Hamlet
Act 2 - Scene Notes
Scene 1
Although it is not clear how much time has passed since the last scene, it is obvious that a considerable
amount of time has elapsed, for Laertes has been in France for awhile. The decision of Polonius to send
someone to spy on his son serves as a foreshadowing of later events in the play, when Claudius sends
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy upon Hamlet. At the end of Polonius' instructions to Reynaldo, he
succinctly sums up the tactics that should be used to find out about Laertes' conduct. These same tactics will
be used by Claudius to keep an eye on Hamlet. The difference is that Polonius has a genuine concern for
Laertes and his well being; such is not the case with Claudius, who spies on Hamlet out of a desire for selfprotection.
This scene also highlights the essential aspect of Polonius' character that will ultimately lead to his death.
Untrusting by nature, Polonius is convinced that Laertes will conduct himself shamefully in Paris and indulge in
vices; therefore, he uses underhanded and sneaky methods to observe his son. Polonius' tendency to
eavesdrop and spy prepares the audience for the times when he will covertly watch Hamlet. It seems that
spying is an integral part of the corrupt court of Denmark.
Furthermore, the scene allows Ophelia to announce Hamlet's strange behavior; it also allows Polonius, as Lord
Chamberlain and father of Ophelia, to convey the news of Hamlet's behavior to the King. Ophelia tells her
father about how Hamlet appeared in her closet "with a look so piteous in purport / as if he had been loosed
out of hell / to speak of horrors." Additionally, he grabbed her and shook her. Such behavior reveals that
Hamlet has, indeed, taken on a stance of craziness; therefore, this scene is closely linked to Hamlet's
encounter with the Ghost, when he decides to feign madness in order to exact his revenge on Claudius. When
Polonius hears his daughter's story, he jumps to the conclusion that Hamlet has gone mad because of his
unrequited love for Ophelia. He immediately and arrogantly assumes he is the cause of the young Prince's
problem. In fact, he is so certain about this interpretation that he hastens to the King to tell him about
Hamlet's madness and its cause, exactly as the Prince has planned.
Scene 2
This scene is important in that a lot of information is revealed and a good deal of action to advance the plot
takes play. Claudius instructs Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet; the emissaries sent to Norway
return with the good news that the old King of Norway has restrained young Fortinbras from proceeding
against Denmark; Polonius tells Claudius that Hamlet's madness is a result of unrequited love and plans to
eavesdrop on Hamlet's conversation with Ophelia; and the troupe of strolling players arrives, giving Hamlet
the perfect opportunity to determine the degree of Claudius' guilt.
Claudius has developed some suspicions about Hamlet's behavior and asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to
spy on him. He has shrewdly perceived that Hamlet's appearance may be deceptive. Masking his purpose of
self-preservation in the guise of concern for his new son, Claudius tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that
neither Hamlet's "exterior nor the inward man / Resembles what it was." Underneath the appearance,
Claudius is more concerned about the threat that Hamlet poses to him than about Fortinbras' planned attack.
His skewed priorities reveal his tenuous position as King. Ironically, Hamlet's feigned madness, which was
meant to ward off the King's suspicions, has resulted in the very opposite reaction.
As soon as the emissaries leave, Polonius confidently asserts that he has found the cause of Hamlet's lunacy.
True to his character, he struggles in vain to be brief but ends up being quite verbose. He finally asserts that
Hamlet's insanity is caused by his unrequited love for Ophelia. He reads a poorly written love letter sent by
Hamlet to Ophelia as proof. The love letter is obviously a part of Hamlet's charade of madness and paints a
conventional picture of a dejected lover. Polonius then proposes to "loose" his daughter on Hamlet, using her
as bait to discover the depth and cause of the Prince's madness. As part of the plan, Polonius and Claudius will
hide behind a curtain and observe the couple together. His earlier concern for his daughter's virtue is now lost
as he proposes to make Ophelia vulnerable to the "mad" prince.
Hamlet's rude mockery of Polonius is deserved. He obviously has figured out that Polonius has ordered his
daughter to stop seeing him. He, therefore, seizes the opportunity to satirize Polonius' moral obtuseness. He
calls Polonius a "fishmonger" or a pimp, knowing that Polonius is not a protector of Ophelia's virtue but a
weak-willed father who will use his daughter in order to help the King. The simple-minded Polonius, unable to
understand the Prince's allusion, thinks that Hamlet is really mad and persists in his efforts to find out what is
exactly wrong. Hamlet, in order to further confound Polonius, continues to talk in riddles. Referring to the
corruption and disease of the court, Hamlet tells Polonius that even the apparently pure sun breeds maggots
in a dead dog.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, for all their efforts, fail to discover Hamlet's secret. Instead, the Prince
discovers theirs and makes them confess that they have been sent from the King to discover the reason for his
strange conduct. Hamlet now has more cause for being melancholic since even his childhood friends can no
longer be trusted. Hamlet suggests to them that he has changed because his ambition to ascend the throne
has been thwarted; he also talks about his disillusionment with the world. He states that men too often
abandon reason and sink to a bestial level, appearing to be nothing more than the "quintessence of dust."
Finally, this important scene introduces the players, who perform an essential function in both the plot and
the theme of Hamlet. When the players arrive, Hamlet asks the first player to recite Aeneas' speech to Dido; it
is about the fall of Troy and the killing of King Priam by the Greek Pyrrhus and bears particular relevance to
Hamlet's own situation. In this speech, Pyrrhus is dressed in black armor smeared with blood that is soon
baked into a thin crust by the excessive heat of Troy, "roasted in wrath and fire." The speech foreshadows the
bloody acts required to exact vengeance in the tragic conclusion of this play. Appropriately, the lines of the
speech show Pyrrhus to be suspended in inaction, "neutral to his will," much like Hamlet has been himself. In
the last part of the speech, Hecuba is wildly lamenting Priam's death, an ironic contrast to Gertrude's apparent
lack of feeling over the death of her husband. The speech ends by proclaiming that even the gods would have
been moved by the spectacle of Hecuba's sorrow; at the end of Hamlet, everyone is moved by the great loss of
life.
The introduction of actors into the play further develops the theme of appearance versus reality. Hamlet even
wonders aloud at the ability of actors to portray emotions so realistically; yet Hamlet himself is doing such a
good job of acting the madman that everyone in the court assumes he has lost his mind. In the end, he will be
transformed from an actor depicting madness to a man possessed by madness.
When Hamlet is left alone, he soliloquizes his innermost thoughts. He derides himself for being a "a dull
muddy-mettled rascal" and a dreamer. He castigates himself for inaction and fiercely criticizes himself for
pining over his dead father instead of taking positive action. The soliloquy begins as a reaction to the actor's
realistic description of Hecuba's grief at Priam's death. In contrast, Hamlet, who has "the motive and the cue
for passion," still fails to act; he calls himself a "pigeon-liver'd" coward who lacks the gall to kill Claudius, and
describes his enemy as a "bloody, bawdy villain! / Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless [unnatural]
villain."
There are several explanations as to why Hamlet delays his vengeance until it is too late. Perhaps he continues
to fear that the ghost is only a devilish villain that is wrongly leading him down a murderous path. Certainly,
regicide, the killing of a king, is a great crime, and Hamlet wants to be certain that Claudius is truly guilty of
murder. Additionally, Hamlet's background in Christianity has taught him that revenge is forbidden. All of
these factors contribute to Hamlet's hesitation. He is, however, convinced that the enacting of "The Murder of
Gonzago," with his insertion of some lines containing an incident similar to the murder of his father, will help
him definitively ascertain Claudius' guilt; in turn, he will be free to act. In the end, Hamlet cannot be criticized
for this procrastination, for he is a cautious young man, with a serious task at hand; he wants to make sure he
is correct in his pursuit of justice.