Questions for Exploration:
2. In scene two, Hamlet compares Rosencrantz to a sponge. How does he justify this metaphor?
3. In considering what to do about Hamlet's murdering Polonius, the King sees himself as restricted. How?
4. How do Hamlet's comments on the whereabouts of Polonius' body reveal an attitude that he has expressed earlier in the play?
5. Explain Hamlet's comment to the King in response to the question, "Where is Polonius?"
6. When Hamlet is on the way to the ship that is going to bear him to England, he meets a captain in Fortinbras' army. Where is the army going? How important is the battle?
7. In Hamlet's soliloquy which begins, "How all occasions do inform against me..." how does Hamlet evaluate his own actions and those of Fortinbras?
8. Describe Ophelia's state of mind in scene five. Apart from having been driven to distraction or madness by the murder of her father, is there any significance to the content of her ramblings?
9. In Act IV, both Laertes and Fortinbras can be seen as foils to Hamlet. How?
10. How is it that Hamlet is the only man captured by the pirates when they attack the ship that is carrying him to England?
11. Why does the King decide that he must persuade Laertes to murder Hamlet?
12. What is ironic about the King's advice to Laertes.
Ophelia Performances:
In act IV, it is clear that the king’s only concern is for himself. When the Queen mentions that Polonius has been killed by Hamlet, the King’s first thought is not for Polonius but how Hamlet’s madness will be concealed from the public so that he is not blamed or associated with him. Even though Polonius is actually dead, Claudius can only think of the threat Hamlet poses to himself and has no regard for anyone else. I thought Hamlet’s comparison to Rosencrantz was very telling as far as how impacted Hamlet was by the constant spying. He said the Rosencrantz gathers all the information he can and then the king squeezes it all out of him like a sponge, which is pretty accurate at this point. When I imagined Ophelia’s speech I pictured her in a similar way to the scene with Helena Bonham Carter. She is acting insane, but the elements of genuine grief and sadness are highlighted in the performance and seem separate from the madness she expresses while she is singing and dancing around the king and queen. I thought that the 2009 BBC version portrayed Ophelia as too crazy and not quite believably so. It’s hard to know exactly what degree of sanity Shakespeare wanted Ophelia to have, if any. In contrast, Kate Winslet seemed more haunted and only thinking of her father’s death during this scene and her performance, while haunting, didn’t commit to the idea that she has lost her mind. Another thing I liked about the Helena Bonham Carter version was how she perked up when remembering that she could tell Laertes about everything and he could act on it. Unlike Ophelia, who has almost no power as a woman, especially now that her father is gone and she is no longer in a relationship with Hamlet, Laertes could certainly find a way to avenge her father. This part would also alarm the king and queen, since he would have nowhere to direct his anger and plenty of support behind him.
ReplyDeleteIn act IV, a lot happened that further advanced the plot. The murder of Polonius by Hamlet triggered all the characters’ reactions and plans for revenge. In scene one, Claudius’ main concern is that the death of Polonius will be blamed on him as he states, “Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answer’d? / It will be laid to us, whose providence / Should have kept short, restrained and out of haunt, / This mad young man” (79); the King regrets not keeping an eye on Hamlet after the death of his father and so in this scene, one can see how anxious he is not about the royal family. This act does a really good job with character development as you get to see how each character reacts differently to the death of Polonius, especially Ophelia who has gone insane (I pictured her acting as Helena Bonham Carter did in the first movie clip). In addition, Fortinbras and Laertes act as foils to Hamlet. In act IV scene V, Laertes storms back from France fuming with motivation to seek revenge on Claudius, whom he immediately assumes to be the murderer without any questioning. Unlike Hamlet who is very indecisive and pensive, Laertes is ready to throw “Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!” (90) and “be revenged most thoroughly for my father” (91). However, Laertes seems to be very shallow compared to Hamlet. Although Laertes, Fortinbras, and Hamlet they have the same goal of avenging their fathers, Hamlet proves to be a deeper character which is both a blessing and a curse for him. Laertes also is different from Hamlet because he seems to lack morals especially after he states that he is willing to “cut [Hamlet’s] throat i’ the church” (98) and meanwhile, earlier in the play, Hamlet hesitates to kill Claudius when he was praying. When Hamlet compares his actions to those of Fortinbras, he is surprised at how foolish people can be when they violently fight over something as insignificant as “a little patch of land” (85). In his soliloquy, he thinks about how Fortinbras is able to just jump right into action while he is still thinking about what to do. As the soliloquy goes on and he reflects upon himself, he grows disgusted with himself ultimately deciding that “from this time forth, / My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth” (86). There were many aspects to this act that I think Shakespeare placed in to set up for act V so I am excited to see how Hamlet will murder Claudius and how all the other characters will tie into it.
ReplyDeleteI pictured Ophelia acting like Kate Winslet did in her scene. I agree with Rory that we don’t know for sure how crazy Shakespeare intended Ophelia to be, but from knowing her character, I personally think she would be quieter and more solonm than the way she is depicted in the 2009 film. I was a bit confused about her ramblings, and I’m not quite clear on the significance of some of her songs and sayings. On a separate note, I also was confused and wondering if Hamlet intentionally boarded the pirate ship because he thought it could bring him back to Denmark?
ReplyDeleteLaertes and Fortinbras are clear foils of Hamlet in this act, because they act impulsively and without thinking too much. Laertes is in almost the exact situation that Hamlet is in because he needs to revenge the death of his father by killing someone else. However, he is driven by anger and is letting his emotions cloud is logical mind. Hamlet is letting his logical mind and indecisiveness get in the way of his emotions. Fortinbras is similar, although he probably should have thought about his plan more than he did. If he’s going to be putting his soldier’s lives on the line, there should be something significant worth fighting for. Instead, it’s just a small piece of land that “That hath in it no profit but the name”. In order to memorialize his father, he’s doing anything he can, whether it be logical or not. I also thought that when Claudius questioned whether Laertes loved his father or whether he was just “like the painting of a sorrow, a face without a heard”, there was a clear connection to Hamlet’s and Fortinbras’ situations. As readers, we don’t know what King Hamlet and King Fortinbras were like, so we don’t know if Hamlet and Fortinbras are revenging them because they truly respected them and loved them, or if their grief and anger is an illusion making them think that this is what they ought to do. Sosha
I think my favorite Ophelia, at least in terms of her lament, is Helena Bonham Carter. Admittedly I love her so I know I have a bias in her favor, however I like how she made Ophelia's breakdown seem genuine and authentic. I also thought her performance, as Rory said, didn't just show "Crazy Ophelia" it showed a real live person, with many complex layers because she is a person ! Helena Bonham Carter did a nice job genuinely portraying these layers. Personally I saw Ophelia when I watched her performance, and it was not "nice" but interesting to see how the authentic breakdown looked in comparison to Kate Winslet and Mariah Gales'. I thought Kate Winslet's performance was also good, but I saw Kate Winslet playing Ophelia rather than Ophelia, which isn't always a bad thing necessarily, but in my opinion that can take away from the authenticity of the performance and the play. I also thought Kate Winslet's performance was overall plateaued and it didn't have any high or low points (vocally, physically, etc.) which also takes away from the performance. I see where Mariah Gales was going with her performance however it seemed over the top and just not how I pictured Ophelia.
ReplyDeleteAs Julia mentioned, it was interesting to see the domino effect of Hamlet killing Polonius- it set everyone into action, specifically Claudius, who immediately was in a panic saying, "It will be laid to us, whose providence/ Should have kept short, restrain'd and out of haunt,/ This mad young man." Instead of thinking things through and responding rather than reacting, Claudius immediately is like "Okay well let's just send him away cause he's crazy." I wonder if Claudius sort of knows that Hamlet knows that he killed his father, and that's why he's so quick to get rid of Hamlet? I also think it's interesting how this plays to gender roles. Instead of being the stereotypical wise king, Claudius is instead rash and very heat of the moment. I also found it interesting how differently yet similarly Hamlet and Ophelia both reacted to their fathers dying. Although both go insane at one point or another, Hamlet struggles a lot internally with the many layers to his father's death (i.e. the ghost, the murder, his mom marrying his uncle, etc.) whereas Ophelia immediately loses it due to being so upset and heartbroken over her father's death, as seen with the singing and her commentary on God saying, "Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be." I look forward to seeing how Hamlet reacts to the news of Ophelia's death. Also a question: I couldn't understand if this was said or not in the play, but was Ophelia's death an accident or suicide? Or was she perhaps murdered (indirectly) by Claudius because he thought she would do something publicly insane?
This play definitely gets more interesting during this act. The idea as death as revenge is a major theme, and overall death in general. Hamlet wants to kill Claudius, but accidentally kills Polonius. Laertes wants to kill Hamlet now, since he killed his father. Hamlet’s love drowns, there is just so many deaths in this play, and I feel like there are definitely more to come with Claudius and Laertes’ plan to kill Hamlet. At this point I feel like everyone is going to die, and that everyone has someone that wants them dead. It will be interesting to see how everything plays out at the end of the play. I liked reading about Ophelia’s madness before watching the performances of it. The one played by Helena was impressive- I liked how they made her look physically ill to really sell the insanity. The first one by Mariah Gale was less powerful, but I liked the imagery in that performance with the broken mirror. It was helpful to see that scene played out so we could actually hear Ophelia sing random songs in an insane way. Also, I wanted to answer question 2, since scene 2 was so short yet intriguing to me. When Hamlet refers to Rosencrantz as a sponge, Rosencrantz seems completely confused and replies, “Take you me for a sponge, my lord?” Hamlet justifies this metaphor by saying, “Ay, sir that soaks up the King’s countenance (favor), his rewards, his authorities”. Basically, what I got from this was that Hamlet is telling Rosencrantz that he does whatever the King pleases, and in a way calls him a fool/ kind of a servant. Act IV has been my favorite act so far, since there are so many running plot lines. I feel like everything in this play has been leading up to the upcoming scenes with Claudius and Hamlet, so I am excited to see what happens next.
ReplyDeleteCat
This was the fastest paced act so far. A lot happened in a very quick time. Like Gertrude had mentioned repeatedly in this act, “One woe doth tread upon another’s heel, so fast they follow”. Ophelia’s death and her state of mind was very surprising to me because I knew she would be upset but I didn’t think she would go crazy. I did see a parallel between Hamlet and Ophelia through this. Though both were crazy, they were very wise and seem to know more than their normal selves. I am also curious about why Ophelia has gone crazy. She sang about how “So would [he] ha' done, by yonder sun,” but she also sang about her dead father. I’m not sure if its a combination of both reasons or if one event lead to her madness. Laertes’s reaction to his father’s death was also very interesting. Unlike Hamlet, Laertes decided to immediately take action against those who were responsible. He reminded me of Fortinbras because of his quick actions that had very little thought in it. I’m curious to see how Hamlet is going to attack Claudius. He is now being targeted by Laertes, Claudius, and essentially the entire kingdom. Figuring out a way to kill Claudius is going to be almost impossible now because Claudius is aware of Hamlet’s intentions and is prepared to kill him.
ReplyDeletekaby
In this act, I feel like it is increasingly more and more questionable whether Hamlet is either falling apart at the seams truly, or it is just tricking everyone into thinking so. At the end of act III, he impulsively kills Polonius in his mothers room. Now in act IV, we see Hamlet disposing of the body and when Rosencrantz and Guildnestern are asking him about the incident and where he hid the body, he no longer seems to try to keep up the facade that he doesn’t know they have been spying on him. He angrily tells Rosencrantz that he is a “sponge” for the King, and when the King “needs what [he] has gleaned, it is squezzing [him], and, sponge, [he] shall be dry again” (81). Eventhough he is accusing his friends of conspiring with his uncle Claudius that he hates, he submits to letting them bring him to his uncle. It is increasing more and more hard to tell if Hamlet is truly insane or not, but at first when he coyly avoids telling Claudius where he took Polonius’s body by tellling him clever riddles like “a man may fish with that worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed that worm” (83), it seems like Hamlet is just playing with Claudius’s mind and patience. Also, when Laertes finds out his father has been killed, he is enraged and leaps to action, which is the polar opposite to how Hamlet has been dealing with his fathers death. It makes me think that if Hamlet had been more like Laertes and not sat around and contemplated what to do about his uncle for so long and had just been confrontational, then maybe this would not have happened to Polonius and Ophelia wouldn’t have gone mad with grief and drowned in a river and Laertes wouldn’t have lost his father and sister and be seeking revenge on Hamlet. Also I think that it is an important element to note that one of the last lines that the Queen told Hamlet in act III was “be thou assured, if words be made of breath and breath of life, I have no life to breath what thou hast said to me” (78), which was her promise to not tell anyone about what Hamlet did to Polonius. But then, act IV starts right off with her completely telling Claudius what had just happened, “behind the arras hearing something stir, whips out his rapier, cries ‘rat, rat, rat!’ and in this brainish apprehension kills the unseen good old man” (79). I found this strategic correspondence of events interesting because it shows how his mother is even less loyal to him than Hamlet and the reader predicted and emphasizes that Hamlet is all alone in his mission and also his life.
ReplyDeleteIn scene one of Act IV, the King's major concern is supposedly “safety” in regards to Hamlet. He gave orders to have Hamlet’s every move followed, and to not allow him to get out of their sight and to get him on a boat to England immediately. He seems to be trying to get everyone to turn against Hamlet by exposing his recent wild actions, saying that he himself would have been killed if he was was Hamlet. He is trying to make Hamlet seem like a threat saying, “His liberty is full of threats to all—To you yourself, to us, to everyone.” His concerns come off artificial and contrived. He seems fake and it irked me when he told Hamlet, “I’m your father, Hamlet—your father who loves you” since he has bad intentions but still refers to himself as his father and acts like he loves him. Claudius later tells Laertes to kill his father’s enemies, referring to his murderer, convincing him that it would make him a loyal son. He is fully aware that it was Hamlet, and he just wants him dead. It is ironic, because he is telling someone to kill his father’s murderer for revenge in order to be a loyal son, while that is what Hamlet is trying to do, but against him!
ReplyDeleteGertrude is worrying about Hamlet’s state and even tries to find the little bit of sanity left in him, by justifying his actions saying that he has been weeping and a bit of morality shined through while he was removing Polonius’ dead body. She was also really concerned for Ophelia’s mental state and wellbeing after losing her father, which is a big difference to how she reacted with her son lost his. She seemed to completely disregard Hamlet’s dad death and seemed like she couldn’t care less by marrying his brother two months after.
Although everyone believes Hamlet is losing his mind, he seems more aware of many profound truths of society and the people around him. When he compares Rosencrantz to a sponge, he is proving that he is aware that his friend is spying on him and is trying to expose his hypocrisy. Hamlet however knows the truth that Claudius is only using Rosencrantz to obtain the information he wants, and he knows that Rosencrantz is a fool for following and approving all the king’s orders and decisions. Hamlet states, “When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you and, sponge, you shall be dry again.” His inner thoughts reflect the reality that everyone oblivious to. This is also shown when Colonius asks, "Where is Polonius?" and he responds by telling him in the ground being eaten by worms. He is trying to prove that at the end all people end up the same, whether you were a fat king or a skinny beggar. When he says that a king can even eventually be eaten by a beggar, he is abandoning all of society’s belief of status and rank. He is also including his individual questioning of life’s meaning and purpose, a thought that had stemmed from seeing his father die, a noble, loved king and seeing no one mourn over his death. This makes the readers question whether he is the insane one, or the people around him. His lack of regard to status could explain why he was never bothered by the fact that Cornelius became the king before him, but instead was bothered by his uncle and mother’s immoral actions. He is not preoccupied by those artificial matters but instead is focused on the more important matters. Hamlet's sense of reality is shown again when he criticizes and questions the battle over land in Poland telling Captain, “This is th' impostume of much wealth and peace,”. He explains how unethical it is for the king of Norway to watch many men march to their deaths for an illusion and fame when the land is not worth it, being so small it wouldn’t even be big enough to bury them all.
Finally, it is exciting to see another vicious cycle of someone mourning the bad death of their father begin, with Laertes and Ophelia. When Laertes says he’ll get revenge, and when Ophelia fails to stop talking about her father, it is super exciting!
I didn’t particularly love any of the performances of Ophelia’s lament. I thought the BBC 2009 one was too much; I did not picture Ophelia acting nearly that crazy and excited, and I didn’t think that any of her emotions really showed. Of the three, I liked Helena Bonham Carter’s performance the best, especially how she not only showed Ophelia’s madness but also her sadness, however, I think some of the madness was overdone. I liked Kate Winslet’s performance as well, but I thought it didn’t show Ophelia’s madness quite enough.
ReplyDeleteIn scene two, at first I was confused by Hamlet’s comparison of Rosencrantz to a sponge, but once Hamlet explained the metaphor I understood it better. He describes Rosencrantz as “soak[ing] up the King’s countenance, his rewards, his/authorities… When he needs what/you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you/shall be dry again”. Hamlet explains that Rosencrantz is fueled by the King’s approval and rewards, and therefore takes information to give to the king, until he is “dry again”. I thought this was a relatively accurate way of describing Rosencrantz.
Hamlet, is very much a play about death, not the act of killing itself, though that is very much a part of it, but our relationship with death, about how it affects us, what it makes us do, how it makes us feel, how we react to it and how we react to our own reaction. We see this in character of Hamlet and his foils, Fortinbras, Laertes, and Ophelia to an extent in act four, all of whom lose their fathers. Hamlet grief manifests as frustration and outbursts and anger and madness, self hate, along with lashing out at his mother. Fortinbras’s grief manifests as action, preparing for an invasion of Denmark in order to fulfil some sort of destiny or task his father laid out for him. Laertes’s grief also manifests as action, fury and hate towards Hamlet and immediate plots for revenge. What unites the grief of these three characters is that they are all obsessed with taking action after the deaths of their fathers in order to attain some sort of rectification, catharsis, or closure to their fathers deaths. Fortinbras sets out on a military campaign against Denmark not because he has anything against the kingdom or for the betterment of his own kingdom, he does it because his father made a failed campaign against Denmark and he feels that by continuing his father's war he is posthumously honoring him. Laertes’ is driven to revenge against Hamlet not in small part due to Claudius framing revenge as a way of honoring his father asking Laertes if his father was dear to him or if he is “the painting of sorrow, a face without a heart.” and that he should show himself his “father’s son in deed more than in words.” pretty much convincing Laertes that if he doesn't kill Hamlet that he is letting his father down. And Hamlet himself is entirely driven by honoring his father. In fact it is noticeable that the focus of his anger is not on Claudius for killing his father but on his mother for marrying so soon after his father death, an act which makes it feel like Hamlet’s father’s life didn’t matter, that he was easily discarded, replaced, and forgotten, which bothers him more than anything else. Which is why he frames quest for revenge as a way of setting right his fathers death, of honoring him when so many other have tossed him aside. This is also why he hates himself so much for his hesitancy to act, as revenge, as a concept, is a way of setting right a death and honoring the memory of the departed, and he feels by not doing so he is acting no more dishonorably than those who have already disregarded his father's time on the earth. In this act he even says “O, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth,” pretty much telling himself that if he doesn't start taking action and avenging his father then he is worthless. All three of these son’s constantly watch to make sure they are honoring their father’s memory and death in the right way and hating themselves if they don’t; Fortinbras, Hamlet, and Laertes who in this act chides himself for crying at his sister’s death and wanting to cast the ‘woman’ out of him in order to get to action and honor his father. Speaking of Ophelia, while she is also grieving for the loss of her father while all of the men are convinced that by taking posthumous action they may be able to set to catharsis to their father’s death, Ophelia is seemingly more realistic and clear headed, despite acting crazy.
ReplyDeleteAs I see it, all her songs are about the finality of death, singing “He is dead and gone, at his head a grass-green turf at his heels a stone… no no he is dead, go to thy deathbed, he will never come again.” Laertes, Fortinbras and Hamlet all try to keep their fathers alive through action, fighting and charging into action spurred on by the ghosts and memories of the dead. Ophilia, while sad, seems more wistful and for lack of a better word accepting. She accepts the finality of death and doesn't seem to dead set on avenging for father or hating Hamlet. Heck she even seems to be more insightful asto what's going on and what her role is than others, singing a song about how fleeting and unfaithful men are towards women and giving out symbolic flowers to Gertrude (that she is repentant for her marriage to Claudius and actions towards Hamlet) and Claudius (that he is unfaithful and has done something rank). She can’t express herself freely as the men do and much like Hamlet when she does express her true thoughts to the people around her it's through the veil of perceived madness.
DeleteMy favorite version of Ophelia was played by Helena Bonham Carter because she had the most genuinely insane portrayal of Ophelia. Shakespeare leaves the level of Ophelia’s insanity up for interpretation and I think that the erratic and wayward way Carter acted best represented how someone might respond after losing their father and their potential husband. She seems truly lost while the other two actors seemed to have too level of a head. It doesn't seem realistic to be able to sing as well as Kate Winslow did if she was truly insane. However, I do think there is some actual content to what Ophelia says during her singing such as the line “How should I your true love know From another one?” which indicates that she is contemplating whether or not Hamlet was really meant for her. I found Claudius’ statement that “how much I had to do to calm his rage.” as very ironic because in reality Claudius was the one who started Hamlet’s rage in the first place by murdering his father. Claudius also seems to have a weird obsession with killing people by way of poison as if he did not learn his lesson the first time he did so. It seems as though there will be some bad karma coming Claudius’ way and he might get what he deserves for his actions. The way in which Claudius persuades Laertes to kill Hamlet seems almost cowardly. A face to face confrontation between Hamlet and Claudius would be more appropriate.
ReplyDeleteIn this act, I noticed a lot of character development with the king, Laertes, and Ophelia. After we saw the king in act 3 talking about how he was the murderer, one could almost believe that the king was remorseful and regretful that he acted the way that he did. But after watching the king talk Laertes into avenging Polonius’s death and killing Hamlet, and hearing him talk about how he has plotted to have Hamlet executed in England, it is clear that the king is still a bad guy. He says in soliloquy “Do it, England; for like the hectic in my blood he rages, and thou must cure me”. This clearly shows that the king is trying to get Hamlet executed out of fear that he knows too much about the murder of Hamlet senior. Also, we haven’t seen much of Laertes so far in the play, but based off of what we had seen of him up until this point, he seemed to be pretty mellow. He did address Ophelia about her relationship with Hamlet, showing a more confrontational side, which was expanded on in this act. Laertes joins Fortenbras as a foil of Hamlet, since he demonstrates that he is eager to take action to avenge his father, saying “Let come what comes; only I’ll be revenged most throughly for my father”. Of the three (Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortenbras), I would argue that Hamlet’s “task” to avenge his father is the most moral. Hamlet senior was killed in cold blood, while Polonius was killed out of carelessness, or potentially madness, and Fortenbras died of natural causes. Yet Hamlet is still the one who has the most trouble taking action. We also see a whole different side to Ophelia in this act. Obviously she has gone mad, but I agree with Sam in that she still seems to have reason or thought behind her words. For example, when she’s handing out flowers, they all symbolized different things that correlated to the people who she gave them too. Part of what makes her madness so creepy is that even though her movements and words are totally unpredictable, she isn’t totally off-base in what she is saying. In the BBC version of this scene, I think that the portrayal of Ophelia didn’t capture this. Ophelia definitely seemed crazy, and a little bit scary, but I think that her craziness was amplified in such a way that her words didn’t catch any meaning at all. I liked Helena Bonham Carter’s version because she definitely seemed like she had gone off the deep end, but it was believable. We could tell that her words and actions were a result of a specific thing-- her father’s death. Kate Winslet didn’t really seem to be mad at all, she just seemed to be really upset.
ReplyDeleteAnna Vrountas
Although Polonius’s death was tragic I was happy to see the reactions from Ophelia and Laertes, I feel like the fact that Ophelia is mourning her father in a similar way that Hamlet did (going potentially crazy) and Laertes craving answers and revenge when he says “How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with.To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!I dare damnation. To this point I stand,That both the worlds I give to negligence, Let come what comes, only I'll be revenged Most thoroughly for my father,” reveals an interesting aspect to the story. I am beginning to think that the characters going crazy due to a loved one’s death are actually the only normal ones. I mean who would just be able to hear of the death of loved one and be like alright I’m over it, let's move on (Gertrude). I feel like most people are doing this except for Hamlet, Laertes, and Ophelia. Does crazy really mean normal in this play? I would love to discuss this concept more as a class. As for Ophelia we definitely see the biggest transition with in her in this act. In one of her crazy rambles she says “By Gis and by Saint Charity, Alack and fie for shame,Young men will do 't, if they come to 't; By Cock, they are to blame. Quoth she, 'Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed. So would I 'a done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed.” At first glance it seems she is just uttering words but looking closer it seems she may be discussing women's relationship with man and what is expected of women before and after marriage, and what societal restraints or stereotypes may go along with that. Without being too blunt it seems she may be questioning her morals and proper behavior for an unwed women. As Steven mentioned the performance I most liked was the Helena Bonham Carter interpretation of Ophelia also due to the fact that it was most believable without being over the top, although I love Kate Winslet it did seem a little too staged therefore making it less believable she was actually lost within herself. Lastly I am excited and scared to see what Hamlet does, and hopefully he can get revenge on Claudius before Laertes does on him. It was also quite interesting to see Laertes's thought out and foul proof plan to kill Hamlet versus Hamlets rash and not planned out decisions, both in the name of seeking revenge for a loved one.
ReplyDeletePolonius’s death is the fuse that sets everyone off, and it’s interesting to see how different people react to it. Laertes, Fortinbras, and Ophelia has a vivid contrast to Hamlet. Laertes is driven to action right away from the anger that his father was killed by Hamlet. Ophelia’s insanity adds to his fury. I think Laertes cares for his sister a lot because in the beginning of the play he warns Ophelia of Hamlet. The things he says could be a bit concerning but in regards of the time period, it must have been normal for a brother to be so bold with a sister. Laertes doesn’t fall into insanity because he has something to protect, which is Ophelia, but who knows she would become crazy. I was actually surprised that she acts that way. From the surface, she is plainly obeying Polonius without questions, he is still her father regardless. As a woman at that time, they could only depend on a man. If no husband, then their father is their ultimate source of protection. Helena Bonham Carter’s Performance is exactly what I pictured Ophelia to be. She is definitely crazy, but eerie and psychotic in a way. I can see her grief and disbelief in her eyes. It’s the singing and rambling of nonsense that makes her sound insane. After her father’s death, she has no choice but turn to Laertes because he is her brother, and as a man it makes more sense for him to take direct action. Claudius, on the other hand, focuses his attention on proving how he has nothing to do with the death of Polonius. He is more interested in himself that his own commit of murder won’t be revealed. Hamlet only feels sorrow in the beginning until he encounters his father’s ghost. The event itself is already crazy. I think it makes sense for Hamlet to revenge for his father. I mean his father literally came back from the dead (not physically). Whose mind wouldn’t go insane. Hamlet loves his mother, and after knowing the truth without questioning, he can’t bring himself but be angry with her mother for marrying a dishonest man in such a short time. For Hamlet, the queen betrays him. Thus, Hamlet is all alone in this. With the pressure of everyone spying on him, his brain goes bananas. He still could’ve taken action sooner though. Ophelia decided to take her own life, Fortinbras is already on his way to take back a land that has no profit. At least Hamlet realizes that he’s a coward and that he’s really indecisive. Claudius is the coward out of all cowards at this point. He appoints Laertes to finish off Hamlet for him. Claudius is capable of killing, but now he prefers to work in behind the scenes. I wasnt expecting Polonius’s death to have such impact in the play.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that in the very beginning of act IV, Gertrude betrayed Hamlet to her husband, and it only got worse from there. She showed that she is closer to her new husband than her own son, and doesn’t care that he will be sent to his death, which was shocking. Immediately this act shows the true character of each person. I think it is interesting that Claudius could so easily turn himself into a different person to skeme Hamlet’s death without incriminating himself. However Hamlet is a very different person at this point in the play. I used to think he had a much better sense of morality than Claudius, but after he killed Polonius the lines are blurred. It is interesting that he killed Laertes father, leaving him in the same position he despises. After killing Polonius, Hamlet seems to be a very different person. I think that Hamlet was somewhat aware of his plotted death, because he told his mother as he was leaving his friends were “adders fang’d,” which I think means backstabbing. I had almost forgotten about Fortinbras’s until scene iv, which shows how unaware Hamlet is to his other external problems. This scene also shows how Hamlet has changed, because his mind immediately jumps to violence as he says“My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!”. However he never puts these thoughts into action. Though this act was filled with intense action, what caught my eye the most was Ophelia. In a short period of time she becomes more insane than Hamlet ever appeared. Though Ophelia’s madness is brought out by the death of her father, she seems to be angry with many other things. She shows her struggle when she says “By Gis and by Saint Charity,/ Alack and fie for shame,/Young men will do 't, if they come to/By Cock, they are to blame./Quoth she, 'Before you tumbled me, /You promised me to wed.'/So would I 'a done, by yonder sun, /An thou hadst not come to my bed.” Seeing Ophelia after she died is the sense that affected me most so far. The flowers surrounding her are very vividly described to show a reflection of her life. I think Kate Winslet does an excellent job at portraying Ophelia because she showed the emotions I pictured when reading the play.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot going on in Act IV so the questions helped me stay focused but for starters, I enjoyed Hamlet's comparison of Rosencrantz to a sponge because it really emphasized how affected Hamlet was by the spying. Saying Rosencrantz absorbs so much information just to let it be squeezed out by Claudius was pretty accurate and possibly alluding to just how betrayed Hamlet feels. Now, speaking of Claudius, he is one self-centered, impulsive ass. His first thought when hearing about Polonius' murder was how to hide Hamlet’s insanity from the public so that he is not blamed or associated with the act because after the play, everyone suspects the King of wrongdoing. Claudius' panic was interesting to see because obviously we knew that Polonius' murder would set off a lot of action in the plot but I expected him to think more clearly rather than say, "It will be laid to us, whose providence/ Should have kept short, restrain'd and out of haunt,/ This mad young man," meaning he just wanted to get rid of Hamlet because that was the root of the problem. He acts very selfishly, even manipulates Laertes to plot to murder Hamlet for 'revenge' but he wants Hamlet out of the way.
ReplyDeleteWhen first reading Ophelia’s speech I pictured her in a similar way to the scene with Helena Bonham Carter. I am biased though, because I love HBC as an actress so I went in expecting her to perform the scene really well. There are elements of insanity, but grief and mourning are there as well and those deep emotions seem highlighted separately from the maddened singing and dancing. Like a lot of other people, I was put off by how excessive the 2009 BBC version was. Ophelia was portrayed as less of a person with layers and mixed emotions, and more just amping up the craziness. I do agree with Rory that it’s hard to know exactly what degree of sanity Shakespeare wanted Ophelia to have, and while I understand that different productions dictate that, I think it should be tasteful and as realistic as a Shakespeare play could be. Reading the scene on my own made it difficult to imagine the singing and dancing so that part definitely threw me off and took me out of the mood of the scene so I wish we could've read it as a class (similarly to how we read the scene with Polonius' death because that created a great visual). Also, while Ophelia's turn to insanity was very unrealistic, her heartbreak and pain, as shown through song and the line "Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be," offered an interesting contrast to Hamlet's reaction to his father's death earlier in the play -- a point I hadn't considered until Katie mentioned it and I reread the scene.
I also agreed that I didn't think any of the performances truly captured the essence of Ophelia's speech. The first one featured Ophelia as crazy and almost psychotic, which was not the image I recieved when I read the actual play. I personally notice the pattern in literature, especially concerning Shakespeare's plays, where the more closer to madness one is portrayed, the less "mad" they actually are in relation to society. I think Ophelia falls in line with this dynamic, and so I imagined her to be more pensive and thinking through her sorrows rather than burst into anger or sadness. I didn't like Winslet's performance — in fact, I wasn't a fan of any of them, although I did like the Carter one out of them all, if I had to pick one. I think the beauty of Shakespeare is the confluence of different emotions — sadness, anger, confusion, happiness, jealousy, greed, and vengeance — all into beautiful soliloquies. I do not think these performances characterized this convergence.
ReplyDeleteA quote that stood out to me was: "[h]e is dead and gone, at his head a grass-green turf at his heels a stone…go to thy deathbed, he will never come again." This scene is interesting, as when compared to the beginning of the play, when these characters weren't nearly as emotional as they are now, there are numerous differences in beliefs. Of course, Hamlet, Fortinbras, and Laertes have a splendid fight, all trying to keep their fathers living. What's different now, though, notable across the spectrum, and in many characters, is the acceptance of death. As I mentioned above, this was nearly nonexistant at the beginning of the play. I believe it to be an interesting phenomenon — while death is a difficult topic for human beings to discuss (and rightfully so), characters like Hamlet have been through so much emotional trauma, that death, in comparison, is easily dismissable as just another occurence. It's absolutely amazing how Shakespeare is able to establish this.
I must say, I had not expected Opehlia's reaction to be what it was. To me, she had always seemed like a quiet but intelligent and mentally secure girl who is as well equipped as anyone to handle a traumatic event such as having your father killed by your ex-boyfriend. While I had expected that she would go through a phase of inital shock, reading of how she had completely lost while and begun repeatedly singing lines such as "he is dead and gone" with "tears sever times salt" was particularly shocking to me.
ReplyDeleteOn a contrary note note, I would be extremely interested to see an alternative ending where she does not kill herself but rather uses the loss of her father's overarching influence as an opportunity for growth. The way the play is originally written, Act V does not go well for any of the main characters as the clash of their oversized egos ultimately result in all of their deaths and the leaving the entirety of Denmark to the mercy of Fortinbras. However, had there of been a character capable of resorting to diplomacy over violence, perhaps such an outcome could have been avoided and this tragedy turned into a feel-good story about working together. Such a play would also echo the old saying that the pen is mightier than the sword.
It was in this Act that I felt like the play picked up speed. The first few acts were so interesting for me with the ghost and the reveal of how killed King Hamlet. They were action packed so to speak, but then I felt like the play sort of mellowed out in the middle. I will admit it was hard at times to focus on the reading so that is why I am happy to see the play pick up again here. I honestly cannot tell if Hamlet is truly spiraling or if he still wants everyone to think he is. I feel like his impulse murder of Polonius supports the idea that he is actually going insane. As for Ophelia’s reaction to her father’s death I was quite shocked by her reaction. Obviously your ex-boyfriend killing your father would initiate some type of reaction, she struck me as a girl who had it “all together”. I was surprised but did not disagree whatsoever with her “breakdown” of a reaction. As for the movie portrayals of her lament, I must say that Kate Winslet's was my favorite. While yes I am a fan of hers normally, her portrayal of Ophelia is the closest to what I had in my mind. I thought her breakdown was the most authentic out of the three. I had a tough time connecting the two others with my vision of Ophelia. I think that Winslet's was haunting enough without being too dark, I think it was accurate of how any women may react to the news she receives.
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It wasn’t until I had watched the three performances of Ophelia’s lament that I was able to visualize the extent of her madness. When Ophelia exclaims, “At his head a grass-green turf/ At his heels a stone,” it is obvious that she is deeply affected by her father’s death, but when reading the text, I did not picture her to be in such a deranged state. Similar to what had Michael said, the way in which Ophelia was portrayed as an intelligent and quiet individual earlier on in the play would have never led me to assume that she would act so madly. Of the three performances, my favorite was definitely Kate Winslet’s singing, as I believe it perfectly illustrates Ophelia’s insanity. Although I’ve deeply enjoyed Helena Bonham-Carter’s acting in the Harry Potter series and Fight Club, her performance of Ophelia’s madness seemed exaggerated, and subsequently hollow and insincere; the embellishment of her facial expressions and body language left me feeling unsatisfied. On the other hand, the nuances in Kate’s facial expressions and tone of voice made her performance seemingly genuine. Furthemore, I believe that, in Act IV, Hamlet’s mental state takes a turn for the worst, as he convinces himself that he is unable to turn to anyone for consolation. When he accuses Rosencrantz for being a sponge and, “[soaking] up the king's countenance, his rewards, his authorities,” it becomes apparent that he has shut out even the closest of his acquaintances, and has decided to proceed with a sense of solitude.
ReplyDeleteI read the Act IV before I watched the different scenes Ophelia’s lament, so I think that my perception of her “craziness” was toned down a lot. When reading the scene, I imagined that Ophelia was saying all of her lines in a daze, and I pictured her emotions as numb and a little fuzzy, like in Kate Winslet’s performance. I think it was partially because she kept repeating things like “He is dead and gone, lady, / He is dead and gone,” and “Hey, non nonny, nonny, hey, nonny,”She seemed more sad and depressed than crazy to me. However, once I watched the different performances, I saw it very differently. My favorite was the one of Helena Bonham Carter. I thought that her performance was more convincing, in a way, because it seemed more human and emotional. Seeing her walking around barefoot in a dirty dress amped up the “crazy” for me, and it seemed less like she was rambling on and more like she was speaking from her soul. I think that people forget the Ophelia lost her father too, not just Hamlet. As a woman she was supposed to just be quiet and perfect, only speaking when spoken to, so I’m not surprised that she had a mad outbusrt like this. She didn’t handle the death well, just like Hamlet, and just cracked from all of her external pressures. I think a powerful part was when she asked her mother “How should I your true love know / From another one?” which is basically her asking her mother is there any difference between your love for my father and your love for any random guy? I thought that this was a good part of the play because we got to see a lot of characters true feelings and thoughts towards everything that has happened in the play so far.
ReplyDeleteMetaphorically speaking, in Act IV the masks come off—exactly as Hamlet intended. Forced by the catalyst of the play showing King Claudius that Hamlet knows he killed King Hamlet, Claudius finally shows his true colors, no longer trying to hide his hate and fear of Hamlet. Similarly, with Polonius’s death, Ophelia’s conflict with Hamlet comes to a head, even when Hamlet is still off stage. Just like the characters of Captain Alving and King Hamlet inform their respective plots without being present, in this case Ophelia’s lament is not truly directed towards the audience, Laertes, or the king and queen: she speaks into thin air, talking to the unseen presence of Hamlet, casting a dark cloud over Polonius’s death. Although Ophelia is facing Laertes when she says “you must wear your rue with a difference,” she is truly addressing the absent Hamlet, begrudging him his lack of regret for Polonius’s death. In the scenes where Hamlet isn’t there, his presence is felt especially: Claudius’s palpable fear when he thinks of the risks of losing “[his] crown, [his] life, and all that [he] can give,” if implicated in the plot of killing King Hamlet and now Hamlet, inform his actions. Claudius is now acting in reaction to Hamlet, and has lost his agency since his initial plot; Claudius is essentially responding to Hamlet’s actions now, as opposed to vice versa. Ophelia’s lament, to me, felt most powerful when spoken by Helena Bonham Carter; although she truly emoted the loss and suffering of Ophelia, it still felt realistic and deeply felt, not hammy. I also felt that the general innocence that Carter’s Ophelia exudes throughout the play as she is essentially stripped of agency, humiliated, and tortured by the men around her came to a head in her lament.
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