NOTES ON HAMLET, ACTS IV-V
1. Course themes of identity and self-exploration
2. Figurative language (literary devices and their significance)
3. Shakespearean structure
4. Shakespeare’s personal influences
5. Shakespeare’s time period influences
ACT IV:
SCENE I:
-“Mad as the sea and wind when both contend which is the mightier” (IV, I, 7-8).
Gertrude describes her son Hamlet’s mad identity in a simile/imagery-rich language.
Claudius and Gertrude decide to send him away to England because of his so-called
madness.
SCENE II:
-Hamlet calls Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sponges and repeats “sponge” and “soak”
multiple times, as they will absorb anything that Claudius tells them.
-“The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body. The King is a thing” (IV,
II, 23-24). Hamlet uses puns here as he declares that the body of the government is with
King Claudius, but King Hamlet is not with his body. The rightful king is dead and just a
thing, not living. Or he could be referring to Polonius’ body not being with King Hamlet,
because Polonius is in hell, not heaven with King Hamlet. Hamlet is not being
straightforward to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, when asked about Polonius’ body,
because he doesn’t trust them.
SCENE III:
-“Not where he eats, but where ‘a is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are
e’en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet” (IV, III, 19-22). Hamlet tells
Claudius where Polonius’ body is located, but he uses the repetition and metaphor of the
‘worm’ to represent Polonius as a worm and Claudius as a worm. Hamlet has method to
his madness.
SCENE IV:
-Hamlet's soliloquy: "How all occasions do inform against me and spur my dull
revenge...oh, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth" (IV, IV,
29-63). Hamlet has a clear mission in life and he has a newfound confidence.
SCENE V:
-Ophelia appears mad because of her father's death and her love's murder of her father.
"He is dead and gone, lady; he is dead and gone" (IV, V, 28-29). "Good night, ladies.
Good night, sweet ladies. Good night, good night" (IV, V, 71-72). Repetition of "good
night" is prophetic of her death.
-Laertes learns of his father's death and declares revenge on the murderer. "Vows, to the
blackest devil...only I'll be revenged most thoroughly for my father" (IV, V, 130-135).
Laertes now has purpose/personal mission and he feels more secure in his standing.
Perhaps he even grows up, maturing out of his wanton ways.
-Ophelia is obsessed with flowers/niceties to counteract the death and depression around
her. "She turns to favor and to prettiness" (IV, V, 182). Ophelia is seeking out comfort in
this trying time.
SCENE VI:
-Hamlet’s letter to Horatio, written in prose: “Let the King have the letters I have sent,
and repair thou to me with as much speed as thou wouldst fly death” (IV, VI, 21-23).
This reveals Hamlet’s “method to his madness” in that he contrives to have Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern (after these lines) murdered, instead of him (which was Claudius’
intention). Hamlet’s letter to Horatio is also prophetic of Horatio acting as the loyal and
trusted friend to Hamlet, especially in his approaching demise at the end of Act V.
SCENE VII:
-Claudius instigates Laertes’ revenge against Hamlet, who murdered his father, Polonius.
“Laertes, was your father dear to you? Or are you, like the painting of a sorrow, a face
without a heart?” (IV, VII, 105-107). Using imagery and simile, Shakespeare paints a
picture for the audience, revealing Claudius’ method for persuasion.
-Laertes is ready to murder Hamlet in church, and he is willing to be a heretic (against the
church), as he conveys this to Claudius. “To cut his throat i’ th’ church” (IV, VII, 124).
Laertes is fearless when it comes to doing anything sacrilegious. Claudius chooses not to
go this route, and, instead, wants them to duel.
-Claudius arranges two plans—Plan A: arrange a duel and poison Laertes’ sword AND
Plan B: have a poisonous drink that Hamlet can drink in celebration.
-Discovery: Ophelia has drowned. Laertes refuses to cry because he has a mission (to kill
Hamlet) and he feels secure in his newfound identity as a revenge-seeker/murderer. It’s
Shakespeare’s style/structure to not allow the characters to mourn and weep when they
establish their missions/life purposes. “Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, and
therefore I forbit my tears” (IV, VII, 182-183).
ACT V:
SCENE I:
-Shakespearean style/structure: build suspense with comic relief from the clowns/gravediggers at the gravesite. They’re playing with skulls, and Hamlet (in disguise) and
Horatio arrive shocked and mortified by this lack of respect for the dead.
-Hamlet remarks about seeing his court jester, Yorick, Alexander the Great, and Julius
Caesar, buried side by side. Shakespeare reveals that when you’re dead, class/status have
no significance. As a sign of his times, Shakespeare comments on the greatness given to
status and class, yet they’re not really worth much in the end.
-Prophecy of Laertes’ impending death: Laertes arrives at the gravesite and leaps into the
grave to hug Ophelia (V, I, 230-232).
SCENE II:
-Before the duel, Hamlet apologizes for killing Polonius, due to Hamlet’s madness
(repeated 3x) in lines 202-209. Perhaps as repentance before Hamlet’s impending death,
so he will guarantee a spot in heaven.
-Gertrude drinks the poisonous wine, intended for Hamlet, which unites her and her son
as she says “O my dear Hamlet” (V, II, 286). Oedipal Complex at work.
-Hamlet stabs Claudius and makes him drink the same poisonous wine that she drank, so
now it’s “incestuous” (V, II, 301).
-Laertes and then Hamlet die by the poisonous sword. Before Hamlet’s slow death, he
has a final message—only to Horatio, his trusted and loyal friend—to tell his story (V, II,
315-316). Horatio wants to die too, but Hamlet refuses to let him take the poisonous
wine. Hamlet wants Fortinbras (king of Norway) to be king of Denmark. Horatio conveys
Hamlet’s story and appointment of Fortinbras. Horatio makes sure that Hamlet is
remembered as a great man. Hamlet receives a military salute/funeral with the final
words of the play, said by the new king of Denmark, Fortinbras: “Go. Bid the soldiers
shoot.”