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| ACT I, SCENE 1 What is the mood of the opening scene? How is it established? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 1 Why is a strict watch being maintained outside the castle of Elsinore? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 1 •Why is Horatio being included in the next watch? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 1 •What was the outcome of the conflict between King Hamlet and King Fortinbras of Norway? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 2 •In his inaugural address to his court, what does Claudius reveal about how his fortunes have changed with the death of his brother? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 2 What problems does Claudius need to address in this passage? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 2 How does Claudius respond to Hamlet in this scene? Why do you think he refuses Hamlet’s request to return to school in Europe? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 2 What actual facts do we learn from Hamlet’s first soliloquy? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 3 Who is Polonius? Laertes? Ophelia? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 3 What advice does Laertes give Ophelia about Hamlet? What reason does he give? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 3 List in your own words at least four things Polonius advises his son. |
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| ACT I, SCENE 3 How does Polonius’s treatment of Laertes differ from his treatment of Ophelia? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 3 What order does Polonius give Ophelia? |
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ACT I, SCENE 4 Read carefully Hamlet’s passage beginning “aye, marry, is ‘t.”
- What does Hamlet seem to be saying about the behavior at court?
- What point does he make about men in general and how they are judged? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 4 Why do Hamlet’s friends try to prevent him from following the ghost? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 4 What does Marcellus’s line “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” mean? What universal meaning has it taken on? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 5 What important information does this scene provide about the crime? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 5 What terrible responsibility does the ghost lay on Hamlet? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 5 What is his immediate response to this responsibility? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 5 Why do you think Hamlet swears his friends to secrecy? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 5 What does Hamlet mean when he says to his friends that he may “put an antic disposition on”? |
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| ACT I, SCENE 5 Explain what you believe Hamlet’s dilemma is at the end of Act I. |
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| ACT I, SCENE 5 What conflicts do you see set up in the play? What different plot lines? |
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