Hamlet

1. At the beginning of the play, Denmark is threatened by

• young Fortinbras’ attempts to regain Norway’s lost lands.

• Pirates off the coast that have been raiding villages.

• a rebellious group of peasants.

• a circus of dwarves that have taken over the local taverns.

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1. The ghost tells Hamlet

• that Polonius was involved in his death.

• that he can trust Horatio.

• to leave the Queen to the judgment of God.

• to not seek revenge on Claudius.

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What does Laertes warn Ophelia against at the beginning of the play?

• Becoming a nun

• Disobeying their father

• Falling behind in her domestic duties

• Falling in love with Hamlet

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What reason does Polonius offer for Hamlet’s madness?

• He is upset about the marriage of Claudius and Gertrude.

• He loves Ophelia, and she has spurned his love.

• He is distraught over his father’s death.

• He is a moody kind of guy, and they should ignore his absurdity.

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1. What observation does Ophelia make to her brother Laertes in the following speech

I shall the effect of this good lesson keep

As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother,

Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,

Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,

Whiles, like a puff’d and reckless libertine,

Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,

And reaks not his own rede.

• That she will stay away from Hamlet.

• That she will agree to marry Hamlet as soon as he asks.

• That she will take Laertes’ advice, but he needs to take it himself, too.

• That she will take Laertes advice only if he promises to enter the priesthood.

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1. In the following speech from Act I, what observations does Claudius make about Hamlet’s mourning the death of his father?

But you must know, your father lost a father

That father lost, lost his; and the survivor bound

In filial obligation for some term

To do obsequious sorrow; but to persevere

In obstinate condolement, is a course

Of impious stubbornness, tis unmanly grief

• Princes shouldn’t mourn the deaths of their fathers.

• Only Gertrude is entitled to grieve for the death of King Hamlet.

• Denmark is rejoicing for Claudius and Gertrude’s marriage.

• It is prissy and silly for Princes to grieve for too long, because they become kings only upon the deaths of their fathers.

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The one piece of Polonius’s advice to Laertes that comes across as particularly insincere in view of Polonius’s own statements and character is

• “Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice.”

• “Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy/But not expressed in fancy ."

• “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”

• “. . . to thine own self be true.”

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