Act II Notes

Day 1: II.i.
- Polonius is sending Reynaldo to see Laertes
- wants him to check up on L. (spy)
° wants him to imply that he knows L. vaguely
° orders him to bait ppl. that know L. with false (negative) information to see their reaction
- Reynaldo doesn’t understand his reasoning, but will obey
- Ophelia arrives upset
° H. came to her in her room
~ he was disheveled
~ took her hand
~ stared at her
~ nodded 3x before walking out w/o looking away
- P. sees this as pains of love, asks if she was nasty 2 him
° O. says she’s followed her order to stay away
- P. sees her absence as driving him crazy
- they seek the king to explain the situation

II.ii.
- KC & QG have asked Rosencranz & Guildenstern to visit
- hope they can help him by being there
- hope they can inform KC of reasons for strange behavior
- claim it is to help them
- R&G know they are being asked, but could be commanded
- they agree to try

Day 2:
- P. reports
- happy return of men from Norway
- possible reason for H’s lunacy (saves it)
° QG says she still believes it’s KH’s death & their marriage
- Uncle sent to suppress Fort’s acts
– he thought the aim was against Poland (Fort took advantage of him)
- Fort is currently obeying his uncle
- Uncle will fund him w/$3000 for army to go against Poland instead
- he requests passage for the army to get there
- KC will consider the proposal
- P. goes into a lengthy speech (while claiming to be brief)
- he reads a love letter from H to O
- KC asks how she’s reacted to his love
- P. is insulted for her & explains his orders & H’s subsequent behavior
- P. asks them to trust his opinion as he usually isn’t wrong
- KC & P plan to hide and spy on H with O
- H enters reading
– P speaks to him
- H plays with language to drive him away or insult him
- insults role as father, honesty, his daughter, age
- P sees method to his rudeness
- H implies his impending death – which he seems to not mind

Day 3:
- H. greets R&G and they play around catching up
- they toy with ideas (Fortune personified, world going honest, etc.)
- H sees Denmark as a prison, but R&G don’t understand
- they think it’s b/c of his ambition (we know diff.)
- H. plays on his “insanity” and being attended
- H knows they were sent for & provides reason (confusing)
- R&G break news of the arrival of players
- H notes how people shifted their opinion once KC was crowned
- H connects to the players in his “madness”
- P enters
– H again attacks him in ref. to daughters

Day 4:
- H welcomes players
- H wants a speech
– about Priam’s death (king of Troy) and his queen’s reaction (Hecuba)
- H shows respect for the art of acting througout
- H requests “The Murder of Gonzago” with a bit of his own writing in it
- H. soliloquy
- goes into comparison btwn himself and the players
- they act the emotions w/o cause, yet he (with great cause) is inactive and prone to rhetoric instead of revenge
- focuses and sees players as a way to catch KC
– by acting out something “like” the murder and watching him