I’m actually not clear why Polonius and Claudius think this is a good idea. Is it a way to police Gertrude, perhaps – keep her out of Hamlet’s confidence? Or keep her from betraying herself to Hamlet?
It’s weird. I’m trying to imagine a circumstance in which hiding behind a curtain to listen to a mother with her son makes sense. If the son was a member of the mob and the mother was cooperating with the police?
That would make sense.
I guess this is a little bit like that from Claudius’ point of view.
The Hamlet Project 