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Hamlet Reading Questions Directions: As we read the play, answer the questions for Acts I-V in your daybook. Explain your responses and provide textual support. Act I Questions 1. As the play opens, what is the mood? Looking closely at the text, what words or phrases does Shakespeare use to establish the mood and prepare us for whats to come? 2. Part of Horatios job in Act I, scene i is to provide exposition What has happened that might warrant a ghost stalking the castle? 3. From what you see in Act I, scene ii, what kind of a king is Claudius? 4. Hamlet is in stark contrast to the festivity of the coronation Compare and contrast the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual differences between young Hamlet and Claudiuss court. 5. What is Poloniuss family like? What kind of dad is he? Distant? Loving? Aloof? What kind of son/brother is Laertes? How do the two men get along with Ophelia? Are they close? Provide evidence to support your response. 6. How does Shakespeare use other

characters to introduce and develop our perceptions of the main character, Hamlet? Be specific and indicate what each character shows. Choose four characters from this list: Horatio, Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Laertes, Ophelia Act II Questions 1. In Act II, scene i, Ophelia is greatly concerned over Hamlets behavior What suggests that something is wrong with him? What are the possible explanations given by Polonius in Act II, scenes i and ii? Do you agree with his reasoning? 2. How does Shakespeare use Ophelia’s story to develop the character of Hamlet and advance the plot? 3. The thematic concept of appearance versus reality begins to take center stage in Act II Where do you find evidence of this concept developing? What possible themes could Shakespeare be trying to convey? 4. Take another look at Polonius Is he the same man you thought initially? Why or why not? Act III Questions 1. Hamlet’s "To be or not to be" soliloquy (Act III, scene i) is perhaps the most

well-known speech in Shakespeare’s plays. How would you summarize it? 2. The idea of Hamlets madness takes greater hold in this act Is it merely an idea, though? What support can you find for Hamlet’s actually being mad? For his faking madness? 3. What is the significance of the inclusion of the play within the play? 4. What function do the players serve? Beyond performing the play in which to catch the king, what themes do they emphasize or introduce? How is what theyre doing like or unlike what other characters in Hamlet are doing? 5. Act III has Hamlet saying some very harsh words to Ophelia Why does he want her to get to a nunnery? Does he say this out of love or hate or both? Why is he acting the way that he is? What purpose does it serve? 6. Hamlet seems to find a great deal of fault with Gertrude Why? Is his criticism justified? 7. At the end of Act III, scene four, Hamlet asks his mother not “to ravel all this matter out,/That I essentially am not in madness,/But mad in

craft.” Based on Shakespeare’s development of Gertrude, does she believe her son? How do you know? 8. Why doesnt Hamlet kill Claudius? Should he have used his opportunity? Act IV Questions 1. In Act IV, scene i, Gertrude tells Claudius that Hamlet is “(m)ad as the sea and wind when both contend/Which is the mightier.” How does this compare or contrast with her interaction with Hamlet in the previous scene? 2. As Act IV unfolds, Claudius is becoming more and more uncomfortable with having Hamlet around Identify some instances where Claudiuss fear is beginning to take over. How does he try to get rid of Hamlet, while continuing to look innocent? 3. Hamlet shows a great deal of wit and cleverness in this act Where can you find examples of Hamlets nimble brain? Or is he not a wit at all.is he something else? 4. Scene iv has Fortinbras moving over the countryside Where is he going? Why? What about this journey upsets Hamlet so much? How does seeing Fortinbras affect Hamlet? 5.

Hamlets questionable madness is starkly contrasted with Ophelias real madness in Act IV What has precipitated her madness? Was it necessary for her to go insane? What elements of the story are enhanced by her madness? Could the story work without it? 6. Explain how Hamlet happens to get back to Denmark It is blind luck or is it more? Act V Questions 1. What purpose does the grave diggers exchange (with each other and with Hamlet) serve? What thematic concepts and/or issues do they introduce? 2. Why do Hamlet and Laertes fight in Ophelias grave? 3. How did Hamlet escape being killed in England? How does he feel about having Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed in his stead? Why? 4. What does Hamlet say "the readiness is all" (Act V, scii, lines 196-197)? What does such a statement reflect about him? Could he have made such a statement in Act I? 5. What are we to infer happens after all the bodies are cleared away? Does Denmark come into a time of peace and healing or are they

headed for greater troubles? How do you know?