Schwefler 1

Andrew Schwefler

Mrs. P. Bradley

AP English 12 Period 2

4 March 2017

The Climax of Hamlet

In most of Shakespeare's plays, he follows the structure of having Act I being the

exposition that sets up the main conflict for the play, Act II containing the rising actions that

move the plot forward towards the climax, Act III being the climax of the play, Act IV containing

the consequences and falling actions of the climax, and Act V being the ending and resolution to

the play. Hamlet is no different from Shakespeares other plays and follows the same structural

formula. Act III is the climax of the play where the main conflict established in Act I is resolved

and serves as the turning point for the plot where the tones shifts, everything starts to go wrong,

and characters begin to die. The climax of Hamlet is in Act III, Scene IV, when Hamlet stabs and

kills Polonius; the first of many deaths to happen in the play.

In order for Act III, Scene IV to be considered the climax of the play, the actions of this

scene must resolve and answer the main conflict that was presented to the audience in the

beginning of the play during Act I. In Act I, the main conflict of the plot was revealed to be

Hamlet having to avenge his father by killing Claudius, but being hesitant and unsure to do so.

The ghost of King Hamlet instructs his son to get revenge for him by killing Claudius: his

murderer, his brother, his wifes new husband, and the new king of Denmark. At first, Hamlet is

a little hesitant to kill Claudius because Claudius is his uncle who he has known and loved his

entire life and was not completely sure if his fathers ghost was telling him the truth.
 Schwefler 2

Hamlet finds out that Claudius is guilty for killing King Hamlet through the play, but that

is not when all of the main conflict is not resolved. The conflict is resolved when Hamlet stabs

through the curtains and ends up killing Polonius in Act III, Scene VI, he stabbed the curtain

because he thought it was his uncle hiding from him. By stabbing the curtain in an attempt to kill

the king, the main conflict is answered because Hamlet is fully committed to killing the king and

has officially started his act to avenge his father. The murder of Polonius was the event that

caused a series of negative consequences that affected all of the characters of Hamlet and is

where the plot takes a sharp turn and becomes more tragic.

After Poloniuss death, many consequences arrive right after Hamlet kills him and all

throughout Act IV. Things begin to go south. After hearing about her fathers death, Ophelia

begins to go completely insane. She also had her and Hamlets baby aborted, leaving her in a

state of guilt and sorrow. With the weight of her fathers death and the aborting of her child, she

had gone mad. With her gone crazy, she lead herself to her death by drowning. Ophelias brother,

Laertes, comes home from college and hears about the death of Polonius, his father. He then

confronts Claudius, thinking that he killed his father and wanting to avenge him.

However, Claudius manipulates and persuade him to by telling that Hamlet killed

Polonius. The two team up together and make up a plan to kill Hamlet. They have Laertes

challenge Hamlet to a duel, but they will poison his wine and use a poison tip on Laertess

sword. The duel ends with Gertrude, Claudius, Laertes, and Hamlet all dying. Gertrude drinks

the poison wine, Laertes stabs Hamlet with the poison tip, and Hamlet stabs Laertes and

Claudius with the poison tip. All of these events and deaths were a result of chained events that

began with the death of Polonius in Act III, Scene IV.

 Schwefler 3

A climax of any story is when the main conflict presented at the beginning of the story is

solved and the turning point of the story. Act III, Scene IV of Hamlet is the climax of the play

because the actions of this scene solve the main conflict and acts as the start of a chain reaction

of horrible events. The murder of Polonius by the hands of Hamlet is the climax to

Shakespeare's play, Hamlet.