Hamlet Act III: Scene ICara McQuaid

Brendan SalvadoreMark Mattson

Period 4

Scene SummaryMain Interactions

King and Queen with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

King Claudius with PoloniusHamlet’s Soliloquy Hamlet with OpheliaKing Claudius with Polonius (Second Time)

King and Queen with Rosencrantz and GuildensternKing and Queen ask Rosencrantz and

Guildenstern what information on Hamlet they have gathered.

They do not tell Claudius and Gertrude of his true intentions, because they do not know.

They tell the King and Queen to attend a play that Hamlet would like them to attend.

They tell the King it is solely for entertainment, but what none of them know is that Hamlet wants to use the play to draw a confession out of the King for the murder of his father.

King Claudius with PoloniusPolonius enters the scene as the King and

Queen finish up their conversation with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Claudius and Polonius have a debate over why Hamlet is mad and a plan to figure out the reason.

Polonius believes Hamlet is mad because of he’s lovesick over Ophelia. Claudius believes that it is something else.

Polonius agrees to send Ophelia to Hamlet to see if Hamlet’s madness is due to love for Ophelia.

Hamlet’s Soliloquy“To be or not to be, that is the question…”Hamlet is questioning whether he should or

shouldn’t commit suicide.He compares life and death and says many

things that make death more appealing than life.

He makes many negative metaphors and similes about life and how he does not want to live in the world that has been thrust upon him.

It ends with him noticing Ophelia and changing the subject to her.

Hamlet and OpheliaFirst TRUE interaction we see between Hamlet and

Ophelia.Ophelia tries to tell Hamlet that she does not want

his “gifts” of love, and wants to give them back to him.

Hamlet gets angry and tells Ophelia that he never was interested in her (this is a LIE!).

Hamlet then tells her to go to a nunnery (insult, means prostitution “place”) and accuses her of spreading “false” rumors about his love for her to Polonius, her brother, and the King and Queen.

Ophelia figures out at last that Hamlet is mad.

King Claudius with Polonius (Second Time)King, through what he has seen, now firmly

believes that Hamlet’s madness is NOT because of love for Ophelia. He’s getting a little more suspicious of Hamlet’s true motives.

Polonius, despite the “argument” between Hamlet and Ophelia, still believes Hamlet is lovesick over Ophelia and that is the true reason for his madness.

The King then tells Polonius (at the end of the scene) that he will keep a much closer eye on Hamlet because now he feels scared of Hamlet’s motives.