1. Act II Scene i, Scene ii,

2. The plot so far… Polonius tell Reynaldo to spy on Laertes. Ophelia tells her father that she has rejected Hamlet and that has made him go crazy. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet’s old friends, are invited to try and cheer him up. Voltemand returns from Sweden with good news. A group of actors have come with R. And G. Hamlet meets with the actors and asks them to perform a certain play with lines added by him. Hamlet feels like an ass for not taking revenge yet.

3. Themes APPEARANCE VS. REALITY II, ii, 610 - 615 “The spirit that I have seen may be a devil, and the devil hath power t’assume a pleasing shape, yea, and perhaps out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me.” Hamlet is worried that the ghost is the devil trying to trick him. Hamlet’s friend appear to be helping him but are actually deceiving him to aid the King and Queen.

4. Figurative language - Puns II, ii, 185 - 187 “Conception is a blessing, but as your daughter may conceive, friend, look to’t.” Hamlet says that Ophelia can understand and she can give birth. II, ii, 237 “Faith, her privates we.” He means ordinary as well as private parts. II, ii, 436 – 438 “Pray God your voice, like a piece of uncurrent gold, be not cracked within the ring.” A broken and useless coin or the cracking voice of a young male actor playing the part of a female.

5. Figurative language - Metaphors Act II, ii, 247 “Denmark’s a prison.” Hamlet feels trapped.

6. Figurative Language - Personification II, ii, 605 – 606 “For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak with most miraculous organ.” Hamlet wants the murderer to give himself away accidentally.

7. Characterization – Polonius is a goof II, ii, 96 – 99 “Madam, I swear, I use no art at all. That he’s mad, ‘tis true: ‘tis true ‘tis pity, and pity ‘tis ‘tis true-a foolish figure.” Polonius rambles on and it takes him a long time to get to him point. II, ii, 405 – 403 “The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical- pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical- pastoral.” Again Polonius takes forever to reach his point and for whatever reason he names all the common stage dramas at the time.