Act 4

Act IV, Scene 1
1. What is Claudius' main fear in the immediate aftermath of Polonius' death?
He is afraid he is next....he fears the truth...

Act IV, Scene 2
1. What does Hamlet refuse to tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
Where Polonius' body is. He is going to make them smell him out! Hahaha!

Act IV, Scene 3
1. What image does Hamlet use (ll. 19-29) to warn Claudius he's only king temporarily?
He compares him to Emperor Charles V in the German city of Worms to point out that even a king will be food for maggots.

2. Claudius ends the scene by writing a letter: to whom, and what order does it contain?
Claudius writes to the king of England and asks him to kill Hamlet as soon as he gets there.


Act IV, Scene 4
1. What's the value of the land Fortinbras' army is marching to capture in Poland (l. 20)? What will the invasion itself cost (l. 25)?
It has no profit, but the name. Fortinbras is fighting for the sake of his reputation. Hamlet estimates it will cost two-thousand men and twenty-thousand ducats.

2. Hamlet's soliloquy (ll. 32-66) is self-critical; summarize his main fault.
He wishes he could be more like Fortinbras. He says the reputation of greatness comes not by waiting for a great cause to fight for, but fighting nobly over a trivial matter when it's a matter of honour. Sometimes you just have to go take your manhood.

Act IV, Scene 5
1. Ophelia's songs during her first appearance in this scene deal with love, death and sex. Why? What do they tell us about her at the moment? What might they reveal about Her, Hamlet and Polonius?
Ophelia is starting to go mad. She is singing about such darkness to express herself.

2. Why is Laertes a danger to Claudius' throne (ll. 98-103)? (Actually two or three related reasons.)
A lot of people want Laertes to be king. He also has his own strong army.

3. What does Claudius offer as assurance that he had no part in Polonius' death (ll. 190-9)?
He is going to let his friends tell the story from both sides. He says if he still thinks he is guilty after that, he will give over the thrown.

Act IV, Scene 6
1. Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet explaining how he escaped from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. How did he?
Pirates came to get their ship, and Hamlet jumps into another boat. The pirates saw this and decided to go after him, leaving Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on the boat alone.

Act IV, Scene 7
1. What reason does Claudius give Laertes for Hamlet's killing of Polonius (ll. 1-4)?
Hamlet thought it was, and wanted it to be him not Polonius.

2. What are his two reasons for not charging Hamlet with murder (ll. 9-24)?
The people of Denmark love Hamlet, they would be devastated if their hero was charged. Number two; he doesn't want to upset Hamlet's mother. She loves him and she would never let it go away if he charged Hamlet with murder.

3. Claudius reveals that Laertes is famous for his skill with the rapier (a fencing weapon) and that Hamlet is envious of this fame. How does Claudius plan to exploit this envy to give Laertes a chance for (publicly) guiltless revenge (ll. 126-38)?
Hamlet is going to challenge him in a duel.

4. How does Claudius plan to exploit this envy to give Laertes a chance for (publicly) guiltless revenge (ll. 126-38)?

Laertes will have a poison dipped, sharped sword, while Hamlet has a safe sword. If Laertes doesn't kill him, Claudius will poison his drink...they just want him dead.

5. How does Laertes refine the plan (ll. 138-147)?
...he says he will dip his sword in poison to make sure he dies...see the answer above.

6. What announcement does Gertrude make to end Act IV?
Ophelia has drowned.

MOORE Study Questions for Act 3

1) What does Claudius plan to do with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Hamlet?

He tries to send Hamlet to England, but that they are to go with him.

2) What is Polonius going to do while Hamlet speaks with his mother?

Hide behind an arras...and then gets stabbed...

3) List three important things about Claudius’ soliloquy.

a) He admits to himself he has killed Old Hamlet
b) He cannot be forgiven because he still wants the things he acquired from doing so
c) Hamlet doesn't kill him because he is praying, so he believes he would go to heaven

4) Why is it odd that Hamlet sees the king praying?

Hamlet was also praying. He was praying for a chance to catch the king alone!

5) Why doesn’t Hamlet take this opportunity for revenge?

He sees the king praying and if he killed him at that moment, he would go to heaven. Hamlet doesn't think he belongs in heaven, so he will wait.

Scene IV

1) Describe Polonius’ advice to Gertrude.

He told her to tell Hamlet he has taken his madness too far, and he hides in the arras.

2) What is the significance of the following quote: “How now, a rat? Dead! For a ducat, dead!

This is when Hamlet kills Polonius. He thinks it was King Claudius eavesdropping on the conversation.

3) What is odd about the following quote: A bloody dead; almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king and marry with his brother.

This happened in the play within a play. Hamlet points out the obvious coinsidence she has with the play within a play. It's fun to type play within a play. play within a play!

4) Why might Gertrude say, “What have I done, that thou dar’st wag thy tongue in noise so rude against me.”

Because Hamlet, her son, gone mad, gets real with her and basically cusses her out. She is asking, what have I done to make you talk so rude to me?

5) What descriptions does Hamlet use to compare his father and his uncle?


King Hamlet
Hamlet is kind and gentlemanly, curly hair and a forehead of a Greek God, had an eye that could command like the God of War, and had a body as agile as Mercury's. Hamlet believes every God had a part in creating him.

Claudius
Claudius is the wildewed ear of corn that infects the healthy one next to it.

6) What point does Hamlet make by comparing the men?
His father is way better than Claudius could ever be. He doesn't understand how his mother could choose him over a God-like man.

7) What is disturbing about the following: Nay, but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed; stewed in corruption; honeying, and making love over the nasty sty.”
He talks about his mother being a dirty whore, having sex with someone in her family. He is disgusted at her.

8) What stops Hamlet’s ranting and raving at Gertrude? What does this figure tell Hamlet?
It's the ghost of Old Hamlet. He tells him to regroup and re-stratigise.Take a pill of the chill variety.

9) By the end of the act, Hamlet has made many statements about humanity, in general. Explain a few of his points. Do his opinions reflect his madness.
Hamlet talks to himself a lot. He talks about suicide, the afterlife, Denmark being a prison and women being bitches. These are all things that are thought of when the word 'mad' comes up, but what really is 'mad'? In Hamlet's position, I'd be thinking about some of the same things myself. Does that make me 'mad'? Hamlet's morals have been betrayed by the entire world around him, nothing is going his way. I think he has a right to think these thoughts without being classified as insane. Sure he's mad, as in angry, but he hasn't lost his mind...he's just trapped in it! Whoa! BOOM!

10) Explain the differences between the ghost in Act I with the ghost in Act III. Why might these differences reflect Hamlet’s insanity?
In the beginning, the ghost is the incentive. He is all about getting revenge, and he wants to bring evil to the world. Now, he is a little frightened at what has actually happened. He could never be a terrorist. Now, he is all about backing up, and re-planning.

Act iii Scene i/ii

Act 3

Scene 1:

1. What do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern report to Polonius?
Rosencrantz tells the king Hamlet confessed to feeling distracted, but that he wouldn't get in to it with them.

2. How does Claudius react when Polonius says, "…with devotion's visage, And pious action we do sugar o'er/ The devil himself"?
He confirms the truth about the ghost's accusation. "The harolt's cheek, beautied with plast'ring art..." -His deed is covered with his painted word.

3. What plan do Polonius, Claudius and Ophelia now put into action?
They use Ophelia to spy on Hamlet. This is when she tries to give him his love letters back.

4. What is the nature of Hamlet's soliloquy, lines 57-91?
He talks about taking action, suicide, and the afterlife. He is upset about his mother marrying his uncle, and he is upset about Ophelia not loving him as he knows she does.

5. What is Hamlet's main argument against suicide?
"But in that sleep of death what dreams may come...But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus consciuence does make cowards of us all..."
His argument is that we don't know what comes after death. There is really only one way to find out, but you couldn't tell anyone about it. It's a secret.

6. Why does Hamlet treat Ophelia as cruelly as he does? What has changed him?
He knew Polonious was there when she tried to give his letters back and they talked. He didn't want her too close to her because of what he was planning on doing to the King, so he is mean to her. Now he's mad at her because she has betrayed him. She chose to listen to her family, rather than herself in the decision of love. Inversely comparable to Juliet.

7. What thinly veiled threat to Claudius does Hamlet voice, after he becomes of his hidden presence? (lines 148-150)
He hints that somebody is gon' die! It's suggested that Hamlet is to do it because he is the one that is mad.
 
8. At the end of this scene, what does the King decide to do with Hamlet?
He wants to banish him to England.

Scene 2:

9. What qualities in Horatio cause Hamlet to enlist his assistance?
Horatio gets what Hamlet is doing. Hamlet trusts Horatio, and pretty much nobody else.

10. What does Hamlet ask Horatio to do?
He asks him to watch King Claudius and pay attention to his reaction, so that he knows whether or not to kill him.

11. Summarize what happens in the play-within-a-play.
Before the play, the King is killed by poison in the ear...kinda like how this play started...Once the big play starts, it is parallel to the world around Hamlet. The King and Queen show their love for each other, and the King's nephew kills the King. The whole reason behind doing this play was to get King Claudius to admit to killing Old Hamlet.

12. Why, in line 233, does Hamlet refer to the play-within-a-play as "The Mouse-trap"?
Because a mouse-trap has many parts, and is a thought out plan. It mirrors his plan to kill King Claudius.

13. What is the King's reaction to the play?
He gets up and leaves. It makes him confess, at least to himself, or God because he is praying, to killing Old Hamlet.

14. In lines 354-363, to what object does Hamlet compare himself? Why?
He compares himself to a flute, or some stringed instrument with "frets" because he feels that he is being "played." And he will have none of that!

15. As Hamlet goes to his mother at the end of this scene, what does he admonish himself to do?
He pretty much has lost all faith in her at this point. It's not that he wants to kill her, it's just that he wants her not to be alive anymore.

Act II Scene II

Part i

The King sends Rozencrats and Guildenstern to find out why Hamlet is acting so sad. Polonius thinks he knows why Hamlet is so down and on his way to tell the King we find out that the King of Norway wants to invade Denmark. Norway grants Fortinbras permission to levy war against the Polish. Finally, the ambassadors report that Norway needs Claudius’ permission to allow Fortinbras to pass through Denmark to attack Polland, and he agrees. Polonius then gets to tell why he thinks Hamlet is sad, and he says it is because Ophelia left him heart-broken. They then plan to make Ophelia talk to Hamlet so they can spy on him.

Part ii
Polonius tries to talk to Hamlet, but Hamlet plays him and makes a totally fool out of him, avoiding all his questions with clever and witty remarks. Polonius just blames it on his broken heart and leaves so Ophelia can drop by. Before she comes, his two friends come, Rozencrats and Guildenstern. Hamlet asks why they have come to him and gets them to admit they were sent as spies. He then sinks into his deppressed self again and talks about death and taking action. Then Polonius comes back to tell Hamlet the players are coming, and Hamlet just makes fun of him again.

Part iii
Hamlet wants to hear the speech from Virgil’s Aeneid, as related by Aeneas to Dido, telling the death of Priam during the fall of Troy. Hamlet begins the speech and then gives the floor to one of the players, who recites a long description of Priam’s death by the hand of Pyrrhus. The player goes on to speak of the grief of Hecuba, Priam’s wife, after her husband has been killed. While speaking of her agony, the player begins to weep and shake. Polonius finally cuts him off and Hamlet agrees. Before Hamlet is done with the players he asks them if they know “The Murder of Gonzago" because he wants them to recite it with some of his own speeches intertwined. Finally, Hamlet is left alone on stage and he talks about his situatoin, and what he can do about it. He plans to do this play for the reaction of Claudius, determing weather or not he should follow the instructions set fourth by the ghost to kill him.

-Gradesaver.com

Act 2 scene 2

ACT II

1) What is does Polonius tell Reynaldo in the opening of Act II? How does he plan to trap his son?
He wants  him to spy on his son and make up rumors about him to see if they are true.

2) What does this say about Polonius?
It says that he isn't a very trustworthy person. He will only do something if it directly benefits him. He reinforces a motif of lying/spying.

3) What particularly in Act II scene 1 has disturbed Ophelia?
She is mad because Hamlet was putting the moves on her but she turned him down. She could be mad that Hamlet had gotten so frisky. In the mind of a teenage boy, one would see Hamlet pulling, "The Naked Man." In which case, the man surprises the woman with nothing more than his birthday suit. Said woman then begins to make woopy with the filthies, and maybe I should stop there. Anyways, she didn't like it! Now I wonder if she really wanted to turn him down. Maybe that was what upset her.


4) Why have Rosencrantez and Guildenstern been sent to Denmark?
They are supposed to spy on Hamlet and find out what's making him so sad.

5) What does Hamlet ask the players to recite? How does the allusion mimic Hamlet’s position?
Hamlet asks him to recite a play about Dido. It was about getting revenge for their father, that is why it mimics him.


Identify the following speaker of the following lines and discuss to whom the lines are being delivered, and what do the lines mean?

6) “No, my lord, but as you did command/ I did repel his letter, and denied his access to me”
Ophelia is telling Polonius that Hamlet was coming on to her and she did what he told her to do.


7) “More matter less art”
This means get to the point, and the Queen thinks Polonius is stupid because he goes on and on just talking bullshit.


8) “That I, the son of a dear father murdered,/ Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell/ Must like a whore unpack my heart with words,
He is planning his attack on Claudius, whilst questioning his own life and the legitimacy of the ghost being his father all at the same time. He then plans that to kill the King, first he would do this play to see his reaction, ultimately making the decision off of that.


9) “Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth/ And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,/ with windlasses and with assays of bias,/ By directions find directions out.”
This is what Polonius says to Reynaldo when he tells him to make rumors about Laretes to see if they are true.

10) “For if the sun breeds maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion-Have you a daughter?”
This is one of Hamlet's moments. Moments where he is acting like a psychopath for his own comic relief possibly. Anyways he is saying that the sun can bring out good things, just as it can bring out bad things. Hamlet is the sun, and Ophelia is the dog.

11) List three metaphors (1 direct, 1 implied, 1 extended) from the play.

D: for denmark. Denmark is a prison to Hamlet.
I: is the second one, so I is for the second letter in pImp! Which is what a fishmonger is!
E: Hamlet is the sun?

12) What proof does Polonius have that he believe indicates Hamlet’s love for Ophelia?
He pulled "The Naked Man"

13) Explain the quote, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” How does this relate to Hamlet.
This is when Hamlet's friends Guildenster and Rosencrats try to find out why he is so sad. He says Denmark is like a prison. What this quote does is bring up the idea of who is to say what is good or bad? Is bad really bad? Because it a 'bad' thing might be good for somebody else. It's just all about how you look at it.

14) What is a fishmonger?
Muthha Phukkin P.I.M.P!

15) Who was Jephthah?
Hamlet compared Polonius to him. Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute.
- http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+11&version=NIV

Hamlet 1.2-4

1.
He feels awkward because his father just died, and his mother remarried too soon...to his uncle!

2.
One, he is marrying his brother's woman. Two, he needs to take power of his brother's throne.

3.
He says he has done his duty to the Dane, and his thoughts and wishes bend again toward France.

4.
A little more than kin; Hamlet feels he and Claudius are more like cousins now. And less than kind; Hamlet thinks that Claudius doesn't love his mother, and disagrees with the marriage all together.

5.
He is saying that he is getting too much attention, being the Prince of Denmark.

6.
He is mad at his mother. She married her brother in law! And she didn't even mourn her husband's death! Hamlet is troubled because he feels that nobody cared about his father, he even considers suicide.
"O that this too too sullied flesh would melt.
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His cannon 'gainst self-slaughter. O God! God!
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!" 

7.
Hamlet is talking to his mother and he is upset with her. He is wearing all black, mourning his father's death, and he just doesn't want to see her right now. He is going into an "emo" phase: feeling dissasociative, and indifferent...and wearing black, or possibly worshiping the devil...So he kind of starts to act differently, this leading to his high interest in the world of Drama.

8.
He says the ones at the wedding are the still warm leftovers from the funeral. It is relevent because it recognizes the time it took her mother to get over her husband's death. He is just talking behind her back here.

9.
They tell him that they have seen his father's ghost. Hamlet wants to see for himself. See he totally worships the devil, he probably made a "demon portal" or a pentagram.

1) What is Laertes advice to Ophelia?
Laertes doesn't want Ophelia to love Hamlet. He thinks Hamlet is going mad and he doesn't want his sister around him. He doesn't think they will last as a couple.

2) How does “The canker galls the infants of the spring/ too oft before their buttons be disclos’d” fit into the ideology of the decaying garden?
It is all about Ophelia's relationship with Hamlet. She is the Garden and he is a worm that will destroy it.

3) What analogy does Ophelia give to her brother as an answer to his advice? What does she mean?
She tells him not to be so hypocritical when he talks about love.

4) List five of the “few precepts” that Polonius gives to Laertes.
Don't speak your thoughts or be quick to action them
Don't be vulgure
Don't dress to fancy
Be nice to people but not too nice
Once you find friends you trust hold on to them
Listen to people but don't talk

5) In lines 105-109, what is the metaphor that Polonius uses to describe Hamlet’s words of love?
"taken these tenders for true pay which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly..." He is saying that she has treated herself to pay, or rewards, by tenders, or deeds, that are not sterling, or perfect. So what he means is that she needs to spend her time on better things because they will give her a better reward. Don't do Hamlet because Hamlet will not do you well. This could match the theme of prostitution.

6) List and explain one metaphor found in the lines 115-135.
"...I do know,
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the tongue vows. These blazes, daughter,
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both
Even in their promise as it is a-making,
You must not take for fire..."




Hamlet is fire; Hamlet is the Sun. Polonius  basically says to Ophelia, "Don't trust Hamlet."

7) What is Polonius’ command to Ophelia?
She is forbidden to see him.

8) In scene 4, what is Hamlet talking about in lines 13-38?
He thinks that the king throws too big of parties and that makes his country look weak. The king is celebrating and he does so with cannons and loud music, and Hamlet is just depressed and can't help but bring the mood down.

9) Why doesn’t Horatio want Hamlet to follow the ghost?
He thinks it will make him go mad

10) What is Hamlet’s command to the three guards?
They must swear not to tell anybody what they have seen on the ghost dressed in armor