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.