Hamlet Chapter 15 Summary

Scene VII. Another room in the castle.: chapter recap, key events, character developments, and running summary.

By William Shakespeare

16 chapters

Scene VII. Another room in the castle.

Chapter 151,664 wordsCompleted

King Claudius and Laertes meet in a private chamber of the castle. Claudius orders Laertes to seal his conscience as a friend and recounts why he has not acted against the murderer of his father—citing his queen’s influence and the public’s love for the suspect. Laertes laments his own loss of father and sister and vows revenge.

A messenger arrives with letters supposedly from Hamlet. Claudius reads the cryptic missive, which speaks of being “naked” and “alone,” and asks for interpretation. Laertes and Claudius debate its meaning, with Claudius dismissing it as Hamlet’s “character.” Laertes expresses a desire to confront Hamlet directly.

Claudius then proposes a plot to kill Hamlet. He suggests that Laertes should duel Hamlet, using a “double varnish” on Laertes’s reputation based on a famed Norman swordsman’s accolade. Claudius describes the Norman’s extraordinary skill, using it to flatter Laertes and incite him. Laertes agrees eagerly, calling the Norman “the brooch indeed and gem of all the nation.”

Claudius outlines a scheme: Laertes will poison his own sword with a lethal concoction (“a mountebank… collected from all simples”) so that even a superficial wound could be fatal. He also plans a backup poisoned chalice that Hamlet might drink after the duel, ensuring the poison’s effect if the sword fails. Claudius orders that the duel be staged as a public wager, with Laertes’s “cunnings” praised, and that the poison be ready.

The queen, Gertrude, enters. She laments a “sister” who has drowned—clearly Ophelia. She describes the tragic scene in vivid detail: the willow, the garland, the drowning, and the transformation of Ophelia’s body in the water. Laertes reacts with shock and grief, confirming Ophelia’s death. Gertrude remarks that the woman’s “clothes spread wide” like a mermaid before sinking. Laertes declares he will not weep excessively but acknowledges the loss.

Claudius, hearing the news, decides they must follow Gertrude, fearing that Ophelia’s death might reignite unrest. He orders the group to proceed, and they exit together, leaving the plot to murder Hamlet in motion and the kingdom now aware of Ophelia’s death.

What happened until now

Summary of the chapters Scene I. Elsinore. A platform before the castle. to Scene VII. Another room in the castle..

Guards Bernardo, Horatio, and Marcellus encounter the ghost of the dead King Hamlet on the battlements, learn of looming conflict with Norway and decide to inform Prince Hamlet. Claudius consolidates power by marrying Gertrude, sending envoys to Norway about Fortinbras, and granting Laertes permission to return to France; Polonius supports this. Hamlet expresses deep grief and disgust over his mother’s swift remarriage, delivers his “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt” soliloquy, and, after hearing the guards’ report of the ghost, vows to join them on watch and confront the apparition. Laertes cautions Ophelia against Hamlet’s fleeting affection and urges her to preserve her virtue; Polonius delivers a lengthy set of paternal maxims to Laertes, including “to thine own self be true,” and then confronts Ophelia about Hamlet’s advances, warning her that his vows are unreliable and commanding her to cease all contact with him. The ghost of the dead King appears to Prince Hamlet on the platform; Hamlet confronts and vows to follow it despite Horatio and Marcellus' warnings; Marcellus declares that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Polonius sends Reynaldo to Paris to discreetly probe Laertes' conduct, and later, after Ophelia reports Hamlet's bizarre and frantic behavior, Polonius decides to inform the king about Hamlet's apparent madness caused by love. Claudius commissions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet; Polonius attributes Hamlet’s madness to Ophelia’s love and plots to trap him by arranging a meeting behind an arras; ambassadors Voltimand and Cornelius report that Norway’s threat has been pacified and a payment secured; Hamlet exchanges sharp wit with Polonius, delivers the “What a piece of work is a man” soliloquy, confronts Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about their motives, and decides to have a troupe perform a play that will reveal Claudius’s guilt; the Players arrive in Elsinore. Hamlet delivers the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy, confronts Ophelia and urges her to a nunnery, while Claudius arranges a covert observation of Hamlet’s encounter with Ophelia and resolves to exile Hamlet to England; Polonius and Claudius continue plotting to discover the cause of Hamlet’s apparent madness. Hamlet gives the Players a detailed instruction on naturalistic acting, denounces over‑acting, and designates the upcoming performance as the “Mousetrap” to trap King Claudius’s conscience. Claudius orders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to escort Hamlet to England and Polonius prepares to eavesdrop behind the arras; Claudius delivers a guilt‑filled soliloquy; Hamlet decides not to kill a praying Claudius, postponing his revenge; Claudius muses on the inadequacy of his prayers before exiting. Hamlet encounters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in a castle chamber; they demand the location of a dead body, but Hamlet cryptically refuses, launching a metaphor‑laden tirade about being a sponge that soaks up the king’s favor and will later be left dry, before ordering them to “Hide fox, and all after” and exiting. Claudius orders Hamlet’s immediate exile to England with the intention that he be killed; Rosencrantz pledges to see the king’s lethal instructions carried out in England. Hamlet observes a Norwegian army under Prince Fortinbras marching through Denmark to claim a worthless parcel of land, prompting a self‑critical soliloquy in which he condemns his own procrastination, resolves to pursue decisive, violent action, and vows that his thoughts must be “bloody” or meaningless. Ophelia’s madness erupts in a series of disjointed songs about death, love, and remembrance; Laertes returns to Elsinore demanding vengeance for his father’s death, confronts King Claudius, and a volatile exchange forces Claudius to promise a hearing and a possible reward for Laertes’s proof of guilt. Horatio receives sailors who bring a letter from an ambassador captured by pirates, containing correspondence for the king; the sailors also report that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are on their way to England. Claudius recruits Laertes to murder Hamlet by poisoning his sword (and a backup poisoned drink) and arranges a staged duel to trap him; they discuss using a celebrated Norman fighter’s reputation to motivate Laertes. Gertrude enters and announces Ophelia’s drowning, prompting Laertes’s grief and Claudius’s decision to follow her.

Chapter Intelligence

Characters and settings known up to the selected chapter.