Hamlet Study Guide

Text of Hamlet (from the University of Virginia's Electronic Text Center):   web version | e-book | Palm     

The Enfolded Hamlet (Bernice Kliman's online version of the Q2, and F versions of Hamlet)

Michael Best's Hamlet Texts (Downloadable texts of the Q1, Q2, and F versions of Hamlet)

St. Louis Prison Performing Arts Hamlet Project

This American Life (NPR) Report on Prison Performing Arts Hamlet Project

Discussion Questions

• How does Hamlet feel about his mother's marriage to Claudius?
• What does the ghost tell Hamlet?  What is Hamlet's response?
• What kind of character is Polonius?  What is his status in the Danish court?
• Who is Horatio, and what is his status in the Danish court?
• Why does Hamlet delay in killing Claudius?
• Is Hamlet mad, or just pretending to be mad?
• What speech does Hamlet ask the player to perform in 2.2?  Why do you think Hamlet asked for this speech in particular?  What is the effect of it on Hamlet?
• Read Hamlet's soliloquy at the end of 2.2 carefully.  What is he saying about the effect and social function of drama?
• Why does Hamlet ask the players to perform The Murder of Gonzago?  What is the effect of the play on Claudius?
• Read 3.4 carefully.  Describe the exchange between Hamlet and his mother.
• Who is Fortinbras?  What is his function in the play?
• What happens to Ophelia?  How does her death affect other characters in the play?
• Compare Hamlet's thoughts on death in 3.1 to those in 5.1.

Bibliography

George T. Wright, "Hendidys and Hamlet," PMLA 96 (1981):  168-193.