| Identify Bernardo, Francisco, Marcellus, Horatio, and King Hamlet. | Bernardo, Francisco, Marcellus- guard soldiers at ElsinoreHoratio- Hamlet’s friend, a scholarKing Hamlet- Hamlet’s father who was murdered prior to the beginning of the play, dead king/ghost |
| What had Bernardo seen at a prior watch? | King Hamlet’s ghost |
| Why does Marcellus think Horatio should speak to the ghost? | He was a scholar who should know the proper way to address a ghost, skeptical |
| What does young Fortinbras want to do? | He wants to regain the lands his father had lost, to get revenge & to conquer Denmark |
| Who do the soldiers/guards want to tell about the ghost? | Hamlet |
| Identify King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, Laertes, and Polonius. | King Claudius- King Hamlet’s brother, Hamlet’s uncle. He came to the throne and married King Hamlet’s wife after King Hamlet’s deathQueen Gertrude- Hamlet’s mother. Laertes- Polonius’ son, Ophelia’s brotherPolonius- Lord Chamberlain, adviser to the king |
| Where does Claudius send Cornelius and Voltimand? | He sends them to the King of Norway with letters asking the King to try to keep young Fortinbras from going to battle. |
| What does the King tell Hamlet? | He needs to stay in Denmark & he shouldn’t grieve so much over his father’s death. |
| Hamlet is upset for two reasons. What are they? | His father is dead and his mother remarried his uncle |
| What news does Horatio bring Hamlet? | They saw the ghost of Hamlet’s father |
| What does Hamlet decide to do after he hears Horatio’s news? | He decides to go with the guards and hopes to see him himself |
| What is Laertes’ advice to Ophelia? | He warns her to stay away from Hamlet because he can only ‘Love’ her as much as the state of Denmark will allow and tells her to protect her virtue. |
| What is Polonius’ advice to Laertes? | Polonius tells Laertes to not always voice his thoughts, to be familiar but not vulgar, to hold on to his closest friends, to beware of getting into quarrels, to listen to everyone but not to always give advice, to listen to others’ opinions without always judging them, to buy good clothes, to not be a borrower or lender, and above all else, to his own self be true.Don’t borrow or lend money, don’t steep around, & stay true to yourself & others |
| At the end of Scene III, Ophelia agrees to “obey.” What will she do? | She agrees to stay away from Hamlet and reject his affections |
| What did the ghost tell Hamlet? | He tells him that King Hamlet was murdered by Claudius and tells him to avenge the murder |
| Hamlet swears Horatio to two things. What are they? | He swears him to secrecy about the events of this evening (seeing the ghost) and to go along with him should he pretend to be crazy, to Stay Silent & Act Along |
| Where does Polonius send Reynaldo? Why? | to Paris to spy on Laertes and to take him money and messages |
| Why does Polonius think Hamlet is “mad”? | he thinks Ophelia’s rejections have been too much for Hamlet, that Hamlet is lovesick |
| Why have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to the castle? | they have come to find out why Hamlet is acting so strangely and to report their findings to the King |
| What is Polonius’ plan for testing his theory that Hamlet is love-crazy? | he wants to have Hamlet meet Ophelia. He will hide and eavesdrop on the conversation |
| Rosencrantz and Guildenstern finally meet with Hamlet, and Hamlet discovers they were sent for by the King. How does Hamlet describe his personal problems to them? What does he tell them? | he tells them he used to think the world was wonderful, but now he finds differently, and he had so delight in man or woman |
| What arrangement does Hamlet make with Player 1? | he arranges to have several of his own lines put into the play, resemble the murder |
| After Rosencrantz and Guildenstern leave Hamlet, what does he basically say in his soliloquy? | he thinks himself a coward for not getting right to the revenge |
Hamlet Act 1 & Act 2 Questions
July 9, 2019