Once Hamlet finds out how his father died, he also insults her in public as he is angry as her marrying his father’s killer. Before the play, Gertrude asks him to sit next to her but he refuses. We see his anger in 3.2.111. ‘What should a man do but be / merry? For look you how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father / died within’s two hours.’ Hamlet feels betrayed by his mother. This occurs at the end of the play within the play, once he has proven to that Claudius killed his father. Here, Hamlet uses sarcasm to tell the audience how angry he is, by saying how impressed he is that his mother is happy and married so soon after the king’s death.
We also see his disgust for her in private. When he is with Gertrude alone in her chambers, just after he had killed Polonius, in 3.4.82. He says ‘O shame, where is thy blush?’ Here we see Hamlet’s anger at his mother’s sexuality and her inability to control her sexual desires. Hamlet uses questions to make her feel guilty for what she has done. He is angry about his feelings for his mother, as it has been discussed by different authors how he was in love with her and his anger about her marriage reflects his jealousy, as she prefers another man. However, he doesn’t understand these feelings and justifies them by blaming her so in private he insults her. Given his royal position and having to behave accordingly, his ‘madness’ is what gives him the freedom to express his feelings.
His relationship with Ophelia is different in public and private. In public, he is rude to her, but in private he talks of love and romance. In 3.1.88 we see his love for her, when he talks of her. ‘Soft you now, / The fair Ophelia. - Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remembered.’ Shakespeare’s choices of words make this sentence very romantic. The words ‘soft’ show how warm and kind Hamlet is inside. It could also mean how he feels about Ophelia, and how she is gentle as well. Another meaning could be that it refers to Hamlet, and if he is trying to calm himself down or being quiet so that she doesn’t hear what he just said. The caesura, acts as a pause in a dreamy way, as if the thought of Ophelia calmed him down. Shakespeare uses this as a sigh, to emphasise Hamlet’s love for Ophelia.
In public, we see his rudeness to her in 3.1.119. ‘Get thee to a nunnery!’ This occurs while Claudius and Polonius are watching Hamlet. He is basically telling her to go to a place were she will be a virgin so she can’t have sinful children. His disrespect for her might be because he thinks that she is a messenger to Claudius and he feels betrayed by her. This is because she keeps questioning him, and returns gifts that he gave her. Another reason could be that he thinks that she is almost too good for him, and wants to protect her from himself. Shakespeare uses a lot of assonance of ‘ee’, which makes his words sound more violent and emphatic, and it is also directed at Ophelia in an order, which again makes it violent. This is followed by caesura and a question. The caesura is there to emphasise what he has just said, and for the audience to take it in. The question shows Hamlet’s rudeness to her, and how he thinks she is bad. Hamlet shows a strong hatred for women at times. This could be because he has been betrayed by both women who he loves, Ophelia because he thinks she is a messenger and so can’t trust her, and Gertrude for marrying Claudius so quickly.
We see how different he is in private and public towards Claudius.
In public, Hamlet is rude to Claudius, by gently mocking him. We see this in 1.2.65. ‘(Aside) A little more than kin, and less than kind.’ Here Hamlet objects to being called ‘next of kin’. This shows what Hamlet thinks of Claudius, and how he doesn’t want to be like him. It also shows us how Hamlet thinks that Claudius will never be like his father. Shakespeare uses alliteration of ‘k’, which makes the sentence harsh and rude. He also uses an aside, as if Hamlet was talking directly to the audience, which creates dramatic irony. This makes it so the audience know more than Claudius at this point. They know that Hamlet knows who killed his father, but Claudius doesn’t know Hamlet knows. Also, he can’t say it to Claudius’s face because he has a duty as a royal, and must keep his feelings hidden when the whole of Denmark is watching them.
In private, Hamlet uses harsh words when talking about Claudius, and how Claudius will never be a good king. In 1.2.139-140. He says ’So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr.’ Here, Hamlet emphasizes the contrast between his father and Claudius by saying his father is a ‘Hyperion’ who is a Sun God, and Claudius is a ‘satyr’ that is a half goat half man. Shakespeare uses these to opposites to show to the audience how terrible Claudius is. This is done, because at that time, a King was known to be the closest person to god, and therefore should be a good person. Hamlet makes it clear to the audience that his father was good and far superior to Claudius.
There is another great difference in Hamlet’s public and private personality. In public, Hamlet seems mad, and acts very strangely. We see this in 2.2.173. ‘Excellent well, y’are a fishmonger.’ Here, Hamlet relates Polonius to a fisher, as if Polonius is a nosey man who shouldn’t get involved with other people’s business. This random and odd sentence makes people think Hamlet is mad. Hamlet uses this ‘pretend’ madness as an antic disposition’, so no one will find out he is planning to kill Claudius. Another reason could be that he is actually turning mad, because he knows that his father’s killer is his uncle, and finds it hard to keep it a secret. At this point, the audience know he is not mad, because they have seen Hamlet meet his father and swear to seek revenge. Also Hamlet’s soliloquies help the audience justify this ‘madness’.
However In private, he seems more focused on what he is doing. He has reasoned and balanced arguments, and is rational. We see this in 3.1.57-60. ‘Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or take arms against a sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them.’ This occurs, when he is questioning if it was better to live or die. Here, his thoughts are focused and although confused about the matter. He uses a lot of imagination, which suggests that he is troubled and wants to escape his fears and feelings. The audience also see him as a man who is depressed, but not mad. The soliloquy is there to tell the audience, the real feelings and worries of Hamlet, and without them people would think he was mad. It also creates tension, as we would want to see how he would behave next. It is important that the audience know he is not mad as to understand his actions further on in the play.
Hamlet is a very complex character, with many different sides. As every other Shakespeare character, he is based on human emotional conflicts and relationships. Although difficult to understand his role can be translated to any other period even within the 21st century, as we still live with the same emotional conflicts and relationship problems portrayed. With evidence from the play, we see that Hamlet is clearly a different person in public and private as in public he has to be politically correct and comply with his royal duties, whilst privately he gives way to his emotional conflicts and confused feelings. I believe the real Hamlet is how he appears in private. We see his inner emotions in private and his fake, brave and sometimes mad self in public. Hamlet is a man who loves a great deal, is betrayed a great deal and ends up finding himself and achieving his revenge.
