Act 1, Scene 2

Question 1

Hamlet: “A little more than kin…………

Answer 1

…………..less than kind.” - Stating that him and Claudius don’t share the same qualities. He’s saying that him and Claudius are closer than most relatives, but very distant.

Question 2

Claudius: “How is it that…………..

Answer 2

………….the clouds still hang on you.” - why are you so depressed? why are you still upset about your Father’s death?

Question 3

Hamlet: “Seems, madam!…………

Answer 3

……………nay it is; I know not ‘seems.’” - Telling Gertrude that he doesn’t “seem” upset, he is actually deeply sad / grief stricken over the death of his Father. He isn’t just wearing black for show like everyone else.

Question 4

Hamlet: “For they are actions that a……..

Answer 4

……………man might play.” - Stating to Gertrude that it’s not just about his black clothing and grief stricken facial expressions, as anyone can put those on. He feels it on the inside - he’s feeling real grief, not just mourning for show like the others around him.

Question 5

Hamlet: “ ‘Tis not alone my inky……..

Answer 5

……….cloak.” - Hamlet is wearing a black cloak to mourn the death of his Father, alongside many others who aren’t sincere and truly upset about the death of his Father.

Question 6

Gertrude: “Why seems it so………

Answer 6

………..particular with thee?” - Gertrude is saying to Hamlet that if it is such a common thing that people die, why are you so upset about your Father? It’s an inevitable part of being human.

Question 7

Gertrude: “Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die……………

Answer 7

………..Passing through nature to eternity.” - Trying to comfort Hamlet by saying that it is common for people to die, and that one day we all will, but also telling him to ‘snap out of it.’

Question 8

Claudius: “ ‘Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet………….

Answer 8

………….To give these mourning days to your Father.”

Question 9

Claudius: “But, you must know, your Father……………………

Answer 9

…………….lost a Father; That Father lost, lost his.”

Question 10

Claudius: “ ‘Tis unmanly………….

Answer 10

…………grief.” - Claudius is implying that Hamlet is weak and that to cry is what women do.

Question 11

Claudius: “You are the most immediate to our throne; And with no less………..

Answer 11

………….nobility of love Than that which dearest Father bears his son.” - Telling Hamlet that he loves him like a Father loves his son, and to also get over Old Hamlet’s death as Claudius is his Father now.

Question 12

Claudius: “We bend you to remain Here in………..

Answer 12

……….the cheer and comfort of our eye.” - Claudius is telling Hamlet that he doesn’t want him to go back to University in Wittenberg, so that him and Gertrude can keep an eye on him. Perhaps this is in case he starts an army.

Question 13

Hamlet: “I shall in all my best…….

Answer 13

………..obey you madam.” - Hamlet is ignoring / disobeying Claudius and reflects a cold anger towards his Mother.

Question 14

Claudius: “A heart unfortified……….

Answer 14

………….a mind impatient.” - Claudius is telling Hamlet that he thinks he is too sad and therefore not clever enough to cope with death.

Question 15

Claudius: “Of impious………….

Answer 15

………..stubbornness.” - Because Hamlet is struggling to accept the death of his Father, Claudius accuses him of questioning God’s judgement and going against religion.

Question 16

Hamlet: “O, that this too too solid…………

Answer 16

……….flesh would melt. Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!” - Hamlet wants to melt away into a dew and escape the troubles of life.

Question 17

Hamlet: “How weary, stale………

Answer 17

……….flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world!”

Question 18

Hamlet: “ ‘Tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed……….

Answer 18

…………things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely.”

Question 19

Hamlet: “Why, she would hang on him, As if……….

Answer 19

…………Increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on.”

Question 20

Hamlet: “She married. O, most……….

Answer 20

………..wicked speed.”

Question 21

Hamlet: “Incestuous……….

Answer 21

…………sheets.”

Question 22

Hamlet: “It is not nor it cannot come to good: But break, my heart, for I must…………….

Answer 22

…………hold my tongue.”

Question 23

Hamlet: “A beast, that wants discourse of reason…………..

Answer 23

……………Would have mourn’d longer”

Question 24

Hamlet: “Married with my uncle, My father’s brother……….

Answer 24

……….but no more like my father Than I to Hercules.”

Question 25

Hamlet: “Ere yet the salt of most…………

Answer 25

…………unrighteous tears.”

Question 26

Horatio: “My lord, I think I saw him………..

Answer 26

…………yesternight.”
Hamlet: “Saw? Who?”
Horatio: “My lord, the king your father.”
Hamlet: “The king my father!” - Horatio breaking the news to Hamlet that he thinks he saw the ghost of Old Hamlet.

Question 27

Hamlet: “Did you speak to it?”…………..

Answer 27

……………….Horatio: “My lord; I did; But answer it made none.”

Question 28

Hamlet: “Then saw you not his face?”…………

Answer 28

……………Horatio: “O, yes, my lord. A countenance more in sorrow than in anger.”

Question 29

Hamlet: “My father’s spirit in………….

Answer 29

…………..arms! all is not well.”