Shannon Davis- Significance in Act Three of Hamlet

The importance of Act Three in Hamlet is the further development of Hamlets character.
Before, Hamlet was afraid to revenge Claudius but in this act, he begins to take action.
In scene one, Hamlet carries on his act of craziness when having a conversation with
Ophelia. He tells her he used to love her, but no longer does, that she should either join a
nunnery or get married, and then tells her Those that are married already / [] shall live. The
rest shall keep as they / are. To a nunnery, go (H.III.i.120-122). He is bitter towards Ophelia
even though he cares about her, making it hard to believe he is only pretending to be crazy.
In scene two, Hamlet shows he is somewhat sane and is ready to take action towards
Claudius. He puts together a play for the actors to act out in front of everyone. The play is based
on the murder of a king, exactly like Claudius supposed murder of King Hamlet, but by his
nephew, not brother. Hamlet does this on purpose to see if he can get an obvious reaction out of
Claudius. He asks Horatio to help keep an eye on Claudius during the play to see if his occulted
guilt / [] itself unkennel[s] in one speech (H.III.ii.76-77). When Claudius does react with
guilt, Hamlet decides to sneak in his room to kill him in scene three. However, when he finds
Claudius praying for forgiveness he decides his death wouldnt be fair. This is the first attempt
Hamlet has made to kill Claudius, revealing that he really does have the courage to do it.
In scene four, while talking with his mother, Hamlet unknowingly kills Polonius. He is
tired of people spying on him, so when he hears a noise from behind the curtain he stabs the
person behind it, not knowing who it is. This is another sign of Hamlets ability to kill someone.
Hamlets character in this act possibly foreshadows him murdering Claudius. He is well
at acting crazy, but still shows he is sane. He reveals his potential to prepare and take action. And
shows he isnt afraid of acting out and killing.
Comment [S1]: Combi ne t o make a more
speci fi c l ead sentence.
Comment [S2]: Change t o: perform
Comment [S3]: Inst ead ofparaphrasing t his
paragraph, analyze.
Comment [S4]: And may even suspect i t i s
Cl audius.
Comment [S5]: Reword: He shows he is
capabl e ofact ing crazy, but is still sane
Comment [S6]: Add a comment about himnot
showing any patience. Delete period and combi ne
sent ences i nto one.