Hamlet - Themes: Madness
English
Grade 8
9 questions
~18 mins
1 views0 downloads
About This Worksheet
A worksheet covering Hamlet focusing on the theme of madness through comprehension and analysis questions, using a substantial extract from the play.
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Hamlet - Themes: Madness
Subject: EnglishGrade: Grade 8
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Untitled Worksheet
Grade Grade 8
A
Exploring Madness in Hamlet
HAMLET: To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th’oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of dispriz’d love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of th’unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.
1.
What is Hamlet contemplating in this monologue?
[2 marks]2.
Identify one literary device used in the lines: 'To die: to sleep; / No more; and by a sleep to say we end'.
[2 marks]3.
Which phrase reflects Hamlet’s fear of the unknown after death?
[2 marks]4.
How does Hamlet’s use of the phrase 'pale cast of thought' illustrate his internal conflict?
[3 marks]5.
Explain the significance of the metaphor 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune'.
[3 marks]6.
In your opinion, does Hamlet's soliloquy reflect genuine madness or philosophical contemplation? Justify your answer briefly.
[3 marks]7.
Identify the technique used in the phrase: 'calamity of so long life'.
Aa) Metaphor
Bb) Alliteration
Cc) Personification
Dd) Hyperbole
8.
What theme is most prominent in this excerpt?
Aa) Revenge
Bb) Madness and mortality
Cc) Power and corruption
Dd) Love
9.
Write a brief paragraph explaining how this monologue reveals Hamlet’s inner conflict about action and hesitation.
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Details
- Created
- 12/31/2025
- Updated
- 12/31/2025
- Type
- worksheet