hamlet

Question 1

list 4 ways in which an atmosphere of tension is created

Answer 1

• midnight and darkness as characters cannot see each other
• soldiers are on watch for attack
• series of questions being asked
• ghost appearance

Question 2

list four ways the ghost is characterised

Answer 2

• appearing three nights in a row
• delay of speech
• appearance being seen as a ‘strange eruption’
• wearing armour and swords although image of a ghost

Question 3

what important themes are introduced in act 1

Answer 3

death, uncertainty, good and evil, supernatural, betrayal, light and dark

Question 4

what important motifs are introduced in act 1

Answer 4

theatrical language, dead fathers, duets, duels

Question 5

list the interruptions that occur in act 1

Answer 5

• the ghost’s appearance interrupting barnardo’s story
• the crowing cock

Question 6

what are the characters introduced in act 1

Answer 6

horatio, the ghost/ old hamlet , barnado

Question 7

what language methods are used in act 1

Answer 7

questions, interruptions, half lines, dichotomy,

Question 8

list the symbolic images in act 1

Answer 8

death of old hamlet
war of denmark
the crowing cock
the number three

Question 9

list the contrasting pairs shown in act 1

Answer 9

horatio and hamlet: stoic and sceptic
heaven and earth
dark and light
good and evil

Question 10

who are the characters introduced in act 2

Answer 10

claudius, gertrude, hamlet

Question 11

list the language techniques in claudius’s speech

Answer 11

• overusing names
• unnecessary repetitions - laertes’s name stressed four times in nine lines
• contortion of syntax

Question 12

list the images associated with the scene in act 2

Answer 12

mouths, stomachs, eating to demonstrate gluttony

Question 13

what relationship is focused on in scene 2

Answer 13

familial love: incest and unconventional

Question 14

what is the first type of murder that occurs in hamlet

Answer 14

fratricide: killing one’s brother or sister

Question 15

list the ways claudius is characterised in scene 2

Answer 15

• insincere
• attention seeking with his speech focusing only on him
• manipulative
• duplicitous via his inner conflicts

Question 16

list the ways hamlet is characterised in scene 2

Answer 16

• sensitive
• feeling of reject/ neglection
• disappointed with his mother’s actions
• problematic and dramatic

Question 17

what language techniques are demonstrated in hamlet’s aside in scene 2

Answer 17

word play, linguistic proverbs, doubles

Question 18

how is hamlet demonstrated through his first aside

Answer 18

expressing his inner feelings of being cut off from those around him

Question 19

what important themes are introduced in scene 2

Answer 19

royalty, deception, incest, mother and son relationship

Question 20

what important motifs are introduced in scene 2

Answer 20

familial love, speeches, communication via asides,