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Hamlet Act III, Scene ii Summary

Act III, Scene ii

  • Hamlet, in director mode, tells the actors how he wants them to perform the play. He'd like it to come off naturally, which means they shouldn't be too loud, or gesticulate (make gestures) too much, as bad actors often do. Instead, they should use their discretion to build up suspense with their actions.
  • Most importantly, they shouldn't be tempted to get a cheap laugh, as this is applauded by the most foolish members of the audience and might drown out the important parts. (Note that Hamlet gives directions as though he has some familiarity with acting himself. Now where would he be acting…?)
  • The King, Queen, and their courtly entourage come in to see the show Hamlet has arranged.
  • As everyone gets settled, Hamlet pulls Horatio aside, and says he's among the best men that Hamlet has had the fortune of knowing. Hamlet promises this isn't flattery, as Horatio has less than nothing to give him; Hamlet can't hope to gain something by saying nice things to him.
  • Hamlet insists he needs an honest favor.
  • Hamlet then goes on to say Horatio is that rare guy that takes the blows of fortune in the same stride that he takes her gifts. Hamlet has found that cool judgment is Horatio's greatest virtue, such that Fortune can't play him like a pipe.
  • Hamlet tells Horatio he needs him to watch Claudius's reactions to the play, especially during the scene that reenacts the killing of the King in exactly the way Claudius would've killed King Hamlet (assuming the ghost didn't lie).
  • Hamlet hopes that by watching Claudius, and comparing notes on his reaction to that scene, he and Horatio can figure out whether Claudius really did kill King Hamlet.
  • Horatio promises to watch Claudius closely, and as the others approach, Hamlet says he's got to run off and act like a crazy duck again.
  • As Claudius settles in, he asks Hamlet how he's doing. Hamlet says he eats as well as a chameleon (creatures that were thought to live on a diet of air). Further, he plays on the notion that the air is full of promises of the time when he (Hamlet) will be on the throne (foreshadowing Claudius's death).
  • Claudius is speechless at Hamlet's "just wait 'til you die" comment.
  • Hamlet has good fun at Polonius's expense with punning, and then moves on to brutalizing poor Ophelia.
  • Hamlet ignores his mother's request to come sit near her, and instead places himself at Ophelia's feet, saying she's prettier than his mom.
  • Hamlet launches into some innuendo with Ophelia, asking if he can lay in her lap, and then pretending to be shocked when she asks, "Um, did you just suggest we do the deed in front of my dad?"
  • When he asks what she's thinking, and she says, "nothing," he replies that "nothing" is a fair thing to be in between a woman's legs ("nothing" was Elizabethan slang for vagina). Anyway, Ophelia tactfully demurs, telling Hamlet it's nice to see him so happy.
  • Hamlet quips that there's no way he could be unhappy. After all, his dad's only been dead two hours, and his mom seems quite happy. Ophelia points out that, actually, his "two hours" is more like four months. He responds that it's amazing how a great man can die and not be forgotten in two months' time.
  • Hamlet then plays around, talking about a hobby-horse not being forgotten. This is Shakespeare's own playful reference to the fact that regular Elizabethan village people were quite upset at the puritanical suppression of sports at pagan festivals, which often had fun stuff like costumed horses.
  • The play begins. The play the actors perform is a variant of "The Murder of Gonzago." In the first scene, the Queen repeatedly swears to her husband (the King) that she will never remarry. The King in the play says the woman is faithful now, but he promises she'll forget all her faithfulness as soon as she's in her new husband's bed, which should happen roughly about the time her old husband dies.
  • This is obviously offensive to Gertrude, but she still keeps her cool.
  • "The lady doth protest too much, methinks," she tells Hamlet. Hamlet says the play, called The Mouse-Trap, is a wicked piece of work, but wouldn't bother anybody with a clean conscience.
  • OK, here comes the fireworks. The husband/King is taking a nap when his nephew sneaks in and pours poison in his ear – exactly what Claudius did to Hamlet's father. Seeing this, King Claudius gets out of his seat and rushes out of the room. That's a pretty solid conclusion. Hamlet has proved Claudius's guilt – to himself.
  • As everyone but Hamlet and Horatio rushes out of the room, Hamlet gloats about this brilliant performance.
  • Once Horatio confirms Hamlet's observation that Claudius was obviously outed as a murderer, Hamlet crows that the ghost is totally trustworthy.
  • As Hamlet calls for music, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to deliver the message to Hamlet that his mother is upset about the play and wants to talk to him.
  • Hamlet goes back and forth with the men, both of whom are obviously flustered. Finally, someone comes in with recorders (the musical instruments). Hamlet grabs one.
  • Hamlet invites Guildenstern to play, and Guildenstern says he can't.
  • Hamlet offends him: "Well, playing the recorder should be easy, as you seem to play me like a pipe pretty well, you liar." Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, realizing that they are found out in their attempts to manipulate their former friend, are silent as Polonius enters.
  • Polonius brings Gertrude's request that Hamlet come to see her.
  • Hamlet plays Polonius for a fool again, and dismisses everyone to have a little soliloquy about what's going on in the dark corners of his mind. It's nighttime, the time when "churchyards yawn and hell itself [breathes] out / Contagion to this world" (2.2.389-90). Hamlet's feeling so good and cruel he could drink blood.
  • Hamlet does quake a little here though; he says he hopes that his firm bosom won't ever give way to the soul of Nero (a Roman emperor who killed his own mother). Hamlet says that though he'd like to let his mother have it (in the verbal assault sense), he hopes he won't do anything unnatural to her. (Remember, the ghost told him not to carry out any physical punishment against his mother.)