What Happens in Hamlet Act 3 Scene 4?
Polonius hides behind Gertrude’s curtain to eavesdrop, but calls out in fear after Gertrude does so. Hamlet hears him and stabs him through the curtain, killing him. The prince angrily confronts his mother, and, hearing Polonius’s calls for help, mistakes him for Claudius and stabs him through the curtain.
What is Hamlet Act 3 Scene 4 theme?
Act 3 Scene 4: Hamlet demands his mother face the truth of her disloyalty and says he will trust Rosencrantz and Guildenstern no more than he would ‘adders fanged’, knowing they have been dishonest in their dealings with him. Act 4 Scene 7: Claudius concocts a plot with Laertes to kill Hamlet.
Why does the ghost appear to Hamlet Act 3 Scene 4?
The ghost reappears to instruct Hamlet to comfort his mother. She is overwrought at her son’s behavior and words. Hamlet believed that the ghost was there to tell him that his father was angry at him for not taking his revenge.
Why did Hamlet refer to himself as tardy?
Hamlet knows that he is “tardy” in enacting revenge as his father’s ghost commands. He has been busy trying to determine if Claudius did indeed kill him, because he doesn’t want to murder someone based on a ghostly image’s accusation.
What does Hamlet mother criticize Act 3 Scene 4?
Hamlet enters challenging, “Now, Mother, what’s the matter?” Gertrude tells him he has badly offended his father, meaning Claudius; Hamlet answers that she has badly offended his father, meaning King Hamlet. He accuses Gertrude of lustfulness, and she begs him to leave her alone.
What is Hamlet’s plan at the end of Act 3 Scene 4?
Hamlet says he has a plan to “hoist [Claudius] with his own petard”—in other words, Hamlet plans to outsmart the king. The death of Polonius, Hamlet says, means he will have to leave even sooner.
Why do you think that Hamlet confronted his mother in Scene 4 Act 3 )? What was his point in doing this?
Hamlet goes to his mother’s room because she has summoned him so she can scold him for the way he’s been acting. It is also during this scene that Hamlet kills Polonius. He does not appear to be insane at this point. Gertrude thinks he is because he talks to the ghost, which only he can see.
What kinds of accusations does Hamlet hurl at his mom in Act 3 Scene 4 of Hamlet?
He accuses Gertrude of lustfulness, and she begs him to leave her alone.
What happens in Act 3 Scene 3 of Hamlet?
Read a translation of Act III, scene iii → Analysis Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought; And enterprises of great pith and moment, With this regard, their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. See Important Quotations Explained
What did hamlet accuse his mother of doing?
He accuses her of committing a terrible act, and when she claims not to know what he is talking about, Hamlet produces two pictures—one of Claudius and one of his late father.
Why did Hamlet kill Polonius in Scene 4?
In scene 4, Hamlet’s desire for revenge unexpectedly fuels another’s quest for revenge. By killing Polonius, Hamlet has robbed Laertes of a loving father—just as Claudius once did to Hamlet. For the first time, Hamlet acts without thinking, but in his haste, he accidentally kills the wrong man.
Who are the characters in the play Hamlet?
Scene 1. An entourage consisting of the king and queen, Polonius and Ophelia, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enters to begin the Act. Claudius asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern what they have learned about Hamlet’s malady.
