Questions on Act Two                                    
 The Plot       
                                                        
A.  Polonius dispatches Reynaldo to spy on Laertes in Paris  
 by indirect means, using a 'bait of lies/gold/falsehood'  to discover the truth.

B.  Ophelia enters in a panic,
 reports that Hamlet, in a distracted state, has visited 
 her while she was reading/sleeping/sewing in her closet. 
 Both are convinced that Hamlet is 'mad for [Ophelia's]    
 love'; and decide to tell the king.                     
                                                         
C.  Claudius enlists the help of Rosencrantz and              
 Guildenstern, Hamlet's friends from
 Wittenburg/Norway/Denmark, to discover the cause of     
 Hamlet's madness.

D. Polonius introduces the ambassadors    
 returned from Norway who have succeeded in alerting the  
 King of Norway to his nephew's/cousin's/son's behaviour.

E.  Fortinbras is now to prove himself against the          
 Swedes/Germans/Poles. 

F. Polonius then explains his         
 discovery of the relationship between Ophelia and         
 Hamlet, his suspicious/dishonourable/honourable motives   
 for stopping it and Hamlet's subsequent decline into     
 madness.

G.  He reads a letter he has stolen/been
 given/intercepted from Hamlet to Ophelia to prove his    
 case.                                                    
                                                           
H.  Hamlet enters reading a book about honour/old             
 men/maggots, and the court disappears to allow Polonius  
 to try to draw out the prince. Hamlet acts as though he   
 is insane and his remarks encourage Polonius in his     
 beliefs about Hamlet's madness. 

I. Rosencrantz and         
 Guildenstern have a go at finding out the reasons for
 Hamlet's madness, suggesting he is                      
 mourning/ambitious/possessed. 

J. Hamlet denies this, tells  
 them he is melancholy/mad/acting but does not know why,   
 and quickly detects his erstwhile friends' duplicity.
 The conversation is diverted onto the topic of the
 Players who are about to arrive in Elsinore. 

K.Polonius
 re-enters to introduce them and Hamlet calls for a
 sad/cheerful/passionate speech. 

L. The sad tale of Hector's/Achilles'/Priam's death at the hands of Pyrrhus and Hecuba's woe/murder/abduction reduces the actor who
 recites the speech to tears.

M.  In his third soliloquy Hamlet bemoans his lack of
 passion in comparison to Polonius/his father/the player,
 tries to stimulate his feelings through passionate
 speech and berates himself for having done so. He then
 decides to put on a play: all that has stopped him, he
 suggests has been the possibility that the ghost may be
 a devil. A play depicting his father's death may move
 Claudius to confession, or at least look guilty. 

N. With this evidence, Hamlet will 'know [his]
 course/mind/deeds'.

 What? Why? How?

      1. In what ways is the Pyrrhus character
      similar to Hamlet? and to Claudius?

      2. How might the answer to (1) above help to
      explain Hamlet's desire to be reminded of this
      speech 'in particular'?

      3. How might we connect the content of
      Hamlet's supposedly crazy remarks to Polonius
      to what the prince is actually feeling?

      4. Name FIVE different characteristics of
      Polonius that can be proven on the basis of
      this act.

      5. Why might one suspect that Hamlet's theory
      that the ghost may be devil is not what has
      actually stopped him from taking action?

      6. What reasons for not acting are suggested
      by Hamlet himself?

      7. What different types of madness do we see
      in Hamlet during this act?

      8. What do each of the main characters feel to
      be the cause of Hamlet's madness?

      9. Why might we agree that Claudius is a good
      king?

      10. How does the Polonius and Reynaldo scene
      in II.i. contribute to the effect of the play
      as a whole?

 Imagery and Symbolism

      1. Find TWO references to disease or decay.

 Themes

      1. Who is acting a part in this act? In what
      ways?

      2. 'The time is out of joint'. In what ways
      does Hamlet discover this to be the case
      during Act Two?

      3. Find THREE references to remembering or
      forgetting our feelings.

Ê
Ian Delaney.
Copyright © 1997
Shakespearean Education
Last Updated: Monday, 23-Feb-98 11:33:31 EST
email: ian@hamlet.hypermart.net