Good evening and welcome once more to brush up your Shakespeare, where we make Shakespeare fun and easy, the way it was always meant to be.

This is episode 15, and today we will be covering Hamlet Act 3, scene 4. The line for today that will be

memorizing from this scene is hoist with his own petard. Say it with me, hoist with his own petard, and once more hoist with his own petard.

In the last few scenes, Hamlet has been a very bad boy. He had the murder of his father played before King and

court by the troop of traveling actors, you remember. Now Hamlet knows for certain that his

Uncle Claudius did in fact murder his father.

But in the process, Hamlet has made himself a target because Claudius must know that Hamlet knows. Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude, is also very upset

with Hamlet's shenanigans and has commanded him to meet with her in her chambers after the play. She is going to give her boy a good talking to.

On his way to his mother's chambers, Hamlet happens to pass by where Claudius is praying.

Hamlet comes this close to killing Claudius then and

there, but stops himself because Hamlet believes if he kills Claudius while in the act of

prayer, Claudius will go directly to heaven.

Hamlet resolves to kill Claudius at a later time when he is doing something sinful so that he can go to hell instead.

This concluded the last scene.

Once again, the line from today's scene is hoist with his own petard.

Say it again, hoist with his own petard, say it again hoist with his own petard and once more hoist with his own petard.

Most everyone has heard this expression and most people have the general understanding that it means to fall into one's

own trap or be caught in one's own snare. And this much is correct, this is exactly what the meaning is. But what it means specifically, we will get to toward the end of the scene.

Now Hamlet finally makes it to his mother's chambers at the beginning of Act 3,

scene 4, but not before Polonius tells Gertrude to be round with him or scold

him severely and then Polonius hides himself behind an heiress,

remember an heiress, a r-r-a-r-a-s, it's a tapestry hung on a castle wall.

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