Hamlet Act 2 Questions /14
1. What does Polonius ask Reynald to do for him?
2. What news comes from Norway?
3. Why is Polonius upset with Hamlet?
4. What do the King and Queen ask Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to do?
5. Describe Hamlet’s behaviour in Scene 2 when he is speaking with the following
person or persons: Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
6. What is Hamlet planning with the players at the end of Scene 2?
7. What does Hamlet hope to accomplish by the end of Act 2? See Scene 2, lines
590-595, and describe his motives.
Act 2 Important Quotes /20
For each of the following quotes you must identify who is speaking, who is being
spoken to, what the context of the quote is (what’s happening in the play when it is
spoken) and how the quote is significant in terms of character, plot or theme. Your
explanation of each quote should be in complete sentences, and answers to each quote are
4 marks each.
1. “By indirections, find directions out.”
(II i 66)
2. “More than his father’s death, that thus hath put him
so much from th’ understanding of himself”
(II ii 8-10)
3. “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t”
(II ii 210)
4. “I am but mad north-northwest: when the wind
is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw”
(II ii 387)
5. “The plays the thing Wherein I’ll catch the
conscience of the King”
(II ii 616)