Synopsis
of the scene
In Gertrude’s chamber, the queen and Polonius wait for
Hamlet’s arrival. Polonius plans to hide in order to spy on Gertrude’s fight
with her hamlet, in the hope that doing so will enable him to determine the
cause of Hamlet’s bizarre and threatening behaviour. Polonius wishes the queen
to be harsh with Hamlet when he arrives, saying that she should punish him for
his recent behaviour. Gertrude agrees, and Polonius hides behind an arras.
Hamlet storms into the room and asks his mother why she has
sent for him. She says that he has offended his father, meaning his stepfather,
Claudius. He interrupts her and says that she has offended his father, meaning
the dead King Hamlet, by marrying Claudius. Hamlet approaches her with an
almost violent force and states his intention to make her fully aware of the understanding
of her sin. Fearing for her life, Gertrude cries out. From behind the arras,
Polonius calls out for help. Hamlet, realizing that someone is behind the arras
and suspecting that it might be Claudius, cries, “How now! A rat?” He draws his
sword and stabs it through the arras, killing the unseen Polonius. Gertrude
asks what Hamlet has done, and he replies, “Nay, I know not: Is it the king?” The queen says his action was a “rash and
bloody” deed, and Hamlet replies that it was almost as rash and bloody as
murdering a king and marrying his brother. Disbelieving, the queen screams, “As kill a
king!” and Hamlet replies that she heard him correctly.
Hamlet lifts the arras and notices Polonius’s body he has
not killed the king and achieved his revenge but has murdered the reasonably
innocent Polonius. He turns to his mother, stating that he will squeeze her
heart. He shows her a picture of the dead king and a picture of the current
king, terribly comments on the control of his father to his uncle, and asks her
furiously what has driven her to marry a rotten man such as Claudius. She begs
with him to stop, saying that he has turned her eyes onto her soul and that she
does not like what she sees there. Hamlet continues to criticize her and rail
against Claudius, suddenly, the ghost of his father again appears before him.
Hamlet speaks to the ghost, but Gertrude is unable to see it
and believes him to be mad. The ghost says that it has come to remind Hamlet of
his purpose, that Hamlet has not yet killed Claudius and must achieve his
revenge. Gertrude is amazed and unable to see him, the ghost asks Hamlet to plead
with her. Hamlet describes the ghost, but Gertrude sees nothing, and in a
moment the ghost disappears. Hamlet tries desperately to convince Gertrude that
he is not mad but has just pretend madness all along, and he needs her to abandon
Claudius and regain her good principles. He needs her as well not to reveal to
Claudius that his madness has been an act. Gertrude, still shaken from Hamlet’s
furious criticism of her, agrees to keep his secret. He says goodnight, but,
before he leaves, he points to Polonius’s body and states that heaven has
“punished me with this, and this with me” Hamlet reminds his mother that he
must cruise to England with his two friends, he says he will regard with doubt,
as though they were poisonous snakes, since he assumes that their loyalties are
with Claudius, not with him. Dragging Polonius’s body behind him, Hamlet leaves
his mother’s room.
His side if he is to achieve justice. While all of these are
possibilities, what Hamlet actually does is urge his mother to repent choosing
Claudius over his own father. More specifically, he repeatedly demands that she
avoid Claudius’s bed. He tells her not to let Claudius provoke her by massaging
her neck, and not to sleep with him tonight.
Though Gertrude’s speech in this scene is largely limited to
brief reactions to Hamlet’s long criticisms of her, it is our most revealing
look at her character. Gertrude goes through several states of feeling she is arrogant
and harsh at the beginning, then afraid that Hamlet will hurt her, shocked and
upset when Hamlet kills Polonius, speechless by fear and panic as Hamlet approaches
her, and disbelieving when Hamlet sees the ghost. Lastly, she is regretful
toward her son and apparently willing to take his part and help him. For
Gertrude, then, the scene progresses as an order of great shocks, each of which
weakens her confrontation to Hamlet’s blame of her behaviour.
Gertrude’s character seems to be that she has a powerful character
for self-protection and progress that leads her to rely too deeply on men. Not
only does this explain her behaviour it also links her thematically to Ophelia,
the play’s other important female character, who is also passive and completely
dependent on men.
Staging of Hamlet
