View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Act 4, Scene 4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the ghost first speaks to Hamlet, how does it describe its experience?
(a) It walks at night and is tortured by day.
(b) It walks all the time, hoping someone will set it free.
(c) It is tortured and burned in a fire all the time.
(d) It walks at night and is frozen in a block of ice during the day.

2. Hamlet says "The time is out of joint: O cursed spite/ That ever I was born to set it right!" What does that mean?
(a) He wishes he did not have to do the things he expects to do.
(b) He wishes he was not born a prince.
(c) He cannot believe what the ghost has told him.
(d) He cannot believe he has seen a ghost.

3. Claudius says his crime "hath the primal eldest curse upon't." What does he mean?
(a) Stealing your brother's wife is an especially bad crime.
(b) Killing the king is an especially bad crime.
(c) A brother's murder is an especially bad crime.
(d) Killing your oldest brother is an especially bad crime.

4. What does Hamlet tell his friends about his meeting with the ghost?
(a) He says the ghost is a liar.
(b) He tells them nothing.
(c) He repeats the truth about the last king's death.
(d) He pretends that he did not see a ghost.

5. What shocking news does the ghost deliver to Hamlet in Act 1, Scene 5?
(a) Ophelia killed Hamlet's father.
(b) Laertes killed Hamlet's father.
(c) Claudius killed Hamlet's father.
(d) Hamlet's mother killed Hamlet's father.

Short Answer Questions

1. During their first conversation, what does the ghost tell Hamlet about his mother?

2. What other "crime" has been committed against the last king?

3. Hamlet enters about halfway through Act 3, Scene 3. When he comes in, what is Claudius doing?

4. After his first meeting with the ghost, what does Hamlet ask his friends to do?

5. On his way to see his mother in Act 3, Scene 3, Hamlet finds Claudius. What does Hamlet decide not to do in that scene?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 401 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample