Hamlet, Act Two.

1. In the beginning of act two, Polonius is trying to get Reynaldo to spy on Laertes for him. He has a good idea of what Laertes is doing in France, so he tells Reynaldo to get the real story. His plan is to have Reynaldo spread lies about Laertes (but no so much as to dishonor him) and gauge the reactions he gets. By this method, they hope to find out what is true and what is not so Polonius knows exactly what Laertes is up to in France.

2. This tells us that Polonius is very selfish. First he told Ophelia she had to break it off with Hamlet to protect the family. Now, he wants to spy on his son and spread lies about him, potentially ruining his reputation, but only so much as it does not reflect poorly on the family. Polonius cares more about being embarrassed than about his children. Also, the sheer stupidity of the plan gives us the first glimpse of Polonius as the fool.

3. Ophelia gets disturbed by Hamlet, and particularly his acting mad. He ran into her room half naked, grabbed her, and held on for a while. When he finally let go he left, and all without saying a word. I would be pretty disturbed as well.

4. They have been called to Denmark to get in close with Hamlet, find out why he's being crazy, and basically to fix it.

5. Hamlet asks the players to recite Aeneas' tale to Dido. This tale is much like the situation Hamlet currently finds himself in with Claudius. Hamlet, much like Pyrrhus in the story, must get revenge for the death of his father.

6. Ophelia says this line, and it is supposed to show that she has listened to her father, making us realize that she is completely controlled by him. Whereas she showed Laertes some defiance to his advice about Hamlet, she completely follows Polonius' orders without question.

7. Gertrude, the queen, says this. She's telling Polonius to skip all the extra stuff and spit it out about Hamlet's madness. This emphasizes Polonius' role as the fool because people have little patience with his beating around the bush.

8. Hamlet is saying he has no choice but to avenge his father's death as both Heaven and Hell are commanding him to do so. It is his duty as a son. He talks about how he cannot tell anyone what he knows Claudius has done, and this burdens him greatly.

9. Polonius speaks these lines to Reynaldo, telling of his plan to spy on Laertes. This proves again that Polonius is selfish, and is meant to play to fool.

10. Hamlet speaks these hilarious lines. They first show that Hamlet is still acting crazy. Second, this lets Polonius know that Hamlet realizes why Ophelia won't have anything to do with him. Hamlet is making a pun on himself by calling himself the sun, and this will continue throughout the play. He's basically saying that if allowed near Ophelia he will make her pregnant.

11.
Direct: Denmark as a prison.
Extended: The concept of disease and rotting.
Implied: The idea that listening is important because lies are poison that enters through your ears.

12. Polonius believes that when Hamlet (who is acting crazy at the time) runs into Ophelia's room half naked and grabs her for a while then leaves silently, it's proof of his love. Maybe Hamlet's not the crazy one after all.

13. Hamlet is claiming that Elsinore, and Denmark as a whole, is a prison. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern don't believe that it is. Here Hamlet is trying to explain that it is a prison for him because of what he knows that he's keeping to himself. The reason it is only a prison for him is because he's the only one that knows these terrible secrets. Hamlet has been burdened with the knowledge that his uncle killed his father, then married his mother. This makes him feel trapped, much like a prison.

14. A fishmonger is a person who sells fish, but in this play it is used as slang for pimp.

15. Jephtha was a man in the Bible who prayed to God for good things to happen politically. He claimed that if it worked, he would kill the next person who walked through the door. That person was his daughter, and he sacrificed her for political advancement. This is used to back up the idea that Polonius is just using Ophelia for his own selfish purposes. They're all pimps or prostitutes.