Hamlet | Act IV, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis
Summary
Claudius, Gertrude, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter; Claudius remarks on Gertrude’s sighing, which he asks her to explain. She dismisses the two young men, and then relates to Claudius the recent events in her closet; she says Hamlet, “in his lawless fit,” has killed Polonius. Claudius notes that he himself would have been killed, had he been the one hiding behind the curtain. He regrets that, out of love for Hamlet, he neglected to do what was best; that is, he “Should have kept short, restrained, and out of haunt / This mad young man,” but instead “let [him]...
[The entire page is 336 words long]
Join eNotes
The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:
Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...
Related Topics
Navigate
- Hamlet: Introduction
- William Shakespeare Biography
- Reading Shakespeare
- List of Characters
- Historical Background
- One-Page Summary
- Summary and Analysis
- Act I, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis
- Act I, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis
- Act I, Scene 3 Summary and Analysis
- Act I, Scene 4 Summary and Analysis
- Act I, Scene 5 Summary and Analysis
- Act II, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis
- Act II, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis
- Act III, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis
- Act III, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis
- Act III, Scene 3 Summary and Analysis
- Act III, Scene 4 Summary and Analysis
- Act IV, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis
- Act IV, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis
- Act IV, Scene 3 Summary and Analysis
- Act IV, Scene 4 Summary and Analysis
- Act IV, Scene 5 Summary and Analysis
- Act IV, Scene 6 Summary and Analysis
- Act IV, Scene 7 Summary and Analysis
- Act V, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis
- Act V, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis
- Critical Commentary
- Quizzes
- Themes
- Character Analysis
- Principal Topics
- Essays
- Hamlet's Delay
- Exploring Hamlet's Hesitation
- Is Hamlet Sane?
- The Ghost: Is He Really Hamlet's Father?
- The Character of Ophelia: Why Does She Go Mad?
- To Thine Own Self Be True: An Analysis
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
- Minor Characters and the Number Three
- To See or Not to See: Fortinbras in Two Film Productions of Hamlet
- Hamlet and Macbeth: A Comparison
- The Theme of Pretense in Shakespeare's Hamlet
- Analysis of Act Five of Shakespeare's Hamlet
- Character Analysis of Horatio
- Comment on Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be" Soliloquy
- Staging for Shakespeare's Hamlet: Act II, Scene ii, Lines 85-221
- The Nature of Hamlet's Character
- Hamlet's Delay: An Objective and Subjective Analysis Compared
- Analysis of Three Critical Works on Hamlet
- Hamlet: History, Religion, and Myth
- Selected Quotes
- Criticism
- Suggested Essay Topics
- Sample Essay Outlines
- Modern Connections
- Pictures
- Marcellus, Horatio, Hamlet, and the Ghost by Henry Fuseli
- Hamlet and Ophelia in New Theatre production (1934)
- The Ghost, Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus
- Hamlet and Claudius in New Theatre production (1934)
- Horatio, Hamlet, and the Gravedigger in film adaptation (1948)
- Hamlet and Laertes in New Theatre production (1951)
- Illustration: Ghost of Hamlet's Father
- Illustration: Polonius
- Illustration: Ophelia in Act III, Scene i
- Illustration: Ophelia
- Illustration: Hamlet instructs the Players before the performance
- Illustration: Claudius kneels in prayer
- Illustration: Hamlet thrusts his sword through the curtain
- Illustration: The Ghost
- Illustration: Gertrude and Hamlet
- Illustration: Laertes
- Illustration: Ophelia goes mad
- Illustration: Hamlet's letter to Horatio
- Illustration: Ophelia's flower garlands
- Illustration: The Clown throws skulls out of the grave
- Illustration: Hamlet holding Yorick's skull
- Illustration: Laertes leaps into the grave
- Illustration: Hamlet strikes Laertes in the fencing match
- Illustration: Claudius in the final scene
- FAQs
- Bibliography and Further Reading
- Copyright
- Add Hamlet to your favorites
Tell a friend about Hamlet at eNotes.
