These questions require an understanding of the whole text. Make sure you structure your ideas carefully, supporting them with appropriate textual reference.
Choose a point in the play when Hamlet has to make an important decision. Explain what the decision is and go on to explain how that decision affects him and others.
Choose a part of the play in which a character reveals something important about him/herself. Explain what is revealed and go on to explain why this revelation is important to the events and ideas of the play.
Hamlet’s soliloquies give the audience an insight into his state of mind. By looking at a number of soliloquies, explore what is revealed about Hamlet’s nature as well as the problems he faces.
Explore the ways in which Hamlet is in conflict with himself and/or with others. Discuss the nature of the conflicts and go on to discuss how these conflicts contribute to key concerns in the play.
To what extent is Hamlet a tragic hero?
Discuss the presentation of evil in ‘Hamlet’.
Discuss the presentation of kingship in ‘Hamlet’?
Hamlet experiences a number of difficult problems. Explain what those problems are and how effectively, in your view, he deals with them. Make sure you refer closely to the text.
“I am pigeon-livered and lack gall/To make oppression bitter” What does Hamlet mean by this?
From your knowledge of the events elsewhere in the play, do you agree with Hamlet’s assessment of himself?
Hamlet reveals a number of mood changes in this soliloquy. Does Hamlet undergo any change in his attitudes and outlook in the course of the play?
