Hamlet
Questions
The most common questions about Hamlet, answered from the play.
- What is the plot of Hamlet?Hamlet is the tragedy of the prince of Denmark who receives from his father's ghost the order to avenge the murder: according to the specter, the...
- How does Hamlet end?Hamlet ends with the deaths of Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius and Hamlet himself in the duel arranged by the king, and with the arrival of Fortinbras,...
- What is the theme of Hamlet?Hamlet's strongest theme is revenge seen from the side of the one who receives the order and is slow to carry it out: what to do with an accusation...
- Who is Hamlet?Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, son of the dead king and of Queen Gertrude, and nephew and stepson of the new king, Claudius. He studied at...
- Who is Claudius in Hamlet?Claudius is the king of Denmark, brother of the dead king, married to the widow Gertrude and therefore uncle and stepfather to Hamlet. He is the one...
- Who is Gertrude in Hamlet?Gertrude is the queen of Denmark, mother of Hamlet, widow of the dead king and married to his brother Claudius. The ghost says Claudius seduced her...
- Who is Ophelia in Hamlet?Ophelia is Polonius's daughter, Laertes's sister and Hamlet's sweetheart. When her brother and father tell her to keep away from the prince, in Act...
- Who is Polonius in Hamlet?Polonius is the lord chamberlain, the chief counselor of King Claudius and father of Laertes and Ophelia. As he bids farewell to his son, who is...
- Who is Laertes in Hamlet?Laertes is Polonius's son and Ophelia's brother, a young swordsman who is in France. In Act I, scene 2, he asks the king leave to return there, and...
- Who is the ghost of Hamlet's father, and what does he want?The Ghost is the apparition with the face and armor of the dead king, Hamlet's father. On the walls of Elsinore, in Act I, scene 1, it appears to the...
- What does "To be, or not to be, that is the question" mean?"To be, or not to be, that is the question" is the first line of the soliloquy that Hamlet speaks aloud in Act III, scene 1, while Claudius and...
- What is The Mousetrap in Hamlet?The Mousetrap is the play within the play: a staging of a king's murder by poison in the ear, which Hamlet has the actors perform before Claudius to...
- Is Hamlet mad, or is he pretending to be?Hamlet warns that he may take up an eccentric conduct and says, more than once, that he is not mad. But the court does not know this and takes him to...
- Why does Hamlet delay his revenge?In the play's own words, Hamlet gives reasons for the delay and, at another moment, admits that he does not know why he has not yet acted.The first...
- Who says "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy"?The line is Hamlet's, spoken to his friend Horatio in Act I, scene 5, right after he speaks with his father's ghost: "There are more things in heaven...