1. The Hamlet Problem: Why does Hamlet delay taking his revenge? Why doesn’t he kill Claudius immediately?
2. Did Ophelia kill herself, or did "the water come to her, and drown her" (see lines 15, 16)? How can you substantiate?
3. Why does a scene begin with two clowns trading jokes? Do their jokes make any sense in the context of the play?
4. Did Rosencrantz and Guildenstern deserve their fate? Why or why not?
5. Does Hamlet realize that he might not come out of this fight alive? See V.ii. Explain your response.
6. Why is Fortinbras's presence important?
7. Certain actions throughout the final scene of the play can be linked by cause and effect. For every cause that's listed
discuss its effect.
· Hamlet agrees to take part in the fencing match
· Claudius poisons a cup of wine
· Laertes poisons his sword point
· Hamlet rewrites Claudius's orders
· Hamlet agrees to take part in the fencing match
8. How does Hamlet explore the idea of existence and what it is to be human?
- 9. What are the similarities between Hamlet and Laertes?
- 10. Why didn't Hamlet show guilt after he killed Polonius?
- 11. In Hamlet, how does the Ghost's revenge contribute to Hamlet's procrastination?
12. In Hamlet, how does the presence of Laertes, Fortinbras, and/or Horatio enhance understanding of Hamlet's virtue?
- 13. How is Gertrude's life manipulated in Hamlet?
- 14. Discuss Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Analyze their character, and explain their
significance in the play.
- 15. What is the significance of the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy from William Shakespeare's Hamlet?
