Hamlet

by: William Shakespeare

Act 3 Scene 4

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Original Text	Modern Text
Enter GERTRUDE and POLONIUS	GERTRUDEand POLONIUS enter.
POLONIUS He will come straight. Look you lay home to him. Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with, And that your grace hath screened and stood between Much heat and him. I’ll silence me even here. 5Pray you, be round with him.	POLONIUS He’ll come right away. Make sure you lay into him. Tell him his pranks have caused too much trouble, and that Your Highness has taken a lot of heat for them. I’ll be right here, silent. Please be blunt with him.
HAMLET (within) Mother, mother, mother!	HAMLET (offstage) Mother, mother, mother!
GERTRUDE I’ll warrant you. Fear me not. Withdraw, I hear him coming.	GERTRUDE Don’t worry, I’ll do what you say. Now hide, I hear him coming.
POLONIUS hides behind the arras	POLONIUS hides behind the tapestry.
Enter HAMLET	HAMLET enters.
HAMLET Now mother, what’s the matter?	HAMLET Now mother, what’s this all about?
GERTRUDE Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.	GERTRUDE Hamlet, you’ve insulted your father.
HAMLET 10Mother, you have my father much offended.	HAMLET Mother, you’ve insulted my father.
GERTRUDE Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.	GERTRUDE Come on, you’re answering me foolishly.
HAMLET Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.	HAMLET Go on, you’re questioning me evilly.
GERTRUDE Why, how now, Hamlet?	GERTRUDE Hamlet, what, why?
HAMLET What’s the matter now?	HAMLET What’s the problem now?
GERTRUDE Have you forgot me?	GERTRUDE Have you forgotten who I am?
HAMLET No, by the rood, not so. 15You are the queen, your husband’s brother’s wife, And—would it were not so!—you are my mother.	HAMLET For God’s sake no, I haven’t. You are the queen, your husband’s brother’s wife, and you are my mother, though I wish you weren’t.

Read the Summary of Act III, scene iv

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