Power Games and Dark Schemes — Hamlet

Claudius weighs how dangerous Hamlet has become now that Polonius is dead. He cannot use harsh law openly because the distracted multitude loves Hamlet and judges with their eyes, not reason. Rosencrantz reports they cannot get the body's location from Hamlet, who is guarded outside.

Brought before Claudius, Hamlet answers where Polonius is with dark comedy: at supper, eaten by worms, with kings and beggars alike fattened for maggots. He mocks mortality and Claudius's power, then accepts exile to England with biting wordplay, calling Claudius mother and insisting man and wife are one flesh. Once Hamlet leaves, Claudius reveals the true plan: sealed letters to England ordering Hamlet's execution, calling the prince a hectic in his blood that must be cured.

The chapter pairs public performance of concern with private murder, showing how popularity forces tyrants to work through proxies and sealed documents.