Act 4 shows that Hamlet can be very cunning. He confuses Rosencrantz when he questions Hamlet about the whereabouts of Polonius body: “The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body. the king is a thing-“. Since hamlet is the only one who knows where the body is hidden , it’s as if he feels that he’s one step ahead of everyone else, which is probably why he is making all of those sarcastic remarks to the King. Moving into scene 5, Ophelia is really dramatic about her fathers death, in fact I think she is a bit too dramatic. When her drama is interrupted by the messenger, I think she took that chance to go commit suicide because there is no way that she would have continued living without her father. On the other hand she could’ve also been so anxious about her fathers death and drowned on accident.
Ophelias death is continued in scene 5 when Hamlet returns with the welcoming of her suicide/ accidental death. Following Hamlet finding out about her death, Hamlet then reveals how he really feels about Ophelia. I think that this is only the beginning of how much drama happened in this act. Scene 2 gives more details of who got executed in the battle but I thought the lives of Hamlet and his mother should’ve been spared.
I agree with the statement that Hamlet is very cunning at some points. Further, there is a lot of drama (maybe even fictional) happening throughout this act. A great example is the suicide of Ophelia, who isn’t able to continue life without her father. Another important point is the connection between lawfulness, justice and health in terms of the state (Hamlet). Every person has a different opinion on Shakespeare’s true intention, but I believe that Hamlet is insane, perhaps even indifferent at some points.