NAVIGATION: Index of Dr. Weller's Class Materials Index of Shakespeare Materials

Hamlet Discussion Questions

1. 1.5.117 ff.: Why does Hamlet refuse to tell Horatio what the Ghost told him? (Later, just before the play-within-the-play, Hamlet has told Horatio. See 3.2.76.)

2. 1.5.182-190.: Hamlet seems depressed. Why?

3. 2.1.74 ff.: What is Hamlet up to in the encounter which Ophelia reports to her father? He appears to have put on his "antic disposition," but does he have any intention towards Ophelia except to get her to believe he's gone off his rocker?

4. 2.2.271 & previous: How does Hamlet figure out that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been "sent for"?

5. 2.2.292 ff.: Is this famous speech sincere, or a mockery of what Rosencrantz and Guildenstern expect? (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern don't seem to be fooled; see 3.1.5-10.)

6. 2.2.549 ff.: If the "play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King," why does Hamlet beat up on himself for having failed to kill the King already?

7. 3.1.92: What prompts the exclamation and the question? ("Ha, ha! Are you honest?")

8. 3.1.129 ff.: What prompts Hamlet's question, "Where's your father?" It appears that Hamlet knows that Ophelia's answer is a lie; how does he know?

9. 3.3.73 ff.: Is this a real reason for not killing Claudius, or a rationalization for inaction?

10. 3.4.17: What does Hamlet think he's doing when he kills Polonius?

11. 3.4.102 ff.: What does "lapsed in . . . passion" mean? That he forgot what he was supposed to be doing because he was too passionate about his mother, or that he forgot what he was supposed to be doing because he didn't care enough about doing it?

12. 4.1.27: Is the Queen lying, or did Hamlet really weep?

13. 4.4.30 ff.: As Hamlet, Branaugh plays this scene as though it was from The Sound of Music -- mountains in the background, arms flung up victoriously at the end. That's got to be wrong, doesn't it?

14. 5.1.184 ff.: Is Hamlet in a good mood?

15. 5.1.245 ff.: Why does Hamlet lose his temper at Laertes?

16. 5.2.63 ff.: Hamlet asks Horatio, "is it not perfect conscience / To quit [pay back] him [Claudius] with this arm?" Horatio says, "It must be shortly known to him from England / What is the issue of the business there," meaning -- I presume -- that when it becomes known that Hamlet has sent R&G to their deaths, it will be too late to attack Claudius because Claudius will be on guard. Hamlet replies to Horatio, "It will be short. The interim is mine, / And a man's life no more than to say 'one'," meaning -- I presume -- that Hamlet can kill Claudius at any moment. Hamlet then switches the subject and talks about how he is sorry he lost his temper at Laertes. Why doesn't Hamlet make a plan to kill Claudius?

17. 5.2.217 ff.: What's this? Is Hamlet saying he is willing to die?

18. 5.2.224 ff.: In saying that it was his "madness" that made him kill Polonius is Hamlet being hypocritical?

19. 5.2.362.: What do you think? Is Hamlet a "sweet prince"?


So far, in the brief time we had yesterday, I suggested an interpretation of Hamlet & Miss McClintock suggested that I must be wrong:

Another approach: Is Branagh's movie satisfactory just as a movie? Is it satisfactory as an interpretation of Shakespeare's play? See Horatio's description of the action of the play.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Choose one of the following topics. Be sure to support your assertions with relevant evidence from the play. Twenty minute time limit.

  1. Pick a scene and argue that in that scene Hamlet's display of emotion is not convincingly motivated.
  2. Argue that the ending of Hamlet is emotionally satisfying and shows that Hamlet is indeed a "sweet prince."
  3. Argue that a major character (other than Hamlet) is "shadowy," inconsistently and unpersuasively developed.