There were tons of scheming conducted within this act, first with Polonius and the King spying on Hamlet to determine his feelings for Ophelia, which ends with Hamlet renouncing his love for Ophelia and marriage in general. The next scene Hamlet plots to determine the truth about his uncle’s actions by having the players act out a story which was very similar to his father’s death. Through this Hamlet identifies the truth, and we get to see the torment going on within Claudius over killing his brother. All of this reminded me of high school girls scheming and potting to make others miserable.
The character that stands out to me within this act is Claudius. Within this act we not only get to see how obsessed he is about finding out what is bothering Hamlet, but also we get to have a glimpse of the truth. After viewing the play put together by Hamlet, Claudius demands the lights to be turned back on while he leaves the room in a huff. Through this Hamlet becomes positive that his uncle did kill his father, and we get to see Claudius admit to the murder of his brother. He obviously let his greed and selfishness get into the way, allowing it to control his actions while he killed his brother. I only say this because of the torment that was seen while Claudius was alone and praying for forgiveness.
This act is full of guilt/sin. This is first seen with the conduct that Hamlet shows against poor Ophelia, telling her that he had never loved her but then telling her that he had loved her. He was very hypocritical. Then later he acts very aggressive and rude making sexual comments towards her throughout the play. We also get to see Claudius’s guilt because of his sins commented toward his brother. Having seen what he did within the play seemed to break Claudius enough for us to see the torment going on inside him while he is alone and praying for forgiveness for his sins. The last scene was full of guilt and sin as Hamlet pretty much let’s his mother have it, causing her to look at herself and her hasty actions of marriage to Claudius. Finally we see Hamlets sin again when he hastily and blindingly kills someone behind the arras or tapestry in his mothers room. He was hoping that it was Claudius, but turned out to be Polonius.
I think it is interesting that you say "poor Ophelia." I have never really felt sorry for her, I felt that she was too quick to submit to her father and give up on Hamlet. Given the situation though, I don't think that I would have behaved any differently than she did. Your post really made me see her in a new light.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Meghan, I've never really felt sorry for Ophelia. I think Hamlet gave her what she deserved. As for Claudius, I think he was starting to feel guilty because he knew Hamlet is on to him, not because he actually feels bad.
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you compared all of the scheming to a bunch of girl's in high school, I was thinking the same thing! But i also like how you saw that Claudius let his greed get in the way, i hadn't thought of it as greed until you had said anything. The guilt and sin was very apparent in act three and Hamlet was acting very weird towards Ophelia, and i like how you seemed to feel sorry for her, so far your the only person to mention it, I also hadn't thought about it that way.
I agree with one of the comments above. I dont really feel any sympathy for ophelia because I dont think she has really given hamlet a fair chance or even given herself a chance to form her own opinion of him.
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