What are some good questions to ask about Hamlet?
What are some good questions to ask about Hamlet?
Hamlet Discussion Questions
- What is “rotten in the state of Denmark,” as Marcellus tells us? � What do we learn about the situation in Scene I?
- In what ways is Scene II a contrast to Scene I?
- What is the function of the Polonius-Ophelia-Laertes family in this play?
- What does Hamlet learn from the Ghost’s speech?
What happens in Act 5 in Hamlet?
Hamlet gets cut by Laertes sword and in anger cuts him back. The Queen’s death encourages Laertes to reveal Claudius’ plot. Hamlet takes his revenge on Claudius. He stabs him with the poisoned sword and makes him drink the poison.
What are the gravediggers debating about?
What are the gravediggers debating over? Ophelia and suicide, and whether she should have a christian burial.
What is the famous question in Hamlet?
“To be, or not to be, that is the question.” It’s a line we’ve all heard at some point (and very likely quoted as a joke), but do you know where it comes from and the meaning behind the words? “To be or not to be” is actually the first line of a famous soliloquy from William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.
Why does Hamlet act crazy in the play?
The ghost tells him that his uncle killed him to get his crown and his wife, and makes Hamlet swear to avenge his death. Hamlet decides to pretend to be insane to make sure the king doesn’t suspect him. Ophelia, the daughter of king’s advisor, Polonius, also rejects him, adding to his melancholy.
Who kills Hamlet in Act 5?
When Claudius offers Hamlet the poisoned goblet of wine, Hamlet refuses, and Gertrude picks up the cup instead. Toasting Hamlet, she drinks the poison, ensuring her eventual death. Meanwhile, Laertes wounds Hamlet with the poisoned blade, and the two continue to scuffle, somehow switching swords in the process.
Why is there no soliloquy in Act 5 of Hamlet?
There are no soliloquies in act five, as well as no indication that Hamlet regrets or laments the eight deaths, including his own, which he has ultimately caused. The prince of Denmark has thus transferred the sincerity of his soliloquies to his actions in the remainder of the tragedy.
What dramatic purpose do the gravediggers serve at the beginning of Act V Scene I?
Summary: Act V, scene i. In the churchyard, two gravediggers shovel out a grave for Ophelia. They argue whether Ophelia should be buried in the churchyard since her death looks like a suicide. According to religious doctrine, suicides may not receive Christian burial.
What gossip does the gravedigger reveal to Hamlet?
The gravedigger tells Hamlet that he has been digging graves since the day Old King Hamlet defeated Old King Fortinbras, the very birthday of Prince Hamlet — “he that’s mad, and sent to England” — thirty years ago.
How is Hamlet mentally unstable?
Hamlet’s Madness His father’s ghost tells him that he was murdered by Claudius, which drives Hamlet to want to seek revenge. This causes him to display erratic behavior, indicating that he has become mad with his desire to avenge his father’s death.
Is Hamlet actually mad or just pretending to be?
Hamlet is most likely never “mad” in the way he pretends to be, but he uses the pretense of madness to speak–sometimes in coded, riddling, circumspect ways, other times quite plainly but without the context that would explain it–of the very real burdens he’s labouring under; and the truth is that he does deteriorate …