ACT I - Scene V Quiz — Hamlet

How does the Ghost say King Hamlet was murdered?

• He was stabbed while sleeping
• Poison was poured into his ear
• He was drowned in the castle moat
• He was poisoned through his food

What does the Ghost instruct Hamlet to do regarding Queen Gertrude?

• Banish her from Denmark
• Confront her about the murder
• Leave her to heaven and her own conscience
• Force her to confess publicly

What was the false official story about King Hamlet's death?

• He died of a sudden illness
• He was attacked by a wild boar
• A serpent stung him while he slept in his orchard
• He fell from the castle battlements

What does Hamlet mean when he says he will put on "an antic disposition"?

• He will wear a disguise to escape Denmark
• He will pretend to be mad
• He will become a court jester
• He will adopt ancient customs of mourning

What does the Ghost's voice do after he initially departs the stage?

• It sings a funeral dirge from offstage
• It cries "Swear" from beneath the stage
• It calls Gertrude's name in anguish
• It whispers the name of the poison

What does Hamlet exclaim when the Ghost reveals Claudius as the murderer?

• "O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!"
• "The time is out of joint!"
• "O my prophetic soul! My uncle?"
• "O horrible! O horrible! most horrible!"

Who says "These are but wild and whirling words, my lord"?

• Marcellus
• The Ghost
• Horatio
• Hamlet himself

What does the Ghost describe as "the blossoms of my sin"?

• The flowers in the orchard where he was murdered
• The state of having unconfessed sins when he was killed
• His children who inherited his sinful nature
• The poisonous plants Claudius used

Which of these events actually happened in this chapter?

In Elizabethan English, what does "luxury" mean as used in the Ghost's line "Let not the royal bed of Denmark be / A couch for luxury and damned incest"?

• Expensive comfort and wealth
• Lechery or lust
• Laziness and sloth
• Royal privilege

What does "posset" mean in the Ghost's line "with a sudden vigour it doth posset / And curd, like eager droppings into milk"?

• To poison or contaminate
• To curdle or coagulate
• To dissolve or liquefy
• To boil or evaporate

What does "pernicious" mean when Hamlet exclaims "O most pernicious woman!"?

• Beautiful but dangerous
• Having a harmful effect, especially gradually; destructive
• Unfaithful in marriage
• Easily deceived or manipulated