Hamlet Multiple Choice Questions and Answers

31. What news does Osric bring Hamlet?

1. The King has forgiven him and offered him safe passage.
2. The King and Queen are expecting a child.
3. The King has made a wager on Hamlets behalf in a contest between Laertes and Hamlet.
4. The King has confessed to the murder of King Hamlet, and has renounced the throne. Hamlet is the new King of Denmark.

32. What plan do the King and Laertes discuss to kill Hamlet?

1. They will go to see him, disguised as beggars. Then they will rob him and kill him.
2. They plan to set up a duel between Laertes and Hamlet. Either Laertes will honorably kill Hamlet, or, if he survives, the King will poison him.
3. They plan to go to him and escort him back to Denmark. On the way, they will stage a shipwreck. They will leave Hamlet in the water to perish, and they will be rescued by another ship.
4. They plan to force Horatio to do it. If he refuses they will kill all the members of his family.

33. What prompts Hamlet to say, My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!?

1. He feels guilty for killing Polonius.
2. He realizes that his father has been murdered, his uncle is a murderer, his mother is living in an incestuous marriage, and the soldiers he has just seen are going to kill each other over a little piece of land which is not worth anything.
3. He decides to offer Rosencrantz and Guildenstern more money than the King is giving them, in the hopes that they will turn traitor on the King and murder him for Hamlet. He realizes that he is committing a wrong, but decides to do it anyway.
4. He realizes that he has been thinking about death and destruction almost constantly. He feels sad, and wonders if he will ever again be able to think peaceful thoughts.

34. What was the Kings reaction to the play, and what did Hamlet and Horatio decide his reaction meant?

1. The King had no reaction to the play. They decided it meant they were wrong, and that he was innocent after all.
2. The King laughed and laughed. They decided he didnt really get the point, and they would have to be more direct the next time.
3. The King got up and called for the lights. They were convinced that the ghost had been correct.
4. The King clenched his teeth and gripped the arms of his chair, but said nothing. They thought they were on the right track, but would need to do something else to force the King into making a confession.

35. What would Hamlet have his mother do?

1. He wants her to go to England.
2. He wants her to stop sleeping with the King.
3. He wants her to have the marriage annulled by the Church.
4. He wants her to poison the King at dinner the next night.

36. When the King asks Hamlet where Polonius is, what is Hamlets answer?

1. First he says he has brought the fair body to the chapel. Then he says it is in a place where no harm will come to it.
2. First he says it is with the other vermin. Then he says it is on its way to England, so as not to desecrate good Danish soil.
3. First he says it is not where he eats, but where he is eaten. Then he tells the King to look for him in Heaven, and if he cant find Polonius there, to go to the other place (hell) himself.
4. First he says Polonius is now keeping company with my dear dead father. Later he tells the King he has put the body on display in the marketplace for all the people to see, telling them that this is what happens to those who disobey the King.

37. Where does Claudius send Cornelius and Voltimand?

1. He sends them to Sweden for reinforcements.
2. He sends them to England to ask for money.
3. He sends them to Norway to ask the King to keep Fortinbras from going to battle.
4. He sends them to Rome to get the Popes blessing for the upcoming battle.

38. Where does Polonius send Reynaldo?

1. Polonius sends Reynaldo to London to offer the King money in return for soldiers.
2. Polonius sends Reynaldo to Paris to spy on Laertes and to take him money and messages.
3. Polonius sends Reynaldo to the castle to take care of Hamlet.
4. Polonius sends Reynaldo to Sweden, Finland, and Norway to see who will give Hamlet and the Queen asylum if they need it.

39. Who do the soldiers/guards want to tell about the ghost?

1. They want to tell Hamlet (King Hamlets son).
2. They want to tell the Queen.
3. They want to tell the priests.
4. They want to tell the Commander of the Guards.

40. Why does Hamlet give instructions to the players?

1. In his madness, he believes that he is really a great actor, not the Prince of Denmark.
2. He is helping them remember their lines, because he does not want to disappoint his mother when she watches the play.
3. He is merely showing off his superiority, to keep in character with his masquerade of being mad.
4. He does not want the parts to be over-acted. He wants it to appear as natural and as real as possible, so it will hit home to the King.