Act 3 Scene 4 - The closet scene - Hamlet kills Polonius Unable to kill his uncle, Hamlet challenges his mother about her relationship with
Hamlet tells his friends they are welcome to stay at Elsinore, but that his “uncle-father and aunt-mother” are deceived in his madness. He is mad only some of the time and at other times is sane. Polonius enters to announce the arrival of the players, who follow him into the room.
Hamlet shows signs of madness when he speaks to Ophelia while Polonius and Claudius are spying on him. He expresses misogynistic behaviour by telling Ophelia “if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them.” (III, i, 138 – 140).
Two of the characters that showed signs of insanity are Claudius and Ophelia. Hamlet faked his madness at the beginning of the play for the sake of revenge for his father.
Detailed Summary
Gertrude informs Claudius of the unbelievable events she has witnessed, telling him about Hamlet's complete insanity and about his murder of Polonius during a delusional fit.
Hamlet tells his mother that he is not mad, “but mad in craft” [Act III, Scene iv, lines 188-199]. Hamlet believes in his sanity at all times. He never doubts his control over psyche.
When Hamlet enters, he's in such a rage that Gertrude cries for help. Hearing this, Polonius echoes her cries for help, revealing his hiding place in the process. Hamlet, thinking that Polonius is actually Claudius, stabs blindly through the curtain, killing Polonius on the spot.
He wants to make Claudius think that he is harmless, incapable of taking revenge for his father's murder. SARAH: Hamlet's strategy of feigning madness is an important element of the play; but it's one that bothers a lot of critics.
Hamlet's first soliloquy shows us that his feelings run much deeper than the people around him realize. Not only is he grieving for his father and angry with his mother for remarrying, he is sick of life itself.
Despite the evidence that Hamlet actually is mad, we also see substantial evidence that he is just pretending. The most obvious evidence is that Hamlet himself says he is going to pretend to be mad, suggesting he is at least sane enough to be able to tell the difference between disordered and rational behavior.
Hamlet remains sane throughout the entire play and uses his false insanity as a way of tricking Claudius and his cohorts. At no point during the play does Hamlet display signs of actually being insane, he simply uses the false pretense of insanity to attempt to achieve his goal of revenge.
While Hamlet plots to feign mental illness, many have argued that his mental health unravels throughout the course of the play due to a number of factors (his father's death, his suspicions regarding Gertrude and Claudius, his unintentional murder of Polonius.) His "madness" becomes not merely performance, but truth.
While speaking to Polonius, Hamlet makes it seem as if he has gone entirely mad. Hamlet's behaviour confuses Polonius as he thinks that keeping Ophelia away from Hamlet has caused this. Hamlet is acting mad so that he can get everyone's attention off of what he is planning on doing to Claudius.
Watching the lead actor deliver a compelling monologue, Hamlet becomes sad that he, unlike the talented actor, can't seem to summon any courage or passion when it comes to avenging his father's death. He then hatches a plan: he'll have the actors stage a play with a plot similar to the king's murder.
Hamlet knows that he's stalling, and hates himself for it. He is too lost within his own mind in order to take decisive action against Claudius—it's not in his nature to act promptly and brashly, even though he told the ghost he was committed to swiftly securing vengeance.
All these are depressive symptoms and he has experienced events likely to precipitate depression: his father's sudden death, his mother's hasty marriage, and his disappointment in the succession. Hamlet is not just a typical Elizabethan melancholy man.
Some argue it captures Hamlet's feelings of being unequal to the task that has been assigned to him. He feels that trying to set the world to rights would be like committing suicide; the imagery recalls King Canute's hopeless trial of strength, as he tried to hold back the sea.
It has since become a standard English proverb. To be, or not to be, that is the question. Spoken by Hamlet during his soliloquy in the nunnery scene. It remains one of Shakespeare's most famous quotes.
Synopsis: In Polonius's chambers, Laertes says good-bye to his sister, Ophelia, and tells her not to trust Hamlet's promises of love. Polonius joins them, sends Laertes off, then echoes Laertes's warnings to Ophelia, finally ordering her not to see Hamlet again.
Act 1 sets up the circumstances around Old Hamlet's death and Hamlet's need for revenge – showing us how Hamlet feels about his mother's new marriage and the promises he makes to the ghost of his father, to avenge his murder.
Synopsis: Claudius and Gertrude set Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two boyhood friends of Hamlet, to spy on him. When Hamlet himself enters, he is confronted first by Polonius and then by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whom he quickly identifies as Claudius's spies.
Summary: Act I, scene ii. The morning after Horatio and the guardsmen see the ghost, King Claudius gives a speech to his courtiers, explaining his recent marriage to Gertrude, his brother's widow and the mother of Prince Hamlet.
Act 4, scene 3 Hamlet is brought to Claudius, who tells him that he is to leave immediately for England. Alone, Claudius reveals that he is sending Hamlet to his death.
Summary: Act III, scene iii
Polonius enters and reminds the king of his plan to hide in Gertrude's room and observe Hamlet's confrontation with her. He promises to tell Claudius all that he learns. When Polonius leaves, the king is alone, and he immediately expresses his guilt and grief over his sin.
Gertrude and Claudius declare that Hamlet is mad. Hamlet storms off and Horatio follows. The king urges Laertes to be patient and to remember their plan for revenge.