Discussion Questions for Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Read Hamlet and watch the Kenneth Branagh film version. Also, read the “Elizabethan Age and
Shakespeare” lecture notes. These questions, which are worth 20 points, are part of the Test #2 point
total. Your typed answers to these questions are due the day we begin to discuss Hamlet.
1.
Describe your experience as you read Hamlet and watched the Kenneth Branagh’s version of
Hamlet.
2. Look at the video clips of scenes from other versions of Hamlet. Discuss the differences between
the Branagh, Gibson, Olivier, and Hawke video versions of the third soliloquy and accompanying
scenes. Look at the actor's and director's choices. What part of Hamlet's personality does each
actor emphasize? Which one did you like the best and why?
3. Take a look at Jan Kott's ideas about the importance of spying in Hamlet. How important is it to
the play? How is spying visually emphasized?
4. Is Hamlet a tragic figure? Is he responsible for the tragic events of the play? Do you find his
inaction plausible? Why or why not? How does Branagh” version work for you? Be specific.
5. What makes a good king? Does a king need to be honest? Is Claudius a good king? Would
Hamlet be a good king? Is a good king one who waits or one who acts? Consider these questions
in light of Hamlet the prince and the way Derek Jacobi plays Claudius.
6. Foil...And We're Not Talking Reynolds…Critic David Bevington observes that "Structurally, the
play of Hamlet is dominated by the pairing of various characters to reveal one as the 'foil' of
another. 'I'll be your foil, Laertes,' says Hamlet...Ophelia too has been deprived of a father; so has
Fortinbras. Hamlet stands at the center of the play. He is the composite man, graced as Ophelia
observes with 'The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword.' From each comparison we
see another facet of his complex being, and another danger from extremes which he must learn
to avoid."
In other words, which characters pair up and are foils for Hamlet and how does this work?
7. Does the character of Fortinbras strengthen the play or does his presence at the end take away
from the central image of Hamlet? Is Branagh's version effective? Discuss these ideas.
8. Finally, we evaluate. Whose values does the play most seriously question? Criticize? Support?
On another tack, Aristotle in his discussion of tragedy writes that the audience should leave the
play exhilarated. Do we? What feelings do we experience after our own journey of reading and
watching Hamlet? Be specific.