Hi Everyone!! This article will share Hamlet Act 1 Scene 1 Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of Blind Louise, A Matter Of Time and The Power Of Music so, you can check these posts as well.
Hamlet Act 1 Scene 1 Questions & Answers
Question 1: Choose the correct option:
1. Who was the first guard in front of the castle?
(a) Bernardo
(b) Francisco
(c) Marcellus
2. Who joined Bernardo in keeping watch?
(a) Francisco and Marcellus
(b) Marcellus and Horatio
(c) Hamlet and Horatio
3. Fortinbras was the king of ___________.
(a) Poland
(b) Denmark
(c) Norway
4. Horatio thought that the ghost had appeared to __________.
(a) look for buried treasure
(b) warn them of something bad that could happen in the near future
(c) join the guards in the watch
5. According to Marcellus, the ghost went away when struck because it was _________.
(a) wounded
(b) offended at the show of violence
(c) imaginary
6. According to Horatio, when the cock crows at dawn, all wandering spirits must
(a) return to their hiding places.
(b) go to sleep.
(c) rise out of their graves.
7. Bernardo, Marcellus and Horatio decided to tell Hamlet about the ghost because
(a) they believed that it would speak to him.
(b) they loved Hamlet and it was their duty.
(c) both (a) and (b)
Question 2: Read the lines and answer the questions:
Horatio says ‘tis but our fantasy,
And will not let belief take hold of him…
(a) Who said these words and to whom? What is the ‘fantasy’ being referred to in these lines?
Answer: Marcellus says these words to Bernardo and Horatio. The ‘fantasy’ being referred to in these lines was the appearance of a ghostly apparition that resembled the dead king of Denmark that they had seen on two nights.
(b) Who is Horatio? Explain in your own words what Horatio has said in these lines.
Answer: Horatio is a young scholar and friend to the Danish prince Hamlet. In these lines, Horatio had said that the ghost was a figment of the guards’ imagination and that he staunchly refused to believe in it.
(c) Why did the speaker bring Horatio with him?
Answer: The speaker brought Horatio with him so that he would believe them it the ghost appeared again, and speak to it.
(d) Who among the guards did not see the ghost that night? Why?
Answer: Francisco did not see the ghost that night as he had left before the ghost appeared.
Hamlet Act 1 Scene 1 Questions & Answers
Question 3: Read the lines and answer the questions:
Is it not like the king?
As thou art to thyself.
(a) Who said these words and to whom? What is being referred to as ‘it’?
Answer: Marcellus said these words to Horatio. The ghost is being referred to as ‘it’.
(b) In what ways did ‘it’ resemble the ‘king’?
Answer: The armour worn by the ghost resembled that of the king’s, when he had fought the king of Norway in battle. The ghost also frowned like the king once did when he had fiercely attacked the Poles.
(c) What was its appearance a sign of, according to one of the speakers?
Answer: According to Horatio, the appearance of the ghost meant that something bad was going to happen to the country.
(d) What preparations is one of the speakers reminded of after ‘its’ appearance? Explain them in detail.
Answer: After ‘its’ appearance, the speaker is reminded of the preparations made by the people of Denmark, keeping a strict watch every night, manufacturing bronze cannons daily, and buying many weapons from other countries. In fact, the shipbuilders too were so busy labouring that they wouldn’t even rest on Sundays.
(e) What reason did the other speaker give for the preparations?
Answer: Horatio said that after the defeat of the Norwegian king at the hands of the Danish king Hamlet, the Norwegian prince Fortinbras was keen on revenge. He had gathered a bunch of lawless thugs and wanted to forcefully recover the lands his father had lost to the Danes. So, the Dunes were preparing for battle.
Question 4: Read the lines and answer the questions:
And then it started like a guilty thing upon a fearful summons.
(a) Who said these words? When did ‘it’ start?
Answer: Horatio said these words. ‘It’ started at the crowing of the cock.
(b) What had the speaker just asked ‘it’? How had the speaker and his companions tried to make ‘it’ stay?
Answer: The speaker had asked the ghost to tell him what it knew about the future of Denmark. The speaker and his companions had tried to make the ghost stay by striking at it with their spears.
(c) What did they lament about their actions immediately afterwards?
Answer: Afterwards, they lamented that they had been wrong to threaten such a majestic creature with violence and their useless blows were merely cruel taunts to the ghost.
(d) What did they plan to do later?
Answer: They planned to tell young prince hamlet everything that they had seen that night.
Question 5: In the play, Horatio, Bernardo and Marcellus consider the ghost as a bad omen. What are the various events and things that they talk about to establish this point? Explain with examples from the play.
Answer: To establish this point, Horatio, Bernardo and Marcellus spoke of the dead rising from their graves and running through the streets of Rome speaking nonsense just before the mighty emperor Julius Caesar was murdered. They also referred to the shooting stars that were seen in the sky at that time, and the fact that blood fell along with the morning dewdrops, and threatening signs were seen on the face of the sun. The men believed that similar omens of terrible things have come to pass, which warn people about the fate of a country and its people.
So, these were Hamlet Act 1 Scene 1 Questions & Answers.