Hamlet Summary - Act IV

Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Act IV
Scene 1
Gertrude tells King Claudius that Hamlet has murdered Polonius; she
reinforces the point that he is in fact gone insane. She also talks about how
Hamlet is crying a little, so maybe the murder has had some real effect on him.
Claudius orders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to solve this issue.
Scene 2
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, following Claudius' orders, meet with Hamlet
and try to convince him to show them where Polonius' body is. They are
unsuccessful in their assigned task since Hamlet answers them with a riddle
telling where the body is located: “The body is with the king, but the king is not
with the body," which makes them way more confused.
Scene 3
Since neither Rosencrantz or Guildenstern resolved the issue of the missing
corpse, Claudius decides to personally ask Hamlet about it in hopes of finally
finding it. Hamlet continues acting weird and responding to the King's
questions in a much weirder way, but different from earlier, he actually hints to
where the body might be, that is, the stairs that lead to the lobby. After leaving,
Claudius warns Hamlet that he will be going to England together with his
friends for causing so much trouble. When finally being left alone, the King
reveals his ill intentions to kill Hamlet once he reaches England.
Scene 4
While on his way to England, Hamlet sees Fortinbras and his men at war with
Poland over a really small piece of land, which is described as unimportant by
one of the captains. With such a scene, Hamlet reflects a little on his situation.
If Fortinbras can lead more than 20,000 men at war over a little piece of land,
he should be able to kill his uncle as a form to avenge his father with ease.
Scene 5
Back at the palace, it is revealed that Ophelia has gone crazy. She has been
wandering around the palace singing senseless old songs. She enters the
scene singing a song about how men will get a girl into their bed by promising
they’ll marry her and then not marry her because she’s not a virgin anymore
(which can be seen as a sign that Hamlet might have done exactly this with her).
The cause of her madness is unknown, but we can infer that it has to do with
her father’s death or everything that Hamlet has done to her up to this point.
While Claudius laments about recent occurrences (Polonius death, Hamlet
being sent to England, and Ophelia madness), Laertes (who has secretly
returned from France) storms into the palace together with a group of
followers, demanding to be king and to speak with Claudius about his father’s
death. Claudius decides to tell what happened to his father; if Laertes and his
followers think that he is guilty, he will pass the crown onto him; if not, he will
help Laertes take down the right villain.
Scene 6
Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet informing him that his ship was attacked
by some pirates and he ended up being the only one taken prisoner by them
(which is kind of suspicious). Horatio finishes his job delivering other letters to
the crown and later heads out to meet Hamlet.
Scene 7
It comes to Laertes' knowledge that who really killed his father was Hamlet. He
and Claudius start getting close because of this, but also because the King tells
him that Hamlet has been plotting against him for no apparent reason. Laertes
questions Claudius why he hasn't done anything about Hamlet’s situation, and
the King responds that if he did, his wife would be sad and the public also likes
Hamlet, so it would backfire instead of actually having an effect. When Claudius
is about to tell Laertes about his plan to kill Hamlet during his travels to
England, a letter arrives proving that Hamlet is in fact alive. Laertes is
infuriated not only because his father is dead and his sister is insane, but
because the man who killed his father is alive and well. Claudius is also not
happy about the news, so he decides to plan another way to get rid of Hamlet.
Mixing their feelings about Hamlet, they create a new plan consisting of
challenging Hamlet to a sword duel that was going to be rigged towards
Laertes. Laertes sword wouldn’t be dull, as the ones used in friendly duels, and
would also be with poison on the tip of it (so it would surely kill Hamlet). There
was also a backup plan: if Hamlet didn’t die in the duel, Claudius would poison
his own drink and offer it to Hamlet, who would surely accept after getting hot
and thirsty during the sword fight. Everything is going well; they are both hyped
up about their plans, while Gertrude appears and announces that Ophelia has
drowned in a brook, a small stream of water. Getrude cites that she went to the
brook with garlands of flowers to hang up on a tree, but a branch broke
beneath her and caused her to fall into the water. Her clothes made her float,
which caused her to sing old songs to her death, until her clothes became
completely soaked and pulled her down. She didn’t cry for help and didn’t try to
save herself, which is why we don’t know if it was an accident or a suicide.
Another curious thing is how Gertrude knows so much about the case. Was
she there when it happened? If she was there, why didn’t she help Ophelia?
Claudius is worried that Ophelia’s death will cheer Laertes down.

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Hamlet by William Shakespeare

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