Hamlet Act II, Scene i

Setting A “room” Again, presumably a room in the palace Probably the same setting as I, iii Interesting - scene exposes Polonius for the manipulative creep that he is Interesting piece of trivia: Laertes’ name is not mentioned in the scene! Reynaldo Polonius’ “man” (i.e. – servant, lackey) Reynaldo is to go to Paris to give Laertes some money and some letters from his father and (presumably) his sister While there, he is told to ask around about Laertes’ behaviour; in effect, he is going there as a spy for Polonius

Polonius’ plan Reynaldo is to talk to people who know Laertes, and to imply that Laertes is a bit of a cad What Polonius is hoping is that these people will say, “No way! Laertes is a great person!” What he thinks they might say is “Oh, yeah, that Laertes is a pretty crazy guy!” It’s sneaky and duplicitous; Polonius in a nutshell The kinds of things Polonius allows Reynaldo to accuse Laertes of “gaming” (scene I, line 24) “drinking, fencing, swearing, quarreling, / Drabbing” (scene I, lines 25-26) Reynaldo is supposed to suggest, however, that Laertes does not do these things all the time, that he only sometimes does this (further evidence of Polonius’ hypocrisy) Branagh brilliantly sets this scene in Polonius’ bedroom as a prostitute is leaving, further underscoring Polonius’ hypocrisy

We see much evidence in this scene of Polonius’ flowery way of speaking He is a windbag Often played as a comic character, but this is probably a mistake Some of his complicated, confused language is funny, but he is not a blithering idiot He repeats himself endlessly “ ‘Good sir,’ or so, or ‘friend,’ or ‘gentleman’ –” (scene I, line 46) “I saw him yesterday, or t’other day, / Or then, or then, with such and such” (scene I, lines 56-57) He loses his place “What was I about to say? By the mass, I was about to say something! Where did I leave?” (scene I, lines 50-51)

Ophelia enters and says that Hamlet has been to see her His appearance is atrocious “his doublet all unbraced, / No hat upon his head, his stockings fouled, / Ungartered, and down-gyvèd to his ankle, / Pale as his shirt” (scene I, lines 78-81) This is in keeping with what he said he was going to do (i.e. – “put an antic disposition on” – I, v, 172) It is “as if he had been oosed out of hell / To speak of horrors” (scene I, lines 83-84) Particularly apt simile! Hamlet has heard from “hell,” in effect

Ophelia enters and says that Hamlet has been to see her, cont’d We get the full description of Hamlet’s mad routine Again, his appearance Also his odd behaviour He acts very strangely around Ophelia, taking her hand and staring at her Walking out of the room without looking where he is going (“He seemed to find his way without his eyes” – scene I, line 98) Polonius immediately assumes that Hamlet is in love with Ophelia, and that it is his fault that Hamlet is insane because he told Ophelia not to see Hamlet anymore Polonius decides that they must go to Claudius and tell Claudius his theory on why Hamlet is mad