More study guide questions on Hamlet. Several of these questions could also be developed into paper topics, but consult with me before you decide on your final paper topic.

1. How do you know that Prince Hamlet is preoccupied with his mother’s virtue or lack of virtue? And how does this preoccupation hinder him?

2. Why does Hamlet try so hard to show his mother that his uncle is inferior to his father?

3. What does the ghost initially tell Hamlet about his uncle and his mother, and why does the ghost later reappear to tell Hamlet, while his mother is present, that he should leave her alone?

4. If Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his inability to act decisively, how does he compare to characters who act decisively in the tragedy, such as Laertes or Claudius? What is the positive side of hesitating and waiting and so on?

5. How does Hamlet compare himself to Fortinbras, and what does he admire in Fortinbras?

6. Before Hamlet stages a little play for the king, he watches one of the traveling actors get all emotional, and this upsets him very much when he is alone. Why is it so upsetting to him that an actor could show so much feeling?

7. Hamlet admires the noble Romans who were pagans and stoics, but does he also have Christian ideals of virtue? Is he more of a pagan hero or a Christian hero? How do you know? You may want to look closely at the famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy....

8. Since Aristotle tells us that we should feel pity and terror (or fear) while watching a tragedy, when do you think we feel these emotions the most during this play. Whose death (or deaths) seem the most “tragic” to you and why?

9. When Hamlet returns to Denmark after being shipped off to England to be killed, how do we know that he has changed? What is different about him?