Hamlet+Act+3+Questions

Instead of a regular log, please answer the following questions and post to wiki log page (label).
 * Study Guide questions for Hamlet**

Answer 5 of the 8. Most of these questions are from or altered from Professor Boyer at http://english.sxu.edu/boyer/304_rdg_qst/ham_nor_qst.htm Use line numbers as guides. These are not the line numbers in our book.
 * Act 3.1**

1. What advice does Hamlet have for the actors? Why?

2. Why does Hamlet say he especially likes Horatio (Does Hamlet see Horatio as similar to him or different from him?

3. What function is served by the discussion of Polonius as an actor (3.1.89-96)? Hamlet was written within a year or two of Julius Caesar; what is added to the scene for the audience if Richard Burbage, playing Hamlet, also played Brutus? Can you guess what part the actor playing Polonius might have played in Julius Caesar?

4. Based on 3.2.119, how much time elapsed between Act 1 and Act 2 (since the action has been continuous since the beginning of Act 2)?

5. How does the play-within-the-play (3.1.122.1-242) reflect the issues bothering Hamlet? Can you identify the lines he has had inserted? (Don't worry, nobody else can either.) Interestingly, the story of Gonzago as known outside Hamlet turns into a revenge story, with Gonzago's son revenging his father's death. So what we've seen is only the first few minutes of a much longer play. What lines would hit the intended audience hardest? (Consider, certainly, 3.2.159-62.) Although Hamlet is interested in Claudius' response, notice that so far Gertrude has taken the strongest "hits" (except, perhaps, for the poisoning in the earone of the new "Italianate" evil inventions, a way to murder someone without it appearing to be murder). Consider also the Player King's more abstract speech in 3.2.1168-195. How does this speech reflect issues that appear elsewhere in the play?

6. What is Claudius' mood as he stops the play at 3.2.247? How does Hamlet respond? If Hamlet has learned that Claudius is indeed guilty (if that's why he stopped the play and not for some other reason), Claudius has also learned something from the presentation of the play. What has Claudius learned?

7. What message do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have for Hamlet? Despite the chaos at the end of the play, is this message unexpected after hearing Polonius' suggestion at the end of the Nunnery scene (3.1)? What lesson does Hamlet teach with a recorder?

8. Read Hamlet's fifth soliloquy carefully (3.2.358-69). How is it different from the other soliloquies? What is the mood of the soliloquy? How do you react to it? What about line 360? What is happening to Hamlet?

1. What has Claudius decided to do with Hamlet? Who will go with him? What "theoretical" message about kingship does Rosencrantz tell to Claudius?
 * 3.3** -- Answer 3 of the following.

2. Where is Polonius going?

3. What does Claudius admit in his attempt to pray? Has the play actually had an effect on him? Why can't he ask for forgiveness?

4. What happens when Hamlet enters? Why doesn't Hamlet kill Claudius then? What is ironic about Hamlet's decision?

QUIZ/TEST NEXT CLASS (7ish overview questions, 1 passage AP STYLE, 1 essay AP STYLE