Hamlet is upset for many different reasons. He is of course upset that his father died. However, most of his anger comes from his uncle and his mother. He feels betrayed from those he felt closest to. Now he just wants revenge.
Hamlet is upset about the death of his father, and his feelings show. His mother tells him, “Good Hamlet cast thy nighted colour off” (1.2.68). His mother explains to Hamlet that death is natural and Hamlet needs to move on. Hamlet is upset with his mother at this point. He is already mad that she remarried so fast. He is especially upset that she married her former husband’s brother (it is also looked down on because it is considered incest). Furthermore, she talks to Hamlet like he should not even be upset with anything that is happening.
He is also upset with is uncle because he stepped in without even speaking to Hamlet about it. Claudius even said to Hamlet, “You are the most immediate to our throne” (1.2.109). So Claudius knows he is in the wrong but does not care. He just wants to be King. Claudius betrayed Hamlet and his father.
Hamlet becomes more upset when he talks to the ghost. The ghost tells Hamlet, “I am thy father’s spirit” (1.5.10). The ghost also tells Hamlet, “Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole with juice of cursed hebona in a vail, and in the porches of my ears did pour” (1.5.61-63). This tells us that its is Claudius who kills him so he can take over the throne. His father’s spirit only appears at night and is left to burn and suffer during the day. Therefore, Hamlet wants to fight for his father and will seek revenge on Claudius.
Polonius tells the king and queen that Hamlet is mad over the love he has for Ophelia. He tells the queen, “that he is mad ‘tis true” (2.2.97). So Polonius sets up a meeting so they can spy on him. However, Hamlet is really upset because he wants revenge on his uncle. It is not very easy to kill the king and Hamlet doesn’t really want to kill anyone. He believes that killing is a sin and he does not want to go to hell. So Hamlet’s plan is to create a play about it. He wants to put on the play for Claudius to watch. Hamlet speaks about Claudius when he says, “wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” (2.2.580). He believes that if his uncle sees this play, that he will feel guilty and come forward.
Hey Stephanie, I enjoyed your ideas and your presentation. I as well felt the anger Hamlet felt towards his mother and the King. I also felt that the reason the ghost did not wish for Hamlet to harm the queen is so she would have to suffer eternity for her incestuous and traitorous marriage to Claudius and for knowing that she quite possibly had a hand in his death. Killing her would be far too easy. Your comments as well about Claudius just assuming the role of the King without regard to Hamlet were right on. I think that was Claudius plan all along. Get the throne and get the girl. I also felt the madness you describe is a way of deceiving those involved of his true intentions.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog very much and I also loved how you added a nice picture. I agree with your intepretation of Hamlet and with your answers to the questions given. Hamlet felt annger, mad, sad, and disgusted at his mother remarrying so quickly after thedeath of his father. There is a quote stating that he felt his mother moved on so quickly and didnt even mourn the death of her husband. If I were in Hamlets place I would feel sad and upset also. Its disgusting to even think about it.
ReplyDelete*angry
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