I had a tougher time with this
act than the first act. I found myself
having to reread passages over and over, mostly to no avail. I think it’s kind of messed up that Hamlet’s
uncle-dad is oblivious to his pain, and how controlling Polonius is over his
children.
Polonius is quite the
antagonist. He seemed to be pulling all
sorts of strings with his kids, and then trying to with Hamlet. It seemed like he was sucking up to the king
and queen when he came to rat out his daughter and Hamlet, but then again with
the hierarchy from peasants to kings it would probably be the right thing to
do. His plan to prove that Hamlet is
crazy because Hamlet is in love with his daughter should be pretty interesting
to watch unfold.
I thought it was clever when Shakespeare wrote,
“Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wanned,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? And all for nothing—“
The irony here
is just awesome. I really do hope that
Shakespeare had his actors in mind when he wrote this passage. I think that Shakespeare is using this irony
to show that passions exist within different mediums. Shakespeare’s is obviously with the pen (my
girlfriend made me watch “Shakespeare in Love” which subsequently makes one an
expert on everything Shakespeare related), and the players in his play Hamlet
are giving every emotion they have at the whim of some Danish prince,
exhibiting their passion for their craft.
Did you guys have a hard time with this act? Because I felt like I was in the weeds the
whole time.
Hi Jordan, great post. You honesty was appreciated. I had a tougher time with this act as opposed to the first one. It felt like Act II was the calm before the storm, or when all the plots were exposed and began unraveling. I think your analysis of Polonius was spot on; he totally sucked up to the King and Queen. His speeches were long winded which made him seem almost ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteMan, I had difficulty with this act and I read the TRANSLATED version! My problem seems partly to be Shakespearean-onset ADD. Claudius (the uncle-dad) IS just a dense piece of work, huh? Both he and Gertrude are completely insensitive to the fact that, while they might be over Hamlet Sr.'s death, Hamlet Jr. is not. Okay, I don't know if Polonius is an antagonist, but I can see it. I am torn between him being a foil or a bad guy. In either case, he is a manipulative dude. I had to comment on yours largely because of your "Shakespeare in Love" bit. I hadn't laughed out loud in several hours until then.
ReplyDeleteI think that it was very hard only when they talk about dreams as of now I came to a mental block of what they talk about when they discuss dreams and when he further discusses it with his friends Marcellus and Bernardo.
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