hamlet logs

7/30/2019 Hamlet Logs

1/11

Wesley Viola

English

2/20/13Hamlet Log

Act 1, Scene 1:

In this opening scene, Shakespeare introduces Denmark with a dark sense of

foreboding by having it haunted by a former king. The castles watchmen, Bernardo and

Marcellus, are in terror at this apparition and urge the skeptic Horatio to stand watch withthem and witness it for himself. Very soon they see the ghost but just as quickly, it

disappears. It is enough for Horatio to dispel his doubts and immediately feel the fear

that the watchmen felt; he recognizes the ghost of the former king and he trembles and

looks pale(51). Everything about the ghost bodes ill for the state of Denmark. Itfrowns, it is clad in his armor, and it goes along the walls with a martial stalk as if it

has a problem with what is going on inside the castle. After it vanishes, the three discuss

the state of Denmark and what trouble might be brewing. Interestingly, they speak abouta matter of revenge. Fortinbras of Norway threatens Denmark and has gathered a group

of mercenaries to avenge his fathers death, and now the Danish country is preparing for

war. The ghost of the king also portends troubles of revenge, but they are of a differentrivalry between Hamlet and the king Claudius. Denmark is not only in danger of outside

disputes but is soon to be shaken by inner disputes.

The superstitious elements of Hamlet begin in this very first scene. Marcellus and

Barnardo are crazed about the ghost they claim they have seen two nights in a row, but

their frightened reactions are not terrifically credible to Horatio Tush, tush, twill no

appear. By having a skeptic and a scholar so instantly given to fear and wonder at thesight of the ghost, I think Shakespeare might be either revealing his own superstitious

beliefs or trying to make this apparition seem more real and believable. He seems intent

on not letting Horatio keep his doubts or attribute the sight to some trick of the eyes. Andjust before the ghost enters again, it is Horatio speaking of Romes tenantless graves and

risen corpses.

I think it is interesting how these three characters, scared as they are, seem to have

no problem yelling at and ordering the ghost to Speak! Speak! Speak! This must mean

that the watchmen are not so worried about any harm coming directly from the ghost

itself - after all they nearly throw a spear at it but are rather terrified and desperate toknow what it wants and why it has come to them. Compared to modern stories of ghosts

and ghouls, this situation has a much different type of suspense and danger.


2/11

Act 1, Scene 5:

In this very suspenseful scene, we discover what is so rotten in the state of

Denmark. The ghost of the king reveals that a serpent now sits on the throne and that

serpent killed King Hamlet and now sleeps with his wife. Hamlet seems to have beendying to hear this and urges the ghost of his father at every point O God!, Murder?,

Haste me to knowt! until he is finally told what he says to have known all along.Though Hamlet certainly needs no extra incitement, the ghost spurs him on with a

graphic recollection of his murderous uncles deeds Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate

beast!in the porches of my ear did pour the leperous distilmentand a most instant

tetter barked about, with vile and loathsome crust all my smooth bodyoh horrible, ohhorrible, most horrible!(42-80). Though Hamlet also sends up cries of misery O all

you host of heaven! O earth! What else?(92), in a way, I think he has been wanting to

hear all of this. His grief is completely solidified now and his suspicions and hisprophetic soul are proven to be true. Knowing that his father was indeed murdered gives

him a purpose that he can channel his discontent into.

When Hamlet returns from his walk with the ghost, his interactions with

Marcellus and Horatio are not very believable. Just the night before, the two were

overwhelmed with desperation to know what sign the ghost meant. Now as Hamletreturns from his long walk to Horatio and Marcellus, who were no doubt held in the most

suspenseful moments of their lives, he just responds to their exclamations joking

Theres neer a villain dwelling in all Denmark/But hes an arrant knave(126) and

saying they should just go their separate ways now and mind their own businesses. ForMarcellus and Horatio, this is somehow a tolerable remark and Horatio even apologizes.

Judging from their intense need to know the night before, the reaction of these two is

completely unbelievable, especially with how lightly Hamlet handles the situation.

Shakespeare again plays with superstition to make Hamlets encounter with the

ghost especially suspenseful. The apparition does not speak straight away aboutClaudiuss corruption, even though it is short on time with dawn soon approaching. It

spends more than ten lines describing the secrets of purgatory how the lightest

word/would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood(15-16). Though the ghost

essentially says very little about the superstitious world, these lines draw much suspensebefore the acts most important revelation.


3/11

Act 2, Scene 1:

In this scene, Polonius sends off his servant Reynaldo to France to make inquireabout Laertes behavior. He wants Reynaldo to ask around about what kind of Danish

people are there and see if anyone knows of a Laertes that is very wild or addicted or

drinking or quarreling or drabbing. Though this kind of check up seems appropriate toPolonius, Reynaldo is taken aback that this type of talk would dishonor Laertes but,

my good lord - (36). After Reynaldo is sent off, Ophelia enters after being frightened by

a mad Hamlet. Apparently Hamlet had grabbed her, stared at her, and after a long timebacked out of the room, never looking away. Before this, Ophelia had cut herself off

from Hamlet as Polonius suggested. Polonius now suspects that Hamlets madness can

be attributed to a crazed love for Ophelia and he goes off to tell Claudius.

In this scene, Polonius proves again to be a poor father. With both Ophelia and

Laertes, he has been controlling and distrustful. Before, when Ophelia tells Polonius of

the affection that Hamlet has shown to her, he scoffs and belittles any perspective thatOphelia has Affection! Pooh you speak like a green girl (Act 1, Scene 3, line 101).

Now, he shows a similar distrust toward Laertes and uses a spy to ensure he knows allabout his sons behavior in France. Throughout his lengthy instructions to Reynaldo, hegives no hint that this inquiry might not even be necessary; only at the very end does he

remark that Laertes might actually be doing what he should be doing And let him ply

his music(82), and even this sounds offhand and doubtful.

There was a confusing bit to this scene - why Hamlet would act so madly in front

of Ophelia. As I understand it, the reason he originally adopts this behavior is to throw

Claudius off balance as he takes out his revenge. If this is true, than his show in front ofOphelia seems unnecessary since he does not need to involve her and unlikely since his

sincerely loves her. Creeping her out as he did certainly did not have a good effect on

any relationship he might wish to build so I am not sure why he would do this. Oneexplanation that does come to mind is that showcasing his madness in front of the

chamberlains daughter would reach the ears of Claudius quickly. If this was Hamlets

purpose, then it was successful because Polonius immediately goes to tell Claudius of hisdaughters encounter with Hamlet. Though this is plausible, I still do not think it is likely

because Hamlet would be sacrificing a lot of his relationship with Ophelia for something

that he could probably have achieved in another way.


4/11

Act 2, Scene 2:

In this scene, Shakespeare adds a lot of humor to Polonius and while I know thatcomic relief is important in and of itself, I wonder what Polonius ramblings mean for

him as a character. After the ambassadors inform Claudius of old Fortinbras intentions,

Polonius explains his understanding of Hamlets erratic behavior in a very convolutedand self-contradicting manner. He begins, since brevity is the soul of wit I will be

brief(91-93) after which he says that Hamlet is mad, calling it madness because how

else can he define madness but by saying it is madness. Though Gertrude tells him tospeak more directly and to the point, Polonius continues with this roundabout way of

explaining Hamlets state and insists that he is indeed speaking succinctly. He goes on,

And now remains/That we find the cause of this effect,/or rather say, the cause of this

defect,/For this effect defective comes by cause(103-105). Since this is the first timePolonius has spoken this way, I wonder if he is consciously affecting his speech to play

with Gertrude and Claudius. If it is not on purpose and Polonius really does believe he is

being brief, I wonder if the language reflects his characters senility and if Shakespeare ispoking fun at the elderly.

The conversation that follows, between Polonius and Hamlet, is an interestingtransition because roles are reversed. Now Hamlet, though pretending, is the babbling

idiot and Polonius has to figure out what he is saying. He nonsensically contradicts

himself just like Polonius did moments ago - asked what he is reading, Hamlet repliesSlanders, sir all which, sir, I most powerfully/and potently believe(200-201). It is

an especially funny dialogue because Hamlet is at the peak of his insanity and Polonius

seems to just pleasantly agree with whatever he says Thats very true, my lord(181)

and follows every one of his short replies with , my lord which, as a chamberlain,seems excessive. Though he plays with him for a while, Hamlet certainly has little

patience for Polonius and recognizes his infirmity - when their conversation ends, he says

to himself These tedious old fools!(218) and later refers to him as the great baby that isnot yet out of his swaddling-cloths.

I was impressed by Hamlets patience and caution in his planning to catch theconscience of the king. After he was overwhelmed by grief and after his suspicions

were so explicitly confirmed by the ghost of his father, it seemed like he would recklessly

take out his revenge, like he only needed a push. Here, though, Hamlet is very careful

about what information he really has to act on and will not let his hate for the presentsituation make him do anything too rash.


5/11

Act 3, Scene 1:

I think this is the most confusing scene yet since Hamlet acts very unpredictably.First, it does not seem right that he would be considering suicide, or at least yet. It seems

like he should be bent on revenge or on his plans to discover if Claudius is really a

murderer. How can Hamlet win his revenge if he kills himself? It is obvious that he is intortured, miserable state but it seems like the human drive for revenge, especially if

spurred on by extraordinary circumstances and revelations (the visit by the ghost), should

be more dominant than the helplessness that overtakes Hamlet in his to be or not to besoliloquy. This wavering just does not seem to follow from the urgency that he showed

during his conversation with his fathers ghost. A plausible explanation might be that

Hamlet is being tortured by a period waiting. Since he set himself to catching the

conscience of the king, he cannot let himself act on the ghosts information and is nowforced to be patient. His pained helplessness might come from this, though he does not

explicitly mention this particular waiting.

There is a bit of irony in Hamlets soliloquy. He is wavering because though life

is exceedingly troublesome, the uncertainty of what comes after death is too frighteningfor suicide to be a comforting escape. He dreads that undiscovered country/From whosebourn no traveler returns, puzzles the will(80-81). The irony is that Hamlet did in fact

meet a traveler who returned from the afterlife who at least tried to tell him what it is like.

The ghosts descriptions, however, were not very encouraging so they probably wouldnot help Hamlet in his deliberations.

The conversation between Ophelia and Hamlet is also very baffling. I am not

even sure if Shakespeare meant for Ophelia entrance to be humorous she asks Hamlethow he is doing after he has just finished considering suicide. When she asks him to take

his love letters back, Hamlets behavior becomes very unpredictable. He speaks more in

riddles Are you honest? Are your fair?(105-107) - than anything else and deniespresently loving Ophelia since he has now come to an understanding of beauty and

honesty. He grows progressively more upset and erratic as the conversation goes on and

sounds like Sweeney Todd as he claims in an epiphany-like state that everyone is asworthless and bad as he is. Though we dont all deserve to die, Hamlet believes that no

one deserves to be born so he renounces all marriage and repeats madly, to a nunnery,

go!

The interesting thing is that Hamlet seems to have fallen into actual madness

whereas before he was just pretending. In front of Polonius, there was a reason to behave

crazy to unease King Claudies and his advisors. In front of Ophelia, however, there isnext to no reason to act mad, especially with the intensity that Hamlet does so. He has

already showcased his pretend insanity more than enough so it is therefore unlikely that

his behavior in this interaction is fake. Also, since this dialogue follows his pondering ofsuicide, a depressive low point, Hamlet is set up to really go into a mania.


6/11

Act 3, Scene 2:

Act 3, Scene 1 seems to be a discontinuity in Hamlets character because in thisnext scene he returns, seemingly very sane, to his plan of catching King Claudius in a

moment of guilt. The scene begins with his instructing of the actors on how to act. It is

ironic because he speaks of balance of not overdoing the passions of a character yet atthe same time not being too tame right after he himself has just come out of a manic fit.

Now, however, Hamlet speaks very calmly and very articulately as he focuses on setting

up the play. In fact, he is the happiest he has been all play - he speaks politely toPolonius and his mother and even jokes with Ophelia. What should a man do/but be

merry?(114-115), Hamlet says. He even pokes fun at himself for still wearing black

mourning clothes four months after his fathers death.

Hamlet and Ophelias interactions seem very unbelievable after this acts first

scene. He completely lost his mind in front of her and yelled at her in what must have

been an extremely disconcerting few minutes. Ophelia now, however, does not seem tobe very fazed at all. She shows no sign of that distressing scene as she replies almost

pleasantly to Hamlets remarks, you are naught, you are naught. Ill mark theplay(132).

Hamlets insanity, pretend in this case, is very different when he speaks with

Polonius. At the end of this scene, the conversation between these two is more likecomic relief and it contrasts strongly with the dark, frightening fit that took over Hamlet

in the previous scene. Here, Polonius enters with a serious request that he should go

speak with his very upset mother. Hamlet responds by pointing to a cloud that he says

looks like a camel. When Polonius agrees, By th mass, and tis like a camelindeed(348), Hamlet remarks that it looks like a weasel and then, after another

agreement from Polonius, that is has the back of a whale. When Hamlet is in control of

his sanity and conscious puts on a crazy front, as in this case, it is a very silly and foolishlooking display. When he does legitimately lose his mind, as in the previous scene, it has

a very disturbing and destructive effect.


7/11

Act 4, Scene 4:

In this scene, Hamlet sees Fortinbras troops as he is about to board his ship toEngland. The Norwegian troops are on their way to Poland to fight for a little patch of

land that is not worth anything and for Hamlet, this is an inspiring example of action. He

goes into a soliloquy expressing his admiration at how quickly these Norwegians willtake up arms for something as small as an insignificant piece of Poland. He defines

greatness as finding quarrel in a straw/When honors at stake(54-55) and vows to take

up his own bloody ambitions.

I found Fortinbras part in the play to be confusing. At the very beginning,

Shakespeare creates the troubled atmosphere of Denmark by having Fortinbras and his

army pose as a real threat rumors of war were spreading and Danish soldiers werepreparing for war. In Act 2 we find out that the king of Norway has no intention of

attacking Denmark and forces Fortinbras to turn his army towards Poland instead. So by

Act 4, this threat is reduced to nothing and the Norwegian troops march right throughDenmark. Though the march provides Hamlet with some material to reflect on, I do not

see any other real significant purpose to Fortinbras part in the play. It does deal withrevenge, which is obviously thematically relevant, but the this story seems to go nowhereand is kind of disappointing since it was so well highlighted at the beginning of the play.

In his soliloquy, Hamlet recognizes how little he has really done in terms ofrevenge since he learned the truth of his fathers murder. He is so frustrated by his own

inaction because he sees marching in front of him evidence of a great quarrel started over

just a tiny matter of honor. At this sight, he makes a rather extreme remark that, Rightly

to be great,/Is not to stir without great argument,/But greatly to find quarrel in astraw/When honor is at stake(52-55). If the world was filled by people with this

perspective, it would very chaotic to say the least. Hamlet might be right to recognize

that he has long had reason enough to act violently, but I think this statement blows thosefeelings way out of proportion by calling it great to act impulsively on small reasons of

honor.

It is ironic that Hamlet curses himself in the beginning of the soliloquy for

thinking too precisely on thoughts which he calls three parts coward when he ought to

be taking action. After he has finished admiring the greatness of Norways action, he

ends by focusing again on just his thoughts, however bloody he might vow to make them.


8/11

Act 4, Scene 7

In this scene, Claudius finds his enemys enemy, his friend, and is rathermanipulative. Claudius seems especially cold hearted as he spurs on Laertes vengeance

by questioning whether he even feels for the death of his father: Laertes, was your dear

to you?/Or are you like the painting of a sorrow,/A face without heart?(106-108). Askedfor proof, in actions not words, that Laertes is his fathers son, Claudius wins the reply

To cut Hamlets throat in th church.(127). While Laertes is obviously upset and

vengeful in his own right, Claudius seems to push to an extreme that Laertes wouldotherwise have not had found himself in. In this way, Claudius proves to be evil and

deceptive and validates his title as a serpent. (Interestingly, Claudius manner of killing,

with poison and in this case with a poison prick, is also in line with that of a snake).

In more than a few words, Claudius speaks about the same matter that Hamlet

was struggling with in scene four as he instructs Laertes to take his revenge: That we

would do,/We should do when we would, for this would changes/And hath abatementsand delays as many/as there are tongues, are hands, are accidents./And then this should is

like a spendthrift sigh(118-121). Claudius worries that abatements and delays, nodifferent from what has frustratingly kept Hamlet from taking his own revenge, willprevent Laertes from taking action and cause his woulds to reduce to ineffectual

shoulds. Therefore, Laertes must rouse himself to act while he still has a strong will to

do so.

An interesting point is that Claudius does not let Laertes know that he has his

own, separate intentions to kill Hamlet. When asked why he did not take more serious

action against Hamlet after Polonius was killed, Claudius explains that the queen loveshim too dearly and he is too much in the publics favor. At this point, he could have told

Laertes that he did indeed order the death of Hamlet, though secretly, and probably win a

good deal of trust, but he does not. An explanation of this might be that Shakespearewants to paint a worse picture of Claudius. Claudius can essentially gain the same result

if he acts honestly or manipulatively in both cases, Laertes will want to work with

Claudius to kill Hamlet. By making Claudius behave deceptively and having him spur onLaertes with just provocative taunts What would you undertake/To show yourself in

deed your fathers son?(124-125) Shakespeare truly makes him out to be an evil

serpent.


9/11

Act 5, Scene 1:

The scene opens with two gravediggers preparing Ophelia burial. Hamlet enters

with Horatio and thoughtfully looks at the skulls being dug up. He wonders at who these

are the remains of and how a lawyer might be reduced to an inanimate skull Where behis quiddities now, his quillities, his cases, his/tenures and his tricks?(91-92). He learns

that one skull belonged to a jester Jorick that he knew very well and recalls sadly how heused to be carried on his back. In the same way that he did with the lawyer, Hamlet asks

where his jokes and pranks and songs are now. Finally, he realizes that this is the fate of

all great men and that someone as powerful as Caesar is now only good for dust that he

left when he died. Ophelias funeral procession comes on stage and before Hamlet canspeak his grief for her death, he is attacked by Laertes. After they wrestle, Hamlet

declares that Laertes feels only a fraction of his sadness for Ophelia because he was in

love with her. When he gives a long description of his grief, Laertes calls it madness andall exit after Hamlet and Horatio.

This scene is interesting because Hamlet is very directly confronted with death.His reaction is sadness and he shows that he does indeed value life. Considering the end

of the lawyer, Caesar, and Alexander the Great, he expresses grief because they were

once so much more than the stinking, lifeless skull that he now holds. With Jorick andOphelia, he expresses a very strong love and laments or wails in the case of Ophelia

for the end of their lives. This is completely opposite to the perspective that Hamlet gave

before in Act 3, scene 1 when he, I believe, really did go insane. In that scene, he denied

all worth of life because We are arrant knaves, all(III,i,130). Whereas before it hadbeen better to Hamlet for no one to born and for Ophelia to isolate herself, he now seems

sincerely and intensely sorry for her death, Joricks death, and even a nameless lawyers

death. It is not clear whether Hamlet has changed his perspective over the course of theplay or whether he, confronted with death, sees how much of a loss it really is.

I think this is the plays best scene. The opening with the arguing gravediggersfeels so nonchalant and sets the beginning of a transition to some of the plays most

powerful and volatile action. Hamlet ponders the death of a nobody, then a friend, then

someone great before finally realizing that he is standing at the grave of his dearly loved

Ophelia. To add to this shock, he is viciously and unexpectedly attacked by Laertes andhas to wrestle him off before he can even fully consider what horrible thing he has just

found out.


10/11

Act 5, Scene 2:

I was surprised to see in this scene how justly Hamlet felt at sending Rosencrantzand Guildenstern to their deaths. He claims that their defeat/Does by their own

insinuations grow(61-62), that they knowingly betrayed Hamlet. I am fairly sure that

Rosencrantz and Guildernstern were not explicitly told by Claudius that Hamlet would beexecuted in England and, with the kings note sealed, it seems like a lot to assume that

they knew or could even guess at what was really happening. The two were also

childhood friends of Hamlet and, though they may have obeyed Claudius a little toomuch, it never seemed like they were malicious. With Hamlet deteriorating state, they

could have even acted with some level of care for his wellbeing though have been unsure

exactly how to do him good. With these many valid doubts, I think Hamlet is wrong to

so confidently condemn the two.

I really did like to see, however, Hamlet and Laertes reconcile before both dying.

It is interesting that, right after being attacked by Laertes, Hamlet can feel fellowshipwith him For by the image of my cause I see/The portraiture of his. Ill court his

favors(81-82). After their fatal duel, Laertes takes the blame away from both of them Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet./Mien and myfathers death come not uponthee,/Nor thine on me.(330-333) - and rightly leaves it to Claudius since he was the one

who set the two against each other. Both die with this being recognized and Hamlets

last request to Horatio To tell my story(350) ensures that Claudius corruption willnot be forgotten.

The play began with Horatio and non-main characters and ends the same way

(Fortinbras seems like a little less than a main character). While I really do not knowwhy or if this is even significant, one explanation might be that it is fitting to frame the

play with Horatio because he is the one entrusted by Hamlet to tell it.


11/11

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