Reading+Questions

//**ACT 1 **// **1.1 **1. What happens when Francisco and Bernardo meet at the beginning of 1.1? Where are we, and when? Why is there confusion over which one is supposed to challenge the other by asking "Who's there"? Why is Horatio with Bernardo and Marcellus? Who is he? 2. What is Horatio's initial response to the story of the apparition? What happens when the ghost appears for the first time (1.1.37.1)? Notice that Horatio addresses it as "thou." This is the form of address used with friends or inferiors. Shakespeare's audience would have been much more attuned to the difference than we are. What is the effect of Horatio's addressing the ghost as "thou"? 3. What does Horatio first assume the appearance of the ghost means (1.1.68)? Why are there such intense war preparations in Denmark? (Read 1.1.69-106 carefully to get the international background of the play.) What does Horatio suggest by his discussion of Julius Caesar's death (1.1.106.5-.18)? Why does he choose the example of Rome? Why is the passage set off and in italics? (See note 2, line 106.) 4. What happens when the ghost appears for the second time (at the SD before 1.1.108.1)? Why does it leave so abruptly? The questions Horatio asks it represent, according to the thought of the time, the reasons why a ghost could appear. 5. What is the purpose of the two discussions of the crowing of the cock, Horatio's pagan one (1.1.130-37) and Marcellus' Christian one (1.1.138-45)? 6. What do we know so far about the nature of the ghost? Do we know yet if it is a "good" ghost (i.e., "really" the spirit of the person it appears to be) or a "damned" ghost (a devil or evil spirit in the shape of the person it appears to be)? **1.2 **1. What is Claudius telling the court in the first part of his speech (1.2.1-16)? What does he say about young Fortinbras and his uncle the king of Norway (ll. 17-41)? How is Claudius responding to the threat? (You may also want to keep in mind that the name "Claudius" appears //only // in the opening stage direction for 1.2. The name is never spoken in the play. He is simply "the King.") 2. What does Laertes want from the King? How does Claudius respond to him? Based on his first 64 lines in office (1.2.1-64), how would you rate Claudius as a ruler? In what ways does he already differ from Old Hamlet as king? (Consider how Old Hamlet would have responded to Young Fortinbras.) 3. What do Claudius and Gertrude want Hamlet to do that he doesn't want to do? What won't they let him do it? How does he respond to them? How do they respond to the way he responds to them? (You probably know three names associated with the University of Wittenberg in Germany: Martin Luther, Doctor Faustus, and Hamlet. Can you see any connections among the three?) 4. How seriously do you take Claudius' argument against Hamlet's "prolonged" mourning (1.2.87-108)? How long has Hamlet been mourning (1.2.138)? (The normal mourning period of a noble or gentle woman for a dead husband at this time [ca. 1600] was a year or more.) 5. Read Hamlet's first //soliloquy // (1.2.129-59) carefully. What is it that is really bothering him about what has happened since his father's death? How would you describe the tone of his feelings: detached, impassioned, rational, ironic, or what? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">6. What is Hamlet's response to the news from Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo? Notice the way Hamlet questions them. How much do we know about how his mind works at this point of the play? What does he suspect as the reason for the ghost's appearance (1.2.254-57)? **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1.3 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. What does Laertes warn Ophelia about? What, apparently, has been the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia since his return from Wittenberg? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. How seriously do you take Polonius' precepts (1.3.58-80)? Consider especially the last one (1.3.78-80). <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. How willing is Ophelia to discuss with her father what she has discussed with Laertes? What is his response to Hamlet's interest in her and her response to him? How seriously should she take their warnings about Hamlet's lack of seriousness and his inability to choose his own wife? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. What do we know about Laertes, Polonius, and Ophelia by the end of 1.3? What sort of people are they? What sort of family are they? Who is missing from this family? How strong-willed in Ophelia? **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1.4 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. Why do the trumpets and cannons sound, according to Hamlet? What does Hamlet think of the custom? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. Read 1.4.18.7-.22 carefully. What is Hamlet saying here? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. How does Hamlet respond to the ghost? If it is a "damned ghost," is he as safe as he thinks he is in 1.4.45-48? Why don't the others want him to go? Why can't/don't they stop him? What does Marcellus still think the nature of the problem is (1.4.67)? **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1.5 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. Is Hamlet surprised when the Ghost asks him to revenge his father's murder? Is he surprised when he learns who the murderer is? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. Do father and son have the same opinion of Claudius? (Compare 1.2.139-40, 152-53 and 1.5.47-52.) Would others in the court, not knowing about Claudius' crime, see Claudius as this much below his dead brother? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. How did Claudius murder Old Hamlet? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. What does the Ghost tell Hamlet to do about his mother? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">5. Read Hamlet's second soliloquy carefully (1.5.92-113). What does Hamlet say he has learned? In other words, what general piece of wisdom does he want to save from this encounter (1.5.109). Is this shockingly new information to us? Or is Hamlet just becoming "grown up"? (When did //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">you // first learn that you couldn't always trust people?) Notice how quickly Hamlet moves from the specific (Claudius) to the general ("one"). Compare the same movement he makes from the specific person Gertrude to "frailty, thy name is woman" (1.2.146). Given this soliloquy, how soon would you expect Hamlet to go for his revenge? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">6. What happens when the others find Hamlet? What does he ask them to swear? What does his mention of an "antic disposition" (1.5.173) suggest about his future plans? How might you expect Hamlet to be acting when next we see him? //**<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">ACT 2 **// **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">2.1 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. How much time has passed between Act 1 and Act 2? How do you know? (Keep watching for evidence.) <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. What is Polonius telling Reynaldo to do? What does this tell up about Polonius and his way of thinking and acting? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. Why is Ophelia so upset when she enters at 2.1.74.1? What has happened to her? Does Hamlet's appearance (in her telling) as a madman (a distracted lover) come as a surprise after what we last heard him say? Why would he appear in this sort of madness to her? Is there any possibility he really //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">is // a distracted lover responding to Ophelia's apparent rejection of him? How well has she obeyed her father's orders in 1.3? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. What is Polonius' response to what Ophelia tells him? Where are they going? **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">2.2 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. Why have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to court? What is their relation to Hamlet? What use does Claudius have for them? Does this remind you of Polonius' use for Reynaldo? Are there any significant differences? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. We've now had several different explanations of Hamlet's madness: love (2.1.86, 103), his father's death (2.2.8), and that plus "our o'erhasty marriage" (2.2.57 note Gertrude's awareness of impropriety). Are people content with these explanations? Are you? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. What results have come from Cornelius' and Voltemand's trip to Norway? Has Claudius' use of diplomacy rather than war been justified? What will Fortinbras be doing next? Can we expect to see him in Denmark after all? Why? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. How effective is Polonius as a bearer of news? How convinced are Claudius and Gertrude that Polonius has found the answer? How do they plan to test this answer? Does Polonius' plan sound like his normal way of operating (2.2.163-68)? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">5. Immediately following the discussion of the plan, Hamlet appears. Wouldn't this be a good time to try out the plan? Do they? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">6. How does Hamlet behave when he enters? Does Polonius think he is mad? Is this the way we would expect Hamlet to act after Ophelia's description in 2.1? Why does he call Polonius a fishmonger? (It may help to know that fishmongers' wives, and daughters, apparently because of the fish, were assumed to be extremely fertile and thus able to conceive easilyand thus the connection in 2.2.185-86.) <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">7. How does Hamlet behave initially with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (through 2.2.216-66)? Is it different from the way he just acted with Polonius? How does Hamlet change when he realizes that the two were sent for by Claudius and Gertrude? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">8. How seriously should we take Hamlet's view of the world and of "man" (2.2.287-98). How do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern react to Hamlet's use of "generic" //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">man // (2.2.298-300)? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">9. Why are the players traveling? What has been going on in the city? (Much of 2.2.317-46 refers to contemporary events in London around 1599-1601.) <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">10. What is the significance of Hamlet's referring to Polonius as Jephthah (2.2.385). Jephthah's story is interesting in this context (see Judges 11:30-40). <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">11. What is unusual about the speech Hamlet begins to recite (2.2.430-44) and the First Player continues (2.2.448-498). How is its style different from that of the surrounding lines of //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">Hamlet //? Why is its subject matter appropriate? (See Note 2 to line 430.) Do lines 461-62 echo anything from or about the play //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">Hamlet //? Why can't the First Player finish the speech? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">12. What play does Hamlet want the players to play? What does he want to do to the play? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">13. Read Hamlet's third soliloquy carefully (2.2.526-82). How does he use the player's response to show how different his own position is? Is the comparison justified by what we have seen happen in the play? He complains that he hasn't acted on his vengeance. Why hasn't he? Why does he need the play? What will he learn from it? //**<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">ACT 3 **// **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">3.1 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. How much have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern learned from/about Hamlet? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. Finally the planned meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia is arranged, spies and all. What does Polonius give Ophelia to read (3.1.46)? What response does his remark get (in an aside) from Claudius? Why is this speech of Claudius' important? What do we learn that we have not learned before? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. Read Hamlet's fourth soliloquy carefully (3.1.58-90). How is this soliloquy different from the first two? Think about the way Hamlet's mind works within the first two--is the same thing happening here? What is the main idea of this third soliloquy? (For an interesting variant of this speech, you might want to look at the duke's version in chapter 21 of //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">Adventures of Huckleberry Finn //-a great parody/pastiche.) <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. What happens between Hamlet and Ophelia in the so-called "Nunnery scene" (3.1.90-160)? Does Hamlet know that he's being watched? Does he determine that during the scene? Can you spot a place where he might? (Remember how he changed his way of talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at 2.2.267.) Who is the "one" referred to in "all but one" (3.1.147)? What does it add to note that in talking about marriage in 3.1.146-48 Hamlet seems to be echoing St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 7? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">5. How does Claudius respond to what he has seen and heard? Is he convinced that love is the cause of Hamlet's madness? What does he plan to do about Hamlet? How does Polonius respond? Is he willing to give up his "love" answer? What does he propose as an additional way to find out what Hamlet is thinking? Are you surprised that it includes spying? **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">3.2 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. What advice does Hamlet have for the actors? Why? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. Why does Hamlet say he especially likes Horatio (3.2.56-67, esp. 64-67)? Does Hamlet see Horatio as similar to him or different from him? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. What function is served by the discussion of Polonius as an actor (3.1.89-96)? //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">Hamlet // was written within a year or two of //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">Julius Caesar //; what is added to the scene for the audience if Richard Burbage, playing Hamlet, also played Brutus? Can you guess what part the actor playing Polonius might have played in //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">Julius Caesar //? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. Based on 3.2.116, how much time elapsed between Act 1 and Act 2 (since the action has been continuous since the beginning of Act 2)? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">5. How does the //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">play-within-the-play // (3.1.122.1-242) reflect the issues bothering Hamlet? Can you identify the lines he has had inserted? (Don't worry, nobody else can either.) Interestingly, the story of Gonzago as known outside //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">Hamlet // turns into a revenge story, with Gonzago's son revenging his father's death. So what we've seen is only the first few minutes of a much longer play. What lines would hit the intended audience hardest? (Consider, certainly, 3.2.159-62.) Although Hamlet is interested in Claudius' response, notice that so far Gertrude has taken the strongest "hits" (except, perhaps, for the poisoning in the ear, one of the new "Italianate" evil inventions, a way to murder someone without it appearing to be murder). Consider also the Player King's more abstract speech in 3.2.1168-195. How does this speech reflect issues that appear elsewhere in the play? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">6. What is Claudius' mood as he stops the play at 3.2.247? How does Hamlet respond? If Hamlet has learned that Claudius is indeed guilty (if that's why he stopped the play and not for some other reason), Claudius has also learned something from the presentation of the play. What has Claudius learned? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">7. What message do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have for Hamlet? Despite the chaos at the end of the play, is this message unexpected after hearing Polonius' suggestion at the end of the Nunnery scene (3.1)? What lesson does Hamlet teach with a recorder? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">8. Read Hamlet's fifth soliloquy carefully (3.2.358-69). How is it different from the other soliloquies? What is the mood of the soliloquy? How do you react to it? What about line 360? What is happening to Hamlet? **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">3.3 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. What has Claudius decided to do with Hamlet? Who will go with him? What "theoretical" message about kingship does Rosencrantz tell to Claudius? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. Where is Polonius going? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. What does Claudius admit in his attempt to pray? Has the play actually had an effect on him? Why can't he ask for forgiveness? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. What happens when Hamlet enters? Why doesn't Hamlet kill Claudius then? What is ironic about Hamlet's decision? **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">3.4 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. How successful is the first part of the interview between Gertrude and Hamlet? What goes wrong (even before Polonius' death)? Who controls the conversation? Why does Gertrude call for help? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. Does Gertrude know that Claudius killed Hamlet's father? (Consider 3.4.27-29, 38-39, 50-51.) <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. What device does Hamlet use to force Gertrude to consider what she has done? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. Hamlet seems to be getting through to Hamlet when the Ghost enters. Why does the Ghost appear at this point? How is his appearance different from his appearances in Act 1? Who saw him then? Who sees him now? What is his message to Hamlet? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">5. After the Ghost leaves, does Hamlet succeed in what he came to do? What is Gertrude's state when he leaves? What should she do, and what should she not do? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">6. What does Hamlet think of his upcoming trip to England? What does he expect to do? //**<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">ACT 4 **// **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">4.1 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. Does Gertrude tell Claudius the truth about what happened between her and Hamlet (4.1.6-7)? Is she following Hamlet's advice at the end of 3.4? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. How does Claudius respond to the death of Polonius? Does he understand the implications of what happened? What will he do now? **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">4.2 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. What do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern learn from Hamlet? **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">4.3 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. Why does Claudius believe he can't simply arrest Hamlet? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. What is the result of Hamlet's joking about death and worms? What connection do the worms and their diet have with Wittenberg? (Note 4 to line 31gives most of the answer. The Diet, headed by the Emperor and meeting at Worms in 1521, pronounced its ban on Luther after he refused to recant.) Keep the whole "worm" discussion in mind when you get to 5.1, the graveyard scene. This discussion is a prelude to that one. <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. Is Hamlet going to England as a prisoner or in the guise of a royal representative? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. What do Claudius' letters tell England (i.e., the king of England) to do with Hamlet? Why does Claudius expect to be obeyed? (The situation is more or less historical, since England was ruled by a Danish king from 1016-1042. The original Hamlet story seems to date from about this time.) **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">4.4 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. Why is Fortinbras' army passing through Denmark? (Remember 2.2.60-80.) <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. Notice that the Folio text contains only lines 1-9 of this scene. What is the effect of having only those lines? Why would even that much of the scene appear? In other words, what is the function within the play of 4.4.1-9? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. What sort of judgment does the Captain make about the place they are fighting for? How does Hamlet describe it (4.4.9.15-.19)? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. Where is Hamlet going when he meets the Captain? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">5. Read Hamlet's sixth soliloquy carefully (4.4.9.22-.56). What is unusual about it given its position in the play? Has Hamlet been delaying, as he says? What example does he compare himself to? (And what other soliloquy does this one remind you of?) <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">6. Look at 4.4.9.43-.46 closely. What is Hamlet saying? (See note 8 to line 9.46 for a suggestion. Is this the only possibility?) This passage introduces the idea of "honor" that we will be meeting again, particularly as represented by the "code of dueling," something new in the late 16th century that is represented in the play by Laertes and his "French connection" (as opposed to Hamlet's Wittenberg, philosophical connection). And be sure to recall what Falstaff had to say about it (//<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1H4 // 5.1.127-39.) <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">7. 4.4 ends a long "movement" in the play that began at 2.1 with Polonius taking Ophelia to the King and Queen, followed by the arrival of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and then of the players. 3.1 begins the day after the players arrive (the day the play is to be performed); the action of that day runs through the rest of Act 3 and the first scenes of Act 4. In 4.4 we must assume that it is early morning of the next day and that Hamlet is on his way to England. In 4.5 Laertes returns, having had enough time to learn in Paris of his father's death, so some time must pass between 4.4 and 4.5. **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">4.5 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. What do we learn about the state of Gertrude's soul in her aside (4.5.17-20)? What does this say about how she has responded to Hamlet's accusations and recommendations in 3.4? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. The court assumes Ophelia's madness is caused by her father's death. Judging from her songs, are they correct? Is that the only thing that has made her mad? What else is on her mind and coming to the surface in her madness? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. What is Laertes' approach to revenging his father's death? How does it compare to Hamlet's? How much support does he have? Whom does he initially blame? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. What is being threatened as Laertes enters (4.5.107.1)? How well does Claudius handle this emergency? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">5. How does Laertes respond to mad Ophelia? What offer does Claudius make to get his discussion with Laertes back on track? **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">4.6 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. Who brings Hamlet's letter to Horatio? What has happened to Hamlet? (Happily, we have been spared seeing Hamlet as Errol Flynn see Olivier's movie version for that. However, this letter does show us a Hamlet quite capable of acting when the occasion presents itself.) **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">4.7 ** <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">1. Claudius has obviously convinced Laertes of his innocence. What things of a personal nature do we learn about Gertrude and Claudius (4.7.11-16)? Laertes wants his revenge, but Claudius tells him "You shortly shall hear more." What does Claudius expect to be able to tell Laertes soon? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. What does Hamlet's letter tell Claudius? Why does Hamlet want to see him "alone"? What seems to be Hamlet's plan? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. What plan do Claudius and Laertes develop? What happened when Lamord came to Denmark two months ago? How will Claudius and Laertes use Laertes' reputation to get revenge? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. What would Laertes do to get revenge (4.7.98)? How does this compare to Hamlet? How does Claudius respond? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">5. How many tricks and poisons does it take (according to Claudius and Laertes) to kill a Hamlet? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">6. What happened to Ophelia? Did she kill herself, or is her death accidental (based on this description; her death gets a different spin in 5.1)? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">7. What is Laertes' response to her death? What does Claudius fear will happen? //**<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">ACT 5 **// **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">5.1 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. What are the two clowns doing while they talk? Who is the "she" of 5.1.1? Why, according to the second clown, is she really being given a Christian burial? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. What happens in the discussion between Hamlet and the Gravedigger? What does Hamlet learn from his confrontation with Yorick's skull? What does he learn from his meditation on Alexander and Caesar? How does the mood here differ from that in 4.3.17-38? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. How old is Hamlet? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. What do we learn from Gertrude's farewell to Ophelia (5.1.227-30)? Would Polonius have been surprised if he had heard this? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">5. What happens when Hamlet appears to the others? What is significant about him calling himself "Hamlet the Dane" (5.1.242 see the footnote)? Why is he so angry? **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">5.2 **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">1. What new sort of attitude to life do you see in the Hamlet of the first 81 lines of 5.2 ? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">2. What would have happened to him in England? How did he find out? What did he do about it? What has happened to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? Do they know what hit them? (See Stoppard's play //<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead //.) How does Hamlet feel about them? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">3. What sort of person is Osric? What message does he have for Hamlet? What seems to be the problem with his hat? What is the wager (5.2.122-25)? (No one has been able to explain this speech in a way convincing to everyone.) <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">4. What is Hamlet's reaction to the idea of the match (5.2.148-61)? (The Folio text has an additional sentence at the end: "Let be.")? How well does Hamlet expect to do? Why does he go ahead with it? How does this reflect the new attitude we saw in Hamlet in 5.1? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">5. Hamlet clearly apologizes to Laertes (5.2.163-81). How does Laertes respond? Given what we know about the plans of Laertes and Claudius, how do you take Laertes' promise (5.2.187-89)? Can we say he has any honor at all? Has he followed his father's precept in 1.3.78-80? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">6. What is Laertes doing at line 202? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">7. What is the "union" Claudius promises to put in the cup at line 210 and perhaps does not put into the cup until after line 225? What problem is created by Hamlet's response in line 227? What happens at line 232? (And what is the score by now?) <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">8. Look carefully at lines 245-55, noting who wounds whom and with what sword, and what happens to Gertrude (including Claudius' lie at line 251). <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">9. Why is Hamlet so concerned that Horatio stay alive to tell his story? How much do the other people at court know at this point? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">10. Do you believe Horatio in his assumption that Hamlet is saved and not damned? Why or why not? <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif'; font-size: 120%;">11. Does the Hamlet Fortinbras describes (5.2.339-44) sound like the Hamlet we have known? What will happen to the kingdom under Fortinbras?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">Reading Questions for **//**<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">Hamlet **////<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">, from //**<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">The Norton Shakespeare **// //**<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">) **<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT','serif';">.