Act IV
What does Laertes do at Ophelia's gravesite that is scandalous? How does Hamlet react?
He jumps in the grave with Ophelia. Hamlet responds with over-the-top grief like it's a competition.
A major difference between Laertes and Hamlet is that Laertes...
... finds solace for his grief by taking action
How many brothers could not have loved Ophelia as much as Hamlet did? (Scene 1)? Be specific.
What is 40,000 brothers.
In Hamlet’s final apology to Laertes before their duel, what does he say was to blame for the wrong he did to Laertes?
his madness
In Act IV, Scene 3, Hamlet uses a metaphor to refer to Rosencrantz as what? Be specific by also explaining what this metaphor meant.
What is a sponge for King Claudius, meaning he knows that Rosencrantz is in the king’s power (control).
What is the dramatic irony of Hamlet’s wanting to court the favor of Laertes?
The audience knows that Laertes is planning to kill Hamlet.
How does hearing about Fortinbras’s expedition in Scene 4 affect Hamlet?
He resolves to follow Fortinbras’s example and pursue his object of vengeance with passion.
What does Hamlet say will show Horatio’s true friendship to him?
Staying alive so that he can bear witness to what happened.
Name that literary device! Hamlet says that he would “drink up eisel, eat a crocodile” to show his love for Ophelia. This is an example of....
hyperbole!
After Hamlet kills Polonius, the queen immediately tells Claudius. This shows that she
maintains her greater allegiance to Claudius
At the end of Scene 3 and considering sending Hamlet to the King of England, Claudius says to himself, “For like the hectic in my blood he rages, / And thou must cure me.” What does Claudius mean by this comparison?
The king of England, like a doctor, must bring Claudius back to health by killing Hamlet.
There are four people in the final scene of the play that are still alive and who are specifically named. Who are they?
Who is Horatio, Fortinbras, an Ambassador, and Osric.
Shakespeare most likely chose to have the gravedigger use prose (sentence-like poetry) in Scene 1, Act V to....
At the beginning of Scene 1, Act IV, Claudius responds to the news that Hamlet has killed Polonius by saying, “It had been so with us, had we been there.” This comment reveals that...
... Claudius's first thought is that it might have happened to him.
What can be inferred from the queen’s desire to avoid speaking with Ophelia in Scene 5?
She feels guilt over the death of Polonius at her son’s hand.
SPEED ROUND ALL TEAMS - FIRST ONE DONE CORRECTLY GETS DOUBLE POINTS - Who can name all the main events (actions) leading to Claudius's death?
1. Claudius kills King Hamlet and marries Gertrude.
2. King Hamlet's ghost presents itself to young Hamlet and tells him to avenge his death and leave Gertrude alone.
3. Hamlet devises a plan to act mad while Claudius and Polonius spy on Hamlet.
4. Everyone thinks Hamlet has gone mad because of his love for Ophelia.
5. Hamlet tells Ophelia to "get thee to a nunnery" and basically breaks up with her harshly.
6. Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius in his mother's chambers, mistaking him for Claudius.
7. Claudius makes a plan to send Hamlet to the King of England to be put to death.
8. Ophelia loses her mind in learning about the death of her father and dies by self-drowning.
9. Hamlet's ship to England gets overtaken by pirates and he manages to get himself back to Denmark.
10. Laertes returns to Denmark and devises a plan with Claudius to challenge Hamlet to a duel with an envenomed sword with a backup glass of poisoned wine in case Laertes loses.
11. Hamlet and Laertes compete over who can show the most grief at Ophelia's gravesite.
12. The duel begins and Hamlet and Laertes both get wounded by the poisoned sword, and among this, Gertrude unknowingly drinks the poisoned glass of wine.
13. Hamlet then wounds Claudius with the poisoned sword, and then forces him to drink the rest of the poisoned wine.
14. Claudius dies, and then Hamlet shortly after.