Act 3 Scene I
Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern enter. Claudius asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern if they have learned anything about Hamlet's melancholy. They say they have not found the reasons yet mention that Hamlet is excited about the play tonight; this news causes Claudius to agree to attend the performance. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern exit. Polonius and Claudius enact their plan for Ophelia's and Hamlet's meeting. They tell Ophelia to pretend she is reading a book, and then they both hide behind a tapestry. Hamlet enters and gives his "To be or not to be" soliloquy. In this soliloquy, he contemplates whether or not he should end his life, trying to decide if he wants to lose the “name of action.” Afterwards, Hamlet sees Ophelia. They reminisce about when the two of them were romatically involced. Hamlet then questions Ophelia's honesty and offensively says, "Get thee to a nunnery," because he believes Ophelia needs to control her lust. Hamlet exits the scene, leaving Ophelia heartbroken. Claudius and Polonius come out of hiding. Claudius says he does not believe Hamlet is mad because of Ophelia; he does not believe Hamlet is mad at all but simply tormented for an unknown reason. The king decides to send Hamlet to England on a diplomatic quest in order to keep him out of trouble. Polonius agrees with this plan but still believes Hamlet's malady is due to his feelings toward Ophelia. Polonius comforts his daughter. As Claudius
At one point in time, Ophelia was one who Hamlet truly loved and trusted. Ophelia comes and speaks to hamlet to return his gifts from her but Hamlet immediately realizes that something is wrong and finds out that Ophelia is being used by Claudius and Polonius to spy on him to find out the real reason of Hamlet’s facade of madness. After realizing this, Hamlet is incensed and acts as if he is truly insane. Hamlet is clearly hurt because of the fact that Ophelia has been as a pawn in Claudius’ game. The effects of the matter cause him to verbally abuse Ophelia and rejects her love by saying that they will never get married and also degrades women. At this point Hamlet is raged and does not understand how harsh his words can be to a woman, especially a human being in general. In conclusion, the death of Hamlet’s father had looked like as if it has not even affected his mother which he so dearly loved and the one true love he thought he had, seems to him as deceiving and just a pawn for his enemies. These factors continue to diminish the subordinate attitude that Hamlet has towards
First they think that Hamlet is lovesick over Polonius' daughter, Ophelia, but after the king spies on Hamlet and Ophelia in conversation, he comes to the conclusion that Hamlet is mad, a threat to his rule, and must be sent to England to be executed. This is a sign of the king's uneasiness over the mettle of Hamlet's anger which is directed towards him. The last thing that Claudius wants is for Hamlet to be unhappy with him, in fear that Hamlet will overthrow him, discover the murder, or possibly kill him. The king becomes increasingly nervous as time passes, making him a bit paranoid over Hamlet.
Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia suddenly becomes complicated, after Hamlet’s encounter with the Ghost. It all starts when Hamlet first appears in Ophelia’s chamber pale and dishevelled, after receiving news from the Ghost that King Claudius had poured poison into his ear, and it was Hamlet’s duty to avenge the death of his father. Hamlet’s condition frightens Ophelia, as she runs off to tell Polonius about the encounter;” My lord, as I was sewing in my closet/ Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced/… speak of horrors—he comes before me” (2.1 87-94). Hamlet may express that he does not love Ophelia anymore, but his ill treatment towards her comes at the price of testing her loyalties towards him or her father Polonius, who is the eyes and ears of Claudius. As Ophelia runs off to Polonius, it is clear to Hamlet that he cannot trust Ophelia with such a deadly task at his hands. Behind all this phony madness, it breaks Hamlet’s heart to jeopardize his relationship with Ophelia for his own motivations, but it is an intricate decision he has to make. This is again evident in Act 3, scene 1, when Hamlet instructs Ophelia; “To a nunnery, go, and/ Quickly too. Farewell” (3.1 151-152). The only reason Hamlet would utter such bitter words to Ophelia, is because he trusts Ophelia will be kept safer there than anywhere near the kingdom. In doing so, Hamlet proves that he still cares for Ophelia and what they had, but he cannot manage their relationship at the same time getting revenge, because he’s too caught up in pursuing his own motives. Eventually, as Ophelia goes mad and dies,
[Done in] England” (4.3.66). Gertrude with no control over his decisions agrees to everything Claudius suggests about Hamlet’s exile. Gertrude trusts Claudius which allows him to control her in the actions and decisions he makes. The lack of lines Gertrude has throughout the play proves her trust for Claudius proving that she has nothing against what he decides. Similarly, Ophelia is controlled by Polonius, her father. Polonius controls Ophelia due to immaturity and her ignorance of her relationship with Hamlet. “Affection? pooh! you speak like a green girl, / Unsifted in such perilous circumstance, / Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?” (1.3.101-103). Not only Polonius but Laertes, her brother, constantly advise her to avoid Hamlet because he is just counterfeiting love and his intention is to hurt Ophelia:
In act 1 scene 2 of “Hamlet” the character Hamlet speaks his first soliloquy which reveals his innermost thoughts and feelings to the audience. In this soliloquy Hamlet’s unstable state of mind is evident as well as his feelings of despair about his father’s death and his disgust of his mother’s remarriage to his uncle Claudius. Hamlet’s hatred for his uncle is shown through harsh comparisons between Claudius and his late father. This soliloquy takes place after Claudius has begun his reign as king and has addressed the court for the first time but before Hamlet hears about the apparition that Horatio and the guards have seen. Hamlet’s character and personality are shown in this soliloquy through the use of classical imagery, diction and
Gertrude and Claudius have been concerned about Hamlet’s condition. This leads Claudice to send in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on their son to find out what is troubling Hamlet.”The king does not ask them to spy on their friend; rather he requests them to “glean” whether anything “unknown afflicts him thus,/ That, open’d, lie within our remedy”(II,ii, 17-18). Claudice, in greeting Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, tells them of Hamlet’s melancholic state. After Claudice is done with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius comes and tell Claudius and Gertrude that he has the answer for their son’s melancholic state. At this point in the play, Claudius, Gertrude and Polonius all believe that Hamlet has gone mad. Polonius says, “Your noble son is mad” (II,ii,92). They all believe that Ophelia is the cause of his sadness and finally into “the madness wherein now he raves” (II,ii,149). When Polonius sees Hamlet, he realizes that he is neither mad nor melancholic. After, talking with Polonius Hamlet seems to realize that Polonius has prevented Ophelia from seeing him. He tells Polonius, “if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog” (II,ii,180), he should keep his daughter out of the sun. Polonius thinks Hamlet is “far gone, but considers “How pregnant sometimes his replies are! A happiness that often madness hits on, which reason and sanity could not so prosperously be delivered of” (II, ii, 206-209). This shows that Hamlet is in fact mad. When Polonius
The present King, Claudius, is questioning Hamlet’s odd behaviour because he feels Hamlet’s new and strange behaviour could be harmful to him and his position. So he asks Polonius, the Lord Chamberlain, to spy on Hamlet to resolve the matter. While hiding behind an arras in Gertrude’s room to listen to the dialogue between Ophelia and Hamlet, he reveals his location by calling out for help, Hamlet realizing there is someone behind the tapestry and suspecting it to be Claudius withdraws his sword and stabs the hidden Polonius resulting in polonius’s death, which assisted in ophelia going mad, and also Laertes, Polonius’s son seeking revenge on hamlet, which makes Hamlet’s quest for honour and certainty even harder to complete.
Hamlet's surrounding are increasingly affected by his flaw. Hamlet begins to forget all important obligations in his life and neglects his responsibilities, causing other problems. One very important commitment Hamlet has which he lets go is his relationship with Ophelia. Ophelia becomes very confused and hurt. Hamlet hurts her in a couple of ways. First, he neglects her, and second, he insults her. "Ha, ha! Are you honest??Are you fair??That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty. ?I loved you not? Get thee to a nunnery." Then Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia's father, which in turn makes her go mad and in her madness she commits suicide. Hamlet loses objectivity. He does not respect the King nor his mother's feelings. Hamlet meets with his mother and insults her. He calls her a whore and a sinner for marrying a murderer. Since he knows that the King is a murderer, he attempts
She means a lot to him, but now she has rejected him (by returning his
In scene one after Hamlet exits, and he’s taking Polonius’ dead body, Claudius asked Gertrude to tell him what happened with Hamlet. She tells him Hamlet killed Polonius and Claudius realizes that his life is in danger. Claudius asks where Hamlet went, and Gertrude says that he took the body away. The king orders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find Hamlet and discover where he has taken Polonius’ body. After that the scene ends and we are left wondering what Claudius will do now that he fears hamlet will kill him and wondering if hamlet is actually going mad or if he is just acting to be mad.
Hamlet is not only angered with the fact of his father’s death, but also with his mother’s decision to marry Claudius. Devastated by his mother’s decision to marry so soon after her husband’s death, Hamlet becomes skeptical about women in general. He shows a particular obsession with what he perceives to be a connection with female sexuality and moral corruption. He almost develops hatred towards women because of his mother’s decision. This hatred occurs and is shown with his relationship with Ophelia. He urges Ophelia to go to a nunnery rather than experience the dishonesty of sexuality. This hinders Hamlet from experiencing a love that is really needed at this time of his loss. One can say that this is another flaw, which Hamlet is unaware of.
In Act 2, the King and Queen continue to try and determine why Hamlet is acting the way he is. They request his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find out what is wrong. Polonius learns from Ophelia that Hamlet could be "mad for thy love?" (2.1.84), but Ophelia is not sure of it. Polonius delivers his opinion to Claudius and Gertrude in which he states that Hamlet:
In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Prince Hamlet’s speech or soliloquy from Act 4, Scene 4 effectively targets both the plays audience and other characters in the play. In Hamlets speech, he is reflecting on how he is meaninglessly prolonging Claudius’s death, even though he could have killed him at anytime and how he has everything he needs to accomplish his goal. He is also reflecting on how God has blessed humans with the power of thought to use when needed and that blessing is what makes humans different from animals. Hamlet’s speech opens the eyes of the audience by showing them how humans are capable of doing anything they put their minds too and the consequences of overthinking and not taking action to
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were ordered by Claudius to find out where Hamlet put Polonius’ body. However, they have learned nothing because Hamlet was not willing to give them an answer. Instead, Hamlet mocked them by calling them
Hamlet’s lunacy becomes quite real at points, and he enters into a deep melancholy. King Claudius and Queen Gertrude bring Hamlet’s schoolmates Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to probe Hamlet and find the source of his sorrow. Polonious, a pompous, yet loyal, man to Claudius, suggests that Hamlet is madly in love with his daughter Ophelia. It is during this time Polonius’ famous “brevity is the soul of wit” dialogue is said, after which point he rambles for nearly 10 minutes before telling the King and Queen his hypothesis. Claudius tests this theory by spying on Hamlet and Ophelia’s interaction with Polonius, however, Hamlet appears thoroughly insane after screaming at Ophelia and telling her to “get thee to a nunnery.”