Hamlet Acto Iv

ENGLISH EXPOSITION REPORT
ACT IV:
Scene 1:
Queen Gertrude tells Claudius about Hamblet and the murder of Polonius. He sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find Hamlet and to recorver the body.
Wit terms “as mad as the sea and wind when both contend which is the mightier”.

Scene 2:
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ask Hamlet for the body of Polonius, but he appears to act bizarrely andrefuses to tell them where it is.

Scene 3:
The King asks hamlet where the body is and Hamlet responds in a silly manner. Instructing Hamlet to leave immediately for England, he reveals in a soliloquy that hamlet will be killed when he arrives.
Wit terms: And thou must cure me. Till I know “’tis done, Howe’er my haps, my joys were ne’er begun. (Rhyming couplet to end this scene).

Scene 4:On the way to the ship, Hamlet meets the Norwegian captain of young Fortinbras’ army. Hamlet is inspired by Fortinbras’ desire to fight for something as insignificant as a plot of land.
Wit terms: O, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!

Scene 5:
The King and Queen speak with Ophelia who sings strange songs and seems incoherent and insane. Ophelia’s brotherLaertes arrives.
Laertes, obviously disturbed, declares that he will seek revenge for his father’s death. Ophelia enters and Laertes is heartbroken when he sees that she has gone mad.

Scene 6:
Sailors deliver a letter to Horation from Hamlet about his return to Denmark onboard a pirate ship.

Scene 7:
The King explains to Laertes the reasons he did not bury Polonius in a proper ceremony. Amessenger arrives with a letter from Hamlet, stating that he is returning to Denmark alone.

The King and laertes devise a plan to kill Hamlet in revenge for Polonius’ death.

The Queen arrives with news that Laertes’ sister Ophelia has drowned.
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Act IV, scenes i–ii

Summary: Act IV, scene i

Frantic after her confrontation with Hamlet,Gertrude hurries to Claudius, who is conferring with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. She asks to speak to the king alone. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern exit, she tells Claudius about her encounter with Hamlet. She says that he is as mad as the sea during a violent storm; she also tells Claudius that Hamlet has killed Polonius. Aghast, the king notes that had he been concealed behind the arras,Hamlet would have killed him. Claudius wonders aloud how he will be able to handle this public crisis without damaging his hold on Denmark. He tells Gertrude that they must ship Hamlet to England at once and find a way to explain Hamlet’s misdeed to the court and to the people. He calls Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, tells them about the murder, and sends them to find Hamlet.

Summary: Act IV, sceneii

Elsewhere in Elsinore, Hamlet has just finished disposing of Polonius’s body, commenting that the corpse has been “safely stowed” (IV.ii.1). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern appear and ask what he has done with the body. Hamlet refuses to give them a straight answer, instead saying, “The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body” (IV.ii.25–26). Feigning offense at beingquestioned, he accuses them of being spies in the service of Claudius. He calls Rosencrantz a “sponge . . . that soaks up the king’s countenance, his rewards, his authorities,” and warns him that “when he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again” (IV.ii.11–19). At last he agrees to allow Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to escort him to Claudius.

Analysis:Act IV, scenes i–ii

The short first scene of Act IV centers around Gertrude’s betrayal of her son, turning him in to the king after having promised to help him. While she does keep her promise not to reveal that Hamlet was only pretending to be insane, the immediate and frank way in which she tells Claudius about Hamlet’s behavior and his murder of Polonius implies that she sees herself as...