act 4

Question 1

Hamlet leaves for England

Answer 1

Hamlet will not tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern where Polonius’ body is but eventually tells Claudius, in a riddle, where the body can be found. Claudius plots to have Hamlet killed in England.

Question 2

Ophelia goes mad

Answer 2

Queen Gertrude meets Ophelia, who is singing sad songs and soaking strangely. When Claudius joins them he tells Horatio to watch her and declares ‘this is the poison of deep grief: it springs / All from her father’s death.’

Question 3

Laertes returns

Answer 3

Laertes comes home because of his father’s death and he is angry to learn that Hamlet wasn’t punished for killing his father. When he sees Ophelia behaving strangely his anger grows, saying ‘And so have I a noble father lost, / A sister driven into desperate terms’. Claudius and Laertes post to kill Hamlet when he returns.

Question 4

Hamlet returns

Answer 4

As the king and Laertes plot, they receive news that the ship Hamlet was travelling on was attacked by pirates. Hamlet was captured but treated well by the pirates and has returned to Denmark. They plan to invite him to a duel and dip Laertes’ sword in deadly poison.

Question 5

Ophelia is dead

Answer 5

Gertrude announces that Ophelia has killed herself, saying ‘your sister’s drowned, Laertes’.