Who was to blame for Ophelia’s demise?
Who was to blame for Ophelia's demise? I am going to consider whom I blame for Ophelia's death. I am going to look at points from Hamlet's view and the way he behaved towards her, I am also going to look at points from her brother and fathers view and whether they were to blame due to the advice they gave her. A lot of people would say Hamlet was to blame for Ophelia's demise because the way he spoke to and treated Ophelia. The way he rejected her and the things he spoke of around her such as chastity, beauty, immortality and how she should join a nunnery 'Ha Ha are you honest,' Hamlet is being sarcastic, making fun of Ophelia he's trying to provoke her 'Ay truly for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is a bawd.', Hamlet is suggesting to Ophelia that beauty can turn to chastity and then to prostitution. The whole time Hamlet spoke to Ophelia he was being very cruel. At this point Ophelia doesn't know what to do, as Hamlet is being cruel and plain nasty the way he tells her she should join a nunnery. All of Hamlet's actions towards Ophelia are cruel and hurtful. But then Hamlet changes and while they are watching the play of the reconstruction of Hamlet's fathers' death, Hamlet begins to become quite disgusting and crude towards Ophelia 'Do you think I meant country matters.' Hamlet is referring to sex, which was not discussed then. Polonius,
How does Zeffirelli portray the characters of Gertrude and Ophelia?
How does Zeffirelli portray the characters of Gertrude and Ophelia? Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 production of Hamlet has Glenn Close and Helena Bonham Carter cast as Queen Gertrude and Ophelia respectively. He has the luxury over a stage production of being able to add scenery, mood and vibrant close up of character to his film. These added advantages allow us to examine the players in a closer, more intimate way and so we can look at the figures of Queen Gertrude and Ophelia with different perspective. Right from the start the audience most definitely depicts Gertrude as the queen and the primary female of the cast, however there is no malice or grim intention portrayed. We open the film feeling sorry for her at her husband's funeral yet the speed of her re-marriage makes us question her morality and quality. The audience is made to question her character by her physical nature both with Claudius and Hamlet, particularly with Hamlet. Their relationship is portrayed as intensely Freudian, from the very beginning with Gertrude constantly touching Hamlet. Zeffirelli dresses Gertrude in a gown with a simple pale design yet trimmed with gold and subtle jewellery and her hair is worn like a regal crown, always perfect and obviously made by attendants. Herein we see her position but unlike other plays her queenly status is not overbearing. Zeffirelli quite obviously dressing
A detailed analysis of Act 3, Scene 1 of Hamlet.
A detailed analysis of Act 3, Scene 1 So far in the play, Hamlets madness has been causing people worry. He is acting mad so he can have revenge on Claudius. Polonius suspects he has gone mad because Ophelia has rejected his love. Claudius isn't sure that's the reason. The scene is focused on Polonius and Claudius carrying out their plan to spy on Hamlet. Polonius and Claudius hide behind a curtain to listen to Ophelia talking to Hamlet. They do this to see if Ophelia is really why Hamlet has gone mad. Polonius says " at such a time I'll lose my daughter to him. Be you and I behind an arras then" Gertrude and Ophelia don't know anything about the plan. The play doesn't say if Ophelia overhears Claudius. Claudius and polonius tell Gertrude " we have closely sent for Hamlet hither, that he, as 'twere by accident, may here affront Ophelia." If Ophelia did overhear she might be part of the plan because she wants to find out what's wrong with Hamlet or she wants to obey her father. Ophelia shows her obedience when she says, " I shall obey, my lord" The women of the time were expected to be obedient and chaste. Ophelia is shown accurately. It seems strange that Polonius disapproved of their relationship. He disapproves because Hamlet is part of the royal family and because he thinks Hamlet is using Ophelia. In this scene the Queen offers her approval she seems to even wish for
Role of women in hamlet
The Role of Women in Hamlet We live in a society where women have rights that were unheard of centuries ago. These rights include the right to driving freely, having jobs rather than staying at home, and being treated with the same respect as men in the workplace. But in Shakespeare's play Hamlet women have a role that is mainly passive in that the men in Hamlet hold a higher position than women and are treated in a manner that would be labelled as misogyny today in that women are only seen as objects rather than human. In Hamlet there are only two women who have a significant role in the play: Gertrude and Ophelia. Gertrude role in Hamlet is one that is a loving mother that does care for her son but also raises her selfish ambition above everyone else and tries to reconfigure her family around her new husband Claudius. Ophelia role in Hamlet consists of being one-dimensional and stagnant, that soon crumbles after the death of her father due to her frailty and innocence. During the first scene of book, Hamlet recalls scene between his mother and father and the love and affection they possessed before his father passed away. He then becomes disgusted over the fact his mother quickly married off a man instead of being with her son. The fact that this man was her deceased husband brother makes Hamlet disgust his mom even more. He feels his mother is weak in many aspects
Is Hamlet acting or is he really insane?
Hamlets confrontation with Gertrude leaves her questioning her son's sanity. This is because she attests to him talking to thin air, which he claims was his father's ghost (3,4). It seems like Gertrude has every right to think Hamlet is mad. Her judgement is also fuelled by Polonius' murder. Hamlet did not know that Polonius was the spy behind the curtains 'how now, a rat?' (3,4,24). Hamlets response to his mother is not full of love either. He is disgusted with his mother's actions and is not ashamed of letting her know. '...Live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed...' he does not hid his hatred for Claudius and Gertrude's marriage. But Gertrude does not seem to understand why her son holds such strong feelings. She is clueless throughout most of the play. 'As kill a king?' Gertrude does not realise the real situation and how much hatred the two men bare. She is one of the reasons that stopped Claudius getting hamlet killed throughout the play. And when he finally decides to, she dies before both of them. Gertrude is not the only woman in Hamlets life. He also confronted his lover Ophelia, where he came across as-yet again- misogynist. However, we cannot condemn Hamlet to hating women because we only see him two in the play. Ophelia rejected him and his mother married his uncle. But this is not surprising because Hamlet distrusts everyone and tries to push everyone away,
Hamlet - It's hard to define what revenge actually is.
Hamlet Essay It's hard to define what revenge actually is. I suppose Francis Bacon put it best in his essay about revenge, 'Revenge is a kind of wild justice; which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out'. In a 'Revenge Play', normally, the whole play is based on the revenge and it is combined with tragedy. In this case, they are combined to cause a big problem for Hamlet. In this essay, I will examine this problem. There are very different characters in Hamlet; they all seem to have their own problems. Hamlet's problem is the main focus of the play but we are also made aware of the other characters problems. At the end of the play, we see the finale in which all the characters come together to end the lives of others. They think that it will solve their problems. So, therefore I think that the characters are the main problem in this play. I think that Hamlet's character is unsuited to this play. He is not a 'revenger'. We can tell this in Act 1, Scene 5 when the ghost tells Hamlet to take his revenge on Claudius. He questions whether he should 'what else? And shall I couple hell?' if he was a revenger then he would rush to Claudius and kill him straight away. We can also see this in what Hamlet does. He tries to scare the king by acting out 'The murder of Gonzago' in a similar way to how Claudius killed Hamlets father. He does this so he can be
Hamlet Essay
In this essay I'm going to consider the relationship between Hamlet and three other characters from the play, Claudius, Gertrude (Hamlet's mother) and Ophelia. I think these characters determine Hamlet's moods and actions strongly. Hamlet doesn't seem to have a close relationship with any of the major characters in the play. He is actually quite isolated from the people around him. Throughout this essay I'm going to consider how Hamlet's relationships with Claudius, Gertrude and Ophelia change. At the start of the play Hamlet's father dies. His father's brother then marries his mother. Then Hamlet sees his father's ghost, who tells him about how he was murdered. Hamlet is determined to get revenge. He is so angry he practically breaks up with Ophelia by hurling insults and shouting at her. He then asks a group of travelling actors to perform the scene of his father's death in front of the King and Queen. Afterwards in the Queen's bedroom Hamlet stabs Polonius, who is hiding behind the curtain, by accident, thinking it was Claudius. Ophelia starts going a bit mad and later on Hamlet finds her dead in a stream. The play ends tragically with the death of Hamlet, the Queen, the King and Laertes. In many ways Hamlet and Claudius are very similar characters. They are both very determined and will go to any lengths to get what they want. We can see this characteristic in Claudius
Explore the "loving mother-son" relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet, with focus on language.
Ramya Sr. 4 D Q. Explore the "loving mother-son" relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet, with focus on language. Ans. Very evident in Hamlet is the "loving mother-son" relationship between Queen Gertrude and Prince Hamlet. Their mutual affection for each other can be seen right from the first act when they address each other as "Good Hamlet" and "good mother". This seems rather polite and formal but shows their deep underlying love for each other. However as the play progresses and Hamlet learns through the ghost of his father the truth about his uncle (whom his mother has married), the actual intensity of the mother-son relationship is brought out. This happens as Hamlet learns of his father's murder. Our first impression of Hamlet sets the tone for the whole play. Even without Shakespeare providing an elaborate description of Hamlet's features, we can imagine his pale face, tousled hair, intense, brooding eyes. Dressed totally in black, Hamlet displays all the 'forms, moods and shapes of grief'. His speech is punctuated with harsh sounding words and he repeats the 'd' sound often with words like " dead, sullied, windy, dejected, denote". This shows his extreme despair. Gertrude, as his mother, cannot help but notice Hamlet's outward appearance of mourning, but Hamlet makes it clear that the outward signs of grief do not come close to conveying how much sorrow he
Polonius has sometimes been presented as an essentially comic character and sometimes as a more sinister figure. What critical and dramatic issues are raised by the character of Polonius?
Polonius has sometimes been presented as an essentially comic character and sometimes as a more sinister figure. What critical and dramatic issues are raised by the character of Polonius? There has been much debate amongst critics and directors alike on the depth of Polonius's character, and his purpose in the play. There are those, such as critic Myron Taylor, who view him as a more sinister persona, arguing 'his ineffectuality does not excuse his moral deviousness. Appearance has become his reality', thus implying he is used for menacing dramatic effect. However others take a more sympathetic view, for example Elkin Calhoun Wilson; 'that dotage repeatedly amuses us in his fondness for lecturing and giving advice, however sound, to his meandering young;', therefore interpreting him as a more bumbling and comical element to an otherwise serious play. Despite understanding both these views I still, like Hamlet, see Polonius as a 'rash, intruding fool' [Act.3Scene.4 line33]and believe anything done that may appear enigmatic or ominous can only have occurred unintentionally (in the script) or through exaggeration in directing. Similarly to Wilson, I can see how Polonius would add light-hearted, comic relief to the play, especially when paired with quick-witted Hamlet, highlighting the cracks in Polonius's delusional 'wise' role he has adopted. Polonius has traditionally been
How far, and in what ways, do you agree that the story of Polonius and his children is a tragedy within a tragedy?
How far, and in what ways, do you agree that the story of Polonius and his children is a tragedy within a tragedy? 'Hamlet' is a revenge tragedy; a genre originally developed by plays such as 'The Spanish Tragedy' by Thomas Kyd from 1585-1590. The genre is characterized by the inclusion of death, murder, betrayal, madness, poison, surveillance and the supernatural in the narrative - themes that all frequently occur in 'Hamlet'. However to what extent does the story of Polonius, Ophelia and Laertes conform to this idea of a revenge tragedy; and more broadly, how does the story of the family conform to the genre of tragedy as a whole? One issue is how to define a tragedy; Thomas Heywood wrote: "Comedies begin in trouble and end in peace; tragedies begin in calm and end in tempest", 'Apology for Actors', 1612. By this definition, tragedy generally can be summarised as a sequence of events that lead to the destruction of the majority of its characters. In this sense, the story of Polonius and his family conforms to the basic skeleton of a tragedy - by the end of the play Polonius, Laertes and Ophelia are dead. However the family's story does not conform as simply to other definitions of tragedy. '[Tragedy] would look with a sceptical eye at what was happening in the world around', M. Mangan (1991). 'Tragedy would look with a sceptical eye' implies that tragedy has the role
