Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1 Analysis

Act III Scene I

In the beginning of act three, scene one the king, queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern are all in Elsinore. Claudius asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have they found out the reason for Hamlet’s behavior. They reply no, but they tell Claudius that Hamlet really liked the play they player’s performed so much that he is creating his own play. Claudius agrees to go to Hamlet’s play to see what it is about. Polonius and Claudius use Ophelia as bait to see if Hamlet madness is real because of love. While Ophelia is reading a book, Hamlet recited literature most famous speech “To be or not to be”. After his speech, he talks to Ophelia saying mean hurtful thing to her. Ophelia is heartbroken to hear this thing that Hamlet tells her, Claudius and Polonius confront Hamlet telling him that he is not going insane because of love but for something else. Claudius makes the decision to send Hamlet to England so he will not do anything dangerous. Polonius

agrees and also suggest that after the play that Hamlet, the queen and him should have a meeting before sending him off.

Act III Scene II
In the beginning of act three scene, two Hamlet is teaching the players how to act.

He tells players to act normal and to keep the play simple. After talking with the players, Hamlet begins to speak with Horatio about the play. Hamlet wants Horatio to keep an eye on Claudius during the play to see his face expression to determine whether he is guilty or not. Horatio agrees to the plan and sits beside Claudius during the play. Everyone that is royal living in Elsinore enters the play to talk with Hamlet. While the play is going on, a scene involving a character poisoning another character makes Claudius realize that Hamlet knows the truth behind the murder he did. The king makes a big fuss about it letting Hamlet know that he is guilty of his crime. After the play, everyone is telling Hamlet that his mother would like to have a talk with him. Hamlet says another soliloquy that is about his mother; he says that he will hurt her feeling with his word but he will not hurt her

physically.
Act III Scene III
In act three scene three, Claudius makes a decision to send Hamlet back to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Polonius comes to tell the king that Hamlet will be meeting with his mother before he leaves. Polonius says that he will be hiding behind a curtain to eavesdrop on their conversation. When Polonius leaves, Claudius begins to feel guilty for what he did to his brother. While Claudius kneels down to pray for forgiveness, Hamlet is debating whether he should kill them right there or not. Hamlet chooses not to kill him because he thinks if he kills him while he is praying he will go to Heaven. He plans to kill Claudius while he is doing something bad.

Act III Scene IV
In act three scene four, Polonius is waiting behind the curtains for Hamlet and Gertrude’s meeting. When the meeting starts, Hamlet puts his mother in front of mirror resulting in her screaming for help because she thinks Hamlet is trying to kill her. Polonius yells help from behind the curtains unknowingly Hamlet thrust his sword into the curtain killing Polonius. Ignoring the dead body of Polonius, Hamlet continues the conversation with his mother comparing old Hamlet to Claudius. Gertrude begins to realize the sin she is doing, meanwhile; Hamlet is telling his mother horrible things about herself. The ghost appears telling Hamlet to quit harassing his mother. Gertrude cannot see the ghost and starts to think that Hamlet is really going mad. When ghost disappears, Hamlet tells his mother to stop sleeping with Claudius and that Claudius is having him sent to England.