Hamlet Final Discussion Questions

In all, what do you think of Prince Hamlet. How would you describe him In all, what do you think of Prince Hamlet? How would you describe him? Does he deserve our sympathy...or do you find him petulant and exasperating? Does he change or mature by the play's end? Most important, why has he endured as literature's most brilliant character? Hamlet seems preoccupied with death for much of the play; what new insight does the graveyard scene reveal regarding his attitude toward mortality? Toward life, fame, and accomplishment? How does this attitude connect to his central conflict in the play?

What is the purpose of the play-within-a-play besides to entrap the king? How does this fit into the context of this text? In the beginning of the play, the audience finds out Hamlet plans to feign madness. How does this madness affect him throughout the play? Is it feigned or real? What does Hamlet consider in his famous, “To be or not to be” soliloquy? What makes this particular soliloquy the most quoted in all of Shakespeare, in your opinion? Remember to use textual support.

Shakespeare creates a contrast between three sons, all set on avenging their fathers' deaths. Two are resolute while one seems anything but. Talk about the difference between the three young men. Are we to admire Laertes and Fortinbras over Hamlet because of their doggedness in pursuing their goals? Or are there flaws in Laertes's and Fortinbras’s characters, as well? At one point, Polonius is called a fool by Hamlet. Looking at Polonius’s place in this play, the dialogue he provides, and his relationship with other characters, how is this accurate or inaccurate?

How does Laertes respond to his father’s death. to Ophelia’s How does Laertes respond to his father’s death? to Ophelia’s? How do his responses compare to Hamlet’s reaction to the death of King Hamlet? What purpose, as a character, does Horatio serve in this drama? He initiates little or no action: what is he there for?