Hamlet · Chapter
Scene VII explained
Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet killed Polonius and conspires with him to murder Hamlet in a rigged fencing match.
What happens
Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet killed Polonius and conspires with him to murder Hamlet in a rigged fencing match. Gertrude enters and announces Ophelia's drowning, sending Laertes into a grief-stricken rage.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This scene is the dramatic climax because it marks the psychological and moral peak of King Claudius’s interna…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Revenge and Morality
Claudius and Laertes plot a dishonorable murder, contrasting with Hamlet's earlier moral hesitation.
- Corruption and Decay
The plan to use poison and the image of Ophelia's muddy death symbolize moral and physical decay.
- Mortality and the Afterlife
Ophelia's drowning and the discussion of death highlight the fragility of life and the finality of death.
Characters to notice
- King Claudius
Manipulates Laertes into plotting Hamlet's death, revealing his cunning and guilt.
- Laertes
Grieves for his father and sister, swears revenge, and agrees to Claudius's murder plot.
- Queen Gertrude
Brings news of Ophelia's drowning, describing it in poetic detail.
- Hamlet
Mentioned as having returned to Denmark and sent letters; the target of Claudius and Laertes's conspiracy.
- Ophelia
Reported drowned by Gertrude; her death deepens Laertes's desire for revenge.
- Polonius
Referenced as Laertes's murdered father, motivating Laertes's vengeance.
Key passages
“Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, And therefore I forbid my tears: but yet It is our trick; nature her custom holds, Let shame say what it will: when these are gone, The woman will be out.”
You have had too much water, poor Ophelia, so I will not cry—but I cannot help it; it is human nature. When my tears are spent, my feminine weakness will be gone.
Laertes struggles to contain his grief, equating tears with femininity.
“There is a willow grows aslant a brook, That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream; There with fantastic garlands did she come Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples...”
A willow tree leans over a brook, its gray leaves reflected in the water. Ophelia came there with strange garlands of wildflowers and long purple blooms...
Gertrude's poetic description of Ophelia's death scene.
“I will do't: And, for that purpose, I'll anoint my sword. I bought an unction of a mountebank, So mortal that, but dip a knife in it, Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare... can save the thing from death That is but scratch'd withal.”
I will do it, and I will poison my sword. I bought a deadly ointment from a quack doctor so potent that even a scratch will kill, with no cure possible.
Laertes reveals his plan to use a poisoned sword to ensure Hamlet's death.
