Hamlet Act IV Journal

Hamlet Act IV Journal

        39. In scene one of act four when Gertrude tells Claudius of Hamlet’s murder of Polonius, Gertrude and Claudius’ main concerns are very different. When Claudius hears of the way the murder occurred, his first concern was what would have happened had he been in Polonius’ place. He says that, had he been there, Hamlet would’ve killed him: “It had been so with us, had we been there.” Gertrude’s concerns are very different, she first worries about what will become of her son. This difference in their concerns shows how Claudius is characterized as being very self centered and cares little of what becomes of others whereas Gertrude is less self centered. In addition, Claudius also states that Hamlet should be sent to england no to preserve peace of stability, but in order to make sure he remains in power moreso showing how Claudius is only concerned with himself staying in power and is selfish.

40. In scene 2 of act 4 when Hamlet talks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he compares them to a sponge. He does this due to them having certain characteristics in common. One characteristic is their ability to absorb; a sponge absorbs water and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern absorb information. Because they are spies their job is to “absorb” information from Hamlet just like a sponge would absorb water. In addition, a sponge can be wrung out just as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern can be wrung out by Claudius in order to transfer the information they have absorbed. Also, just like a sponge, once all of the information that Claudius needs is heard, then they will be useless and he will cast them out.