Hamlet Act III Notes

Act III

Scene I

·         Claudius questions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about Hamlet’s madness in the palace

·         Rosencrantz and Guildenstern offer up reasons why Hamlet could be acting like that since they don’t know the true reason

·         Claudius and Polonius set a trap for Hamlet

·         Hamlet says his famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy and sees Ophelia

·         They have a big talk and Hamlet ends up saying that women are monsters

·         The king realizes that Hamlet should be sent off to England now

Scene II

·         Hamlet explains to the players how he wants the play acted out

·         Hamlet tells Horatio about his plan to revel the King

·         They plan to watch Claudius and see if he reacts to the death of the character in the play

·         The play begins and The Murder of Gonzago begins to take shape

·         Claudius stops the play right after the murder and leaves the room

·         This is music to Hamlet’s ears

·         Hamlet and Horatio celebrate

Scene III

·         Claudius meets with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.  They all agree that Hamlet is too dangerous to remain at the castle

·         Claudius sends them off, now being by himself, admits to the murder

·         Hamlet enters the room sword raised but sees Claudius praying

·         He decides that he has to wait before the murder happens

Scene IV

·         Polonius and Gertrude talk in her room

·         Hamlet enters but before he can see them, Polonius hides

·         Gertrude and Hamlet talk, after awhile, Polonius makes a noise

·         Hamlet stabs the curtain where Polonius was hiding and kills him

·         Hamlet and Gertrude finish their talk

·         Hamlet hides Polonius’s corpse