Act 2 Questions

1) What is does Polonius tell Reynaldo in the opening of Act II? How does he plan to trap his son?

Polonius tells Reynaldo to go to Denmark and spread rumors about his son and to see how the people respond and see if they are true. Again here is the idea of spying.

2) What does this say about Polonius?

It reinforces the idea that he is only looking out for himself. He doesn’t want his son to disgrace or embarrass him, however he really doesn’t care if his son is embarrassed.

3) What particularly in Act II scene 1 has disturbed Ophelia?

Hamlet has gone crazy. He is really starting to scare her. He grabs her by her wrists and stared really oddly at her.

4) Why have Rosencrantez and Guildenstern been sent to Denmark?

They were sent by the king to spy on Hamlet.

5) What does Hamlet ask the players to recite? How does the allusion mimic Hamlet’s position?

He wants them to recite the murder of Gonzago, which is a play that he has written, and the plot of the play is much like what has just happened to hamlet. Hamlet is going to try and add some lines into the play that will trick the king into confessing to murder.

Identify the following speaker of the following lines and discuss to whom the lines are being delivered, and what do the lines mean?

6) “No, my lord, but as you did command/ I did repel his letter, and denied his access to me”

Ophelia talking to her father, telling him that she has sent back the letters from Hamlet and has stopped seeing him.

7) “More matter less art”

This is the Queen talking to Polonius. He is trying to tell her that her son has gone mad and instead of just getting to the point he is beating around the bush and she tells him just to get on with it and spit it out already.

8) “That I, the son of a dear father murdered,/ Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell/ Must like a whore unpack my heart with words,

This is hamlet during his soliloquy. Basically he wants revenge, heaven and hell are telling him to get revenge (the ghost), but instead all he is doing is walking around whining about everything.

9) “Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth/ And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,/ with windlasses and with assays of bias,/ By directions find directions out.”

He is basically saying that by telling lies about his son you will find out the truth of what he has been up to.

10) “For if the sun breeds maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion-Have you a daughter?”

This is Hamlet talking to Polonius. Hamlet is the son of Denmark, but he is also the sun of Denmark and he brings light to it….help!

11) List three metaphors (1 direct, 1 implied, 1 extended) from the play.

A direct metaphor – “Excellent well. You are a fishmonger.” Hamlet is comparing Polonius to a pimp.

An extended metaphor – “Denmark’s a prison.” Denmark is like jail to Hamlet. His father has died and now his uncle is his father but he can not leave because he is royalty so he is trapped there.

An implied metaphor – lies are poison. Ears are a motif in this play and the idea that when you hear lies it is poison through your ears, which is the way Old King Hamlet dies.

12) What proof does Polonius have that he believe indicates Hamlet’s love for Ophelia?

The letter that Hamlet wrote to Ophelia…even though it was a terrible letter for Hamlet’s usual literary excellence.

13) Explain the quote, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” How does this relate to Hamlet.

There really isn’t anything good or bad in this world. Everything is “stereotyped” because of the way people interpret situations. Hamlet has this terrible view of Denmark because his father has died and his mother has remarried his uncle, therefore he hates Denmark and thinks of it like a prison whereas the two men really have no reason to hate Denmark. Hamlet could try to see these recent events in his life as good things and then he wouldn’t hate Denmark as much.

14) What is a fishmonger?

A pimp. Hamlet compares Polonius to one.

15) Who was Jephthah?

An allusion to the bible. He sacrifices his daughter for politics, much like Polonius is doing to Ophelia.