Act 3 Scene 2 Extract Question:
In Act 3 Scene 2, we see that Hamlet’s plan to “catch the conscience of the King” with a play
enacting a scene similar to King Hamlet’s murder. Most of the key characters of the play are
together in this scene, and so it is interesting to look at Hamlet’s differing interactions with
the various characters. Although Hamlet’s love of wordplay is evident in this passage and
transcends through his conversations with most of the characters, particularly with Polonius
the interaction with Ophelia also raises the question of Hamlet’s sanity at this stage in the
play.
Firstly, when Hamlet speaks to Horatio (his confident), he seems to be quite frank, and does
not mock Horatio, nor try to twist his words, as he does the other characters. This both
emphasises how different Hamlet’s relationship with Horatio is, but also, by looking at the
stage directions, could demonstrate the distinction between Hamlet’s private behaviour, and
how he behaves in public. After Hamlet tells Horatio, using an imperative verb, to “get you a
place”, we see in the stage directions that “Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia,
Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and others” arrive on stage. From this moment on, Hamlet’s
behaviour changes. He becomes much less direct, and begins to mock and twist the other
characters’ words so as to aid his performance of madness. As Horatio is aware of the plan to
use the play to watch Claudius’ reactions to see if Hamlet feels he is guilty or not, and of
Hamlet’s plan to feign madness, Hamlet does not need to pretend and can almost be as open
as he would be alone whilst with Horatio, as he appears to trust him greatly. However, it is
clear that this same trust is not afforded for the other characters, as Claudius tries to address
Hamlet politely, and he immediately replies in a mocking way; “excellent, I’faith; of the
chameleon’s dish: I eat the air, promise-crammed: you cannot feed capons so.” Hamlet’s
connection to the chameleon also links to this idea of his madness as a façade, and that he can
change back to his sanity as soon as he wants to. He then toys with Claudius, twisting
Claudius’ words so as to mock him- Claudius states that “these words are not mine”, and then
Hamlet replies “no, nor mine now.” Hamlet is aware that Claudius does not mean this in the
same way- Claudius is trying to say that Hamlet has not understood him, and that he would
not say such a thing, but Hamlet then twists this to a more literal sense, to say that Hamlet’s
previous words no longer belong to him as he has already said them. This mockery both
contributes to Hamlet’s act of madness, but also highlights Hamlet’s intellect to the audience,
as his quick, witty replies demonstrate that there he is still sane, to some extent, but how sane
exactly is much more difficult to quantify.
Furthermore, Hamlet continues with his wordplay when he talks to Polonius. Hamlet asks
Polonius about his previous acting career at university, and Polonius states that “I did enact
Julius Caesar: I was killed I’the Capitol; Brutus killed me.” However, Hamlet then makes a
pun on this, by twisting the name of the character Brutus into an adjective, and the proper
noun Capitol into an adjective, stating that it was a “brute part of him to kill so capital a calf
there”. This interaction with Polonius presents Hamlet as witty and intelligent, as he mocks
those around him with ease. Although Hamlet’s phrase seems to be praising Polonius and his
acting, we could argue that this is yet another pretence, and that Hamlet does not bother
insulting Polonius directly as he would have more fun using wordplay to mock him
indirectly.
Although Hamlet continues with his wordplay in his interaction with Ophelia, it seems to
have a more playful, flirtatious, and less insulting tone than his puns used with Claudius and
Polonius. Hamlet asks “ shall I lie in your lap”. He then explains, “do you think I meant
In Act 3 Scene 2, we see that Hamlet’s plan to “catch the conscience of the King” with a play
enacting a scene similar to King Hamlet’s murder. Most of the key characters of the play are
together in this scene, and so it is interesting to look at Hamlet’s differing interactions with
the various characters. Although Hamlet’s love of wordplay is evident in this passage and
transcends through his conversations with most of the characters, particularly with Polonius
the interaction with Ophelia also raises the question of Hamlet’s sanity at this stage in the
play.
Firstly, when Hamlet speaks to Horatio (his confident), he seems to be quite frank, and does
not mock Horatio, nor try to twist his words, as he does the other characters. This both
emphasises how different Hamlet’s relationship with Horatio is, but also, by looking at the
stage directions, could demonstrate the distinction between Hamlet’s private behaviour, and
how he behaves in public. After Hamlet tells Horatio, using an imperative verb, to “get you a
place”, we see in the stage directions that “Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia,
Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and others” arrive on stage. From this moment on, Hamlet’s
behaviour changes. He becomes much less direct, and begins to mock and twist the other
characters’ words so as to aid his performance of madness. As Horatio is aware of the plan to
use the play to watch Claudius’ reactions to see if Hamlet feels he is guilty or not, and of
Hamlet’s plan to feign madness, Hamlet does not need to pretend and can almost be as open
as he would be alone whilst with Horatio, as he appears to trust him greatly. However, it is
clear that this same trust is not afforded for the other characters, as Claudius tries to address
Hamlet politely, and he immediately replies in a mocking way; “excellent, I’faith; of the
chameleon’s dish: I eat the air, promise-crammed: you cannot feed capons so.” Hamlet’s
connection to the chameleon also links to this idea of his madness as a façade, and that he can
change back to his sanity as soon as he wants to. He then toys with Claudius, twisting
Claudius’ words so as to mock him- Claudius states that “these words are not mine”, and then
Hamlet replies “no, nor mine now.” Hamlet is aware that Claudius does not mean this in the
same way- Claudius is trying to say that Hamlet has not understood him, and that he would
not say such a thing, but Hamlet then twists this to a more literal sense, to say that Hamlet’s
previous words no longer belong to him as he has already said them. This mockery both
contributes to Hamlet’s act of madness, but also highlights Hamlet’s intellect to the audience,
as his quick, witty replies demonstrate that there he is still sane, to some extent, but how sane
exactly is much more difficult to quantify.
Furthermore, Hamlet continues with his wordplay when he talks to Polonius. Hamlet asks
Polonius about his previous acting career at university, and Polonius states that “I did enact
Julius Caesar: I was killed I’the Capitol; Brutus killed me.” However, Hamlet then makes a
pun on this, by twisting the name of the character Brutus into an adjective, and the proper
noun Capitol into an adjective, stating that it was a “brute part of him to kill so capital a calf
there”. This interaction with Polonius presents Hamlet as witty and intelligent, as he mocks
those around him with ease. Although Hamlet’s phrase seems to be praising Polonius and his
acting, we could argue that this is yet another pretence, and that Hamlet does not bother
insulting Polonius directly as he would have more fun using wordplay to mock him
indirectly.
Although Hamlet continues with his wordplay in his interaction with Ophelia, it seems to
have a more playful, flirtatious, and less insulting tone than his puns used with Claudius and
Polonius. Hamlet asks “ shall I lie in your lap”. He then explains, “do you think I meant
