Hamlet: Act 1
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Act questions
- Question 1 · Recall
Who tells Hamlet that a ghost has been seen on the battlements?
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Horatio tells him, with Marcellus and Bernardo, who had seen it on the watch.Reference: Act 1, Scene 2
- Question 2 · Recall
What does the Ghost say was done to him?
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It says poison was poured into his ear while he slept in his orchard, by the serpent who now wears his crown.Reference: Act 1, Scene 5
- Question 3 · Recall
What does Polonius order his daughter Ophelia to do about Hamlet?
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He forbids her to give Hamlet words or talk, from then on.Reference: Act 1, Scene 3
- Question 4 · Why
Why is Hamlet unhappy at court in Scene 2?
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His father has died, and his mother has married his uncle Claudius so soon afterward.Reference: Act 1, Scene 2
- Question 5 · Why
Why does Hamlet warn Horatio and Marcellus about how he may behave later?
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He says he may act strangely, so they must keep what they saw and heard to themselves.Reference: Act 1, Scene 5
Act summary
Act 1 opens at midnight on the platform before the castle at Elsinore. Sentinels and Horatio see the armed figure of the dead King Hamlet, which vanishes when the cock crows, and they decide to tell young Hamlet. In the court, Claudius, now king and married to Gertrude, lets Laertes go back to France and asks Hamlet to stop mourning. Alone, Hamlet laments his mother's quick marriage, then hears from Horatio about the Ghost and resolves to watch that night. Laertes warns his sister Ophelia about Hamlet's attentions, and their father Polonius gives Laertes advice, then forbids Ophelia to speak with Hamlet. On the platform, Hamlet follows the Ghost away from his friends. It tells him it is his father's spirit and how it was poisoned in its sleep. Hamlet swears Horatio and Marcellus to secrecy and says the time is out of joint.
Come back in a few days and try these 5 again before you open the answers.
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