Act 3 notes

 Turning Point: Hamlet stabs and kills Polonius, thinking that he was actually Claudius hiding behind the curtains  WHY?  Hamlet has killed the wrong guy  This will upset Ophelia and anger Laertes  He finally takes action, but it’s on the wrong person  What will Claudius do to Hamlet now that he is considered a murderer?

 The scene opens with Gertrude and Claudius asking Rosencrantz and Guildenstern if they’ve found out the cause of Hamlet’s lunacy.  Hamlet enters and delivers his To Be or not To Be speech in which he discusses life and death as well as the “whips and scorns of time.”  Ophelia then enters, and Polonius and Claudius spy on them.  Ophelia attempts to return Hamlet’s gifts and he gets upset and speaks harshly to her.  Claudius decides to send Hamlet to England at the end of the scene.

 Hamlet begins to rehearse with the players. He instructs them not to over-act during the play.  Hamlet asks Horatio to observe the king’s reaction to the play to see if he thinks Claudius is guilty.  The entire court enters to watch The Murder of Gonzago.  Hamlet gets the reaction he was looking for: his mother seems unaware, but Claudius yells for the lights and stops the play.  Hamlet now knows that he is guilty.  Hamlet’s mother wishes to speak privately to Hamlet, and he explains to the audience that he will “speak daggers” to her.

 The King instructs Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to escort Hamlet to England. He must dispose of him quickly.  Polonius explains that he will hide behind the curtains during Hamlet’s meeting with his mother (more spying).  Claudius delivers his first soliloquy and begins to pray for God’s forgiveness.  Hamlet enters and sees Claudius on his knees begging for forgiveness. This is his perfect chance to kill Claudius, but he doesn’t take it because he does not want Claudius to go to heaven (his tragic flaw: over thinking, inaction)

 Polonius is hiding behind the curtains in the Queen’s closet when the scene opens.  Hamlet explains to his mother that her marriage to Claudius has really destroyed him.  The ghost enters, but only Hamlet can see her. This makes the queen think Hamlet is mad for sure.  Hamlet orders his mother not to return to her incestuous bed. As the conversation becomes heated, Polonius stirs behind the curtains.  Hamlet believes this to be Claudius, pulls out his dagger, stabs and kills Polonius.  He then lugs Polonius’ body off stage.

 “How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience.” –Claudius, III.i  “Get thee to a nunnery.” –Hamlet, III.i.131  “O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown.” – Ophelia, III.i.163  “For anything so o’erdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is to hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature.” –Hamlet, III.ii  “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” –Gertrude, III.ii.254

 “I will speak daggers to her, but use none.” –Hamlet, III.ii.429  “Forgive me my foul murder?/That cannot be, since I am still possessed/of those effects for which I did the murder:/my crown, mine own ambition, and my queen.” –Claudius, III.iii  “What have I done, that thou dar’st wag they tounge/in noise so rude against me?” – Gertrude, III.iv.47-48

 Pun:  “You would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my mystery.”  Metaphor:  “Do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?”  Allusion:  “O heart, lose not thy nature; let not ever the soul of Nero enter this firm bosom.”  Aside:  “How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience.”  Hamlet’s 3 rd soliloquy: To Be or not To Be..  Questions whether or not he should live or die  Identifies the “whips and scorns of time” that make life difficult to live  Chooses life since he is unsure of what the afterlife may bring