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Summary: Act III, scene iv. In Gertrude’s chamber, the queen and Polonius wait for Hamlet’s arrival. Polonius plans to hide in order to eavesdrop on Gertrude’s confrontation with her son, in the hope that doing so will enable him to determine the cause of Hamlet’s bizarre and threatening behavior. Polonius urges the queen to be harsh ...
Hamlet Commentary - Act IV. Act IV. Scene I. - A Room in the Castle. King Claudius: "My soul is full of discord and dismay." King Claudius speaks with his wife, Queen Gertrude. He learns of Polonius' murder which shocks him; it could easily have been him. Queen Gertrude lies for her son, saying that Hamlet is as mad as a tempestuous sea. King ...
Jun 2, 2020 · Act 4, scene 5. Reports reach Gertrude that Ophelia is mad. Ophelia enters singing about death and betrayal. After Ophelia has gone, Claudius agonizes over her madness and over the stir created by the return of an angry Laertes. When Laertes breaks in on Claudius and Gertrude, Claudius asserts his innocence with regard to Polonius’s death.
Bidding Claudius and Gertrude “good night,” she leaves the hall. Claudius asks Horatio to follow Ophelia and keep an eye on her. After Horatio leaves, Claudius tells Gertrude that Ophelia has fallen victim to the “poison of deep grief” in the wake of her father’s death and Hamlet’s departure for England. Grief is seen as a “poison ...
CLAUDIUS. Come, Gertrude, we’ll call up our wisest friends, And let them know both what we mean to do And what’s untimely done. So dreaded slander— Whose whisper o’er the world’s diameter, As level as the cannon to his blank, Transports the poisoned shot—may miss our name And hit the woundless air.
Act IV, Scene 7: Claudius and Laertes enter, discussing Polonius’s death. Laertes now agrees that Claudius is not at fault but wonders why he did not openly punish Hamlet. Claudius explains that ...
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Analysis. Claudius and Laertes discuss Claudius’s innocence in Polonius ’s murder—which Laertes has come to believe. Laertes, however, wants to know why Claudius didn’t pursue vengeance or justice against Polonius’s true murderer, Hamlet. Claudius says there are two reasons he hasn’t killed Hamlet: one being that Gertrude loves him ...
