By the end of Act 3, where this scene occurs, Hamlet has
been through a lot and is "on to" the actions of those around him. He has accidentally
killed Polonius and tells his mother that he plans to "lug the guts into the neighboring
room." He actually ends up hiding the body for a short while as another symptom of his
"crazy" act, and to annoy and frustrated Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who have been sent
by the king to find out where Hamlet put the body.
Before
he leaves his mother's chambers he reveals that he knows that Claudius is planning to
send him to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as his escorts. He seems very
pleased to say that he doesn't trust them any more than "I will trust as adders
fanged." He then reveals that he plans
"to have the engineer / Hoist with his own
petard; and 't shall go hard / But I will delve one yard below their mines / And blow
them at the moon."
What he
is saying is that sometimes when people makes plans those same plans can blow up in
their faces. He is hoping to turn their deceit back on them and destroy them. He
predicts that "two crafts" will directly meet. He using the image of two ships (two
people) who are on an inevitable collision course with each other. Claudius and Hamlet
have been on this type of path and they will have their logical face off at some point,
and Hamlet knows it. He thinks it is a nice irony that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
have insinuated themselves between these two men and will likely suffer some of the
damage of the collision. That is exactly what happens by the end of Act 4 when Hamlet
finds (in R and G's possession) Claudius's message to England demanding Hamlet's death
which he promptly rewrites to condemn them.
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