Summary: Act II, scene ii
Within the castle, Claudius and Gertrude welcome Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern, two of Hamlet’s friends from Wittenberg. Increasingly
concerned about Hamlet’s erratic behavior and his apparent inability
to recover from his father’s death, the king and queen have summoned
his friends to Elsinore in the hope that they might be able to cheer
Hamlet out of his melancholy, or at least discover the cause of
it. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern agree to investigate, and the queen
orders attendants to take them to her “too much changed” son (II.ii.36).
Polonius enters, announcing the return of the ambassadors whom
Claudius sent to Norway. Voltimand and Cornelius enter and describe
what took place with the aged and ailing king of Norway: the king
rebuked Fortinbras for attempting to make war on Denmark, and Fortinbras
swore he would never again attack the Danes. The Norwegian
king, overjoyed, bequeathed upon Fortinbras a large annuity, and
urged him to use the army he had assembled to attack the Poles instead
of the Danes. He has therefore sent a request back to Claudius that
Prince Fortinbras’s armies be allowed safe passage through Denmark
on their way to attack the Poles. Relieved to have averted a war
with Fortinbras’s army, Claudius declares that he will see to this
business later. Voltimand and Cornelius leave.
Turning to the subject of Hamlet, Polonius declares, after
a wordy preamble, that the prince is mad with love for Ophelia.
He shows the king and queen letters and love poems Hamlet has given to
Ophelia, and proposes a plan to test his theory. Hamlet often walks
alone through the lobby of the castle, and, at such a time, they could
hide behind an arras (a curtain or wall hanging) while Ophelia confronts
Hamlet, allowing them to see for themselves whether Hamlet’s madness
really emanates from his love for her. The king declares that they
will try the plan. Gertrude notices that Hamlet is approaching,
reading from a book as he walks, and Polonius says that he will
speak to the prince. Gertrude and Claudius exit, leaving Polonius
alone with Hamlet.
Polonius attempts to converse with Hamlet, who appears
insane; he calls the old man a “fishmonger” and answers his questions
irrationally. But many of Hamlet’s seemingly lunatic statements
hide barbed observations about Polonius’s pomposity and his old
age. Polonius comments that while Hamlet is clearly mad, his replies
are often “pregnant” with meaning (II.ii.206).
He hurries away, determined to arrange the meeting between Hamlet
and Ophelia.
As Polonius leaves, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter,
and Hamlet seems pleased to see them. They discuss Hamlet’s unhappiness
about recent affairs in Denmark. Hamlet asks why they have come.
Sheepishly, the two men claim they have come merely to visit Hamlet,
but he sternly declares that he knows that the king and queen sent
for them. They confess this to be true, and Hamlet says that he
knows why: because he has lost all of his joy and descended into
a state of melancholy in which everything (and everyone) appears
sterile and worthless.
Rosencrantz smiles and says he wonders how Hamlet will
receive a theatrical troupe that is currently traveling toward the
castle. The trumpets blow, announcing the arrival of the actors
(or “players”). Hamlet tells his friends they are welcome to stay
at Elsinore, but that his “uncle-father and aunt-mother” are deceived
in his madness. He is mad only some of the time and at other times
is sane.
