
think Gertrude is? Is Hamlet's disgust at Gertrude's sexuality justified? To what extent is
Gertrude guilty? Was she "in on" her husband's murder? Has Claudius confided in her since the
murder? How does Hamlet's perception of his mother affect his behavior or attitude toward
Ophelia? Why does he tell Ophelia to go to a nunnery? Does Hamlet really love Ophelia? If so,
why is he cruel to her?
8) Hamlet claims that his madness is feigned, an "antic disposition" which he puts on for his own
purposes (I.v.172). Why would Hamlet want to feign madness? How can an appearance of
insanity help him achieve his ends? Is he really sane throughout the play, or does he ever cross
the line into madness? What about Ophelia's mad scene? Is it real or feigned? Is there "method
in her madness" as well, or is she entirely irrational? Why has she gone mad? (What two
reasons do her songs suggest?)
9) Hamlet famously declares that "something is rotten in the state of Denmark." What other
natural imagery is used to describe the corruption of the Danish court? What "unnatural" events
or behaviors preceded the events recounted in the play? What "unnatural" events or behaviors
occur during the play?
10) Moral ambiguity? Hamlet and Macbeth recount similar stories (the usurping of a throne)
from differing perspectives -- those of perpetrator and avenger. Just as Macbeth was not ALL
bad, Hamlet is not ALL good. What are some of his faults or short-comings? Do these
constitute a "fatal flaw" (to use the concept and terminology of Aristotle or Bradley)? Why might
Shakespeare have chosen to remain in the "grey area" rather than a more "black and white"
depiction of Good and Evil? Compare with Shakespeare's depiction of the protagonists in
Macbeth.
Hamlet Study Guide - “Smaller” Questions
Act 1
What atmosphere is established by scene 1's constant references to the ghost and the impending
war?
Why does the play begin with a question, “Who’s there”? What do Francisco, Marcellus,
Barnardo tell Horatio and the audience about the ghost?
What does Horatio tell the audience about the late King (old Hamlet)?
Note how Shakespeare works exposition into 1.2. What does the king’s opening speech tell us
about events occurring before the play begins?
Why is Hamlet in black when he first appears on stage? What does he have “within” that “passes
show”? How does Hamlet describe his uncle in comparison with his father? How does he
describe the relationship of Claudius and Gertrude? Is his view biased?
Why does the world look “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable” to Hamlet? Is his attitude
youthful rebellion, or a deeper wisdom?
To what kind of vegetation does Hamlet equate the world? What is the effect of this comparison?
What is the point of Claudius’s discussion of Norway? Draw a family tree for Norway.
How is Ophelia represented in her dialogue with Laertes? How does she respond to her brother’s
warning against Hamlet? Are these young siblings like their father, or different?
What custom does Hamlet consider to be “More honored in breach than the observance”? How
might this statement relate to the idea of Hyperion and the satyr?
Examine carefully all the references to the Ghost in the opening scene. Is it definitively
identified? How or how not? At what point does it become definitively identified? Why at this
point?
What story does the ghost tell? What does the ghost ask Hamlet to do (regarding both Claudius
and Gertrude)? Is there anything unreliable or troubling in the ghost’s story?
What kind of mood does the mysterious omnipresence of the ghost help to create throughout the
act, or the whole play? How and why is the time “out of joint” and what can Hamlet “to set it
right”?
Act 2
Why does Polonius send Reynaldo after Laertes? Why do parents spy in this play?
What is the significance of the King’s wish to hear Polonius’ evidence as to the cause of
Hamlet’s “lunacy” before he receives the messages from Norway? How would those present
interpret this wish?
How does Polonius explain Hamlet’s madness? Are Claudius and Gertrude persuaded?
How does Shakespeare derive both comic relief and climactic suspense from Polonius’
revelation of what he is convinced is the cause of Hamlet’s “lunacy”?
Why does Claudius send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to Hamlet? What does Hamlet tell them
about his apparent madness? Can we believe him?
Does Hamlet’s behavior in his exchange with Polonius suggest he knows he is being spied upon,
or, at any rate, that he has guessed that Polonius is regarding his antic disposition and has
discerned Polonius’ purpose in this interview?
Why is Hamlet so moved by Hecuba’s story given by a traveling player? How does Hamlet
describe himself as a revenger in the soliloquy at the end of scene 2?
In Hamlet’s “Oh what a rogue and peasant slave am I” soliloquy, what indicates that he is aware
of a tragic flaw?
Why and how does Hamlet plan to “catch the conscience of the King”?
Act 3
Why is the King careful to point out that his and Polonius’ spying constitutes “lawful espials”?
Why and how is Ophelia made bait by her father and Claudius as they spy on Hamlet, and delve
into Hamlet’s madness?
What does Hamlet’s soliloquy in scene 1 (“To be, or not to be”) reveal about his attitude toward
revenge? What specific misgivings does he voice about seeking revenge for his father’s death?
Hamlet’s scene with Ophelia is often called the “nunnery” scene. What are two different
meanings of “get thee to a nunnery”? What does each meaning tell us about Hamlet’s attitude
toward Ophelia, Gertrude, and/or women in general?
Why is the “To be or not to be” speech appropriately placed?
Can we tell who hears Hamlet’s scene 1 soliloquy? Can we tell whether Hamlet is aware he’s
being spied on? What difference would these performance choices make?
What qualities does Hamlet reveal in scene 2 while talking to the players?
In Hamlet’s profession of friendship for Horatio, what does he admire in Horation that he
apparently lacks himself?
What is the role of the play within the play (“The Murder of Gonzago”) in the course of Hamlet?
What, if anything, does Claudius admit by his reaction?
Why does Hamlet decide not to kill Claudius at his prayer?
What does Hamlet tell his mother about his feigned madness? What does Hamlet reveal in his
treatment of Gertrude in the closet scene? What, if anything, does she admit?
Why doesn’t Gertrude see the ghost in this scene? Quote a line that shows that only Hamlet sees
it. Does she believe Hamlet? What does she promise to him, and why?
Why does Hamlet call himself as God’s “scourge and minister”? How does the accidental
murder of Polonius further complicate Hamlet’s revenge?
Point out a few speeches from which one may argue that Hamlet is only pretending madness.
On what basis may one argue that Hamlet is in fact mad?
Find phrases that follow the theme of decay.
Why does Hamlet hold two portraits for Gertrude to see?
Act 4
Why does Claudius dispatch Hamlet to England, instead of “putting the strong law on him” for
the murder of Polonius? What does that decision tell about the prince’s relationship to the Danish
people as well as about Claudius as a scheming villain?
Why is Young Fortinbras presented as a foil (contrasting twin) for Hamlet in scene 4?
In his soliloquy, why does Hamlet’s comparison of himself with Fortinbras bring him to despair?
Why and how might Ophelia’s transformation--her madness and subsequent death——be
relevant to Hamlet’s own role or to his view of Denmark?
Why does Ophelia’s madness lead her to sing bawdy songs? Do they tell us anything about how
she has experienced the events in Elsinore?
How does Laertes, as another revenger, become another foil for Hamlet? How is he similar to,
and/or different from, Hamlet?
What two reasons does Claudius give when Laertes asks him why he did not punish Hamlet?
Act 5
Between Act 3 and Act 5, Hamlet is basically absent from the play. When he returns, he seems
changed. How would you describe the change? How do you explain it?
Why does this act start with a grave scene? What attitude toward death does Hamlet reveal ask
he speaks of Yorick’s skull and of Alexander as a plug of earth “to stop a beer barrel”? Hamlet
literally and figuratively weighs Yorick's skull: "Alas, poor Yorick ...." Examine this skull with
Hamlet. What is he looking at? How can you relate his speech about the skull to major issues in
the play?
How does Hamlet react when he learns of Ophelia’s death? What does he claim for the first
time?
Hamlet mentions a “special providence in the fall of a sparrow.” “Providence” is God’s
guidance over earthly events. How would a belief in providence affect Hamlet’s seeking of
revenge? Do these and the lines that follow help justify some critic’s claims that Hamlet is the
first existentialist hero?
Talking to Horatio, Hamlet refers to “th’election.” What difference does it make that the crown
of Denmark passes by election, not heredity?
What do Laertes and Claudius do to manipulate the outcome of the duel?
Why does Gertrude drink from the cup?
What does Hamlet ask of Horatio? Why does it matter who tells his story after he dies?
Why should Hamlet give his “dying voice” to Young Fortinbras, who is an invading foreign
enemy? How are the stories of Hamlet, Fortinbras, and Laertes similar? Has the Danish
monarchy been saved, and if so, from what?