Unit Test on Hamlet (Shakespeare)
Answer Questions 1, 2, and 3.
Total score: ____ of 100 points
(Score for Question 1: ___ of 15 points)
1. Explain both the literal and symbolic meaning and importance of pouring poison in a person’s ear in Hamlet.
(Score for Question 2: ___ of 15 points)
2. What purpose do the soliloquies that Hamlet delivers over the course of the play serve? What do readers and audience members learn about Hamlet from what he says in these speeches?
(Score for Question 3: ___ of 15 points)
3. In drama, a character’s tragic flaw is the character trait that leads directly to his or her downfall in the work. Many critics and scholars argue that Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his tendency toward inaction—his inability to act. Do you agree? Why or why not? Cite specific examples from the text to support your response.
(Score for Question 4: ___ of 55 points)
4. As you know, Laertes and Fortinbras are two characters in Shakespeare’s play that serve as foils for Hamlet. How does each figure expose or highlight certain traits in Hamlet’s character, and how does each character’s behavior in the play relate to the themes of advice and duty, action versus inaction, and sanity versus madness?
Score for Question 5: ___ of 55 points)
5. Why is the idea of playing a role or acting a part so important to Hamlet over the course of the play? How does role-playing affect several major events in the plot and the relationships between various characters?
