Act 2
Polonius sends one of his servants to France to casually spy on Laertes and make sure he is behaving himself there. Ophelia enters, extremely upset because Hamlet “grabbed” her, but said nothing to her. Polonius decides that this must be because Hamlet is driven mad with his love for Ophelia since she hasn’t been seeing him anymore as Polonius told her not to. Polonius goes to tell Claudius of this presumption.
Claudius and Gertrude invite Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of Hamlet’s friends from school, to Elsinore to try and cheer Hamlet up and decrease his moodiness/madness. Claudius receives news that he has avoided war with Fortinbras who was convinced to wage war elsewhere. Polonius presents love notes to Claudius and Gertrude that Hamlet had given to Ophelia. He believes that Ophelia is the cause of his madness. Polonius wants to set Ophelia and Hamlet up to meet and listen to their conversation secretly, hidden out of sight. From this, Polonius hopes to see if Ophelia is the cause of Hamlet’s “madness.” Gertrude and Claudius agree to try this plan. Polonius first wants to speak with Hamlet, though. When he speaks to Hamlet, Hamlet definitely appears and sounds insane, and Polonius leaves, now wanting to hurriedly arrange the meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet. Hamlet then speaks to his two school friends who he is happy to see, but suspicious of their true reasons for coming. He gets it out of them that they were sent by King Claudius to relieve him (Hamlet) from his saddened state. Hamlet admits that lately he has been in a state of indifference to everything and everyone. A group of actors walks toward Hamlet and his friends at Elsinore. Hamlet welcomes his friends to stay, but assures them that King Claudius and his mother are wrong about his “mad” condition. He claims to be mad only some of the time and completely sane the rest of the time. Polonius announces that the actors have arrived, and Hamlet asks one of them to give a speech. He is so taken with the speech that he asks the actors to perform a play the next day: The Murder of Gonzago. This play closely resembles how Claudius murdered his brother, and Hamlet resolves that he will find out if Claudius is guilty of the murder of his brother (Hamlet’s father) by his expression throughout the play the actors put on. Hamlet thinks he will be able to depict any sign of guilt in Claudius’ face if he is truly guilty.
Claudius and Gertrude invite Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of Hamlet’s friends from school, to Elsinore to try and cheer Hamlet up and decrease his moodiness/madness. Claudius receives news that he has avoided war with Fortinbras who was convinced to wage war elsewhere. Polonius presents love notes to Claudius and Gertrude that Hamlet had given to Ophelia. He believes that Ophelia is the cause of his madness. Polonius wants to set Ophelia and Hamlet up to meet and listen to their conversation secretly, hidden out of sight. From this, Polonius hopes to see if Ophelia is the cause of Hamlet’s “madness.” Gertrude and Claudius agree to try this plan. Polonius first wants to speak with Hamlet, though. When he speaks to Hamlet, Hamlet definitely appears and sounds insane, and Polonius leaves, now wanting to hurriedly arrange the meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet. Hamlet then speaks to his two school friends who he is happy to see, but suspicious of their true reasons for coming. He gets it out of them that they were sent by King Claudius to relieve him (Hamlet) from his saddened state. Hamlet admits that lately he has been in a state of indifference to everything and everyone. A group of actors walks toward Hamlet and his friends at Elsinore. Hamlet welcomes his friends to stay, but assures them that King Claudius and his mother are wrong about his “mad” condition. He claims to be mad only some of the time and completely sane the rest of the time. Polonius announces that the actors have arrived, and Hamlet asks one of them to give a speech. He is so taken with the speech that he asks the actors to perform a play the next day: The Murder of Gonzago. This play closely resembles how Claudius murdered his brother, and Hamlet resolves that he will find out if Claudius is guilty of the murder of his brother (Hamlet’s father) by his expression throughout the play the actors put on. Hamlet thinks he will be able to depict any sign of guilt in Claudius’ face if he is truly guilty.
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