Scene III explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Mortality and the Afterlife

  Hamlet's macabre discourse on Polonius being eaten by worms and the leveling of king and beggar in death underscores the inevitability and absurdity of mortality.

• Deception and Spying

  Claudius feigns concern for Hamlet's safety while secretly plotting his murder, exemplifying the theme of hidden intentions and political deceit.

Characters to notice

• King Claudius

  Plots to send Hamlet to England and secretly orders his execution.

• Hamlet

  Mocks Claudius with dark humor about Polonius's death and accepts his banishment to England.

• Rosencrantz

  Reports to the King about Hamlet's refusal to reveal Polonius's body.

• Guildenstern

  Escorts Hamlet before the King and is ordered to accompany him to England.

Key passages

• “Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him.”

  Polonius is not at a supper table eating, but rather he is being eaten by a gathering of clever worms.

  Hamlet uses wordplay to mock the King and emphasize the physical reality of death.

• “A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.”

  A person could use a worm that has eaten a king as bait, catch a fish, and then eat that fish, showing how a king can end up inside a beggar.

  Hamlet illustrates the cyclical nature of life and death, reducing royal status to mere matter.

• “Do it, England; For like the hectic in my blood he rages, And thou must cure me: till I know 'tis done, Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun.”

  Carry out the execution, England; Hamlet rages in me like a fever, and you must cure me by killing him. Until I know it's done, I can never be happy.

  Claudius reveals his true murderous intent, comparing Hamlet to a disease that must be eradicated.