Hamlet: Madness

Question 1

‘To ____ an _____ disposition on’

Answer 1

‘To put an antic disposition on’

A1 S (Hamlet)

Question 2

‘I am but ___ north-_____ _____’
‘mad in _____’

Answer 2

‘I am but mad north-north west’
‘mad in craft’

A2 S2 (Hamlet)
A3 S4

Question 3

‘To ___, or not to ___, that is the _________:’

Answer 3

‘To be, or not to be, that is the question:’

A3 S1 (Hamlet)

Question 4

‘Mad as the ____ and _____ when both ________ which is the ________’

Answer 4

‘Mad as the sea and wind when both contend which is the mightier’

A4 S1 (Gertrude)

Question 5

‘Poor ________ ________ from herself and her ____ _____________’

Answer 5

‘Poor Ophelia divided from herself and her fair judgement’

A4 S5

Question 6

Ophelia’s madness in the Kenneth Branagh 1996 production

Answer 6

ACT 4 SCENE 5:

• Ophelia is laying on the floor, wearing a straight jacket and head strap
• Ophelia hysterically dances and sings to herself

(reflects her madness and insanity/shows her poor treatment within the court)

Question 7

‘A girl ____________ physically and _______ from the pangs of ___________ love’

Answer 7

‘A girl suffering physically and mentally from the pangs of rejected love’

Carol Camden, (20th)

Question 8

‘There need by no ______, then, that Hamlet’s ____________ was really _______’

Answer 8

‘There need by no doubt, then, that Hamlet’s madness was really feigned’

Alexander W Crawford, C.21

Question 9

‘This is the very _________ of your ______’

Answer 9

‘This is the very coinage of your brain’

A3 S4

Question 10

‘His _________ is poor Hamlet’s _______’

Answer 10

‘His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy’

A5 S2 (Hamlet’s excuse to Laertes for his actions)

Question 11

‘Becomes Hamlets ___-_______, giving expression, in some sense, ______ out what he _______’

Answer 11

(Ophelia) ‘Becomes Hamlet’s mad-double, giving expression, in some sense, acting out what he cannot’

Fox-Good (20th)

Question 12

Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ speech in Simon Godwin, Paapa Essiedu (2016)

Answer 12

ACT 3 SCENE 1:

• Hamlet appears mentally/physically drained
• His costume is disheveled (pants folded at different levels, covered in paint)
• Tear running down his cheek, speech in a slow/tearful manner
• Walks down the stairs on the stage (descending into madness)
• constantly moving, shifting and fiddling=
  erratic

Question 13

Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ speech in Kenneth Branagh (1996)

Answer 13

ACT 3 SCENE 1:

• Hamlet wearing all black/mourning clothes (state of dismay/grief)
• Hamlet speaks in front of two-way mirror which Polonius and Claudius are hidden behind
• Hamlet appears calm and calculated rather than mad or crazy

Question 14

‘____________ in madness’

Answer 14

‘document in madness’ (about Ophelia)

Question 15

‘Hamlet is ____________ from a ___________ depression’

Answer 15

‘Hamlet is suffering from a melancholic depression’

A.C Bradley (20th)
- Reference to 4 humours, Hamlet has an excess of black bile

Question 16

Hamlets ‘to be or not to be’ speech in RSC 2025 Luke Thallon production

Answer 16

A3 S1:
- Hamlet holding a gun, points at himself/places in his mouth ready to shoot
- Unkempt with his t-shirt unbuttoned/fallen off his shoulder, is barefoot

Question 17

Ophelia’s madness in RSC 2025 Luke Thallon production

Answer 17

A4 S5:

• Ophelia removes her clothes + jumps onto Claudius’ arms
• Interpretive dance (she is lifted in the air and spun = her spiral into madness)
• Did not give flowers, gave out other objects e.g crucifix to Claudius (reflects her madness, her words do not correlate with her actions)

Question 18

Hamlet’s madness in RSC 2025 Luke Thallon production

Answer 18

• Madness seems to be genuine/not a meticulous act
• Random/unpredictable outbursts throughout e.gt barks/growls at the audience + characters, randomly speaks in spanish
• Only Hamlet can see the ghost, only appears in A1 S5 (shows his madness from the beginning, ghost a figment of his imagination)