Act 3

Scene 1- The king and queen decide they are going to go to the play. Polonius and Claudius plan to spy on Hamlet now. They direct Ophelia towards the lobby and when they hear Hamlet come they hide. Hamlet walks in and is questioning weather or not he should commit suicide. Opehlia was ordered to say she doesn't love him anymore. Hamlet responds in an angery tone. He says he never loved her, and she should become a nun so she can't breed. Hamlet has gone crazy and starts saying that women are always turning men into monsters. He ends by saying he wishes he could end all marriages, and then he storms out. Claudius realizes that his strange behavior is not because he is in love. He wants to send Hamlet to England, so he can stop being crazy and clear his mind. Polonius hopes that it is because of love and wants to still prove it to the king. He says he must watch him again after the play.

Scene 2- It is the evening of the play, and Hamlet is making sure everyone gets their parts right in the play. Horatio enters and Hamlet is very glad to see him. Hamlet tells him to watch Claudius very closely during the play for a reaction since he knows all about the ghost. Hamlet also warns that he is going to act strange. He does when Polonius, Ophelia, and Claudius show up. The play goes on and throughout Hamlet is kind of teasing Ophelia. The play is similar to the murder from the murderer seducing the queen and then killing his brother. The king stands up and asks for light. The king leaves and so does everyone else. Horatio and Hamlet both agree that it is obvious that the king killed his father. Soon enough they call for Hamlet to go to the his mother's chambers. Hamlet is very upset, but he will not take it out on his mother.

Scene 3- The king is speaking to  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the beginning. He is very scared about the play and thinks Hamlet's craziness could be dangerous. The kings asks the friends if they could take Hamlet to England to clear his head. He wants him gone as soon as possible. They agree to do so and start to get ready. Polonius enters and tells him about his plan to spy on Hamlet and Gertrude. He promises to tell Claudius all about it. When he leaves, the king is very upset by what he has done. He wants to be forgiven for what he has done. Hamlet is ready to kill Claudius, but he approaches just as he is praying. He decides to wait because he is asking for forgiveness. Next time he does something sinful, Hamlet will kill him.

Scene 4- Polonius is in the chamber planning his spying. He says he will hide and the queen needs to be mean about his behavior, so they can get the reason of why he is being crazy out of him. The queen and Hamlet begin to talk and Hamlet becomes very violent with his mother. Polonius comes out from where he has hidden to call for help, but then Hamlet realizes this and stabs him with his sword. He realizes who he has killed and doesn't feel much remorse for killing Polonius. Hamlet is still upset with his mother and begin to go on and on about his uncle and how he is a bad man. Then the ghost of his father appears. Hamlet begins to talk to him, but the queen can't see him, so she believes he has gone mad. The ghost reminds him of what his job is to do, and that is to kill the king. He disappears, and Hamlet is trying to explain that he is not going mad. He says he will go to England to not make any suspisions, but he will be back.

Analysis- This can again be looked at from a psychological critism because Hamlet is now playing mind games with everyone including Ophelia. I think he always loved her, so I'm not sure why he told her he didn't. The death of his father has effected his ego so much that I believe he is actually turning somewhat crazy. He is actually thinking about committing suicide because of this whole ordeal. That is why I believe he is turning crazy and not just acting like it. He is also messing with Claudius' mind by making the play related to his killing of his brother. The king's conscience came out, and now he actually feels bad about killing his brother. This is only because he thinks people know.
This can also be looked at from a feminism critism because I feel like the women are just there are bait in this act. Polonius and Claudius both just use them for bait to find out the real reason of Hamlet's actions. I don't know if the mom will believe Hamlet in the end, but I think Cladius will have some imput that will make her not believe. Men controlled women back then, and this is what it is like in the play.