Hamlet : Act 2 quiz

1. Hamlet: Act 2 quiz

2. 1. …Come to Hecuba Hamlet Hamlet wanted to hear Hecuba’s story. He thinks Hecuba is the ideal widow. He wanted to compare Hecuba to Gertrude. Hamlet sees that Hecuba gave herself to her grief rather than to her husband’s killer, unlike Gertrude. Hamlet is moved by Hecuba’s grief. Once again, he seems to be thinking primarily of what his mother has done.

3. 2. Out, out, thou strumpet fortune! Player In one of his early ramblings, Hamlet reveals that Gertrude’s actions have caused him to lose faith in women with the line “Frailty thy name is woman!” Upon meeting Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he refers to Fortune as a strumpet while exchanging jokes with them. The first player’s line further emphasizes Hamlet’s views. For Hamlet, Gertrude is very much like the “strumpet Fortune” in that she is fickle in nature and shares her favours too easily.

4. 3. Use every man after his desert and who shall ’scape whipping? Hamlet According to Hamlet, everyone is a sinner and if everyone is treated how they deserve, they should be whipped. Again, Hamlet is saying that most people in the world sin, it is just human nature. So no one can be trusted, and indeed Hamlet feels betrayed by everyone around him, like Gertrude, Ophelia, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This line suggests that these betrayals are sort of natural, though, since there are no good, pure people in the world.

5. 4. To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand. Hamlet Once again we see Hamlet really caring about truthfulness, honesty (I think back to act 1, the word “seems”). He feels like his mother has betrayed him, Claudius clearly did, and soon his friends will, too, by spying on him. Thus, for him, there really is nobody left who is honest. More and more he realizes the value of honesty, and values it more and more, too.

6. 5. …Thus do we of wisdom and of reach… Polonius He is telling Reynaldo not to approach Laertes directly, but to ask other people what they know. Throughout the play, characters are afraid (or maybe uncertain) to ask another character directly about something. It is similar to Hamlet making a play to see if Claudius admits to killing his father instead of asking directly. This also shows how Polonius is a schemer, and loves to make plans to spy on other people. An example is when he plots to “loose” his daughter to Hamlet and see if he really does love her.

7. 6. …we both obey… Guildenstern Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are more than happy to accept the king and queen’s request, they long to be in favor with the king and queen. They understand the authority and power of the king and queen, therefore they will do anything to please them. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are very polite and very obedient, unlike Hamlet. This shows the contrast between them and Hamlet, who does not understand the king and queen’s authority, he is not respectful and speaks his mind.

8. 7. …after Pyrrhus’ pause… Player After Hamlet’s father’s death, Hamlet has been all talk and has been procrastinating his revenge. In this passage Pyrrhus pauses, right before he kills the man he has been longing to take revenge on. This can determine what is in store for Hamlet as maybe his “pause” will come to an end and his revenge will come soon as well. It seems that Hamlet’s anger has built up with all of his waiting, and he will soon seek his revenge that he could not begin before. This is foreshadowing Hamlet’s actions that are soon to come towards his uncle.