1) What of these is NOT a key feature of an Aristotelian tragic hero? a) Noble status b) Good fortune c) Tragic flaw d) Death in part brought on by their own actions 2) What characterised Senecan tragedy? a) Light tone b) Roman setting c) Happy ending d) Violence and revenge 3) Which play had popularised revenge tragedy in Elizabethan England? a) Tournier's The Revenger's Tragedy b) Shakespeare's Othello c) Webster's The Duchess of Malfi d) Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy 4) Which Italian writer promoted the use of spying and backstabbing at court? a) Dante Alighieri b) Niccolò Machiavelli c) Giovanni Boccaccio d) Francesco Petrarch 5) How could James I of England / VI of Scotland be seen as a model for Hamlet? a) His father colluded with, and married, his mother's murderer b) He was incredibly misogynistic c) His mother colluded with, and married, his father's murderer d) He was a possible successor for the throne 6) How was a widow supposed to behave in Shakespeare’s time? a) Remarry quickly and forget the late husband b) Remain chaste and mourn for a suitable period of time c) Go to a nunnery d) Travel abroad 7) Why was marriage between a woman and her brother-in-law considered incestuous? a) It was banned by the book of Deuteronomy in the Bible b) It was considered kind of gross c) It was considered a betrayal of the first brother d) It was banned by the book of Leviticus 8) What possible reason does Horatio give for the appearance of the ghost? a) A supernatural warning of a Norwegian invasion b) A mass hallucination brought on by too much revelling c) A supernatural warning about Julius Caesar d) A Halloween prank performed by Francisco after he goes off stage 9) What might a Catholic member of the audience believe about Old Hamlet’s ghost?  a) It is a spirit of the dead requesting prayers to be said for it b) It is a devilish illusion sent to tempt an innocent to commit an evil act c) It is a trick of the mind d) It is a spirit of the dead returned from Purgatory to demand revenge so that it may move on 10) What other strange things have been happening in Denmark, similar to the events preceding Julius Caesar’s death? a) Political unrest, such as revolts and executions b) Unnatural omens such as eclipses and comets c) Economic decline brought on by a stock market crash d) Natural disasters, such as earthquakes and typhoons

Hamlet Pop Quiz: Context and Act 1 Scene 1

Print
Embed

Leaderboard

Visual style

Options

AI Enhanced: This activity contains content generated by AI. Learn more.

Switch template

Continue editing: ?