Hamlet Act IV scene i

1. Hamlet Act IV scene i Gertrude deceives Claudius about Hamlet�s madness. Claudius reveals to the audience that he knew it was meant to be his death � �It had been so with us, had we been there� Claudius asserts that �His liberty is full of threats to us all�; the image of disease is raised again, this time regarding Hamlet

3. Hamlet Act IV scene ii Hamlet speaks in riddles to R and G � he appears to be ridiculing their authority (line16); R cannot understand and Hamlet says that a witty/sarcastic remark is wasted on a fool. Note the use of prose in this scene. Hamlet�s lines �The King is a thing �� �Of nothing.� seem threatening to Claudius � he is doomed to death.

4. Hamlet Act IV scene iii Claudius muses about Hamlet � he cannot be arrested � he is too much loved, even to be punished for murder � instead he must be sent away � a desperate problem needs a desperate solution R and G come on with �all the rest� � a stage direction that makes the stage very crowded!

5. Hamlet Act IV scene iii Think of the dramatic effect of such a multitude of people on stage. Hamlet�s comments about Polonius being �where �a is eaten� and being with a �convocation of politic worms� are riddling, but tell that Polonius is to be eaten by worms. He comments on the mortality of all

6. Hamlet Act IV scene iii Hamlet refuses to tell where the body is, but gives a clue � that they �shall nose him�up the stairs�.� � he is under the stairs and they will soon smell him. The unpleasant images appear to show Hamlet in a different light to the audience � would he be a suitable king?

7. Hamlet Act IV scene iii Claudius warns that Hamlet must leave for England with R and G. As he leaves, Hamlet ironically uses words from the marriage service � one flesh Claudius warns R and G to follow, �everything is sealed and done� refers to the letters of line 66 � that order, �the present death of Hamlet�, presumably by England (the English king)

8. Hamlet Act IV scene iv Fortinbras arrives with army to cross Denmark � remember the parallel of Fortinbras/Hamlet; fighting spirit/inability to act Fortinbras accepts the authority of the king � �We shall express our duty in his eye�

9. Hamlet Act IV scene iv Hamlet enters and questions a captain � on stage the parallel is emphasised by Shakespeare (lines 43- 50) The coming battle appears pointless � the land is worth nothing and Hamlet comments that it is like an abscess � pus accumulates unseen during peace, ready to burst out!!!!

10. Hamlet Act IV scene iv Shakespeare gives Hamlet a soliloquy here � he is about to be absent from stage for a while, so this is important Hamlet draws his own parallels between himself and Fortinbras. One critic feels that it allows his developing maturity to show through.

11. Hamlet Act IV scene iv Shakespeare presents Hamlet here as feeling that he looks bad in comparison He bemoans the fact that he is still to carry out his revenge � thinking about this for too long is a little like cowardice He feels that Fortinbras, in going to war over something trivial because it affects his honour, is a far greater prince than he

12. Hamlet Act IV scene iv He wonders, �How stand I then,/that have a father killled, a mother stained� and lets things carry on �while to my shame I see the imminent death of�men He avows �O, from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth! (lines 65-6)