Hamlet- Act 4- Summary Notes
- Claudius learns of Polonius' murder which shocks him.
- Gertrude lies for her son, saying that Hamlet is mad.
- Hamlet refuses to tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern where Polonius' dead body is hidden. He calls Rosencrantz and Guildenstern lapdogs revealing his true awareness that they are not his friends.
- Hamlet is brought before the King. Claudius tells Hamlet to leave for England for his own safety. With Hamlet gone, Claudius reveals his plans for Hamlet to be killed in England.
- Young Fortinbras marches his army across Denmark to fight the Polish. Hamlet laments that he does not have in him the strength of Young Fortinbras.
- Hamlet asks himself how he cannot fight for honor when his father has been killed and his mother made a whore in his eyes by becoming King Claudius' wife.
- The death of Polonius leaves its mark on Ophelia who becomes mad from the grief of losing her father.
- Laertes storms King Claudius' castle, demanding to see his father and wanting justice when he learns that his father, Polonius has been killed. King Claudius explains to Laertes that Hamlet killed his father. They plot Hamlet's death at a fencing match to be arranged between Laertes and Hamlet.
- Laertes learns of his sister Ophelia's death by drowning.