Questions on Act One                                     
 The Plot  
                         
A.  Horatio, Marcellus and Francisco/Barnardo/Voltemand   
 encounter the silent apparition on the battlements,     
 discuss its possible connection with the threat of
 invasion from the disgruntled Fortinbras and decide to   
 tell Hamlet/Claudius/Gertrude.

B.  Claudius explains his      
 motives for marrying Gertrude, allows Laertes to go to    
 France/Norway/Wittenburg and, together with Gertrude,     
 counsels Hamlet to stop mourning and to stay in Denmark. 
 
C.  Hamlet bewails the state of the world and his mother's    
 frailty/virginity/lust and is told of the apparition.

D. Laertes and Polonius counsel Ophelia to stop seeing       
 Hamlet. Hamlet, Horatio and the guards encounter the      
 apparition and Hamlet follows. It persuades Hamlet to     
 revenge its 'unnatural/unkind/diabolical' murder. After
 it leaves, Hamlet swears the others to secrecy and       
 reveals his plan to put on an 'antic disposition'         
                                                           
 What? Why? How?                                           
                                                           
      1. What reasons do Laertes and Polonius give
      for their command to Ophelia to stop seeing         
      Hamlet? Are they reasonable?                         
                                                           
      2. What country is Horatio from? What makes it difficult to decide?                                 
                                                          
      3. What similarities are there in the thoughts       
      contained in each of the soliloquies in this        
      act? (In I.ii. after Claudius and the court
      leave and in I.v. after the ghost leaves)            
                         
      4. The first scene could be (and has been) cut      
      without damaging the plot. For what reasons
      would you wish to include it in a performance?

      5. In what ways is the language spoken by the
      apparition different to the normal language of
      the play?

      6. What signs are we given of a potential for
      madness on Hamlet's part?

      7. How does Claudius attempt to establish his
      popularity in the second scene?

      8. How can we tell Denmark is a Catholic
      country? Find TWO references which help to
      suggest this.

      9. How did Old Hamlet tackle foreign policy,
      and how does this contrast with Claudius?

      10. What does Hamlet believe about his
      father's death before he meets the apparition?

 Stagecraft

      1. How does Shakespeare create tension in the
      first scene? How does he surprise us? How does
      he mislead us?

      2. How does Shakespeare invite us to compare
      and contrast Hamlet with Laertes and
      Fortinbras?

      3. How does Shakespeare create tension in the
      second scene?

 Imagery and Symbolism

      1. Find TWO references to disease or decay.

 Themes

      1. The ghost comes in 'questionable shape'.
      Find THREE references to the idea that it may
      not be what it seems.

      2. Find THREE other references to characters
      not being what they seem.

      3. The prince must decide whether and how to
      act according to his dead father's wishes.
      Find THREE references to remembering or
      forgetting.

      4. The play suggests that our lives may be
      controlled by a divine power. Find THREE
      references to Fate or Providence.

Ê
Ian Delaney.
Copyright © 1997
Shakespearean Education
Last Updated: Monday, 23-Feb-98 11:32:57 EST
email: ian@hamlet.hypermart.net
                           [Questions on Act One]