British Literature, 6.0
Hamlet Study Questions
As you read, answer the following questions to confirm understanding of plot, characterization,
and literary techniques used by the author.
Act I:
1. How does scene 1 introduce an element of suspense into the play?
2. How soon after King Hamlet’s death did Gertrude marry Claudius?
3. What can the audience infer from Claudius’s elaborate justification to the court of his
marriage to Gertrude?
4. How does the imagery in Hamlet’s first soliloquy help to establish a major theme of Act
I?
5. How was King Hamlet murdered?
6. Why does the ghost seek to be avenged?
7. Why do you think Hamlet behaves so strangely after the ghost departs in scene 5?
Act II:
1. What has Hamlet done to alarm Ophelia?
2. How does Ophelia interpret this behavior? How does Polonius interpret it? In what way
are these interpretations examples of dramatic irony?
3. In scene 1 the audience learns that Fortinbras’s uncle has ordered him not to attack
Denmark and that Fortinbras has vowed obedience. How does Fortinbras’s behavior
contrast with Hamlet’s?
4. How does the opening of scene 2 parallel the opening of scene 1? How do both scenes
extend the theme of appearance vs. reality?
5. For what reason does Polonius use wordplay in his exchange with the king and queen? In
general, how does his use of wordplay differ from Hamlet’s?
6. Hamlet’s second soliloquy is written mainly in blank verse, but it contains two very short
lines and ends with a couplet. How do the short lines and couplet strengthen the speech?
7. In his soliloquy, Hamlet asks, “Am I a coward?” Do you think Hamlet is a coward?
Why/why not?
Act III:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What question does Hamlet consider in his famous soliloquy in Act III, scene 1?
Why do you think Hamlet treats Ophelia with such coarse brutality in scene 1?
What do Hamlet’s instructions to the players reveal about his personality?
Near the beginning of scene 3, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern use imagery to describe
Claudius and his kingdom. Identify one of the images they use. How do these images
characterize the king?
5. What is ironic about Hamlet’s decision not to kill Claudius while Claudius is praying?
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British Literature, 6.0
Hamlet Study Questions
6. In his soliloquy, what distinction does Claudius draw between earthly justice and
heavenly justice?
7. What future events might the death of Polonius foreshadow?
8. In Act I, the ghost is visible to all present. However, in Act IV, scene 4, only Hamlet sees
the ghost; Gertrude does not. Does this signify that Hamlet is truly mad? Explain.
Act IV:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What plan of Claudius’s heightens the level of suspense in scene 3?
How is Claudius’s plan later thwarted?
How does the captain’s speech in scene 4 influence Hamlet’s soliloquy in this scene?
How are Hamlet’s madness and Ophelia’s madness different? How are they similar?
What impact does Hamlet’s letter bear on the issue of whether or not he is a coward?
What plot do Claudius and Laertes devise in scene 7?
What fact does Claudius conceal from Laertes?
Act V:
1. Who was Yorick?
2. What theme is suggested by Hamlet’s allusion to Alexander and Julius Caesar in scene 1?
3. Of what is Hamlet unaware during his exchange with the gravedigger? How does his
ignorance increase suspense?
4. What is ironic about the gravedigger’s explanation of Hamlet’s trip to England?
5. How does Hamlet justify the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? How might this
reasoning be flawed?
6. What question does Hamlet resolve just before the duel? How does he resolve it?
7. Briefly explain how Laertes and Hamlet are fatally wounded. Why is the conclusion of
Hamlet especially tragic?
8. Shakespeare is known for a noble character remaining alive at the end of his tragedies.
This character is typically considered a righteous leader or appropriate messenger of the
story. Who is this character in Hamlet?
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