Scene I :    Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo watch the royal castle at night, Horatio comes one night just to confirm the ghost that Marcellus and Bernardo speak of, is the late King. That night, the ghost appears and was about to speak when the cock crowed and he disappeared. Horatio decides to tell Hamlet about the ghost.

Scene II :    King Claudius gives a speech thanking his subjects and attendants for their assistance in King Hamlet's funeral and the marriage between Claudius and the queen. He also sends ambassadors to the King of Norway to control young Fortinbras who is threatening to invade Denmark. Hamlet shows that he is upset because his mother married his uncle in such a short time. Laertes, Polonius' son, asks the King to let him return to France, in which he is given permission. Horatio tells Hamlet about the ghost.  Hamlet agrees to go join the nightly watch.

Scene III :    Laertes says good-bye to his family but tells Ophelia not to take Hamlet anymore, she tries to defend Hamlet's love but is told that she is naive, and not to see Hamlet to which she sadly agrees to.

Scene IV :    Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus wait for the ghost, it appears and leads Hamlet to a private place where the others can't hear what is going on. Horatio and Marcellus become afraid because they think that the ghost can be an evil spirit.

Scene V :    The ghost reveals himself as the late King Hamlet, he tells Hamlet the horrible truth- Claudius seduced the queen and poisoned him while he slept. He asks Hamlet to avenge his murder but to spare the queen. Hamlet after hearing this, makes his friends swear on his sword that they won't tell anyone anything about what they have seen, regardless of how he may act in the future.

Scene I :    First, Polonius sends his attendant Reynaldo to take Laertes some money and to spy on Laertes. In order to determine whether Laertes is leading a wild life. Ophelia then enters and reports that Hamlet, is showing all the symptoms of madness, he went to her chamber half dressed, trembling, looking sorrowful, and grabbed her arm roughly, sighed,and left. Polonius believes that Hamlet's madness comes from the love of Ophelia and he hurries to report his theory to the King.

Scene II :    Claudius and Getrude send for two of Hamlet's childhood friends Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to see what is bothering Hamlet. Then the ambassadors from Norway wants to pass through Denmark in order to go to war with the neighboring country. Then Polonius tells Claudius his theory which Claudius is skeptical about but agrees to spy on Hamlet and Ophelia in a planned meeting. Hamlet then sees his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern but immediately suspects that they are spying for his parents. Then the actors arrive. Hamlet arranges a performance of the The Murder of Gonzago with some of his own lines inserted. When he is alone he expresses self contempt because he hasn't done anything against his uncle. He decides to test Claudius' conscience with the play.

The Major Events in Act 2
 

1. Polonius sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes.
2. Ophelia reports that Hamlet came into her chamber acting crazy.
3. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to Elsinore (the castle)
4. the ambassadors from Norway come with more good news.
5. Polonius tells Claudius about the origin of Hamlet's madness, which is his love for Ophelia.
6. Hamlet finds out that his friends are spying on him for Claudius.
7. The actors arrive and Hamlet plans for them to do a play which will reveal his uncle's conscience.
 

Hamlet compares himself to that of an actor, in a mere story.  He not only notices the similarities between the both, but yet notices the differences as well.

He claims to be a coward because he is lacking inspiration for his cause and unable to say a word.  Not even on behalf of his father who was damnably murdered.

As he puts himself down, he begins to think and realizes that guilty people, while attending a play, have been so affected by the realism of the performance that they have immediately confessed their crimes: because murder, though it’s mute, will speak out with most miraculous power.

So, he has planned to perform a play similar to the murder of his father with his uncle present.  If he reacts, he knows exactly what he will do.

The play’s the way he’ll entrap the conscience of the King!

Scene I :    In scene one Rosencrantz and Guildenstern report to Claudius but aren't able to reveal much information because Hamlet was playing mental games with them. They tell Claudius that Hamlet has arranged for a play to be acted out that night. Later after that discussion they place Ophelia in order to find out what's bothering Hamlet but Hamlet finds out that she  is plotting against him like everyone else and gets angry. Knowing that everyone is hearing him, he insults Polonius, makes a threat against Claudius' life and tells Ophelia to go to a nunnery. Claudius begins to get worried because now he highly doubts that Hamlet is crazy for the love of Ophelia.

Scene II :    Hamlet instructs the players the techniques and the words he wants to be acted, he also sets Horatio in a lace where he could watch the king's reaction. During the play Hamlet sits next to Ophelia and embarrasses her with sexual comments  to torment Claudius. The players then begin their play and portray the similar death of King Hamlet by his brother. Claudius begins to feel pangs of his conscience and leaves, everyone follows him except for Horatio and Hamlet. Hamlet's friends come back to tell Hamlet that his mother wants to see him and that the King was angry. Hamlet resolves to kill the king.

Scene III :    Claudius tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to accompany Hamlet to England. meanwhile Polonius tells the Queen that Hamlet is on the way ,and Polonius hides so that he could listen to Hamlet's and the Queen's conversation. On the way to the Queen's chamber, Hamlet hears the king praying and thinks that perhaps that was a perfect opportunity to avenge his father's death, but since Claudius was praying Hamlet worried that Claudius might go to heaven and Hamlet doesn't want that to happen so he doesn't kill Claudius. He decides to kill Claudius when he is committing a sin.

Scene IV :    In this scene Hamlet has a discussion with his mother. He acts so wild that the Queen herself fears Hamlet is going to hurt, and, cries out for help. Her yell alarmed Polonius, he begins to scream out and Hamlet stabs through the arras and kills Polonius. Hamlet then turns to his mother and begins to rail at her for her sins. At one point the ghost comes in and tells Hamlet that he must remain focused on the avengement of his death. The queen who sees Hamlet talking to the ghost thinks that Hamlet has really gone insane. He then says goodnight and drags out Polonius' body.
 
 

    " To live or not to live.  That is the issue.  Is it more noble to forget what has happened, or to fight against overwhelming odds and overcome them?"

    " To die is to sleep, nothing more.  And if by a sleep we can all end the heartaches and the thousand everyday anxieties that humans suffer, it would be an outcome to be cordially welcomed."

    "To die... to sleep... to sleep and perhaps to dream... Yes, there it is! Those dreams that we might have during that sleep of death must make us hesitate."

    " That's what makes us tolerate suffering so long.  Who would bear the torments of the world we live in?  The tyrant's injustice, the arrogant man's rudeness, the pains of unwanted love, the slow process of law, the insolence of persons in authority, and the insults that the humble suffer- when he could settle everything himself with a mere dagger?"

    " Who would be a beast of burden, grunting, and sweating with fatigue, if it were not that the dread of something after death makes us ambivalent and makes us choose to bear the troubles that we have, rather than fly to others that we know nothing about?"

    In conclusion, I believe that Hamlet's attempt in killing himself is just a simple way of getting out of the situation he is in.  Although he faces tremendous circumstances, he believes that by killing himself he would be at peace from the rest of the world.  Reality is, he is only tormenting himself rather than his uncle, the true one which should be punished.