Hamlet Act III

Hamlet vs. Claudius (thought vs. action Both becoming more aware of what the other knows C. knows H poses a threat for him, but that he has control The more C knows the more he calculates & acts The more Hamlet knows the more he thinks and bandies words

Two more entrapments C sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to continue spying Polonius and C have Ophelia stage a confrontation with H while they spy Polonius thinks H is love-crazed O thinks he is just crazy

3 rd Hamlet soliloquy “To be or not to be: that is the question” A summary of all that follows Ponders the nature of being & nothingness Existentialism – past & future are intangible the present is all that humans can be sure of; what IS – being- is the only truth; everything else is nothing Scholars think this speech is an existential manifesto

“To be or not to be” cont. Hamlet’s basic premise: We are born, we live, we die. No one has come back from death to report; we don’t know what death will bring. So…do we try to affect our fate? Do we take action in the face of great sorrows or do we wallow in suffering? Can we end our troubles by opposing them? How do we know? What is the nature of death? Do we sleep in death?

“To be or not to be” cont. Do we sleep in death, or do we cease to sleep, thereby finding no rest at all. Hamlet hopes that death is nothingness. He fears that in death he will be haunted by bad dreams of life – conscience’s torment Hamlet’s dilemma – underlies the entire soliloquy – If he kills Claudius, he will be killed himself. He’s not sure if he is ready to die. He is afraid of the unknown. He doesn’t want to commit murder. He might have the ghost’s fate!

The play-within-the-play Hamlet comments on actors’ jobs H is aware of how much he is acting as well as others Puts his head in Ophelia’s lap – Demeaning in public – says that they have had sex

The play-within-the-play, cont. Two names of the play – The Death of Gonzago and The Mousetrap The Death of G is about the murder of a king and the Mousetrap has H’s additions to make it more like what Claudius did to his father. It is his trap to catch the king. H is convinced of C’s guilt, says he is ready to kill C, but then keeps talking….

Claudius prays Wants to confess, but he is still enjoying what he got as a result of his sin – the throne, the wealth, and the wife H wants to kill him, but doesn’t want him to go to heaven (he is confessing) – no true revenge, then Irony – C can’t really confess, so H should have killed him Would H have saved more lives at the end if he had killed C now?

Hamlet and Gertrude In closet – a private room in the castle, but meant for receiving visitors Since 19 th century, it has been staged as a more intimate setting Olivier makes it a very sexual scene Why doesn’t Gertrude see the ghost? Gertrude never promises to confess herself and leave the King She never tries to convince H that C is innocent

Act III – structural Climax A turning point in the plot (dramatic climax comes near the end) Polonius’s death sets in motion the events of the second half of the play, motivating C’s death plot and Laertes’s revenge.