So you think you know Hamlet? See if you can answer these questions.
Hamlet is:
(a) A Roman soldier who hates commoners
(b) A Scottish king who consults witches
(c) A Danish prince who loves to talk
What’s Hamlet’s favorite color?
Hamlet is best described as:
(a) Quick to the draw
(b) Never does anything without consulting a lawyer
(c) Very verbal
Does Hamlet have a girlfriend?
How is she best described:
(a) True to herself
(b) True to Hamlet
(c) True to her father
What is the one thing Hamlet is told to do in the play?
(a) Understand the nature of the universe
(b) Make his peace with the world
(c) Revenge the murder of his father
Who tells him to do it?
(a) His mother
(b) His best friend
(c) A ghost
Is the ghost real?
Claudius is Hamlet’s:
(a) Sovereign
(b) Father
(c) Uncle
(d) Mother
(e) Nemesis
Who goes mad during the play?
Opinion is divided about Hamlet’s madness. What do you believe?
(a) He’s the sanest, by far, of all men;
(b) He’s sane, but feigning madness;
(c) He’s mad; but feigning saneness.
(d) He’s not mad at the start , but becomes so soon thereafter.
(e) He’s mad at the start, but gets sane.
(f) Hamlet is sane with lucid intervals of insanity
Why does Hamlet take so long to kill the king?
(a) He doesn’t take long; he’s busy gathering evidence.
(b) He’s prone to over-thinking.
(c) He’s emotionally upset about too many things.
(d) It’s just not in his nature.
(e) He notes an ethical dilemma.
(f) No one knows.
What do you think the name Hamlet means?
(a) Strong arm
(b) Time keeper
(c) Crippled
(d) Dim-witted
(e) Greek hero
(f) Helper
(g) Polish
Is Hamlet responsible for the deaths at the end of the play?
Hamlet’s main question in life seems to be, To be or not to be. What does it mean?
True or False
T/F Hamlet has no friends.
T/F Hamlet is 16.
T/F Hamlet has no job.
T/F Hamlet can’t be spontaneous.
T/F Hamlet is the only man in all this world who is burdened with the job of revenge.
T/F What play of Shakespeare’s was advertised in this play?
Close, or No Cigar
C/NC The list of published books and papers about Hamlet is about the same as the number of words in Hamlet, at 32,000.
C/NC More than 20 famous actresses have played the role of Hamlet on stage.
What kinds of things get Hamlet down? Let us count the ways, at least through Act III.
• Life is weary, stale, flat and unprofitable
• In fact, it’s an unweeded garden going to seed.
• His father has died, and his mother remarried so fast she was able to serve up the funeral baked meats at the wedding.
• Apparently, women’s love doesn’t last long. This goes doubly so after you’re dead.
• His uncle, the new king, won’t let him go back to college, so he’s trapped in Denmark.
• He can’t share his feelings.
• A ghost looking a lot like his father comes to tell him he’s suffering in Purgatory, but he took a break from being burnt and purged to tell him that if he’s a brave and loving son he’ll avenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
• Murder? Yes! By the the very same uncle who took the crown, married his mother and is keeping him from college! The uncle he loathes.
• At this point Hamlet wishes he wasn’t born and thinks a wicked spite put him here.
This is only Act I! In Act II Hamlet finds out:
• A lot of people are fakes.
• People can smile, and smile, and be a villain;
• They can clothe themselves in black and make their eyes water when they’re happy as a clam.
• Girlfriends who say they love you can just dump you, for no reason.
• Friends can abandon you; spy on you, even try to get you killed.
• At this point Hamlet announces he’s lost all his joy in life, doesn’t get out much anymore, and thinks the world smells bad. Just imagine what he’s saying to himself!
We’re halfway through the play, and things only get worse from here.
Interestingly, thought… Hamlet ends up happy at the end., or at least content. How does he doe it? Read the play and find out.