Hamlet Act II

Where does Polonius send Reynaldo? To Paris to spy on Laertes “put on him / What forgeries you please…” Polonius: “Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth;…By indirection find directions out.”

Ophelia enters Hamlet entered her chambers and was a disheveled mess. “With a look so piteous in purport, as if loosed out of hell” Polonius is convinced that this is the reason for Hamlet’s madness He vows to tell the King

Scene 2 Begins with the introduction of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Claudius has brought them to court to spy on Hamlet: they are childhood friends and they can find out why Hamlet has not been himself Gertrude says she’s sure it is “his father’s death and our o’er hasty marriage.”

Polonius comes to tell them that he knows the cause of Hamlet’s lunacy. Before hearing the explanation, the messengers have returned from Norway The old and feeble king reprimanded his nephew. He asks permission for Fortinbras to pass through Denmark to attach Poland

Polonius returns with Hamlet’s letter to Ophelia He rambles on and on Polonius: “ Since Brevity is the soul of wit.” Gertrude: “More matter with less art.”

ART Polonius says he uses none: he doesn’t Gertrude means GET TO THE POINT Hamlet letter: “I am ill at these numbers. I have not / Art to reckon my groans...” – Hamlet uses art to express his love for Ophelia in the poem he wrote to her.

Polonius and Claudius decide to hide behind a curtain to spy on Hamlet and Ophelia Polonius is so confident in this that he says he’ll quit his job if his theory is not correct.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive to speak with Hamlet. Hamlet is happy to see them, but asks why they’ve come to this prison. They suggest that Hamlet is not happy because of his ambition. They admit that the King sent for them. Hamlet tells that he can find no happiness in the world. He admits that he is not truly mad. “When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.”

They tell him that actors have come to court to perform. Hamlet knows the actors. He asks the First Player to recite Aeneas’ tale of Pyrrhus’ murder of Priam: a son’s revenge for a father’s murder Hamlet is moved by the speech, while Polonius is annoyed.

He asks the First Player to perform “The Murder of Gonzago.” He tells him that he’ll give him some lines to interpolate. He has another soliloquy at the end of the scene. Hamlet: “Oh what a rogue and peasant slave am I.” His father has been murdered and he can’t work up the same emotion as the First Player

He should have killed Claudius and fed his body to birds of prey. He has a plan: he’ll give the actors lines that will cause Claudius to reveal his guilt. Hamlet: “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.”