Hamlet Act III Scenes 2-3

   Act III Scenes 2-3 are interesting, exposing, and quite hilarious if you ask me. Scene 2 begins with Hamlet preparing the performers for the play to put on in front of the court. Hamlet still does not know for sure whether his father's ghost is from heaven or hell so to find the truth, he gives Horatio the job of watching Claudius's reactions throughout the climatic moments of the play. It was so obvious the whole time how bitter Hamlet was about all of the terrible things going on in his life. He constantly made degrading and snappy marks to Ophelia and Gertrude such as saying that the prologue was as brief as a woman's love. I find it interesting how he is being so upfront about his anger and judgement as he says, "What should a man do but be merry? for look you how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died withins two hours" (110). The best part about this scene was how Hamlet pretended to not know what was to come of the play. I found myself laughing after the Player Queen said "None wed the second but who killed the first" and Hamlet says "That's bitter".  Hamlet even had the nerve to ask his mother after that scene if she liked the play....that was bold. I originally thought the play would hint at the idea of a man killing his brother and taking his wife, but I was shocked to see how literal and obvious everything was. The name Lucianus is incredibly similar to the name Claudius if you rearrange the letters. When Claudius asks Hamlet about the name of the play, he goes into a long overdue description and blatantly points out Claudius's guilt by saying, "Your majesty, and we that have free souls, it touches us not" (220).
    It was nice to see Hamlet finally receive some truth about this situation when Claudius stormed out of the castle, revealing the honesty and goodness of the ghost. In scene 3, we are able to see the inside thoughts of Claudius as he confesses his sins. He does feel guilt but at the same time, he does not want to give up what he has gained and his prayer shows that he does not regret his actions. I really wish that Hamlet would have just struck him down at this moment, but I guess I can understand his reasoning.
   In class, I would like to discuss the reason behind Shakespeare making this Act so funny, Hamlet's overly blunt attitude, and the conversation he has with Guilderstern and Rosencrantz because I was quite confused. I am excited to keep reading.

Hamlet Act III, Scene 1

Act III, scene 1 contains some of the most iconic Hamlet moments and is painful to read, and the plot becomes tumultuous from multiple perspectives. The act opens with Claudius discussing Hamlet’s strange behavior with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who aren’t able to conclude the source behind Hamlet’s strange actions. They realize that Hamlet is enthusiastic about the actors and theater, so they tell the king and queen about this. They decide to see the play that evening, but are still perplexed as to why Hamlet has been acting in such a disheveled and odd manor. Polonius and Claudius make plans to spy on Hamlet in secret, their mischievous intentions shining through. They want to see if Hamlet’s love, or lack thereof, for Ophelia has driven him mad. Claudius shows guilt in this moment, reflecting on the murder of King Hamlet in an aside: “Oh, tis too true/ How smart a lash that speech that speech doth give my conscience!/ The harlot’s check, beautied with plastering art/ Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it/ Than is my deed to my most painted word/ O heavy burden!” (3.1.49-54).

              As Hamlet enters, he delivers his famous “To be or not to be” speech. He grapples with the idea of committing suicide, wondering if he should fight through his struggles or end his life. Through his words, the reader is able to get a glimpse of how dark Hamlet's mind truly is at this point in the story. He makes points about death and the fact that as people, we ultimately have a will to live because we fear what comes after death. This idea made me wonder about Shakespeare’s late son, Hamnet, who died before the play was written, and how Hamlet’s character was inspired by Shakespeare’s life events. I wonder if Hamlet’s iconic speech was influenced by Shakespeare’s own uncertainty about what comes after death, since the sadness and agonizing tone of the speech is reflective of what Shakespeare must’ve been feeling at the time.

              Ophelia enters as Hamlet is still deep in thought, attempting to return Hamlet’s gifts to her. Hamlet angrily denies giving her the gifts and claims to have loved her, then denying it almost immediately, causing an argumentative tone to emerge from their conversation. Hamlet’s behavior escalades as he criticizes all women before storming out. Claudius and Polonius then emerge, saying that Hamlet’s behavior is a result of insanity, not just love for Ophelia. They make plans to send Hamlet to England in hopes that the vacation will help him act normally again.

Hamlet Act I Scenes 3-5

Throughout Act I scenes 3-5 the reader gains a better sense of the purpose and personalities behind the characters. Scene 3 begins with Laertes boarding the ship before he embarks on his travels. A personal conversation between Laertes and Ophelia about the the fling and flirtation between her and Hamlet follows this. Laertes offers his concerns and disproving remarks as he is skeptical of where Hamlet’s loyalties truly lie, even though he may provide Ophelia with a sense of emotional security with his reassuring thoughts. One thing that I found interesting about this interaction was Ophelia’s response to Laertes. Ophelia expresses that she will listen to his advice and remarks, although he should be wary of his words if they contradict with his actions. I also found the dynamic between Laertes and Ophelia interesting as on one hand I saw him being a caring brother who was trying to protect his sister, although on the other hand, his tone seems slightly condescending. I am interested to see how the relationship between Laertes and Ophelia is represented throughout the rest of the play. The scene concludes with Ophelia and her father Polonius sharing a similar conversation about Hamlet.

Scenes 4 and 5 follow Hamlet along with Horatio and Marcellus on night watch waiting for the ghost to appear. When the ghost finally does make an appearance, Hamlet is summoned and by the ghost to converse in private and Hamlet begs his friends to not follow him, although that is the complete opposite of what they do. I found this interesting and also slightly ironic as at the end of the scene they are repeatedly sworn to secrecy and bound by Hamlets wishes, although they had broken his one request just minutes before. I am curious to see if events like this become a trend throughout the play, because I feel as though eventually something like this could turn into a real problem. I am also interested to explore the idea of whether the spirit that visits Hamlet is good or evil. To Hamlet, the prospect of a good versus evil ghost is almost irrelevant to him as he feels as though it would have no impact on his spirit. Although whether he is aware or not, I feel that the ghost could possibly bring out a negative side of Hamlet if the revenge consumes him. Connecting back to earlier scenes, I feel as though there is a motif of skewed communication and hearing, because as we saw through the conversations between Ophelia and Laertes and Ophelia and Polonius, there seemed to be an air of manipulation. This motif also ties into the fact that the King was poisoned through his ear, yet everyone was told that he was killed by a snake bite. I am curious to see the ways in which this motif and other motifs and symbols occur again throughout the play.