Act 1
This was the time that the ghost generally made its appearance.
Shortly after midnight
These are the two characters Claudius gets to keep an eye on Hamlet.
Who are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
This character thinks very highly of himself; he likes to talk and thinks he's very intelligent
Who is Polonius?
This person makes a plan with Claudius to kill Hamlet.
Who is Laertes?
This court jester who shares a fate (death) with Alexander the Great.
Who is Yorick?
Some say overthinking and an inability to act is Hamlet's _____ (a dramatic device that indicates a weakness).
What is hamartia?
This is the relationship between Claudius and Hamlet.
What is uncle/nephew and stepfather/son?
This is the reason Polonius gives for Hamlet's madness
He loves Ophelia.
This is why Hamlet's line to Ophelia "Get thee to a nunnery" was confusing, and possibly insulting.
What is a nunnery could mean a convent or a brothel.
This is Claudius' greatest concern throughout the events of the play.
What is looking good/avoiding people talking badly about him?
The gravediggers offers the audience this after the sadness of Ophelia's death.
What is comic relief?
Hamlet pretending to be insane... or perhaps actually being mad speaks to the theme of...
What is appearance v. reality?
These two men warn Ophelia not to trust Hamlet.
Who are Laertes and Polonius?
This is Hamlet's plan to figure out if Claudius is really guilty of what the ghost claims.
What is perform a play of the murder and see how he reacts?
This is the place where Polonius was murdered
Behind the curtain in Gertrude's bedroom.
Ophelia's death provides the viewer with this dramatic device.
What is catharsis?
This is how Claudius died.
What is he was stabbed by Hamlet with a poisoned sharpened sword and drank a sip of poison?
This is Hamlet's dying request of Horatio.
What is...to tell his story.
This is the only character the ghost will speak to.
Who is Hamlet?
This is Polonius' plan to see if Hamlet is really crazy in love.
What is spy on him while he talks to Ophelia.
In Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy, he muses on this.
Whether it is better to live or to die
After her father's death, Ophelia begins to act insane, handing out these objects to Claudius, Laertes and Gertrude.
What are flowers?
Before he dies, Laertes makes this request of Hamlet.
What is forgiveness?
Pirates kidnapping Hamlet and returning him to Denmark is an example of this dramatic device.
What is deus ex machina?
These are the TWO primary requests that the ghost makes.
What are avenge his death and do not harm Gertrude?
Hamlet compared Denmark to this when speaking with his "friends."
a prison
This is why Hamlet doesn't kill Claudius while he prays.
What is he doesn't want him to go to Heaven.
This is the literary device Claudius used in his statement, "Do it, England/ For like the hectic in my blood he rages/ And thou must cure me."
Hamlet's choice for king as he dies by the poison-tipped sword.
Who is Prince Fortinbras?
These two characters are foils to Prince Hamlet.
Who are Fortinbras & Laertes?