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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Alfred's response when Guildenstern suggests they could set a dramatic precedent?

2. What indicates that Guildenstern may also be a bit confused?

3. How does Guildenstern summarize that day?

4. How does Guildenstern win money from the Player and the troupe?

5. What is the ridiculous conversation Rosencrantz initiates about fingernails and beards?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the dialogue that shows the confusion of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at this point.

2. What comic relief does the dialogue about home provide for the play?

3. How does Gertrude reinforce the idea that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are friends of Hamlet's?

4. What appears to be the relationship between the two men?

5. How does the Player reinforce the idea that the troupe is willing to perform a vulgar show?

6. How does Guildenstern take advantage of the Player?

7. How does Guildenstern come across as the more intelligent of the two men?

8. What is the Player's misconception about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

9. What things are troubling Rosencrantz as he and Guildenstern are once again left alone on the stage?

10. Throughout the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern never leave the stage. What stops them from following the Queen's attendants to go find Hamlet?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a paper about friendship. Using Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as examples, describe how one friend is usually dominant. Also write about how even the best of friends often quarrel or bicker.

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper on how reading a play is different from reading a novel. In a play, how much depends on the imagination of the reader? What is included in a novel that is missing from a play? What part does "seeing" play in the reading of a drama?

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper about the social position of actors during the Elizabethan age. Using Guildenstern's line that the troupe's company was welcome for lack of any other, explain the contradiction of loving plays while looking down on the players.

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This section contains 784 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample