Hamlet – Compare and contrast Hamlet’s feigned madness with Ophelia’s real madness.

Hamlet – Compare and contrast Hamlet’s feigned madness with Ophelia’s real madness.

What ideas about madness (insanity) does Shakespeare want us to think about? Relate your conclusions to the play’s overall meaning (theme).
1. Why does Hamlet delay so long in following the ghost’s command? Consider the way a
combination of factors contribute to the cause for his delay. Then explore the theme or themes
suggested by your interpretation of his delay.
2. To what extent is this a play about military issues? Pick out military references and relate them to
the central dramatic question about Hamlet’s dilemma. How does attention to the military
elements in the play help to enrich its central meaning? Relate your conclusions to the play’s
overall meaning (theme).
3. How do the parallels in the circumstances of Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras help us understand
the play’s central conflict and its overall meaning? Consider both similarities and differences in
reaching your interpretation. Relate your conclusions to the play’s overall meaning (theme).
4. Compare and contrast Hamlet’s feigned madness with Ophelia’s real madness. What ideas about
madness (insanity) does Shakespeare want us to think about? Relate your conclusions to the
play’s overall meaning (theme).
5. What strong and weak personality traits do you find in Ophelia? Be sure to define what you
mean by strong and weak, and why you feel your definitions are valid. Then use specific
evidence from the play to support your opinion of Ophelia’s weaknesses and strengths. Finally,
relate Ophelia’s inner conflict with the rest of the play. How does Ophelia’s story add to the
meaning of the play as a whole?
6. How guilty is Gertrude? What has she done that is morally wrong? Be sure to explain how you
inferred the moral code that Shakespeare seems to be using. Don’t just trust what Hamlet accuses
Gertrude of in the bedroom scene. After analyzing her relative guilt and innocence, relate your
conclusion to the central theme of the play as a whole. How does Gertrude’s internal conflict add
meaning to the rest of the play?
7. Pick out the particularly sexists lines in Hamlet in reference to Gertrude and Ophelia. After
thinking about the context in which Shakespeare puts them (for example, Hamlet’s state of mind
or the personality of Polonius), write a paper agreeing or disagreeing with the charge that
Shakespeare, in the play Hamlet, reveals himself to be a male chauvinist who had a low opinion of
women’ s worth.
8. What is the importance of Horatio in the play? Do you agree with Harold Bloom that we would
not be able to relate to the character of Hamlet, to admire or “love” him, if Horatio “our
representative,” was not in the play? How does Horatio enable Shakespeare to create a play that
is both effective theatrical entertainment and a work of art with meaning? After considering all of
Horatio’s lines, select some of the most important ones to discuss in support of your conclusions.
9. How do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern help Shakespeare (1) to create dramatic and comic
situations while advancing the plot, and (2) develop one or more of the play’s central themes?
10. Explore the aspects of Hamlet that focus on the dramatic arts (acting, staging, playing roles) both
in literal ways and figurative ways. Literally, for example, the players are at the castle to put on a
play, which Hamlet takes great interest in and talks about, even writing lines to include in their
production. Figuratively, for example, Hamlet acts mad, Claudius acts innocent, Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern act sincere, etc. Relate your conclusions to the play’s overall meaning (theme)
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