Shakespeare and Hamlet

Shakespeare and Hamlet
1. In the beginning of Act 1, Scene 1, what does Horatio refer to in using “this thing” (What, has
this thing appeared again to-night?”)
How many times has Marcellus seen the ghost before the night he talks with Horatio and
Bernardo (Act 1 Scene 1)
According to Horatio, what does the appearance of the apparition foretell?
2. In Act 1 Scene 2, how does Hamlet response to the queen (his mother) when she asks him to
cast off the sorrow, stop looking for the image of his father in vain, and love the new king as his
father? How does he analyze the word “seem” his mother uses when she asks him “Why seems
it so particular with thee?”
3. In Scene 2 (of Act 1), why does Hamlet say that “Frailty, thy name is woman!”? (What line is
this sentence?)
4. In Scene 3 (Act 1), what does Laertes advise his sister Ophelia to do in her love with Hamlet?
What does their father Polonius respond when he hears about that story between Laertes and
Ophelia?
5. In Scene 4 and Scene 5 (Act 1), what does the ghost ask Hamlet to do and how does Hamlet
think about that? What does he plan to do after the ghost disappears?
6. In Act 2, how does Hamlet treat Ophelia in her account she tells her father? What does
Polonius plan to do to resolve that problem? What is Hamlet’s purpose when he asks the
players to read the speech and perform the drama “The Murder of Gonzago” in front of
Polonius?
7. What is the main content of Hamlet’s monologues in the end of Act 2 (after Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern leave) and in the beginning of Act 3 (“To be, or not to be”)?
Cervantes and Don Quixote
1. Summarize the adventures Cervantes underwent in his life.
2. In the prologue of the novel Don Quixote, what does the author’s friend advise him to do
when he starts to write the novel about the knight Don Quixote? What does author (Cervantes)
imply in this passage?