Day: October 12, 2015

In this scene, Polonius and Claudius spy on Ophelia and Hamlet while they talk. Ophelia has already been told by the both of them to try and get Hamlet to tell her what is troubling him. This proves unsuccessful as Hamlet tells her that he never loved her and that she should go and work in a nunnery or a brothel. This shocks Ophelia and Polonius (once Hamlet leaves) as they both thought he was driven crazy for his love of Ophelia. They devise a plan so that Claudius will spy on Gertrude (with her knowledge) and Hamlet when she tries to get him to confess to her why he’s going mad. If that doesn’t work then they’ll send Hamlet off to England to try and collect the money that England owes norway. They hope that this will take Hamlets mind off of things and that it drives the madness out of him.

In this very long scene, Polonius is telling the king and queen that he has found out why Hamlet has supposedly gone mad. He explains that because he took Ophelia away from Hamlet, he has been driven mad by love. Hamlet is then with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (his two best friends) and tells them that he isn’t mad he is just putting on an act. Actors arrive to try and entertain Hamlet. Throughout the entire scene Hamlet is taking the mick out of Polonius. He is constantly making snide comments about his appearance etc. Finally, when Hamlet is alone he tells himself that he needs to create a play so that it mimickes his fathers murder. This is in order to see if his uncle/dad/king reacts when he sees this play. This is so Hamlet has concrete evidence against the king so he can kill him with confidence knowing that he is doing the right thing (and also obeying the ghosts’ command).