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They actually try to find out what is wrong with Hamlet in an earlier scene, Act II Scene 2. In Act III Scene I they make their report to Claudius of what they have found, or rather what they have not found. They do not tell Claudius the real reason they have not found it out, because the real reason is that they were so inept in their investigations that Hamlet almost immediately said "The king put you up to this, didn't he?" and after that they realized that they couldn't trust anything he said.

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They are unable to find out what is wrong with Hamlet because they are suspected of being sent for by the King and Queen. Thus, Hamlet does not reveal his true worries.

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Q: Why are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern unable to find out What is wrong with Hamlet in Act 3 Scene 1?
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Does Hamlet enjoy confusing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when they come to tell him to go to his mother?

Oh, yes, he loves it. He wilfully misunderstands them and leads them off on tangents just to baffle them. Eventually, in this scene, he gets tired of fencing with them and outright accuses them of attempting to manipulate him so as to find out more about him (which, of course, is exactly what they are doing). Guildenstern gives the mealy-mouthed answer "Oh, my lord, if my duty be too bold, my love is too unmannerly" which is to say "We're only doing this because we care about you." and Hamlet gets really mad at them and compares what they are doing to playing a musical instrument. Basically, by the end of the scene he tells them to get lost, and for the rest of the play he holds them in utter contempt (see the next time they meet when Hamlet calls Rosencrantz a sponge)


What is the message that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern carry out to the King of England?

If the King you are talking about is the King of England: He has them killed because Hamlet changes the message. Nice friends, eh? However, in Hamlet, "the King" means Claudius, not the king of England. R+G bring him several messages. At the beginning of Act 3 Scene 1 they tell the king that although they cannot find out what is bothering Hamlet they were able to ascertain that he was excited about the arrival of the players. The king replies that they should encourage him in this interest. In Act 4 Scene 3 they bring the message that they could not get Hamlet to tell where Polonius's body was hidden but that he was captured and standing outside. Claudius orders Hamlet to be brought before him.


What play did Shakespeare's write in response to the boy players?

Shakespeare did not write a play specifically to respond to the increased popularity of the boys' company the Children of the Chapel starting in 1600 or so. He did not involve himself in the topical comment or satire of other writers which is found in plays by Jonson, Marston, Dekker and so on in such plays as Poetaster and Satiromastix, some of which were actually performed by the Children of the Chapel. The furthest Shakespeare went in this direction was to insert a scene in Hamlet where Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern discuss how the popularity of the Children has forced the adult company to go on tour, a less profitable enterprise. This forms part of the overlong Act II Scene 2. Shakespeare snarks at his satiric and quarrelsome contemporaries with Guildenstern's line, "Oh, there has been much throwing about of brains."However, this scene is a throwaway. It could be cut from the play with no damage done. Hamlet was not written for the purpose of complaining about the Children of the Chapel.


What events happened act iii of hamlet?

Act 3 is a busy act in Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern make a report to the king, and he and Polonius plan to spy on Hamlet. They place themselves in a hidden space with Ophelia as bait. Hamlet strolls along and makes his "To be or not to be" speech. He sees Ophelia and they have a very peculiar conversation which ends with Hamlet getting angry with her and accusing her of prostituting herself (figuratively). Ophelia thinks he has lost his mind ("O what a noble mind is here o'erthrown") but Claudius draws the opposite conclusion. That's Scene 1. In Scene 2, Hamlet meets up with the players, and after telling them how to do their job, asks Horatio to watch Claudius during the play. The play is then performed with Hamlet being terrifically rude both to the actors and to his fellow audience members. Claudius spots that the play is all to similar to his murder of Hamlet Sr. and demands that it stop. As he exits, Hamlet is exultant: the Ghost has been vindicated! Rosencrantz and Guildenstern show up and tell Hamlet to visit his mother. On the way, Hamlet spots his uncle praying. We hear part of the prayer and know that Claudius is feeling guilt for murdering his brother. Hamlet is about to kill him then hesitates, deciding to wait until Claudius is doing something sinful. Nevertheless he says he could "drink hot blood" and he is now going to give his mother a talking-to. In Scene four, Hamlet arrives at his mother's bedroom and begins chastising her. Polonius, hiding behind a curtain, hears and echoes Gertrude's cries for help. Hamlet, believing his moment to kill Claudius has come at last, kills Polonius thinking that he is the king. He then launches into a long tirade to his weeping mother, and is only stopped by the appearance of the Ghost. Gertrude is persuaded that Claudius is a murderer and agrees to help Hamlet, and Hamlet drags the corpse of Polonius off.


In what mood does hamlet speak with rosencrantz and guidenstern in scene 2?

they are talking to him in a friendly way because they do not know that they are going to be hired by his stepfather/uncle, Clauduis, later to murder him while he is on his way to England.

Related questions

What does the King want from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the scene 2?

The king and queen want them to cozy up to Hamlet and find out what's troubling him.


In Hamlet who was loyal to hamlet?

Hamlet's friend Horatio was most loyal to him. Furthermore, in Act 1, scene 5, Hamlet makes Horatio and Marcellus swear loyalty to him and to never reveal what they have witnessed in the woods and Hamlet's interaction with his father's ghost.


Where is Hamlet going when he meets the captain?

This is Act IV Scene 4 I imagine you are talking about, the scene in which Hamlet makes his "How all occasions do inform against me" speech. Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are on their way to catch the next boat to England when they cross paths with Fortinbras's army on its way to Poland.


How does Hamlet show his complete contempt for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who are old schoolfriends of Hamlet's are called upon by the king to spy on Hamlet in order to find out what is bothering him. Hamlet, however, figures out why they are there, gets them to confess it and tells them what he guesses to be their business. He then lets out some vague and quite misleading hints as to what is on his mind (the "what a piece of work is man" speech.)


Gertrude and Ophelia also fully accept spying as a legitimate practice?

Yes. They are both completely privy to the plot to spy on Hamlet in Act III Scene 1. Gertrude is also privy to the plan to set Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Polonius as spies on Hamlet.


Who are in Hamlet Act 2 scene 1?

This idea is introduced in Act One. Queen Gertrude asks Hamlet why he is still so heavily mourning the death of his father, claiming that he seems to be grieving more than is necessary.


What act did hamlet die in?

Polonius dies in Act 3. Ophelia dies offstage in Act 4; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern die offstage sometime after Act 4. Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude and Laertes all die in Act 5.


Why does Claudius hire rosencrantz and gulidenstern as spies?

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern did not arrange for the players to play Elsinore. They passed them on the road and thus were aware that they were coming. But the actors were on tour anyway and would have arrived in Elsinore whether they met R + G or not. Apparently business in the city had been bad because of a surge in popularity for children's companies (a comment on the theatrical situation in London at about the time Hamlet was written, ca. 1600) Hamlet, an amateur actor himself, is excited by this turn of events and Ros and Guil report this to the King and Queen. Claudius commands them to "drive him on", to encourage him to involve himself in the theatre.


What is the content of the letters the king sent with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to England with Hamlet?

Hamlet relays to Horatio that two days on his voyage to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, they were overtook by pirates. Upon boarding the pirate ship to stand and fight, Hamlet was captured. Hamlet says in his letter that the pirates were well in their mercy, but of course expected some kindness back in some way. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are safely on their way to England still. Hamlet has been released by the pirates and now writes to Horatio to tell him that he's alright. He also tells Horatio to escort his messengers to the King and Queen, for they have messages for them too. Later on, Hamlet reveals to Horatio what Rosencrantz's and Guildenstern's fates are.


When rosencrantz questions Hamlet again about the cause of his distemper what does Hamlet say is bothering him?

In Act III Scene 2 Rosencrantz asks what is the cause of Hamlet's distemper and Hamlet says that he lacks advancement. Rosencrantz asks how that can be when he is named as heir apparent. Hamlet responds by referring to an old saying, "While the grass grows, the horse starveth." by which he means that the promise of a future benefit is no use when there is a present need. He then gets very angry indeed at Rosencrantz for trying to ensnare him with conversation.


Does Hamlet enjoy confusing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when they come to tell him to go to his mother?

Oh, yes, he loves it. He wilfully misunderstands them and leads them off on tangents just to baffle them. Eventually, in this scene, he gets tired of fencing with them and outright accuses them of attempting to manipulate him so as to find out more about him (which, of course, is exactly what they are doing). Guildenstern gives the mealy-mouthed answer "Oh, my lord, if my duty be too bold, my love is too unmannerly" which is to say "We're only doing this because we care about you." and Hamlet gets really mad at them and compares what they are doing to playing a musical instrument. Basically, by the end of the scene he tells them to get lost, and for the rest of the play he holds them in utter contempt (see the next time they meet when Hamlet calls Rosencrantz a sponge)


How do Rosencracrantz and Guildenstern analyze Hamlet's malady?

They don't. They try to get him to say that what is troubling him is that he wants to be the king, but he doesn't follow through in the way that they hope. In act 2 scene 2 Rosencrantz responds to Hamlet's statement that Denmark is a prison tohim by saying "Why, then, your ambition makes it one." and when Hamlet ends his reply by saying "were it not that I have bad dreams", Guildenstern follows up by saying "Which dreams indeed are ambition . . ." Possibly Hamlet catches on from this clumsy attempt that Ros and Guil are spies, which he accuses them of soon after. In any event, in their report to the King and Queen at the beginning of 3,1 they cannot point to any reason for Hamlet's behaviour. Rosencrantz says "He does confess he feels himself distracted, but from what cause he will be no means speak." They tactfully do not tell Claudius that Hamlet sussed them out as spies.