act 4

• "My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!"

  
  

  This line shows us how much Hamlet has changed since the beginning of the play; he now sees violence as an option rather than something to avoid. However, this change doesn’t mean that he’s ready to take action yet. The phrase ‘be nothing worth’ implies that if he isn’t willing to commit murder then he might as well give up altogether. It also highlights the way that Hamlet feels about himself – he thinks that without the ability to carry out revenge, he’s useless.
• "If indeed you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs."

  • Hamlet's moral superiority to Claudius is now thrown into question. He has killed Polonius just as Claudius killed Hamlet's father, but rather than being overwhelmed with guilt, as we might expect of a hero who has committed such a terrible mistake, he seems manic, desperate, and self-righteous. Scenes such as this one serve as powerful reminders that we are not meant to regard the prince as an unqualified hero.