Good Night Sweet Prince Trivia Quiz

Answer: Poison was poured in his ear

Hamlet Senior was murdered. Whilst he was sleeping, poison was poured into his ear. His ghost asks Prince Hamlet to avenge his murder by Claudius - setting in motion the course of the tragedy and the long list of deaths that follow.

Answer: He is stabbed while hiding behind a curtain.

Hamlet sees someone hiding behind a curtain. When the figure speaks, he thinks it is his Uncle Claudius, and stabs at the figure with his sword. Unfortunately it turns out to be Polonius, who has been sneakily eavesdropping.

Polonius does not only spy on Hamlet. He also spies on his own daughter, Ophelia and has a servant spy on his son, Laertes.

Answer: She drowns herself.

As well as being Hamlet's girlfriend, Ophelia is also the daughter of Polonius. When she realises that her boyfriend, Hamlet, has killed her father she becomes mad, and eventually kills herself by drowning.

Often the actress portraying Ophelia will have long hair, worn loose. In Shakespeare's days, a symbol of madness in women was supposedly long, dishevelled hair.

Answer: England

They are sent to England with Hamlet. They have been given a letter for the King of England, instructing him to kill Hamlet. Hamlet finds out and switches the letter for one telling the King to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

In 1966 Tom Stoppard wrote a play, 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead'. His play is centred around Shakespeare's two minor characters and uses some of Shakespeare's dialogue from Hamlet.

Answer: Gonzago

The play that the actors perform is called 'The Murder of King Gonzago', but when Claudius askes for the title of the play Hamlet says it is called 'The Mousetrap'.

When Agatha Christie wrote her famous murder mystery play, her nephew suggested using this title from Hamlet.

Answer: He is killed in a duel.

Laertes is encouraged by Claudius to duel with Hamlet. He doesn't need much encouragement as he blames Hamlet for the deaths of his father and his sister.

Claudius even tries to 'fix' the fight so that Laertes will win. Hamlet is wounded but manages to kill Laertes.

Laertes is named after the father of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey.

Answer: She drinks poison.

Gertrude watches the duel between Hamlet and Laertes. By mistake she drinks from a cup of poison prepared by her husband and intended for Hamlet.

As well as being Hamlet's mother, Gertrude is also his aunt-by-marriage, as she married her dead husband's brother. It is not clear whether she knew that her first husband was murdered by his brother. Hamlet's main grievance with her is the speed with which she remarried.

Answer: He is stabbed and poisoned.

Finally, Hamlet fulfils his promise to his dead father. He kills Claudius. First he stabs him, and then, to make sure he dies, he forces him to drink poison.

Throughout the play, none of the characters ever use the name 'Claudius' for the King. His name is only ever given in a stage-direction.

Answer: Poisoned

Hamlet is stabbed by Laertes, but it is only a small wound - not enough to kill him. However, Claudius has put poison on the tip of Laerte's sword so that a mere scratch will kill Hamlet.

Before he dies, Hamlet names Prince Fortinbras of Norway as his chosen successor,

Answer: Actually - Horatio survives!

After the duel, Horatio comes and sees the bodies of Hamlet ... and Laertes ... and Gertrude ... and Claudius - the stage is full of dead bodies at the end of the play! - and decides to kill himself by drinking the poison from Gertrude's cup. However, Hamlet (who is not quite dead yet) manages to stop Horatio, and persuades him to live so that he can tell the story of what happened.