Hamlet Act II Scene i and ii

-Lord Polonius says to investigate Laertes and get a sense of his character
-Polonius is asking Reynaldo to elicit information through playing him

-Reynaldo is objecting to lying because it would be dishonest
-Polonius talks more than he thinks; wants Reynaldo to do this because he expects it of their relationship
-"By indirections find directions out" is what happens when he uses Ophelia as Hamlet's bait
-Ophelia says that Hamlet came to her distraught and seemed in the dark, very confused and lost
-Polonius first assumes Hamlet came for lust for Ophelia but then that he just was misunderstood and was searching for someone to be miserable to
-Polonius then thinks he came to Ophelia because he was upset at her lack of love
-Hamlet could've been miserable about his father, or he could be playing Ophelia

Scene ii
-Claudius is doing what Polonius just did; sending people to spy on Hamlet and get information
-Sith=since; Gertrude plans to bribe Guildenstern and Rosencrantz
-Lord Polonius is stating false humility
-Fortinbras thought his taxes were against Claudius which upset him, so he sent out arrests which were obeyed
-He won't be going against Claudius, but the Polish people instead
-"Brevity is the soul of wit" meaning because the news is good, it confirms Claudius and his own righteousness for the moment
-Gertrude was right, Polonius was wrong
-Hamlet claims to be a fishmonger
-"Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't"
-Each of Hamlet's responses have a double meaning, as said by Polonius as he breaks the fourth wall
-"for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so," Hamlet
-"What a piece of work is a man"
-So far Hamlet is in a state of grief, but he is playing those who try and play him
-To Polonius and the King and queen Hamlet is crazy but to the agents he is misunderstood but knows what's going on
-The players haven't lost their art, they just aren't taken as seriously anymore
-Hamlet is encouraging a play about a dishonest king being killed
-Hamlet is starting to develop his plan to expose his uncle through script
-"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king"
-Hamlet is upset that the player can make his body, mind and heart do what he wants for no one while Hamlet can't do it when his own father is dead
-He's beating himself up for being a coward with the information he knows
-Nobody is giving Hamlet tough love
-Hamlet feels he should be fed to the birds, feels his talk is cheap and he can't act on it
-Integrity: integrating word, act, and deed
-If Claudius and Gertrude are guilty and the play strikes them, they might confess
-"I'll have these players play something like the murder of my father before mine uncle"; Hamlet plans on editing the lines of the play to expose his uncle
-Claudius has already shown that he wants everyone against Hamlet
-Hamlet plans to give confident evidence within the play to expose Claudius