Hamlet test

World Literature
HAMLET Test
200 points
(180 for test answers; 20 for correct documentation of quotations and Works Cited as well as spelling, etc.)

Be sure to support your answers with Act.scene.line(s) cited like this:
“The time is out of joint” (1.5.210).

1. Hamlet’s relationships with the other characters in the play are complicated. Choose three relationships; analyze how Hamlet is impacted by each (three quotations – one for each relationship). 60 points
Hamlet and Ophelia:“But that I love thee best, O most best, believe it.” (2.2.121-122) Polonius read this from one of Hamlets love letters to Ophelia. Hamlet has many things going on in this life and his feelings for Ophelia i believe are bigger than life. I believe he does have feelings for her and they are just pretty diffifult right no to understand. I think he has feelings for her before but now that his father has died the feelings have gotten bigger. He feels more for her now. Since his father has died he wants something to take his mind away from what happened to his dad so he turns to Ophelia. Some many say his feelings are fake or that he is just using her because his father died but i believe he isn't. Ophelia is there for him and that's why he has strong feelings for her. It like if someone close to you would die and your mother or sister etc. is there for you to talk to you usully get closer to someone else through a death of another person.
Hamlet and this friends: Halment has many friends in this book. The strongest relationship he has is with Guildenstern and Rosencrantz. In act 2 scene 2 the king and queen ask them to go and see why Hamlet has changed. They want them to talk to him and ask him why he has changed so much and figure out what has caused him to change. I think that is very brave of his friends to go do that because he has really changed and i would be scared of how he would responed to what i had to ask him. They are loyal friends though and that show what kind of relationship they have. They really care for Hamlet. Polonius then goes and talk to Gertrude and Claudius and tells thm that he has lost his mind when Ophilea rejected his love. “and with a look so piteous in purport as if he had been loosed out of hell to speak of horrors-he comes before me.” (2.1.82-84). Hamlet goes to talk to Ophilea after he founds out about his fathers death and that his mother has already gotten married. He is coming to her for help but as he does Ophilea rejects him and goes to her father with this quote saying he wasn't dressed prporlly. Hamlet then starts to talk to his old friends again and he tells them that home is like a prison for him. This shows the relationship they have. That would be tough to tell his friends that.
Hamlet and his mother: “frailty thy name is woman!” (1.2.146). Hamlet yelled this after he found out that his mother married his uncle Claudius. Hamlet also told her earlier to stay away from his uncles bed after his father is killed. He said once you say no the first time it becomes easier to do. His mom didnt listen and later marrys his uncle. He is in outrage that his mother married Claudius right after his father had just died. This mother's actions have just set him off the edge and I and totally understand why. I wouldn't want my mother going out and gettting married right after my dad had died. And to my uncle. Hamlet has gathered up a lot of hate towards his mother and just women all together. He thinks they all are bad people because of what his mother just did.


2. Revenge, redemption, loyalty, indecision, love, appearance vs. reality, and betrayal are significant themes in the play. Choose three of these and explain how each theme affects the characters and the outcome of the play (three quotations – one for each theme). 60 points
Loyalty: " I shall in all my best obey you, madam" (1.2 124). Hamlet is loyal to his mother until she does bad. Loyaty can be showed in two different ways in the play "Hamlet." One is when Hamlets mother is NOT loyal to him. He tells her after his father dies to stay away from his uncle's bed and not to fall for one of his tricks but she doesn't listen to him therefore she isn't being loyal to him. Another way she isn't loyal to him is when she decides to marry his uncle after his father died. Hamlet didn't want her to marry his uncle, espeically right after his father had did. The second why loyalty is showed in this play is how loyal Hamlets friends are to him. They go to England with them and they are very supportive i believe when he is going crazy. They go and ask him why he has changed. He at first doesn't talk to them but later he does because he knows they are loyal and he wants to be loyal back to them. He addmits that his house is like a prison place for him.
Love: There are many ways love could be showed in this play. Hamlet loved his father very much therefore he respected his father as well. Since he loved and respected him he didn't want his mother to marry another man after his father died. Hamlet also loved his mother, that is before she went on and married his uncle after his father died. He loved his mother so much that he didn't want her to fall into one of his uncles little tricks and to stay away from his bed. She did not and fell in love with his uncle and they got married. Also another show of love is the love that Hamlet has for Ophelia after his father has died. He grows close to her and goes to her for help. He even wrote her love letters in which in one of them he wrote "But that I love thee, O most best, believe it" (2.2 121-122)
Revenge: "And make petty arture in this body as hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve. Still am i called. Unhand me, gentlemen. By heaven I'll make a ghost of him that lets me! I say, away!--Go on. I'll follow thee. (1.5 92-96). Hamlet says this to the ghost that says he is the ghost of his father's past. Hamlet is outraged by his father's death and that his mother married his uncle. He says he will kill his uncle Claudius and make a ghost out of him. He hates his uncle because of the tricks he pulled on his mother and that his mother married him. This is how the theme of revenge is showed in the play. He wants to revenge on and get back at his uncle Claudius.




3. Has Hamlet changed?
You may compare the soliloquies from
1.2.133-164
2.2.575-636
3.1.63-99
4.4.33-69
or you may use other textual evidence that you have prepared to answer this question (three quotations – beginning, “middle,” and end). 60 points
Hamlets Soliloquies let us know what is going on in his head and what is on his mind. They all are very significant to the story. Many people don't know if he is really upset or if he is just playing it off as he is upset. I believe he is very upset and mad! "I shall in all my best obey you, madam" (1.2 124). Hamlet says to his mother that he will obey her with his best. Later on this shows that he changed and doesn't because of what she did. He is doing well in the start of the story and has a great live. He has a great relationship with both is mother and his father King Hamlet. Hamlet also has feelings for this girl named Opheila. " To be or not to be--that is the question: whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them." (3.1 64-68). Hamlet has to decide to stuggle with what happens and just suffer or change and do something about it all. Hemlet changes very much when his father dies. He is now upset and gets very mad that his father has died. After his father dies his relationship with his mother takes a hard turn. His mother marrys his uncle which he told her to stay away from. He is know outraged and very very mad. The last way i believe Hamlet changes is that his feelings for Ophelia change and get stronger. He goes to her for help as he didnt before. He knows that since his dad died and his mother married his uncle she really may be all he has left to lean on. These are all the reasons I believe that Hamlet changes throughout the play. "By heaven I'll make a ghost of him that lets me! I say, away!--Go on. I'll follow thee." (1.5 92-96). I don't think Hamlet would ever think about killing anybody or anything but once his father dies that all changes. He wants revenge and wants to kill his unlce!





Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Folger Shakespeare Library Edition.
Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine, Eds. NY: Washington Square Press, 1992.

Quotes from Websites:
SLASH DOC Beta. GOOGLE: Quotes for Hamlet's feelings for Opheila. Web site URL: http://www.slashdoc.com/documents/67698