Plot points
What country threatens Denmark at the start of the play?
Norway
Who is Hamlet’s closest friend?
Horatio
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
Marcellus
What does Yorick’s skull symbolize?
The inevitability of death / mortality.
Who is the first character to die in the play?
King Hamlet (murdered before the play begins).
Why does Polonius send Reynaldo to Paris?
To spy on Laertes and check his behavior.
Who is Ophelia’s brother?
Laertes
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
Polonius
What theme does Hamlet’s hesitation to kill Claudius highlight?
Indecision / the conflict between thought and action.
How does Polonius die?
Hamlet stabs him behind the arras.
Why does Claudius decide to send Hamlet to England?
To remove him as a threat and arrange for his death.
Why does Fortinbras want to march through Denmark?
To fight Poland over a small piece of land.
“To be, or not to be—that is the question.”
Hamlet
Why is the play-within-a-play important?
It confirms Claudius’s guilt in King Hamlet’s murder.
Who kills Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
They are executed in England because Hamlet rewrote Claudius’s letter.
What happens when Hamlet confronts his mother in Act 3?
He accidentally kills Polonius hiding behind the arras.
How does Gertrude die?
She drinks the poisoned cup meant for Hamlet.
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
Gertrude
What does Ophelia’s drowning symbolize?
Innocence destroyed / corruption spreading / loss of agency.
How does Laertes die?
He is wounded by his own poisoned sword during the duel.
How does Hamlet return to Denmark after being sent to England?
Pirates attack his ship and bring him back.
What promise does Hamlet make Horatio at the end?
To live and tell Hamlet’s story.
“There is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will.”
Hamlet
What theme is reinforced by the many deaths at the end of the play?
The destructive cycle of revenge.
Who kills Claudius, and how?
Hamlet kills him by stabbing him with the poisoned sword and forcing him to drink the poisoned wine.