Name:____________________________________ Date:________________________________ Period:_____
Hamlet Act 2 Reading Guide Questions
Pre-Reading: Answer the following questions before we begin Act 2.
The expressions “being in somebody’s business” and “being concerned” have similar meanings, yet they have
very different connotations. What does each of those expressions mean to you?
How can you tell when someone is being nosy versus when someone is showing concern?
Imagine that you are a parent and you suspect your child is in one of the situations below. In which cases
would you think it your responsibility to talk to your child's friends for information to help your child? Is it
ever right for a parent to do this?
Excessive drinking
Smoking cigarettes
Using illegal drugs
Suicidal
Dating someone emotionally abusive
Dating someone physically abusive
Explain—
As a friend, in which of these situations would you seek out the person's parents in order to help? Is it ever
right for a friend to do this?
Now we will see how these questions connect to Hamlet
Act 2, scene 1
1. What is your opinion of Polonius before the scene begins? Why?
2. Polonius is sending Reynaldo to France to spy on Laertes. List several things
Polonius commands
him to say about Laertes. Why in the world is he doing this? (Act 2, scene 1, lines 7-68, green-blue
book and red book ).
3. What is Ophelia’s state of mind/emotional state when she enters the scene?
4. Ophelia recounts Hamlet’s actions when she talks to Polonius. Describe his actions and appearance.
5. Look back at page 67, lines 174-185. How has he decided to act? Why do you this he is planning to act
this way?
6. Now back to this scene—Do you think the way Hamlet behaves around Ophelia is real or an act?
7. Polonius thinks that Hamlet acts this way because of ___________________. Do you think he is right?
8. How do you feel about Polonius by the end of the scene? Explain.
9. What has Shakespeare included to potentially change our view on Polonius?
Act 2, scene 2
1. Why are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at Elsinore (the palace where Hamlet lives)? What can you tell
about their relationship to Hamlet?
2. Visualize lines 33-34. What happened there? Why would Shakespeare do this?
3. We’ve seen multiple explanations of Hamlet’s madness: love, his father’s death, and “our o’erhasty
marriage.” Who comes up with each explanation? Do you think they are right?
4. What news does Voltemand bring about the war?
5. Polonius speaks a lot, but he doesn’t always say much. Give some lines where you see this to be true.
6. What does Polonius read to the Queen? What do you take from this? Is Polonius right about the cause
Hamlet’s “insanity”?
7. What plan does Polonius suggest?
8. Hamlet is a significantly smarter, wittier character than Polonius. Give one example of this from pages
91-93 (55-57 in the red book). Explain how it shows he is smarter.
9. What sexual joke do Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern make on page 95 (page 58, red book)? For
Hamlet, how is the joke true?
10. To what does Hamlet compare Denmark? What do you think he means by this/why do you think he
says it?
11. Hamlet says “…for there is nothing\ either or bad but thinking makes it so…” at II.ii.252-254 (lines 254256, red book). What does this mean to you?
12. What question does Hamlet ask Rosencrantz and Guildenstern multiple times? Why do you think he
wanted to know so badly? Do they tell him the truth? What does this show about their friendship
with Hamlet?
13. If you were Hamlet, would you like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? Would you trust them? Why or
why not?
14. What sexual joke occurs on page 99 (page 61, red book)? Why do you think Shakespeare has these
guys make sexual jokes multiple times?
15. Hamlet says, “He that plays the king shall be welcome” (II.ii.330). He says this after he hears that the
actors are coming to Elsinore. What do you think he means/why does he say this? (Consider different
possible meanings of the word plays).
16. What does Polonius come to tell Hamlet on 105 (page 64, red book)? How does Hamlet mock Polonius
here?
17. Why does Hamlet ask the players to quote a speech about Priam and Pyrrhus?
18. How does Hamlet react after the First Player finishes the speech? (page 113; page 69, red book)
19. On page 113-5 (69-70, red book), Hamlet asks the first player for two favors. What are they, and what
do you think he plans to do?
20. What are a couple of lines that you really liked from this section? Explain why using the example
below as a model. Your response should go beyond the surface. For example, “I like this quote
because it sounds good” is an inadequate response.
Example:
I like where Hamlet says “I could be bounded in a nutshell/and count myself the king of infinite space, were
it/not that I have bad dreams”(II.ii.257-259). I can picture a person trapped inside of a walnut, but feeling like
he owns the world. Also, I can see the opposite. There are people who seem to have it all, but their minds will
never let them be satisfied or content. I admire those who find satisfaction in little, but I can definitely
identify with the idea of my own negativity (“bad dreams”) ruining my chance of joy in some situations.