A ghost resembling the late King of Denmark appears on the battlements of Elsinore, witnessed by the night watch of Bernardo, Marcellus, and Horatio, who resolve to tell Prince Hamlet. Claudius dispatches envoys to Norway, grants Laertes permission to return to France, admonishes Hamlet for lingering grief and orders him to remain in Denmark; Hamlet delivers a bitter soliloquy lamenting his mother’s swift remarriage and the state of the world, then learns from Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo about the ghost of his father and vows to keep watch that night. Laertes prepares to leave for France, urging Ophelia to distrust Hamlet’s romantic overtures as politically dangerous; Polonius delivers his famous counsel to Laertes and warns Ophelia that Hamlet’s promises are unreliable and should be avoided. Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus meet the Ghost on the castle platform; Hamlet, defiant, insists on following the specter despite their protests, and the Ghost leaves the scene with him, prompting Marcellus to remark that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. The Ghost reveals that King Hamlet was poisoned by his brother Claudius, commands Hamlet to avenge his death while sparing his mother, and Hamlet vows to feign madness and swears Horatio and Marcellus to secrecy. Polonius dispatches his servant Reynaldo to spy on Laertes in France; Ophelia tells Polonius that Hamlet behaved erratically after their encounter, prompting Polonius to conclude Hamlet is lovesick; Polonius reports this to King Claudius and Queen Gertrude, who decide to enlist Hamlet’s school friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to discover the cause of his madness; Hamlet meets Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who reveal they were sent by the King and Queen; later a troupe of actors arrives, and Hamlet, thrilled by a speech about a king’s murder, vows to use their play to expose Claudius’s guilt. Polonius instructs Reynaldo to spy on his son Laertes in France, and Ophelia reports Hamlet’s disheveled, frantic behavior to Polonius, leading him to conclude Hamlet’s madness is love‑driven and to resolve to inform King Claudius. Claudius commissions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to discover the cause of Hamlet’s odd behaviour; Polonius reports to the court that Hamlet’s madness may stem from Ophelia’s affection and his father’s death, and proposes to place Ophelia near Hamlet to observe him; Norwegian ambassadors Voltimand and Cornelius deliver news of peace with Fortinbras and a royal tribute of three thousand crowns; Hamlet meets the returning friends, mocks Polonius, delivers his “What a piece of work is a man” soliloquy, and decides to stage a play reenacting his father’s murder to catch the king’s conscience. Hamlet delivers his famous “To be, or not to be” soliloquy and then cruelly rebuffs Ophelia, urging her to “get thee to a nunnery”; Claudius and Polonius interpret his behavior as love‑driven madness and resolve to send Hamlet to England after the upcoming play. Hamlet organizes the play that reenacts his father’s murder, directs the actors, and asks Horatio to watch King Claudius’s reaction; the performance (“The Murder of Gonzago”/“the Mouse‑trap”) is staged, Claudius abruptly calls for lights and exits, confirming his guilt; Hamlet resolves to exploit this proof and steels himself for further action against his mother. Claudius commissions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to escort Hamlet to England, hoping to remove his dangerous madness; Polonius decides to hide behind the arras in Gertrude’s closet to eavesdrop on her conversation with Hamlet; Claudius delivers a guilt‑laden soliloquy about his murder of King Hamlet and his inability to be truly pardoned; Hamlet, hearing Claudius pray, resolves not to kill him while he is in prayer and muses on the proper way to exact revenge, planning to wait for a better moment. In Gertrude’s closet, Polonius hides behind the arras to eavesdrop. Hamlet bursts in, attacks Gertrude’s remarriage to Claudius, and, hearing a rustle, thrusts his sword through the tapestry, killing Polonius. Gertrude is horrified; Hamlet briefly wonders if he has slain a king before resuming his tirade on her guilt. He pulls back the arras, exposing Polonius’s corpse, and continues denouncing the “rash, bloody deed” of the marriage. The Ghost of King Hamlet re‑appears, urging Hamlet to remember his vengeance and to speak to Gertrude. Hamlet then reveals that sealed letters and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern will soon send him to England, and he vows to turn their treachery against them. The scene ends with Hamlet dragging Polonius’s body offstage, leaving Gertrude bewildered and fearful. Act IV introduces Laertes’s return, Ophelia’s descent into madness, Hamlet’s clever escape from a death sentence, and the king’s poisoned duel plot against Hamlet. Claudius discovers that Hamlet has killed Polonius, resolves to eliminate the threat by sending Hamlet away to England, and commands Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to locate the prince and escort him out. Gertrude expresses deep anguish over the murder and the turmoil it has caused. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter a private room to demand that Hamlet reveal the location of Polonius’s corpse so they can take it to the chapel and, ultimately, escort Hamlet out of Denmark. Hamlet derides them as “sponges,” delivers a bitterly sarcastic speech about court servitude, and gives only a cryptic reply that the body is “with the king, but the king is not with the body.” He refuses to cooperate, issues the puzzling command “Hide fox, and all after,” and exits, leaving the two courtiers confused and still tasked with locating the body.