Act V
1. At the opening of act five, one of the two Clowns (rustics, or men of lower class, not clowns as we understand the word) is puzzled that Ophelia will receive a proper burial. Why? How does the Second Clown explain this treatment (5.1.22)? (Also, note the Priest’s reluctance in the proceedings)

• They are confused why she gets a Christian Burial because she committed the act that lead to her death it wasn't an accident it was suicide and they other guy said its because she was wealthy that she gets a christian burial.

2. Whose skull does Hamlet recognize in the graveyard?

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3. How long has the “grave-­‐maker” been working at his craft? What events coincided with his first day on the job?

• Since Baby Hamlet was born. The event was when the King Hamlet defeated King Fortabias so he had to start digging the graves for all the ones killed in the process.

4. Hamlet imagines that the dirt that the Clown is digging could actually be who? What happens to these great figures in Hamlet’s imagining?

• They could be some of the worlds leaders like Caesar or Alexander the great. Caesar is used to plug a whole to keep away the wind and Alexander the great is used to plug a liquor barrel.

5. There are two surprising stage directions in 5.1: Laertes, then Hamlet, “leaps into the grave.” What are they fighting over?!

• They are fighting over who will grieve about her death more and who loved her more.

6. Hamlet did inherit something from his father that proves quite useful in his stratagem against Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. What is it?

• He had his fathers royal seal ring, and he used it to seal a letter to the king of england ordering him to execute Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

7. What causes Hamlet’s death (and is also the cause of death for the entire Danish court (including Hamlet I))?

• The king had the swords dipped in poison and he also poisoned Hamlets wine which the queen drank, Laertes stabbed hamlet but in the process got cut as well and died.

8. What is Laertes’s dying wish? Is it fulfilled?

• The Hamlet will forgive him, hamlet says that all will be forgiven with god.

9. Just before Hamlet dies, he offers his “dying voice” to Fortinbras. What does he mean by this? What is going to happen to Denmark after the play?

• He offers Fortinbras his vote for the crown, so Denmark will be lead by Fortinbras.

 10. What orders does Fortinbras give at the end of the play? What is the significance, do you think, of this action?

• To have four men carry hamlet up to the platform and have the riffles fire as a military salute. It shows that Fortinbras realized that the evils that had been committed in the past were not the fault of Hamlet and in fact Hamlet never got the chance to prove himself. This shows that in the end all bad things were avenged, meaning there would be peace.

Act IV
1. What is the real reason, as revealed at the end of 4.3, Claudius has sent Hamlet away?

•  He's sending him away for his crime because he can't put him in jail due to the people loving him, and while Hamlet is in England he has instructed the King of England to kill Hamlet.

2. What has Hamlet done with the body of Polonius? What kind of a funeral did Polonius receive, according to the King (4.5)?

• Hamlet left the body in the lobby and Polonius will receive a "hugger-mugger" funeral.

3. On his way out of Denmark, Hamlet encounters a captain from the army of Fortinbras (4.4). Where are they headed? What are they fighting for?

• The are headed to Poland to fight over a small plot of land.

4. How is Ophelia described in the stage direction that marks her entrance to 4.5? What does she sing about in her songs? What does she hand out to the court?

• "Ophelia enters, Insane" First she sings about love then she sings about death. she hands out flowers to the court.

5. What news does the Messenger bring of Laertes in 4.5? Has he returned to Denmark alone? Compare his state to Hamlet’s report at 4.7. 

• He tells the King and Queen that Laertes has returned from Paris and has brought people with him to try and take over the government of Denmark.

6. Note how Laertes describes his motivation for revenge in 4.5. What is driving him?

• He says that his motivation is to avenge his father's death and not let him be known as a "harlot" but as his Fathers true son.

7. What turn of events does Hamlet report to Horatio in his letter in 4.6?

• He tells Horatio that he has been kidnapped by Pirates and that the two people the king sent to escort him to England are still on their way but he is not with them.

8. Claudius comes up with a very complicated plan for Laertes to execute his revenge in 4.7. What is it? Notice what Laertes wants to do (4.7)!

• Laertes says he will cut his (Hamlet) throat in church.

9. How do we learn of Ophelia’s death? What are its odd circumstances?

• Gertrude tells Laertes of his sisters death, that she drowned. She fell into the water after trying to hang a wreath from a tree that hung over the brook, she at first acted like she didn't notice she was in danger and kept singing but then her cloths became sodden and drug her down to her death.

Act III
1. Does Hamlet behave differently toward Ophelia than Polonius and Laertes? How does he treat her during the “Mousetrap” play that the players perform?

• NO he doesn't really treat her differently he sees her as more of an object that can be told what to do and how to think, he tells her she should go to a nunnery and try to preserve her virtue and not just give it away. Yet during the play he spent a lot of time trying to sweet talk her and get her in bed.

2. What is the point of the play Hamlet calls “The Mousetrap” (The Murder of Gonzago)? What are the differences between this version of a king’s murder and that which we have been told of in Hamlet?

• It's to recreate the death of his father in hopes that his uncle will see it and confess his crime. There weren't a whole lot of differences other than the King in the play got to talk to the queen before his death and make her promise to not remarry.

3. At the end of 3.2, Hamlet “could drink hot blood” (360) as he goes off to visit his mother. On the way, he finds the King in prayer. Why does he not slay him in this moment (3.3.77 ff.)?

• Because he feels that if he was to kill Claudius in that moment it will be giving him free passage to heaven because in prayer he is supposedly repenting his sins and wiping his slate clean. Hamlet feels that he will wait because his father never got the chance to ask for forgiveness so why should Claudius be aloud to.

4. What is the intended purpose of Hamlet’s visit to his mother’s chamber? How does he turn the tables on her? What instructions does he give to her?

• His mother called upon him to talk to him about the play and how rude it was to set up his uncle. He basically says that it doesn't matter if he insulted his uncle she insulted his father (Daddy Ham.)and then he tells her she isn't allowed to leave until she realizes what a big mistake she has made.

5. What happens to Polonius during the conversation between Hamlet and Gertrude? Who else barges in on their conversation?

• Hamlet stabs him behind the tapestry then after Hamlet and Gertrude talk some more the ghost comes into the room.

6. At the end of act 3, Hamlet reminds his mother that he has been sent on a foreign mission by the King (this resolution comes in 3.1) Where is he going? Why does Hamlet think he is being sent away?

• To England, he thinks he is being sent away in an attempt to keep him quiet about the Kings true nature.

Scene 3

8. What advice do both Laertes and Polonius give to Ophelia?

• To stay away from hamlet

9. What is particularly “foul, strange, and unnatural” about King Hamlet I’s death? (see 1.5)

• They claimed that he was bitten in his sleep by a snake but intact he was poisoned by Claudius in the garden while he slept.

10. What does Hamlet write down after seeing the ghost? Where does he write it?

•  "Where’s my notebook?—It’s a good idea for me to write down that one can smile and smile, and be a villain"

11. To what oath does Hamlet make Horatio and Marcellus swear?

• Not to tell anyone about his uncles betrayal.

Act II
1. What is Polonius employing Reynaldo to do? What instructions does he give to him?

•  To give the money and letters and to ask around about his (Polonius's son) behavior and to find out what danish people live in paris.

2. What report of Hamlet’s behavior does Ophelia give to Polonius in 2.1? What
specifically does she tell him about how he was acting? What other words are used to describe Hamlet’s behavior (especially his actions) throughout these acts? When Hamlet appears in 2.2, how would you characterize his speech?

• Ophelia says "...Hamlet came in with no hat on his head, his shirt unbuttoned, and his stockings dirty, undone, and down around his ankles. He was pale as his undershirt, and his knees were knocking together. He looked so out of sorts, as if he’d just come back from hell. He came up to me." Then she goes on to tell her dad about how Hamlet didn't say anything he just held her at an arms length and examined her like he was about to paint her picture and then he left and never took his eyes off of her. Hamlet throughout the act has constantly been referred to as "out of sorts" and not being himself. When hamlet appears in 2.2 his speech is very scattered, He addresses Polonius as a fish seller and then goes on to talking about never letting his (polonius) daughter walk around in public.

3. What news does King Claudius receive from Norway in 2.2? What is the status of the impending invasion from act 1?

• That they were sending troops to attack Denmark under Prince Fortabias's order with out the king of Norway knowing. When they found out they arrested the prince and the King swore to not harm Denmark but ask that his troops be able to march through Denmark on their way to Poland for that invasion.  

4. What speech does Hamlet ask the Player to perform in 2.2? What event in history/literature is being recounted in this speech? Who is Pyrrhus?

•  "The Murder of Gonzago" The event was the Trojan Horse and Pyrrhus was a greek general.

5. In his second soliloquy (“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I”), what is Hamlet’s response to the player’s speech? What aspect of the Player’s speech does he specifically comment on?

• He is emotional about it but at the same time questioning it, He wonders ow the actor can fake such sorrow over some woman and what he would do if he knew true sorrow like Hamlets. He comments on how the actor weeps for Hacuba and what makes her so special.

Act I

Scene 1 1. What is the Ghost wearing when he come on stage? When before, according to Horatio, had he been seen wearing it?

•  The ghost looked like the dead king and he was wearing cloths like he was ready for battle.
• "Yes, as much as you look like yourself. The king was wearing exactly this armor when he fought the king of Norway. And the ghost frowned just like the king did once when he attacked the Poles, traveling on the ice in sleds. It’s weird." this quote answers the second question.

2. Marcellus asks someone to “tell me…/Why this same strict and most observant watch/ So nightly toils the subject of the land…” What is the
answer?

• it is rumored that the son of the late king of Norway wishes to avenge his father after the late king of Denmark killed his father after winning in a battle for land. The son has gathered some "thugs" to take back the things that the king of Denmark "took."

3. What story from the past does Horatio relate?

• The assassination of Julius Caesar 

4. What makes the ghost disappear?

• Rooster crow

 Scene 2

5. Note all of the different matters of court business that Claudius attends to at the opening of 1.2. How does he try to comfort Hamlet? Does it work?

• He tells him that its sweet for him to mourn and he understands that but basically he needs to man up and show because if he doesn't he will never be taken serious and that now just think of him as his father to help ease the pain.

6. In Hamlet’s first soliloquy (“O that this too too solid flesh would melt…”), what does he tell the audience is so upsetting to him?

• That everyone, especially, his mother moved on so quick and acted like the late kings life was just another event. That they aren't allowing themselves to mourn before moving on. His mothers "betrayal" towards his late father hurts him the absolute most and he sees only bad coming from it.

7. “Foul deeds will rise,/ Though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes” (~1.2.256-­‐7) What does Hamlet mean by this?

• He means that its a sign that something bad is going to happen that people have been trying to cover up.