(Act 3) 2)Clarification Questions 3)Key Passages

Clarification Questions
Is Hamlet serious about Ophelia joining a convent?
Hamlet wanted Horatio to observe Claudius' behavior and look for what?
Why did Polonius need listen in to Gertrude and Hamlet?
How did the King respond to the play?
Why didn't Hamlet kill Claudius while he was praying?
When would be the ideal time to kill him?
Why did Hamlet find Polonius behind the curtain?
Did Hamlet seem upset about the death?

Key Passages
-Act 3,Scene1, Lines 65-170 (Hamlet and Ophelia)
This passage is the first time we get to actually see the tension between Hamlet and Ophelia. It highlights the misunderstanding and lack of communication between these two.Towards the end, we also see that Hamlet believes Ophelia set him up for her father by staging this meeting.This passage also has Hamlets suicide soliloquy, which lets us as the readers know more about his thoughts and how life doesn't seem to be worth living.

-Act 3, Scene 4, Lines 40-115 (Hamlet and Gertrude)
This passage is a conversation between Hamlet and Gertrude, and Hamlet is pretty much letting her have it. It seems like everything that has been bottled up in him, throughout the entire play has finally come out. He confronts her marriage to the Claudius and asks her why she has been so blind. He tells her she is acting without her senses and on impulse.And then goes on to insult her and Claudius some more.

Personal Response:
I probably enjoyed this act the most so far and actually cant wait to read the next. Polonius finally dies and I believe that will make reading this play a lot more enjoyable. I'm beginning to see what was meant by "Why does Hamlet take so long to kill Claudius", though I have only seen one example of a missed opportunity I can see where it would get annoying to read. But for this example I think he was justified, if someone killed my father, I wouldn't want to be responsible for sending them to Heaven either. I say that acknowledging there is some very strange theology here and I don't believe I would want to send someone to hell.