BookRags.com Literature Guides Literature
Guides
Criticism & Essays Criticism &
Essays
Questions & Answers Questions &
Answers
Lesson Plans Lesson
Plans
My Bibliography Periodic Table U.S. Presidents Shakespeare Sonnet Shake-Up
Research Anything:        
History | Encyclopedias | Films | News | Create a Bibliography | More... Login | Register | Help

Not What You Meant?  There are 26 definitions for Hamlet.  Also try: The Conscience of the King.

Hamlet Book Notes Summary

Print-Friendly  Order the PDF version  Order the RTF version
by William Shakespeare
About 33 pages (9,970 words)
Hamlet Summary

Bookmark and Share Know this work well? Help others and get FREE products!

Act 3, Scene 4

Hamlet visits Queen Gertrude's chamber and frightens her with sharp criticisms. Overhearing the argument from behind an arras (curtain), the spy Polonius worries for Gertrude's safety and calls out for help. Mistaking the concealed spy for King Claudius, Hamlet thrusts his sword through the arras and kills Polonius. Hamlet continues to chastise his shameful mother for marrying her beloved husband's foul brother. The ghost suddenly appears to Hamlet, dressed in a nightgown.

The phantom king reprimands Hamlet for slackening in his revenge. Queen Gertrude is horrified by Hamlet's mad behavior; because the Ghost is invisible to her, Gertrude believes Hamlet is conversing with the air. Hamlet instructs his mother to abstain from his uncle's incestuous bed. He discloses his actual sanity to his mother, and Gertrude vows to keep Hamlet's crafty madness a secret from Claudius. Aware of orders shipping him to England, Prince Hamlet senses a trap. He vows to distrust Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as he would distrust fanged snakes. The keen Prince lugs the body of Polonius into a neighboring room and bids his shaken mother goodnight.

Topic Tracking: Disease 6

View More Summaries on Hamlet
More Information
  • Notas de Libro en Español
  • View Hamlet Study Pack
  • 26 Alternative Definitions
  • Search Results for "Hamlet"
  • Add This to Your Bibliography
  • More Products on This Subject
    Hamlet
    tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written about 1599–1601 and published in a quart... more

    Hamlet
    legendary prince of Denmark and central character in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. The character's ... more


     
    Ask any question on Hamlet and get it answered FAST!
    Answer questions in BookRags Q&A and earn points toward
    discounted or even FREE Study Guides and other BookRags products!
    Learn more about BookRags Q&A
    Copyrights
    Hamlet from BookRags Book Notes. ©2000-2009 by BookRags, Inc. All rights reserved.



    Join BookRagslearn moreJoin BookRags


    About BookRags | Customer Service | Report an Error | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy