English Literature 12

Some brief notes to help you remember what is going on here…
II.i
Polonius sends Reynaldo to Paris to spy on his son, Laertes. He suggests that Reynaldo get him into all sorts of trouble: drinking, gambling, even seeing prostitutes…Yikes! The reason for this seems to be that he is wanting to see how Laertes will behave when he is not around. Reynaldo is to report on his findings.
Polonius also suspects the reason why Hamlet is insane is because of his love for Ophelia (II.i.112), as she rejected him according to his advice.
II.ii
King Claudius recruits Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as spies to try and find out the cause of Hamlet’s madness. R&G, being good friends with Hamlet, can get in close to him and try to find out why he is insane. They are also concerned for their buddies’ wellness, so agree, wanting to find a cure for him and restore his happiness.
Polonius comes in claiming he knows the cause of Hamlet’s madness: of course it is love!
The Queen, however, thinks it may be because of their ‘over-hasty marriage’ (II.ii.60).
Then we have this strange little scene that doesn’t seem to fit in…Voltemond and Cornelius arrive from Norway. They are reporting on Fortinbras, who vows never to attack the king (II.ii.75) and pays tribute —> Fortinbras then asks for permission to march his army through Denmark. This will come up later on in the play. Watch for it! So, this ‘state of war’ seems to have lessened a great deal!
Polonius strikes up another plot to try and find out why Hamlet is mad. He shows a love letter from Hamlet to the King and Queen and admits to telling Ophelia to avoid Hamlet. He even goes so far as to say, ‘look, if I am wrong on this one, then kill me!’ (II.ii.165).
Polonius comes up with the idea that he and the king will hide and snoop on Hamlet when they put Ophelia out as bait.
Then we have this great scene with Hamlet and Polonius, where Hamlet discusses honesty and the rarity of it and advises Polonius to cloister his daughter (II.ii.198). This convinces Polonius that Hamlet is indeed mad.
Hamlet hangs out with R&G and they have a brief chat. He seems suspicious (287), and also seems to have caught on that they are up to something (292).Hamlet makes a strange comment that he is ‘mad but North by Northeast’ (II.ii.390), suggesting he is putting it on.
The players show up, which seems to give Hamlet a great idea! He will use an altered play to try and out the truth of whether his Dad was killed by Claudius or not.