Scene summary
On a plain, Fortinbras sends a captain to ask the king of Denmark for the passage promised to march against Poland. Hamlet, escorted by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to the ship, asks this Norwegian captain whose army it is and where it is going, and hears that they will take a small patch of land that would not be worth five ducats, though Poland defends it. Hamlet comments that this is the tumor of excess peace and wealth, which grows from within. When the others move away, he remains alone and rebukes himself: he has motive, will, strength, and means for revenge and does not carry it out, while thousands of men are going to die over an eggshell, when honor is at stake. He concludes that from now on he will have bloody hatred, or his thoughts will be worth nothing.
Analysis
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