Author: Adam

During this very short scene, troops from Norway lead by Fortinbras, are waiting for permission by the Danish King (Claudius) to move across Denmark so they can invade Poland. Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter with a few others and start talking to the captain about the invasion. The captain explains that they are invading a small useless part of Poland, that will bring almost no money into Norway what so ever. The captain doesn’t even agree with the invasion. Once everybody leaves, Hamlet is left by himself. Hamlet starts talking about how these 20,000 soldiers are marching to their death (although its a useless piece of land, Poland is still going to defend it) and he can’t even muster up the courage to kill Claudius. Hamlet concludes the scene by saying that if his thoughts are not violent, he will considering them worthless.

This scene is quite tense as it is where Claudius asks Hamlet where Polonius’s body is buried. Hamlet goes onto to say that Claudius should send a messenger to heaven to see if he is there. If Polonius is not there then Hamlet tells Claudius to go and visit hell himself to see if Polonius is there. Hamlet then goes onto to say that Polonius has gone to dinner (by this he means that Polonius’s body is feeding the worms). This confuses Claudius as he is not as intelligent as Hamlet. Hamlet then tells Claudius that he better find him soon otherwise he’ll be smelling him as he goes up the stairs to the main hall. Claudius then sends his servants off to retrieve the body. Claudius then tells Hamlet that he is going off to England, and Hamlet agrees happily. Once everyone has left, Claudius talks to himself about how the King of England needs to kill Hamlet. Otherwise, Claudius will never rest easy, knowing that Hamlet is still out there.

This scene is also very short. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (along with a few others) approach Hamlet and ask him where he has hide the body of Polonius. Hamlet then starts telling Rosencrantz how he is like a sponge. He calls him a sponge because he is always doing what the king asks him to do and once the king has got what he wants, he’ll squeeze Rosencrantz and leave him dry. Hamlet starts confusing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by telling them that the body is with the king but the king is not with the body. Finally, at the end of the scene, Hamlet goes off with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to meet with the king.

This scene is very short. It is where Gertrude tells Claudius that Hamlet has killed Polonius. Claudius thinks that if he was there he could have prevented it. Claudius tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find friends to go to England with them along with Hamlet. Gertrude and Claudius then go off to speak to their wisest friends and try to discuss what they are going to do with Hamlet and his madness. Claudius says that he is going to try and get Hamlet off freely for the murder of Polonius. Then they all leave.

This is quiet a major scene in the play/book. At the start of the scene Polonius and Gertrude are talking about what has just happened. They agree Polonius should hide behind the tapestry while Gertrude and Hamlet talk to each other. As Hamlet enters, Polonius hides. Hamlet starts telling his mother how foul she has been for betraying such a great man (Hamlet’s real father) and going off with Claudius. Gertrude thinks that Hamlet’s going to kill her, so she calls out help. Polonius, trys to distracte Hamlet’s attention by calling out help from behind the tapestry. Hamlet, thinking it’s an intruder, stabs his sword through the tapestry, killing Polonius. After this, he starts telling his mother to repent and not get into bed with Claudius any more. She agrees to this and tells Hamlet to rest easy. Hamlet then leaves, dragging Polonius with him.

This is the scene where we find out that it was defiantly Claudius that killed the king as he talks to himself about the murder. At one point he even says, “this cursed hand of mine is coated with my brothers blood.” Just before he starts talking about the murder, Claudius tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to get ready as they are going to go with Hamlet to England (like they previously discussed) in hopes that it will clear Hamlet’s head and drive the madness out of him. Polonius then tells Claudius that Hamlet is with his mother and that he will spy on them as they talk (then Claudius starts talking about the murder). While Claudius is praying, Hamlet enters. Hamlet stands there contemplating weather or not to kill Claudius right there on the spot. He decides not to as it means that Claudius will rest peacefully because he is praying at the time of his death. Hamlet decides to wait until Claudius is out drinking, swearing or doing any other sinful act. Hamlet then leaves and Claudius finishes praying. Claudius does’t believe that his words will reach heaven because they haven’t got any thoughts behind them. Claudius then exits.

This is the scene in which actors act out a play that is directed at Claudius. The play was constructed by Hamlet to try and see if his uncle/king would react when it showed poison being poured into the ear of a king. The ghost told Hamlet that this was the way that Claudius killed his father so that he could take over the thrown. During this scene in the play, Claudius stands up and stops the play. This clearly shows that Claudius is guilty of killing Hamlet’s father. Finally, during the play, it is shown that the queen promises her husband (the king before he died) that she would never re-marry and if she did it was a crime against heavan and earth. This is obviously directed at Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother) as this is what she did herself.

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).

In this scene it is mainly between Polonius and Reynaldo (Polonius’ servant). Polonius is telling Reynaldo to go and talk to people and ask them if they know his son Laertes. He tells him to drop hints to them about Laertes such as, ” you know that party animal Laertes” etc. This is so that people will automatically (even though they don’t know him) will agree with him and say they know him. This is all so that Polonius can know what his son is getting up to in Paris. Once Reynaldo exits, Ophelia comes in and talks to her father Polonius about how weird Hamlet had just acted around her. He had held on to her wrist with most of his clothes undone and just stared at her like he had just seen what hell looks like. He then left without saying a word. Both Ophelia and Polonius both think its because he is madly in love with her. So both of them go off to find the King and talk to them about Hamlet.