Hamlet Act 4 Scene 4 Summary

The scene starts off in a nearby plain in Denmark where young Fortinbras is marching with his army travelling through Denmark towards to attack Poland, Fortinbras orders his captain to go and ask the King of Denmark for permission to travel through his country. While doing so he bumps into: Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on their way to the boat travelling to England. The captain informs then that the norwegian army wishes to fight the poles. Hamlet asks what the conflict is based on and he replies by saying that his army would fight over “a little patch of land / That hath in it no profit but the name”. Hamlet being astonished by the thought that such a war could be started over something as stupid leads him to remember that his uncle has done much worse and yet he still hasn’t fulfilled his father wish and killed him. Having himself ashamed that he hasn’t delivered on his promise to his father, he is determined to make all his future thoughts bloody.