Act 3, scene 4 is also known as the Closet scene. In this scene, Polonius arrives in Gertrude’s room before Hamlet and instructs her to be blunt with Hamlet as he has instigated commotion and has deeply upset Claudius. When they hear Hamlet coming, Polonius hides behind an arras, which is a hanging tapestry.

Hamlet enters the room asking his mother, "Now, Mother, what's the matter?" Gertrude tells him that he has insulted his father, Claudius, Hamlet responds that she has betrayed his father, King Hamlet, by marrying Claudius. Hamlet addresses her with an almost aggressive intensity and intimidates her by making her fully aware of the depth of her sin.  Fearing for her life, Gertrude cries out for help. Polonius reacts from behind the curtain and yells for help. Hamlet takes out his sword and plunges it through the arras, killing Polonius, thinking it was Claudius. He then shows dissimilarities between Claudius and King Hamlet to Gertrude. He points out King Hamlet's Godlike features and courage in a picture, and compares Claudius to an infection in King Hamlet's ear. He accuses Gertrude of lustfulness, and she pleads him to leave her alone.

In this scene, it is obvious to think and justify that Hamlet has a Freudian attachment to Gertrude. The Closet scene sheds an Oedipal light on Hamlet. The Oedipus complex is a term used by Sigmund Freud in psychosexual stages of development theory. This complex describes a boy’s feelings of desire for his mother and jealousy and anger towards his father. Basically, a boy feels like he is competing his father as a rival to attain his mother’s attention. The analogous stage for girls is known as the Electra complex in which girls feel desire for their fathers and jealousy of their mothers. Hamlet displays the Oedipus complex stage, by showing a disturbing and incestuous concern for Gertrude’s love life in this scene. This can be seen when Hamlet tells his mother, “Nay, but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stewed in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty.”(III.iv. 93-95). Although Hamlet is not a child, but it seems that he may have never resolved this complex till his present age.  As Freud has stated that the Oedipus complex is present only in children of 3-6 years of age.

The death of Polonius is important for the play, though it is not the climax of the play, because it is the tipping point for Claudius. It also leads directly to Hamlet's death because Laertes wants to avenge his father's death. Finally, it is also the breaking point for Ophelia. 

Polonius death causes Claudius to fear for his own life. He notifies Gertude by saying, “It had been so with us had we been there.” So he wants to do something about Hamlet who is becoming unpredictable and a threat to him and to the throne. He orders, "The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England." (IV.iii.69).

Polonius’ death is the main root of Ophelia’s insanity. She cannot live in a world where her love, Hamlet, has killed her father. Her mental state is too feeble to allow her to survive and so she commits suicide. This is made evident by the quote, “Poor Ophelia divided from herself and her fair judgement.” (IV.v.86-87).

As said previously, Polonius’ death also leads to the demise of Hamlet because Laertes wants to avenge his father’s killer. He starts a rebellion against Hamlet with Claudius and publicly challenges Hamlet in a fencing fight. Laertes’ and Claudius’ plan to kill Hamlet by poisoning his drink and by poisoning Laertes’ sword.

So at the end, the death of Polonius leads to the death of all major characters of the play. In the real world, we have seen many people lose their lives as a result of their self-centered wrong actions and others die as a result of their manipulations. One murder leading to many other deaths is called hate crimes, which have a major impact on society. This leads to polarization between the involved groups and, so many hate groups breathe in our society. Now-a-days, these hate crimes are based on race, religion and from one’s sexual orientation.

In Act II Scene II, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are introduced as Hamlet’s former schoolfellows and courtiers. They are in Denmark, under the guise of casually visiting Hamlet but, in fact, they have been summoned by Claudius and Gertrude to find the reason behind Hamlet’s sudden bizarre behaviour and cheer him up as he is unable to recover from his father’s death. Claudius, also wants to know what and how much he knows about his father’s death and what might he do. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have their encounter with Hamlet, he questions them as to why they are in Denmark, by saying, “What have you, my good friends, deserved at the hands of fortune that she sends you to prison hither?” (II.ii.237-239). Hamlet feels Denmark is a prison as he is burdened by the death of his father and he suspects that his paternal uncle, Claudius, is involved in this foul play. He strongly feels the weight of the responsibility of avenging his father’s death. He also feels as if it is a sort of prison sentence that is withdrawing him of his inability to execute his free will and to select his own destiny.

 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern then redirect the conversation toward Hamlet’s ambition. They ask him that it must be his ambition which makes Denmark appear to be a prison, by saying, “Why then, your ambition makes it [Denmark] one [a prison]. ‘Tis [ambition] too narrow for your mind.” (II.ii.248-249). As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern talk to Hamlet in an attempt to uncover the reason behind his madness, Hamlet is already aware that Claudius has summoned his two friends to Denmark to spy on him. Therefore, Hamlet does not disclose any information about his mad behaviour. Instead he says that he is not ambitious, but the real reason to why he feels Denmark is a prison is due to his bad dreams. He says, "O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space--were it not that I have bad dreams" (II.ii.254-256). The bad dreams that Hamlet mentions are subtle hints that correspond to the reasons behind his insanity. The reader can assume that by bad dreams, Hamlet is referring to the current events that are occurring in his life; father dying, mother’s hasty marriage with Claudius, father’s ghost appearing and telling Hamlet to avenge his death and now Claudius telling Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet.

The conversation between Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern has shown that Hamlet perfectly fills the type of the most cunning and intelligent person in the play. Since, the moment he had talked to his ghost-father, he is up to some kind of planning about taking revenge from Claudius. The whole time he is pretending to be mad but actually he has full control over himself and the situation. Hamlet tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that, “I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.” (II.ii.376-377). By saying this he is telling them that he is only mad sometimes. He is not completely mad as the king and the queen thinks but his madness follows in the direction of the wind. He pretends to be mad when this madness benefits his plan of revenge and helps to confuse his enemies.

In writing Hamlet, Shakespeare has adopted a revenge tragedy. Revenge implies to an individual who takes the law into his own hands in order to satisfy an inner urge. Some people associate revenge with seeking justice. These people are motivated by anger and brutality, and have no idea on how to conduit their negative feelings into something positive. These people believe that revenge will make them feel happy but it seems to have reverse effect. A person gets tied up in the continues back and forth cycle which leads to destruction on both sides. But, in a civilized society like ours, giving punishment to a criminal is given by the state or the government.

Polonius’ family has a very vital part in this play, as it helps to enhance the conflicts happening in the royal family. In my opinion, Polonius, Ophelia and Laertes are victims of circumstances and are also the tragic fools, as they come in between Hamlet and Claudius. This is because, in some ways, they serve as foils to the royal family. They are set up to display the contrast between themselves and the royal family in two ways: through socioeconomic status and family relationships. Firstly, in Act 1, Scene 3, Laertes reminds Ophelia that Hamlet is a prince and they ares to his family’s obligations. Moreover, because of his royal status Hamlet cannot make personal choices for himself, since the whole country will get affected by his actions. Secondly, the contrast between the royal family and Polonius’s family is evident when Ophelia listens to her father and brother, whereas Hamlet does not listen to his mother and step-father. So Polonius’s family shares a close relationship with one another, whereas Hamlet’s relation with Claudius is distant. This is shown when Hamlet says, “A little more than kin, and less than kind.” (I,ii,66).  Polonius’ family also shows caring nature for each other. Laertes shows concern for his sister when he warns her about Hamlet’s intentions stating, “Fear it Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister and keep you in the rear of your affection out of the shot and danger of desire.” (I,iii,36-38). On the other hand, Hamlet does not show any concerns for his mother and his step-father. So Polonius’s family helps the readers to understand the importance of the relations in a family.

 There are many parallels that exist, in Hamlet, between the two families.

A parallel that exists between the two families involves the father figures spying on their sons as they have trouble controlling their kids. For instance, Polonius spies on Laertes through Reynaldo because he does not trust Laertes to stand by Polonius’s instructions that were given to him near the start of Act I, scene 3. Similarly, Claudius spies on Hamlet through Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find out the cause of Hamlet’s recent bizarre behavior. Furthermore, Laertes parallels Hamlet’s character as they both are rebellious but, Laertes is passionate and acts quickly, whereas Hamlet is reflective and agonized. Both Laertes and Hamlet have the same role in their families as being the first born male. But, however, they both carry out their role differently. For example, Hamlet allows his emotions to overwhelm him, which can be seen when he confronts his mother during the Closet Scene. Hamlet wears his heart on his sleeve and shows his emotions, thereby rejecting society’s gender rules. Unlike Hamlet, Laertes is more closed off and does not show his emotions, therefore following the society’s gender rules.

The next parallel that the two families share in Hamlet is between Ophelia and Gertrude, and how Hamlet and Laertes perceive them. Both Ophelia and Gertrude love Hamlet but they don’t know how to deal with his madness. Hamlet perceives Gertrude as a weak and dependent woman. For example, during his sililoquy he states, “Frailty, thy name is woman!”( I,ii,146). Hamlet feels his mother is weak and passive as she is trapped into Claudius’s temptation because of her gender. So he perceives women to be emotionally week as compared to men. He also sees her as dependent, as she is unable to rule the kingdom by herself and had to marry Claudius to assist her in ruling the state of Denmark. Likewise, Polonius and Laertes view Ophelia as an innocent, weak and naïve girl. In Act I, Scene iii, both Polonius and Laertes warn Ophelia on her relationship with Hamlet. They try to control her by reminding her of women’s place in the society. They also advise her that Hamlet is a young man who wants nothing but to take her chastity instead of her love. It is seen in the play that these two families form an Oedipal triangle: in this, two males and one female are caught in the middle like a sandwich. Gertrude comes in between Claudius and Hamlet’s rivalry and gets killed. Ophelia, on the other hand also dies by drowning herself because of her father and her brother.

In this play, Shakespeare is trying to show a contrast between two families and the role of a family in one’s life. A family is very important as it shapes our personality and helps in our development. The members of our family love us unconditionally and stick with us through thick and thin. The family teaches us values of life and guides us throughout our life. So, I can say that a person has a great advantage in life if he comes from a loving, supportive family. As it is said, “No other success can compensate for failure in the home.”