Ad-free experience
Study Guides for 1,000+ titles
Full Text content for 250+ titles
No Fear Translations of Shakespeare’s plays (along with audio!) and other classic works
Flashcards
Mastery Quizzes
Infographics
Graphic Novels
AP® Practice & Lessons
Note-taking
Bookmarking
Dashboard
What happens in Act 3, Scene 4 of Hamlet?
Hamlet angrily confronts Gertrude, and when he sees someone hiding behind the curtains, Hamlet stabs and kills Polonius, thinking he is Claudius. The Ghost reminds Hamlet that he still hasn’t killed Claudius.
Read our Summary & Analysis of Act 3, Scene 4. (2-minute read)
What does Hamlet’s reaction to killing Polonius suggest about his character?
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell.
I took thee for thy better. Take thy fortune.
Thou find’st to be too busy is some danger.
Right after accidentally kills Polonius in Gertrude’s room (mistaking him for Claudius) he launches into this caustic assessment of the dead man’s character. While Hamlet has never been shy about showing his contempt for Polonius’s many character flaws, it is significant that his immediate reaction to killing him by mistake is to express regret that he hadn’t killed someone more important while not showing even the slightest hint of remorse for his careless action or the impact that it will have on those close to Polonius, including his daughter Ophelia.
Read more about this quote (the third) in Quotes by Scene: Act 3, Scene 4. (1-minute read)
How does Hamlet’s killing of Polonius represent a turning point in the play?
As a play, Hamlet changes significantly after the title character accidentally kills Polonius in Act 3, Scene 4—so much so that it is generally considered the “climax” of the play when its plot points are mapped out. The killing directly leads important characters to take bold and drastic steps which will eventually lead to a significant body count by the end of the play. It makes Claudius realize that Hamlet is far from harmless while it devastates Ophelia (leading to her eventual death and likely suicide) and imbues Laertes with a fervent desire for revenge.
Read the Plot Elements for Hamlet. (2-minute read)
But what about Hamlet himself? As discussed above, his immediate reaction to mistaking Polonius for Claudius and killing him is that he seems perturbed but not overwhelmed by taking Polonius’s life in error. Despite this blasé reaction, some scholars have pointed out that the killing serves as a turning point in his character as well. In Acts 4 and 5, Hamlet will ponder and deliberate much less, and act far more instinctively than he did in Acts 1-3.
