Study Questions &
Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. Shakespeare includes characters in
Hamlet who
are obvious foils for Hamlet, including, most obviously, Horatio,
Fortinbras, Claudius, and Laertes. Compare and contrast Hamlet with
each of these characters. How are they alike? How are they different?
How does each respond to the crises with which he is faced?
2. Many critics take a deterministic
view of
Hamlet’s plot, arguing that the prince’s
inability to act and tendency toward melancholy reflection is a
“tragic flaw” that leads inevitably to his demise. Is this an accurate
way of understanding the play? Why or why not? Given Hamlet’s character
and situation, would another outcome of the play have been possible?
3. Throughout the play, Hamlet claims
to be feigning madness, but his portrayal of a madman is so intense and
so convincing that many readers believe that Hamlet actually slips
into insanity at certain moments in the play. Do you think this
is true, or is Hamlet merely play-acting insanity? What evidence
can you cite for either claim?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Think about Hamlet’s relationship
with Ophelia. Does he love her? Does he stop loving her? Did he
ever love her? What evidence can you find in the play to support your opinion?
2. Consider Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern’s role in the play. Why might Shakespeare have created
characters like this? Are they there for comic relief, or do they
serve a more serious purpose? Why does the news of their deaths
come only after the deaths of the royal family in Act V, as if this
news were not anticlimactic? Is it acceptable for Hamlet to treat
them as he does? Why or why not?
3. Analyze the use of descriptions
and images in Hamlet. How does Shakespeare use
descriptive language to enhance the visual possibilities of a stage
production? How does he use imagery to create a mood of tension,
suspense, fear, and despair?
4. Analyze the use of comedy
in Hamlet, paying particular attention to the gravediggers,
Osric, and Polonius. Does comedy serve merely to relieve the tension
of the tragedy, or do the comic scenes serve a more serious thematic
purpose as well?
5. Suicide is an important theme
in Hamlet. Discuss how the play treats the idea
of suicide morally, religiously, and aesthetically, with particular
attention to Hamlet’s two important statements about suicide: the
“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt” soliloquy (I.ii.129–158)
and the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy (III.i.56–88).
Why does Hamlet believe that, although capable of suicide, most
human beings choose to live, despite the cruelty, pain, and injustice
of the world?
