| What does Hamlet’s to be or not to be soliloquy speculate about? | the advantages and disadvantages of suicide |
| Why does Hamlet say that people do not take their own lives? | because people fear and do not know what happens after death |
| What does Hamlet tell Ophelia? | “your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty” because beauty corrupts purity |
| What does Hamlet also say? | “the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness: this was sometime a paradox but now the time gives it proof.” (allusion to Gertrude) |
| What do Polonius and Claudius think after the eavesdropping scene between Hamlet and Ophelia? | Polonius still thinks Hamlet’s behavior results from unrequited love, but Claudius does not |
| During the play within the play, Hamlet’s cruel remarks to Ophelia arise mainly from what? | his bitterness over his mother’s faithlessness |
| During the play within the play, why does Gertrude says that the Player Queen “doth protest too much”? | because the Player Queen’s declarations that she will not remarry remind Gertrude that she has remarried quickly |
| What does Claudius think when he leaves the play within the play? | he believes Hamlet knows he murdered Hamlet’s father |
| What does Hamlet force Guildenstern to do? | try to play the recorder to make the point that if he can’t make a simple recorder speak, he certainly can’t make Hamlet speak |
| What is Hamlet’s reason for not killing Claudius while Claudius is alone at prayer? | he does not want to send Claudius’s soul to heaven |
| Why is the scene in which Hamlet passes up the opportunity to kill Claudius ironic? | because Claudius is unable to repent |
| Hamlet’s remark to the dead Polonius “Thou findst to be too busy is some danger” is an example of what? | ironic understatement |
| What does Hamlet force her mother to do? | to look into her soul and acknowledge her infidelity, her bad judgement, and immoral behavior by comparing the portraits and characters of Claudius and Hamlet’s father |
| What does Hamlet ask Gertrude to do? | to keep his secret that he is only pretending to be mad, to behave virtuously even is she lacks true virtue, and to avoid Claudius’ bed |
| What does the word “enginer” refer to? | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern |
| Why does Hamlet tell Ophelia to go to a nunnery? | because he considers all women unworthy. |
| When Hamlet suddenly asks Ophelia where her father is, what does it indicate? | that he knows Polonius is listening to them |
| Where does Claudius send Hamlet? | England |
| What does Hamlet tell Horatio? | that he compliments him honestly and has nothing to gain by flattering him |
| Why does Hamlet admire Horatio in art? | because he is not “passion’s slave.” |
| What does Hamlet ask Horatio? | Hamlet does not ask Horatio to taunt and ridicule the king during the play, he wants Horatio to observe him. |
| What does Hamlet tell the king the play within in the play is called? | the mouse trap |
| What does the play within the play depict? | a nephew murdering his uncle |
| What does the king’s reaction to the play within the play confirm? | the truth of what the ghost had told him |
| When Hamlet kills Polonius what does he think? | he thinks it might be Claudius hiding behhid the arras |
| Does Hamlet physically assault his mother in the scene in her bedroom? | no |
| Why does the ghost appear? | to remind Hamlet to finish his mission |
| When the ghost reappears in Gertrude’s room who can see and hear it? | only Hamlet |
| What does Hamlet tell Gertrude? | that his cruelty to her is for her own good |
| What does Hamlet say about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? | he will not trust them to protect him on the trip to England |
Hamlet Act III
July 28, 2019