Fashionably late for this but....
The scene begins with Polonius and his servant Reynaldo. Polonius is sending Reynaldo away to France with money and written notes that are for Laertes. Along with the notes and money Polonius asked for Reynaldo to inquire and spy on Laertes’s personal life. Polonius wanted to know if Laertes was actually going to school. The means of Reynaldo’s inquiry into Laertes’s personal life would come from him asking around and saying that he knew Laertes was prone to do bad things and from that he’d gauge a person’s reaction, in order to see if Laertes has been behaving himself in France.
Reynaldo departs and Ophelia comes in “affrighted” and begins to tell Polonius about Hamlet’s. She says that his clothing wasn’t as it should be and described what was wrong with his appearance say that “he had been loosed out of hell” (II, i, 90).
Another thing that she mentions that Hamlet did was that he took her by the wrist, held her and then sighed without even saying a word to her.
Polonius after hearing parts of what Ophelia said Polonius wondered if Hamlet “Mad for thy love?” (II, i, 92). And in the end he concludes that Hamlet had gone mad because Polonius forbade his daughter from associating with him. Polonius then says that Claudius must know of Hamlet’s madness and they depart.
Keeping in mind that at this point Hamlet’s behaviour has suddenly changed after his encounter with his father’s ghost.
150!
Yay Keenan~ Thanks for the summary! Definitely deserving of top marks for participation and initiative. :)
ReplyDeleteI think that Polonius is wondering if Hamlet wants to kill Claudius since the ghost stated that he killed him by poisoning him when he was a sleep. Also the way Hamlet acts to Ophelia might give a sign to Polonius that he is going to kill Claudius. There not much to say about this scene, but great job Keenan.
ReplyDelete