Hamlet, Part 5: Characteristics of Elizabethan Drama — Quiz

Question 15 • British Literature and Composition

What excerpt from Act III of Hamlet supports the conclusion that Hamlet is critical of women?

Answer

Hamlet: Is this a prologue, or the posy of a ring? Ophelia: ’Tis brief, my lord. Hamlet: As woman’s love.

Hamlet: Madam, how like you this play? Gertrude: The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Ophelia: What means this, my lord? Hamlet: Marry, this is miching mallecho; it means mischief. Ophelia: Belike this show imports the argument of the play.

Ophelia: The king rises. Hamlet: What! frighted with false fire? Gertrude: How fares my lord? Polonius: Give o’er the play.

Explanation

Hamlet compares the short prologue to “woman’s love,” implying that women’s love is brief. That comparison directly supports the conclusion that he is critical of women. The other excerpts do not make a similarly critical statement about women.

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