SCENE 5 1. What important information does this scene provide about the crime? 2. What terrible responsibility does the ghost lay on Hamlet? 3. What is his immediate response to this responsibility? 4. Why do you think Hamlet swears his friends to secrecy? 5. What do you think Hamlet means when he announces to his friends that he may “put an antic disposition on”? 6. Explain what you believe Hamlet’s dilemma is at the end of Act I. 7. What conflicts do you see set up in the play? What different plot lines? ACT II Scene 1 1. Note the description of Hamlet’s behavior. What is the dramatic value of having Hamlet tell us he may “put on an antic disposition” and doing so come close together? 2. How does Polonius react to the news of Hamlet’s strange behavior? 3. What evidence of Hamlet’s affections for Ophelia exists? 4. What trait of Polonius is revealed by his plans to spy on his son? What does it reveal about Laertes? Scene 2 1. How is the problem of young Fortinbras solved? What concession has Norway made to quiet young Fortinbras? 2. What explanation does Polonius give for Hamlet’s apparent insanity? Why would the King prefer this explanation to be true? 3. Why has the King summoned Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? 4. What plan does Polonius concoct to prove that Hamlet is mad for love of Ophelia? 5. In Act I, Scene 5, Hamlet said, “It is an honest ghost.” Yet in this scene he says, “The spirit that I have seen may be the devil.” What has evidently happened as Hamlet has thought about the strange events? 6. Why does Hamlet want to hear the passage about Hecuba? ACT III Scene 1 1. What information does the King seek as he questions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? 2. What is your attitude towards Ophelia? How does she impact the plot and characterization?
SCENE 5 1. What important information does this scene provide about the crime? 2. What terrible responsibility does the ghost lay on Hamlet? 3. What is his immediate response to this responsibility? 4. Why do you think Hamlet swears his friends to secrecy? 5. What do you think Hamlet means when he announces to his friends that he may “put an antic disposition on”? 6. Explain what you believe Hamlet’s dilemma is at the end of Act I. 7. What conflicts do you see set up in the play? What different plot lines? ACT II Scene 1 1. Note the description of Hamlet’s behavior. What is the dramatic value of having Hamlet tell us he may “put on an antic disposition” and doing so come close together? 2. How does Polonius react to the news of Hamlet’s strange behavior? 3. What evidence of Hamlet’s affections for Ophelia exists? 4. What trait of Polonius is revealed by his plans to spy on his son? What does it reveal about Laertes? Scene 2 1. How is the problem of young Fortinbras solved? What concession has Norway made to quiet young Fortinbras? 2. What explanation does Polonius give for Hamlet’s apparent insanity? Why would the King prefer this explanation to be true? 3. Why has the King summoned Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? 4. What plan does Polonius concoct to prove that Hamlet is mad for love of Ophelia? 5. In Act I, Scene 5, Hamlet said, “It is an honest ghost.” Yet in this scene he says, “The spirit that I have seen may be the devil.” What has evidently happened as Hamlet has thought about the strange events? 6. Why does Hamlet want to hear the passage about Hecuba? ACT III Scene 1 1. What information does the King seek as he questions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? 2. What is your attitude towards Ophelia? How does she impact the plot and characterization?