Though this be madness, yet there is method in't

Ophelia makes Polonius 'present' in the absence of a body This is the shortest act of the production at just 28 minutes, but is full of pace and action. The stage is filled with ever-changing movement. Increasingly sinister and ominous music between scenes contributes to the building sense of threat, and the movement to different locations seems almost seamless; as though we are running through the castle with the characters. There are instructions, letters, machinations, plotting. Hamlet's arrest by a guard is very physical: he is thrown to the floor in a half-nelson submission hold. His insolent foot tapping and movement, and loose-limbed rebellious mocking of Claudius get the audience on side and there is much laughter - but his reactions seem those of a man who has run out of options and has nothing left to lose. Everything about Essiedu's appearance and manner is subversive; down to his shabby clothing and turned-up trousers - in such contrast to the costume...

The final scene of Act IV sees  Claudius and Laertes concoct a murderous double-poisoning plot against Hamlet, and the Queen brings news of Ophelia's death. Before the scene begins it seems that the King has been telling Laertes his version of Polonius' death, along with his belief that he, Claudius, was his next target. Claudius gives a couple of reasons for not already having taken more extreme measures against Hamlet: firstly to please Gertrude, and then through a second reference to Hamlet's popularity with the people, the 'great love the general gender bear him' (IV.vii.18). But there is emphasis on action, and that action springs from Laertes, 'my revenge will come' (IV.vii.29); 'devise it so/That I might be the organ (IV.vii.68-69) from Laertes, and Claudius, in the business of egging him on, 'That we would do/We should do when we would' (IV.vii.117-118). Unlike Hamlet of course, who didn't avenge his father's death by k...

Another tiny little scene, which really serves to drive the plot forward in terms of Hamlet's narrative.  As is often the case, the pace of action is increased by seeming to enter mid-conversation with the characters. Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet via some 'seafaring men' (IV.vi.2), (signifying Hamlet's remaining trust in his old friend - unlike Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who have betrayed him). The letter reveals that Hamlet's boat to England was attacked, and he himself taken prisoner by a 'pirate of very warlike appointment' (IV.vi.15), (which led to the obvious but irresistible film reference) but was well-treated and is now returned to Danish soil. Horatio must be led to his friend. A quick summary that raises some interesting ideas towards the end is here: Just keep track on this one in your own summary notes.

Continuing the frenzied pace of this act, we meet the Queen and Horatio with a 'Gentleman' in mid conversation about Ophelia's grief-stricken state of mind and 'distract' behaviour. (Hamlet himself doesn't appear in the next three scenes.) Gertrude determines 'I will not speak with her' (IV.v.1) but is persuaded to 'Let her come in' (IV.iv.16) just fifteen lines later - after the indirect threat to Hamlet that Ophelia 'may strew/Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds' (IV.v.14-15). There is evidently sufficient sense in the things that Ophelia says to cause trouble for the King. (It is worth remembering that the the handling of Polonius' death is causing political tensions and adding to the civil unrest.) Ophelia enacts being mad with grief, and matches the description that she 'Speaks much of her father' (IV.v.4), but does so mostly through song. She leaves just prior to the arrival of a livid Laertes, so...

The famous young Fortinbras, Norwegian crown prince first mentioned in the opening 100 lines of the play and referred to subsequently in Act II, finally makes his entrance; embarking on the 'promis'd march' (IV.iv.3) - the permission earlier granted for him to cross Denmark in order to battle over a piece of land now in Polish possession. More on the significance of this in Hanratty's Episode 121 of The Hamlet podcast . I can't think of a better way to spend seven minutes of your life at this point. Fortinbras encounters Hamlet, and so there together on stage are two young princes, both caught up in the business of avenging the deaths of their fathers. Except that perhaps Fortinbras is getting on with his a little more purposefully than Hamlet who may be guilty of 'thinking too precisely on th'event' (IV.iv.41) as he himself observes.  Indeed, his soliloquy begins by stating the way in which every event and encounter reminds him of his ...

The pacy, almost real-time movement continues into another short scene as Rosencrantz announces that they have brought Hamlet to the King. Claudius reveals something of Hamlet's popularity, which hasn't been directly alluded to before. 'He's lov'd of the distracted multitude' (IV.iii.4). Hamlet's wordplay also continues - in somewhat poor taste, perhaps. He refuses to give a straight answer to the question of where Polonius' body lies, but emphasises its corporeal nature as fodder for worms, and jokes that if it isn't found within a month then the King will be able to detect his decaying corpse and 'nose him as you go up the stairs' (IV.iii.36). It is at least a hint as to the location, and enables Claudius to dispatch his attendants in search of it. The air of melancholy and general futility of life that he expressed earlier in the play underlies sentiments such as 'we fat ourselves for maggots' (IV.iii.22). But death is ...

This is another very short scene, of less than thirty lines; the shortest in the entire play, in fact. Hamlet describes the body of Polonius as 'Safely stowed' in the opening line. It's an odd description: indicating something neatly stored or packed away - perhaps concealed - but with the suggestion of later use. Hamlet's speech is disordered and irrational. He speaks in non-sequiturs and riddles when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive, emphasising his distrust of former friends in his depiction of them as foolish: mere sponges who 'soak up the king's countenance' but will get their just desserts when they are squeezed out 'dry' in the end. Gone is the iambic pentameter that has mostly shaped Hamlet's speech previously,  but there is an interesting use of double syntax or syntactic slide   at the end of the scene.  (This is where meaning is created in one line and then recreated differently in the next - one of my favourite th...

This scene is short, just 45 lines, and perhaps its primary plot purpose is to have Rosencrantz and Gildenstern despatched to hunt for Polonius' body, last seen being dragged off unceremonioulsy by Hamlet at the end of Act III to 'lug the guts into the neighbour room' (III.iv.214). But very importantly, we also see Gertrude's explanation to Claudius about Polonius' murder - the very thing that Hamlet has asked her not to do. Gertrude describes Hamlet's wild and violent madness as that of 'the sea and wind when both contend/Which is the mightier.' (IV.i.7-8). Claudius is strengthened in his resolve to send Hamlet to England. If you are interested in continuing to collect imagery of contagion, note that Claudius describes Hamlet as the embodiment of a 'foul disease' that has begun to 'feed even on the pith of life' (IV.i.21-23). An enraged Claudius registers 'discord and dismay' in what feels like a flippant couplet at the e...