Hamlet and Guildenstern's belongings and replaced it with a forged copy indicating that his former friends should be killed instead. A foppish courtier, Osric, interrupts the conversation to deliver the fencing challenge to Hamlet. Hamlet, despite Horatio's pleas, accepts it. Hamlet does well at first, leading the match by two hits to none, and Gertrude raises a toast to him using the poisoned glass of wine Claudius had set aside for Hamlet. Claudius tries to stop her, but is too late: she drinks, and Laertes realizes the plot will be revealed. Laertes slashes Hamlet with his poisoned blade. In the ensuing
Critical approaches to Hamlet deduce, then, that the Ghost is in fact a liar, who shows no concern for Hamlet's own personal welfare. He confirms the fatherhood of King Hamlet in order to give Hamlet an incentive for revenge. All references to "Hamlet", unless otherwise specified, are taken from the Arden Shakespeare Q2. Under their referencing system, 3.1.55 means act 3, scene 1, line 55. References to the First Quarto and First Folio are marked "Hamlet Q1" and "Hamlet F1", respectively, and are taken from the Arden Shakespeare "Hamlet: the texts of 1603 and 1623". Their referencing system for Q1 has no act breaks,