Hamlet · Chapter
Scene V explained
Ophelia, driven mad by grief over her father's death, sings disjointed songs and distributes symbolic flowers.
What happens
Ophelia, driven mad by grief over her father's death, sings disjointed songs and distributes symbolic flowers. Laertes returns from France, storms the castle seeking revenge for Polonius's murder, and confronts Claudius. Claudius deflects blame and promises to satisfy Laertes's demand for justice.
Themes in this chapter
Madness and Melancholy
Ophelia's mad singing and fragmented speech illustrate the psychological unraveling caused by grief and loss.
Revenge and Morality
Laertes's violent demand for vengeance contrasts with Claudius's manipulative deflection, highlighting the moral complexities of revenge.
Corruption and Decay
Claudius describes the spreading 'poison of deep grief' and the decay of order as sorrows come 'in battalions,' reflecting the rot within the Danish court.
Characters to notice
- Ophelia
Appears mad, singing songs about death and lost love, distributing flowers with symbolic meanings.
- Laertes
Returns from France, leads a riot demanding revenge for his father's death, confronts Claudius.
- King Claudius
Attempts to calm Laertes, denies responsibility for Polonius's death, and proposes a formal inquiry.
- Queen Gertrude
Expresses sorrow over Ophelia's state and tries to pacify Laertes.
- Horatio
Advises the Queen to speak with Ophelia and later follows her as instructed by Claudius.
Key passages
“Her speech is nothing, Yet the unshaped use of it doth move The hearers to collection; they aim at it, And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts”
Her words are meaningless, but the way she speaks makes listeners try to interpret them, twisting her phrases to match their own ideas.
The Gentleman describes how Ophelia's disjointed speech invites misinterpretation.
“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, But in battalions.”
Misfortunes do not arrive one by one, but in large groups.
Claudius laments the cascade of troubles following Polonius's death.
“The ocean, overpeering of his list, Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste Than young Laertes, in a riotous head, O'erbears your officers.”
The sea does not flood the land more violently than Laertes now overpowers your guards in his rebellion.
A gentleman reports Laertes's furious uprising to the King.
“There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember: and there is pansies, that's for thoughts.”
Rosemary symbolizes remembrance, and pansies symbolize thoughts.
Ophelia distributes flowers with symbolic meanings during her mad scene.