Act 2 Answers

1) What is does Polonius tell Reynaldo in the opening of Act II? How does he plan to trap his son?

Polonius told Reynaldo to make up lies about Laertes and see if anybody can confirm whether or not it is true in order to see what he is up to.

2) What does this say about Polonius?

This shows that Polonius is not very trusting with his son and is not confident in his ability to speak with his son about his life in France.  

3) What particularly in Act II scene 1 has disturbed Ophelia?

Hamlet went to her and grabbed her arms which really freaked her out, and she asumes it was because shehad not been talking to him.

4) Why have Rosencrantez and Guildenstern been sent to Denmark?

They were sent by the king and queen to spy on Hamlet and to find out why he was so sad.

5) What does Hamlet ask the players to recite? How does the allusion mimic Hamlet’s position?

Identify the following speaker of the following lines and discuss to whom the lines are being delivered, and what do the lines mean?

6) “No, my lord, but as you did command/ I did repel his letter, and denied his access to me”

Ophelia is the speaker and she is telling her father that she had done as he asked and stayed away from Hamlet.

7) “More matter less art”

The Queen is the speaker and is telling Polonius to get to the point while he is trying them that Hamlet is crazy.

8) “That I, the son of a dear father murdered,/ Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell/ Must like a whore unpack my heart with words,

Hamlet is the speaker and this is one of his soliloquies, where he is saying that he is going to get his revenge by killing his uncle, who murdered his father. Hamlet also compares himself to a whore because he, like a prostitute is providing his services.

9) “Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth/ And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,/ with windlasses and with assays of bias,/ By directions find directions out.”

Polonius is telling Reynaldo that every lie he tells about Laertes the closer you will be to finding out what he was up to.

10) “For if the sun breeds maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion-Have you a daughter?”

Hamlet is insulting Polonius by comparing his daughter Ophelia to a dead dog that the sun birthed maggots into, by implying that he (the sun) spoiled Ophelia (the dead dog).

11) List three metaphors (1 direct, 1 implied, 1 extended) from the play.

Direct: Hamlet called Polonius a “fishmonger”.

Implied: Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are compared to prostitutes because they sell themselves to the king to spy on hamlet.

Extended: Hamlet views Denmark as his own personal prison.  

12) What proof does Polonius have that he believe indicates Hamlet’s love for Ophelia?

A letter that Ophelia gave her father that she said was from hamlet that confessed his love to her.

13) Explain the quote, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” How does this relate to Hamlet.

Hamlet is saying there is no such thing as good or bad but only how others perceive it.

14) What is a fishmonger?

A fishmonger is another word for pump.

15.) Who was Jephthan?

Jephthan is a character from the bible who killed his daughter for political gain.