HAMLET – TAKE HOME TEST
Name: ______________________________
TOTAL:
/40
1) How would you characterize the relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude throughout the play?
What is Hamlet’s opinion on his mother? Please provide evidence for your claims. (K/U– 4)
2) Hamlet is a play concerned with madness. Name an example of a character pretending to be mad,
and one example of a character who truly seems to be mad, and indicate what this madness (fake or
real) says about the character. (K/U – 2, T/I – 2)
3) How would you classify Shakespeare’s depictions of women in Hamlet—positive or negative? Why?
(T/I – 2)
4) What is the point of the play that Hamlet has the players put on for the court? Why does he want to
do this? (K/U – 2)
5) In the soliloquy in Act III, Scene I that begins “To be or not to be…” what questions does Hamlet ask
about death and dying? List some answers he gives about why we should live or die. (K/U – 1, T/I – 1)
6) What happens to Polonius? Why? (K/U – 1, T/I – 1)
7) Pick two characters, explain what they were like at the beginning of the play, and then what they
were like at the end of the play. How did they get there? How did they change? (K/U – 2, T/I – 2)
8) Pick two of the following topics. Write one paragraph on each of topics you choose. Each paragraph
will be worth 10 marks (A – 5, C – 5) for a total of 20 marks (A – 10, C – 10).
a) Shakespeare’s Hamlet was not intended to be a purely textual experience—being a play, it
was written to be processed in a visual manner as well. Given this fact, choose one character
from the play and explain how you pictured this character while reading through the play. Why
did you picture this character in this way? Use at least one instance of textual proof to back up
your “vision” of this character.
b) Is Hamlet a tragic hero? Explain, using evidence from the play, as well as the six components
of tragic heroism presented to you within the class.
c) Do you think that internal or external conflict is ultimately more of a driving force for Hamlet,
as a character? Taking the whole play into consideration—including the ending—was it Hamlet
or one of his enemies that was more of a challenge for him to overcome?