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

Today we reach our dramatic, and tragic conclusion. The final scene begins with Hamlet explaining to Horatio how he has altered the letter from Claudius condemning him to death - and substituting the names Rosencrantz and Guildenstern instead. They are interrupted by Osric, a courtier, who issues the challenge for a duel with Laertes - in order to settle a bet for the king. It probably didn't look like this. Moments later, after Hamlet issues an apology to Laertes, explaining that he acted in madness and without 'purpos'd evil' (V.ii.237), the duel begins. It can be seen as another example of a play within a play, a performance staged for a court audience as well as the theatrical one. Laertes selecting the poisoned foil and Claudius preparing the poisoned drink with a deadly jewel, 'Hamlet, this pearl is thine' (V.ii.284) as planned. Hamlet, unaware of the plot against him, wins the first points - and Gertrude drinks to his health from the poiso...

Now we reach the point of no return for Hamlet - the pivot on which the rest of the play turns. And there is plenty of drama. Having toyed with the idea of murder in the previous scene, his is driven to murderous action in this one - before his father's ghost reappears. The scene opens with Polonius' antagonistic imperatives to the Queen - about how to speak to her son, in order to 'lay home' aspects of his behaviour and 'tell him' that it will no longer be tolerated (III.iv.1-2) - before Polonius secretes himself behind the arras. But a suggestion that Gertrude has mediated on Hamlet's behalf hovers on the air, that she 'hath screen'd and stood between/Much heat and him' (III.iv.3-4). Hamlet, though, is evidently unaware of any such intercession. When he arrives, the dialogue with his mother provides what is possibly my favourite exchange of the play.  Queen Hamlet, thou has thy father much offended. Hamlet Mother, you have m...

Rosencrantz and Gildenstern enter with the King, who confirms his decision to send Hamlet to England with them. It is framed as a protective measure: it would be dangerous 'To let his madness range' (III.iii.2) and it will not do for the King's safety to be compromised, since the fortune of the king determines that of his subjects. This belief is acknowledged by Rosencrantz 'Never alone/Did the King sigh, but with a general moan' (III.iii.22-23), but as ever, dramatic irony is at play here. The divine right theory of kingship (which asserted that kings derived their authority from God, and supported the idea of hereditary monarchy) and Chain of Being (a Christian concept codifying the religious hierarchical structure of all life and matter) have been disrupted. Both were significant ideas in terms of Elizabethan philosophy and ideas about World Order; Claudius is a usurper, not a rightful ruler. Next, Polonius enters, reiterating his intention to 'conve...