Hamlet: Acts IV and V

Hamlet Act IV Summary

Swounds! We enter the final two Acts. Everyone gets to get revenge on someone who wronged them...except the most wronged character of all. Who is s/he?

Act I, Scene i

Claudius, Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern all meet to discuss what just happened between Hamlet and his mother. She says he’s mad as a hatter because he's just killed Polonius. Claudius questions what should be done with Hamlet, as his freedom puts them all in jeopardy. The king asks where Hamlet is, and Gertrude says he’s gone to bury the body and he is very sorry for what he did. Claudius calls Rosencrantz and Gildenstern to go see about Hamlet and bring the body of Polonius to the chapel.

Scene ii

Actors Gary Oldman and Tim Roth as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern go to Hamlet to find out what he’s done with the body. Hamlet has hidden it, and calls them “sponges,” soaking up favors from Claudius. They don’t understand the reference.

Scene iii

Claudius asks for Hamlet, Hamlet arrives with Rosencrantz and Gildenstern. When Claudius asks his nephew where the body is, Hamlet commences making morbid jokes about the ‘cycle of life’:

“Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain
convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your
worm is your only emperor for diet: we fat all
creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for
maggots: your fat king and your lean beggar is but
variable service, two dishes, but to one table:
that's the end.”

When asked what he means, Hamlet replies,

“Nothing but to show you how a king may go a
progress through the guts of a beggar.”

Effectively, Hamlet called Polonius a piece of poopie: a man is eaten by worms, a fish eats the worm, a man eats the fish, and on like that. Yuck. 

Finally, Claudius asks again and Hamlet says, “You shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby.”

The king and queen then tell Hamlet of their plans to send him to England; Claudius, when alone, admits that he plans to have Hamlet killed when he gets to England.

*Note: A cicatrice (cicatrix) is new flesh that forms over a wound.

Scene iv

Hamlet encounters Prince Fortinbras with his captains and army and inquires what’s going on. The Captain tells him that they are to attack ‘some part of Poland,’ and that Fortinbras is leading the way. The captain tells him that they are about to attack ‘a little patch of ground’ that’s hardly worth the bother. Hamlet thinks to himself that if Fortinbras can enlist so many men to reclaim such a petty chunk of turf, then he should go on with his plan to avenge his father.

Scene v

Gertrude, “a gentleman,” and Horatio are in Elsinore Castle. Gertrude refuses to speak with Ophelia, who is going around muttering nonsense and in a strange, faraway sort of manner, while others try to humor her. She has been driven mad, no doubt, by Hamlet’s treatment of her, compounded by her father’s sudden death. Exit Ophelia, enter her brother, Laertes, who demands to know what happened to his father. King and Queen are quick to defend themselves. Laertes spots Ophelia, who comes in, still singing little nonsense songs. Then she begins pulling invisible stems:

“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray,

Love, remember: and there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.

There’s fennel for you, and columbines: there’s rue

For you; and here’s some for me: we may call it

Herb-grace o’ Sundays: O you must wear your rue with

A difference. There’s a daisy: I would give you

Some violets, but they withered all when my father

Died: they say he made a good end, --

* She directs these lines to Claudius, offering him ‘herb grace o’ Sundays’ for his repentance; the daisies are for unhappy love; violets for faith.

She sings a song about virginity that raises curiosity about whether Hamlet deflowered her or no:

  

By Gis and by Saint Charity,
Alack, and fie for shame!
Young men will do't, if they come to't;
By cock, they are to blame.
Quoth she, before you tumbled me,
You promised me to wed.
So would I ha' done, by yonder sun,
An thou hadst not come to my bed.

Claudius encourages Laertes’ demands for revenge.

Below are two versions of Ophelia's "Mad Scene." Take note of the differences--how would you describe the manner in which each interprets madness? First is a scene from Hamlet set in the 20th century, Claudius is played by Sir Patrick Stewart; Ophelia is played by Mariah Gale. 

In Mel Gibson's production of Hamlet, Ophelia is just as expertly interpreted by Helena Bonham Carter. 

Scene vi

Another room in the castle

Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet who has been taken prisoner by pirates.

Act IV, Scene vii

Claudius finds out that Hamlet is alive and well and on his way home. He heaps flattery onto Laertes, hoping to shift suspicion onto Polonius’s son. A plan is hatched that Laertes will have a chance to avenge his father’s death by participating in a duel with Hamlet. Claudius believes it would be easy to convince Hamlet to fence with Laertes. They believe that Hamlet is gullible enough not to examine the swords being used, so Laertes can choose one with a sharp blade (according to sources, the Elizabethans reserved blunted swords for friendly duels). This way Laertes can kill Hamlet. Just for extra measure, Laertes plans to dip the business end of the sword into a poisonous ointment that will finish Hamlet off for sure. As a third option, Claudius may well just poison Hamlet’s drink.

Enter Gertrude with bad news: Ophelia has drowned.

Act V, Scene I, the Palace Graveyard

The talk among the gravediggers is suicide, since poor Ophelia has done herself in. Since suicide was considered a sin against God, those guilty of the offense do not receive a Christian burial—but since Ophelia is in with the royal crowd, things are different for her.

Hamlet and Horatio approach, and Hamlet begins to remark on the skulls that the gravedigger has thrown to the top of the grave. The conversation turns to our fates in death: how we and our material belongings end up dust. The gravedigger tells his companion that Hamlet has lost his mind since he was sent to England—where everyone is also mad as a hatter. The grave digger and the prince talk awhile about how long it takes a body to decay until the grave digger hands him the skull of Yorick, the king’s jester from 23 years ago.

Then the famous speech that begins, “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio…”

Hamlet and Horatio spot a procession with the king and queen and Laertes. Hamlet asks the priest who is being buried, the priest tells him it is a suicide:

Her obsequies have been as far enlarged
As we have warrantise: her death was doubtful;
And, but that great command o'ersways the order,
She should in ground unsanctified have lodged
Till the last trumpet: for charitable prayers,
Shards, flints and pebbles should be thrown on her;
Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants,
Her maiden strewments and the bringing home
Of bell and burial.

So, apparently, because she killed herself, her body should be flung somewhere and pelted with stones.

Then Laertes and Hamlet scramble (in her grave) over who loved her more.

Act V Scene ii

Hamlet discloses to Horatio that while asea headed to England he got hold of the letters between Claudius and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about having him killed. Since he (conveniently) had his uncle’s signet, he altered the letter so that it read R and G were to be killed and sent the letter on its way.

Enter Osric, who tells Hamlet that the king has placed a bet on him in a duel. Will he concede? Yep. The king has bet three fine horses, three fine swords, and three fine carriages to see the fine duel. Let’s go.

All the court appears for the duel, including the King with the poisoned beverage for Hamlet. As the duel commences, Hamlet makes a long apology to Laertes, and declares that “madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy.” The devil made him do it. Surprisingly, Hamlet inquires about the length of the foils. The king offers Hamlet a drink of wine while he duels, but he says ‘no.’ Then the queen offers him her handkerchief to wipe his brow; then SHE drinks the poisoned wine!

Laertes wounds Hamlet, and in a scuffle, they swap swords. Meanwhile, Gertrude falls over. Laertes tells Hamlet that his sword is poisoned and Hamlet’s going to die. Meanwhile, Hamlet stabs Claudius. They all shout “Treason!” and Hamlet forces Claudius to drink the rest of the poison. Hamlet lets fly a few parting words and dies. Horatio utters the famous line:

“Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince:

And flights of angels sing the to thy rest!”

Finally, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.