My initial reaction to Act 2 would have to be that Hamlet has gone mad with confusion. In scene 1 when Ophelia describes Hamlet when he came to her in her room, not taking his eyes off of her, finding his way out of the room without looking at a door, it made me believe that maybe he was deeply in love with her. Scene 2 made me believe that he had gone completely mad, due to his ramblings, and his answers to Polonius.
For this character analysis I am choosing to focus on Claudius. Although his part was not big in this Act, I did notice something that could lead to trouble in future acts. During scene 2, Voltemand and Cornelius return with news from the King of Norway. Although the news is good, in terms of the attack against them they had been worried about has now been brought to the attention of the king and been shut down, the king still wishes to attack Poland, which sends the troops through Denmark. Claudius does not see an issues with this, yet is more concerned over Hamlet’s ill will. Since we have learned that he is the one who killed late Hamlet I don’t see his feelings of concern to be true, and am wondering what he is truly focused on learning.
For this scene I’d like to focus on the theme of deceit and deception. I noticed it throughout the play but in this scene it seemed to be bluntly placed. Characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of Hamlets close friends have been brought by the king and queen to spy on Hamlet, and although they do as told, when Hamlet asks why they have come, they do not try hard to keep their secret that they had been sent. They are true friends and cannot deceive Hamlet. Yet his mother and father were trying to deceit him and have been trying to find ways of spying and have conjured up a plan to see if he is mad with love or just mad.
I agree that the theme of this act is deception. We see it in more than just Hamlets childhood friends. The act is riddled with deception. In addition to Claudius and Gertrude using deceit to try and find out what’s bother Hamlet, we have Polonius using deceit in trying to find out what Laertes is doing. Reynoldo was sent on a trip to deceive people with lies about Laertes to get information about his behavior. We also have Polonius plotting to get to the bottom of Hamlet’s disturbance by hiding behind a curtain with Claudius while Ophelia pretends that her purpose is to give back gifts that Hamlet had given to her.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed how Claudius did not seem to mind that the troops would be traveling straight through his country to get to Poland. I found it odd that he seemed to care so little that he would let his once former enemies walk straight though his country. This may just have been a minor detail, but I think that it shows how inexperienced Claudius is at being a ruler. It points out a potential fatal flaw in his character that could come back to harm him later in the plot and maybe lead to his demise.
ReplyDeleteI agree; Claudius should have been more concerned for Denmark than his nephew. Of course this shows exactly how selfish of a man Claudius really is, not that we didn’t already have an idea of this from Act I. In knowing how easy it is to kill someone without anyone knowing, maybe Claudius is afraid for his own life and the madness being shown by Hamlet is not very reassuring for him.
ReplyDeleteI also have to agree that the main theme of this act is deception, that Claudis is deceiving his country in the fact that he is the one solely responsible to the death of the late king. It seems if Claudis has another higher meaning with his newfound royalty. You really can't trust him as he lies to his new wife and plays dumb as he sets up Polonius to snoop his son.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's quite obvious how deeply in love Hamlet is with her. That part of the story that you described in your blog about him not taking his eyes off her seems almost creepy although it is kind of sweet.
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