Hamlet Questions & Answers

Ophelia is Polonius’s daughter, Laertes’s sister, and Hamlet’s lover. She is one of only two major female characters in the play, and much of her life is controlled by the men around her. Her father… read more

Hamlet dies after being wounded with a poisoned sword during a duel with Laertes. Claudius and Laertes secretly arrange the match as a trap: Laertes’s sword is tipped with poison, and Claudius also prepares a… read more

Laertes is the son of Polonius and the brother of Ophelia. He is a young nobleman studying in France, and he serves as an important contrast to Hamlet throughout the play. Where Hamlet hesitates and… read more

In Hamlet, Polonius says “to thine own self be true” to his son Laertes as Laertes prepares to leave for France. The full lines are: “This above all—to thine own self be true; /… read more

Claudius is Hamlet’s uncle, stepfather, and the new King of Denmark. After the death of Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, Claudius quickly marries Queen Gertrude and takes the throne for himself. Hamlet is deeply disturbed by… read more

Shakespeare explores the tension between action and inaction in the play, especially through Hamlet’s inability to avenge his father decisively. After the ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius murdered King Hamlet, the prince swears revenge, yet… read more

The play is set primarily in Elsinore Castle in Denmark during the late Middle Ages. Much of the action takes place inside the castle and on its surrounding ramparts, where the ghost of Hamlet’s dead… read more

Polonius is King Claudius’s chief counselor and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. He is an elderly court official who constantly spies, schemes, and tries to control the people around him, especially his children. Hamlet… read more

Hamlet kills Claudius to avenge his father’s murder, but the act comes only after a long struggle over whether revenge is morally justified at all. The ghost of Hamlet’s father tells him that Claudius murdered… read more

Polonius dies because he is secretly spying on a confrontation between Hamlet and Queen Gertrude. While Hamlet is angrily accusing his mother of betraying his dead father by marrying Claudius, Polonius hides behind a tapestry… read more

Laertes dies after being wounded with his own poisoned sword during the final duel with Hamlet. Laertes and Claudius secretly plan to murder Hamlet by arranging a fencing match in which Laertes uses “a poison-tipped… read more

In Hamlet, Ophelia’s death is presented as an apparent suicide brought on by overwhelming grief, isolation, and the pressures placed on her by the men around her. After Hamlet rejects and humiliates her, and… read more