1: Is Hamlet Crazy?
This is a common question asked by many of Hamlet critics. Up through act 2 we notice Hamlet is a little off. He has met the ghost who has told him his uncle Claudius has killed him. He poisoned him by pouring dangerous chemicals into Hamlet's father's ear while he was sleeping under a tree. This poison made his blood clot. Of course, Hamlet wants revenge. We see in the Acts 2 through 4 Hamlet has very different personalities toward Claudius, his friends, Ophelia, and his mother. At first we are led to believe Hamlet has a plan for it. He tells Horatio and Guildenstern that even if it looks like he's gone crazy, he hasn't.Then it seems he has lost himself in the fact of needing revenge. He can't decide about whether or not he loves Ophelia and his body language toward his mother when he opens up to her about how he feels. This makes us believe he has lost it. However, this changes when Hamlet comes back from England. He has a more normal tone and says things that make sense. Maybe England changed him.
2: How are Claudius and Hamlet different?
In fact, Hamlet and Claudius are very similar. In 3.3.77-83, Hamlet watches Claudius praying. He decides he wants to kill him some other time when it could have been very easy just to do it then. He is patient and states his reasoning very clearly. He wants to make sure Claudius goes to, you know where, not Heaven. We see a very similar thing in Claudius' actions, also. In 4.5.148-154, Laertes wants immediate revenge on Hamlet for killing his father and, theoretically, making his sister go crazy. But Claudius delays Laertes, so they can kill Hamlet in a more planned out way. As an "accident." These are very similar tactics when it comes to revenge. Hamlet and Claudius are a lot more similar than we give them credit for. They are the protagonist and antagonist. We aren't supposed to automatically think they are similar.
3: Is there a connection between revenge and death?
Who dies in the play? Specifically in the last scene, but over the whole play? We have Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, and Hamlet all in the last scene. And in scenes before that, Ophelia and Polonius. There has to be a method to Shakespeare's madness here. If all of them die, they have to have something in common. They do. They all have had either a goal and were sneaky about reaching that goal. Or they wanted revenge. Both of these things are something in our culture today that we do not approve of. So Shakespeare maybe isn't that old fashioned? Polonius wanted Hamlet's reputation to plummet. He wasn't going to do the dirty work by himself, he had to hire friends to stalk Hamlet and find his flaws. Claudius obviously killed king Hamlet and married the queen so that is very sneaky on his part. Hamlet only told Horatio and his friends about his plan for revenge. He didn't want anyone getting in his way. Ophelia loved Hamlet and wanted to find out if he was true or not. She told her father and brother, that led them spying on Hamlet by using her as bate in Act 3, scene 1. And Gertrude was unfaithful to Hamlet and told Claudius about how crazy he was and that he should send him to England. Laertes was furious after finding out about his father's death. He wanted revenge and was going to make sure he got it. He and Claudius set a trap for Hamlet by either slicing him with a poison sword or drinking poison. All of these characters ended up dying.
4: what are Ophelia and Gertrude's roles in the play?
Obviously, they are the women of the play. They have hardly any say in their lives. Shakespeare put them in the play this way for a reason. He wants to show the differences between men and women. Men were the authority figures back then, women did what they said and that was it. Shakespeare used this difference to show the flaw in society, so we can do something to change it. Ophelia was a young girl who went to her father and brother when she had boy trouble. Polonius and Laertes would give her advice, by telling her what to do. She did not listen to them and ended up dead. She went crazy after all that Hamlet put her through. When her father died, that was it, she lost her sanity. Gertrude was very similar. She loved her son Hamlet. You couldn't always see it, but it was there. She obeyed Claudius even if it was at Hamlet's expense. Then, in the last scene of the play, Gertrude disobeys Claudius for the first time ever. What happens to her? She dies. Is Shakespeare trying to say that every time women make a decision of their own they mess up? Or is he saying the exact opposite? Is he trying to let us know that women have to be able to make their own decisions or they will go crazy or disobey when it matters most?
5: How does our view of Ophelia change throughout the play?
Our first view of Ophelia lasts for most of the play. She is a sweet, young, innocent girl. She follows what her father Polonius and her brother Laertes say. Obviously she is confused whether or not Hamlet really loves her or not. He puts her on an emotional roller coaster and she takes refuge from that with her father. Laertes is away so all she has is her father. Once she finds out her father has been killed she goes completely insane. After Act 4, scene 5 we see how much she has changed. We see it in her wording. She is contradicting herself and saying things that no one says. We also see it in her face, if you watch the play. She doesn't look at anyone in the eye, she looks to them, but past them. This drastic of a change in a character is really rare in plays. Shakespeare uses it to show the damage men have done to her mentally.
6: Why does Fortinbras inherit Denmark?
Fortinbras inherits Denmark because Hamlet gives it to him before he dies from the poison sword. Shakespeare does this for a reason. Fortinbras was the only one in the play that had a revengeful goal and did not die. There must be something different about him. He was the only one who was devoted fully into his goal. He was not sneaky about it, he was going to march right up and fight for what he wanted. Everyone else was sneaky. This is translated to real life by looking at the people who cheat their way. Do we respect them? Do they earn anything at all? No. When someone puts their whole heart into their work we respect them. We want the best for people like that. The same goes for this in the play. The characters who cheated, or came up with a manipulative plan, died in the end. Fortinbras, however, lived because he put all of his heart into his goal.
7: Is the ghost a significant figure? is it real? what does it symbolize?
The ghost is a very significant figure. It symbolizes supernatural activity, and whether or not he should believe it. We never know if he is hallucinating or actually sees the ghost. The ghost says a fatherly thing by telling Hamlet not to lose his head when he tries to get revenge. That leads us to believe the ghost is real. But, later in the play, Hamlet is talking to his mother and then he says he sees the ghost, Gertrude cannot see it. This means it is within Hamlet's mind. Or maybe Gertrude is the only one that cannot see it because Horatio and Bernardo could in Act 1. This is a constant question asked throughout the play. Whether or not the ghost is real or not, Claudius did end up being guilty.
8: What does the to be or not to be Speech mean?
The to be or not to be speech is a debate between life and death. Hamlet is considering suicide during this speech. He is wondering if the pain of living with his mother and uncle is really better than dying. He debates the differences. It is significant because not many protagonists in movies, books, or plays consider this type of thing. It is such a delicate subject to talk about without crossing into ethical boundaries. There are many different viewpoints of suicide. Some religions believe you will not go to Heaven if you do it. In others it doesn't matter. Hamlet's speech goes beyond the words and into the meaning behind them. It represents the constant struggle of what is worth it and what is not. In life, you have to make decisions that have consequences. Sometimes both of the options have consequences that are bad. He is showing the struggle of deciding which consequence is better in his very large and famous speech. This is a reason Shakespeare is so relevant today. We go through the same struggles he talks about throughout our lives.
9: How is the last scene significant?
The last scene is very significant. It reveals a lot of the main themes at the end of the novel. Plus, everything seems to happen in about 20 seconds. It reveals what Shakespeare had been leading up to throughout the play. What most people would suspect would be, Claudius is killed, Hamlet and Ophelia get married, Hamlet forgives his mother, and all the other loose ends are tied. Shakespeare is a more famous writer than Walt Disney. There is a bigger plan to Shakespeare's plot than a happy ever after. He wants to teach the audience that there are always flaws in society. There are perks as well, but flaws. Everyone has a goal in life. If you put everything into your goal and don't cheat, you win. If you cheat, you lose. That's all it really is. Stay true, whether it's a true friend, family member, or staying true to yourself.
10: When Marcellus says "there is Something rotten in the state of Denmark." what does this mean?
This quote uses the literary device of foreshadowing. He is telling us there is something wrong, or something bad is going to happen. There are multiple uses of this throughout the beginning of the play. Hamlet does this by saying there is an "Antic disposition" that will happen. He is foreshadowing something crazy is going to happen. Ultimately something crazy does happen, six people die. This is a warning, or multiple warnings, to keep the audience engaged. Shakespeare is trying to put on a play, he wants an engaged audience. It keeps us on our toes to what is coming next. It keeps the anxiety of the ultimate question, what is going to happen, very high.