- Old Hamlet was the king of Denmark. Who was the "serpent that did sting" him? Who is elected to be his successor? What does his wife do soon after he's dead?
- Fortinbras of Norway was a king. What did Hamlet senior do to him? According to the "Embassadors" sent to Norway, what does young Fortinbras vow to stop doing? And who inherits Old Fortinbras' throne?
- Claudius is the king of Denmark. While he is "a-praying," why does Hamlet refuse to kill him? What happens to Claudius's prayerful words?
- Polonius is a high court official. What "rash and bloody deed" does Hamlet do to him? What does Laertes vow to do "Most throughly for my father"? What is Ophelia's response to her father's death?
- Priam was king of Troy. What does Pyrrhus do to him? How does his wife Hecuba react?
- Gonzago is a duke. What did Lucianus do to him? What happened to Gonzago's wife?
- Nero was a Roman emperor. Hamlet does not want to imitate him. What did Nero do to his mother? (Check the textbook for notes on the relevant speech.)
Electronic Text Exercises for Hamlet
by Fran Teague and Patsy Worrall
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I. Character
Let's get the various characters straight. First go to the list of Characters
or Dramatis Personae and construct a simple family tree for the Hamlet
and Polonius families. To understand a central pattern, search for proper
names or key phrases that you'll find in the items below:
A truly foolish question: Would you like to be a prominent political figure in this play? What do you think your family would do if you were?
II. Plot:
1. In his first soliloquy, Hamlet laments because God has forbidden
or fixed "his canon 'gainst" what sin?
2. Immediately after that soliloquy, his friends bring him some news. What
is it?
3. Who first mentions the word "revenge"?
4. Hamlet speaks of his "prophetic soul"; what has his soul prophesied?
5. Before the Ghost says "Fare thee well" to Hamlet, it gives
him a 3-part order. What is the ghost's command?
6. Hamlet pretends to be mad. What, according to Gertrude, causes "her
son's distemper"? According to Polonius, what is the "cause of
this defect"? According to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, why does
Hamlet think "Denmark's a prison"?
7. Reciting his speech about Hecuba, the player is moved to tears. What
does Hamlet think the player would do "Had he the motive and the cue
for passion" of a murdered father?
8. What happens if the ghost is "a dev'l"?
9. Hamlet speaks of bad dreams on two occasions. What does he say of them?
10. Hamlet steals a "grand commission" that Claudius wrote to
the King of England. What does Claudius request in that letter? Using his
father's signet ring, Hamlet writes a new letter; what does it request
and whom does it affect?
11. Who drinks a "pois'ned cup"? Who is "justly kill'd with
his own treachery"? Who is struck with a "point envenom'd"?
Who is forced to drink "this potion"? Who has Hamlet's "dying
voice" to become the new monarch?
III. Images in Hamlet
To look at the play's disease imagery, search for these words and their variants: corrupt* diseas* envenom* infect* mildew* pois'n* poison* ulcer* venom* Does the number of such images strike you as unusual? (You might choose a different Shakespearean play and compare the imagery in it.) Where do these words occur in Hamlet? Can you account for the distribution of the imagery, i.e., why are there no disease references in the early part of play?
Food: Another image pattern is the one associated with food, according to Caroline Spurgeon. Enter these terms: drink* fed feed* feast* food* meats. Again, think about the frequency with which the terms are used. Is the image pattern is peculiar to Hamlet? (Hint: Spurgeon would say no.) Where are the terms used? If they seem to occur throughout the play, why? To what appetite does the pattern often refer?
Enter terms for weapons such as sword* rapier* or dagger*. Now look at the passages. How often is the term used in a passage that describes someone who refrains from using the weapon? And what are the implications?
Shakespeare, like most Renaissance playwrights, studied Latin in his grammar school, particularly works by the Roman playwrights Seneca and Plautus; he had completed the play Julius Caesar not long before he wrote Hamlet. Use the search engine to see if you can find any evidence in Hamlet of his interest in Rome and the Romans or of particular classical figures.
What do the various characters have to say about fortune? How is fortune personified?