Classics in Drama

ENG326

Part 2: Summary and Analysis of Hamlet Act: 1 Sce:1 to Act:3 Sce:2

By: Imran Ali Khan

Lecturer, Department of English
KUST
Topic: Part 2: Summary and Analysis of Hamlet Act: 1 Sce:1 to Act:3 Scene:2

Outline
Summary and Analysis
• Act 2
• Scene 1

• Scene 2

• Act 3
• Scene 1

• Scene 2

Course: Classics in Drama ENG326–Instructor: Imran Ali Khan, Lecturer, Department of English, KUST –Email: imran_khattak@hotmail.com
Topic: Part 2: Summary and Analysis of Hamlet Act: 1 Sce:1 to Act:3 Sce:2

Act 2 Scene 1

• Polonius dispatches his servant Rynaldo to France 

• Spy on Laertes’ personal life

• Ophelia, visibly upset tells Polonius that Hamlet, unkempt and wild-eyed, has accosted her

• Polonius says that Hamlet must be mad with his love for Ophelia

Course: Classics in Drama ENG326–Instructor: Imran Ali Khan, Lecturer, Department of English, KUST –Email: imran_khattak@hotmail.com
Topic: Part 2: Summary and Analysis of Hamlet Act: 1 Sce:1 to Act:3 Sce:2

Act 2 Scene 2

• Claudius plans to use Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet

• Claudius finds out that Fortinbras will not attack Denmark

• What might Hamlet want from his fellow scene partners

• The murder of Gonzago

Course: Classics in Drama ENG326–Instructor: Imran Ali Khan, Lecturer, Department of English, KUST –Email: imran_khattak@hotmail.com
Topic: Part 2: Summary and Analysis of Hamlet Act: 1 Sce:1 to Act:3 Sce:2

Act 3 Scene 1

• King and Queen with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

• King Claudius with Polonius 

• Hamlet’s Soliloquy

• Hamlet with Ophelia

• King Claudius with Polonius (Second Time)

• Claudius is suspicious of Hamlet’s behaviour

Course: Classics in Drama ENG326–Instructor: Imran Ali Khan, Lecturer, Department of English, KUST –Email: imran_khattak@hotmail.com
Topic: Part 2: Summary and Analysis of Hamlet Act: 1 Sce:1 to Act:3 Sce:2

Act 3 Scene 2

• Hamlet knew that the king and queen will attend the play-within-a-play

• He directs the players on how they should perform

• One scene of the play-within-a-play will present the circumstances of Old Hamlet’s death

• Entrance of king and queen with members of the court

• Hamlet speaks acrimoniously to his mother.

Course: Classics in Drama ENG326–Instructor: Imran Ali Khan, Lecturer, Department of English, KUST –Email: imran_khattak@hotmail.com
Topic: Part 2: Summary and Analysis of Hamlet Act: 1 Sce:1 to Act:3 Sce:2

Conclusion

• Polonius dispatches Rynaldo to France to spy on Leartes.

• Ophelia reveals Hamlet’s strange behaviour

• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern announces their inability to know the cause of Hamlet’s madness.

Course: Classics in Drama ENG326–Instructor: Imran Ali Khan, Lecturer, Department of English, KUST –Email: imran_khattak@hotmail.com