Ophelia by John William Waterhouse
VOCABULARY QUIZ TOMORROW.
Notes for ActII scenes i and ii
Polonous sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes, the councillor's son, telling the spy to say semi bad things about his son, so that he may ascertain the truth about Laertes' behavior. Shakespeare makes an observation on youth: "wanton, wild, and unusual slips / As are companions most noted and most known / To youth and liberty" ((II.i.23-5).
Now Polonius has a conversation with his daughter Ophelia, who relates to him how a half-dressed Hamlet came to visit her: "his doublets all unbraced"; "his stockings fouled", "pale as his shirt, his knees knocking"
Polonous believes Hamlet is "mad for [Ohpheiia's] love" and so right away wants to tell Gertrude and King Claudius.
Act II.ii. Gertrude and King Claudius have called two friends of Hamlet's, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to the court to cheer Hamlet up. They agree, and, afterwhich, Polonius pops on the scene to say, " I have found / The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy"(51-2). Note how the councillor talks endlessly, and we have his ironic statement "brevity is the soul of wit." Polonius is both a laughable and sympathetic character. Polonius admits that he has told Ophelia that "Hamlet is a prince, out of thy star"; hence with Ophelia's spurning him, he has lost his reason.
So they devise a plan to check out the validity of this thought: "He'll loose [his] daughtet to [Hamlet / ..and " behind an arras then / Mark the encounter" (176-8).
Polonius meets Hamlet and the prince calls the old man a "fishmonger", a slang term for a pimp. Essentially, Hamlet plays word games with Polonius, but Ophelia's father is no putz and observes 'Though this be madness, yet there is / method in 't"(II.ii.223-4).
Comic and serious note: When Polonius tells Hamlet he must take leave, the prince retorts: You cannot take from me anything that I / will more willingly part withal- except my life.
Hamlet catches up with his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern; he extracts from them the truth that they have been summoned by the king and queen. Important line: ..."but there is /nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it / so"(I.ii.268-9),
Hamlet on life: "I could be bounded in a nutshell and / count myself a king of infinite space, were it not / that I have bad dreams"(II.ii.273-5).
Guidenstern on dreams: ambition... is merely the shadow of a dream.
Hamlet reveals his mental state to his friends in II.ii 3-6-334. These lines as well celebrate the majesty of being human. PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY.
His friends reveal that there are players coming to the castle. They show up and Hamlet interacts with them, recolecting a particular play. Polonious is on the scene and he is bored. Hamlet wants him to use the players, but not necessarily to their "just desserts", for according to the Prince, "Use everyman affter his just dessertand who shall 'scape / whipping? (II.ii.556-7).
Act II.ii ends with a soliloquy. Hamlet is in the throws of angst: O what a rogue and peasant slave am I... He devises a plan, concluding "The play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King"(633-4).
Is Hamlet Jr. really planning on killing himself? If he did he would be unable to stop the king. Or is the ghost his father's evil spirit and he wants revenge on the king for something he did to him?
ReplyDeleteI feel that Hamlet Jr. should not kill himself because that's going way to far. I feel that claudius if guilty for the King's death
ReplyDeletehamlet might actually be crazy, although certain things he said to Ophelia might seem mean but may not have been intentioned that way. like the comment about her becoming a nun as to not "Spawn" evil, this may have been seen by hamlet as mean but an act to save her, to stop her from falling into evil. just a thought
ReplyDeleteJoseph Gleason
Willie said... Hamlet is becoming a stronger person and seeking revenge for his fathers death. People are thinking he crazy at this point but hes becoming smarter thinking of ways to get his uncle back. Which influence the idea of the actors actting out the way his uncle killed his father hoping his uncle would come clean and confess.
ReplyDeleteperhaps Hamlet is going crazy. perhaps not. he may just be trying to find the perfect way to exact revenge on his uncle for his fathers murder. i wonder if this ghost is evil or not. what if it's lying? i think that Hamlet even saying that he was going to kill himself is a bit drastic, and he shouldnt have said all of those mean hateful things to Ophelia.
ReplyDeleteHamlet should not kill himself, for it would only "give" Cladius more power over the thrown. I say "give" as such because he was never truely given power in the first place, he took it forcefully.
ReplyDeleteAnywho, I have to say that Ophelia bothers me because she took the orders from her father, now of course one cannot be completely mad with her because though it is a play, I do believe that it has a splash of realism to it and in real life people aren't always straight forward to retrieve the answers they're looking for,no, instead they like to do things stealthily, and so it was wrong for Polonius to use his daughter and come between her and Hamlet's feelings to find out what was wrong with Hamlet.
As the scene came to a close, Polonius once again became bothersome as to his wanting to do more spying because he wanted to follow his "gut feeling" which said that Hamlet was mad with love for Ophelia. This intrigues me because it's ironic how he did not want Ophelia to talk, have connection with, or what have you, with Hamlet yet he seems to become angry when Hamlet, in a sense, turns his back on Ophelia almost giving Polonius the impression that Hamlet thinks he is too good for Ophelia. I think this fuels his "gut feeling" by giving him an excuse to want to do more spying.
~Ashley Stevenson
Sarah Mullen thinks that Hamlet is acting like he's going crazy on purpose! He doesn't want any one to find out his real motives, to kill his uncle and the like, and he really doesn't want anyone to know he's seeing his dead daddy's death. So, is he crazy? Nah, just pretending. It's really convenient that Ophelia's daddy thinks its because he's lovesick. Nobody has the slightest clue that he's about to be a killer.
ReplyDeleteyo, how helpful is theatre, right now? Because of his uncle's reaction he'll be able to see if he's the killer. But then what's our boy Hamlet going to do? Just walk up to him and shank him? I think not. Rather anti-climactic, no? I hope there's a awesome sword fight to end his uncle's life.
I've got to say, though. Shakespeare characters are nuts! They're always killing each other. I mean, in today's world, if one of us were in the circumstance we'd kill our uncle ...or, at least, I hope not...
* seeing his dead daddy.
ReplyDelete** we WOULDN'T kill our uncle.
I find it amusing that everyone but Hamlet doesn't really know what is going on.They only see him " acting crazy ", and don't know the cause of it. Claudius figures that it is not Hamlets love for Ophelia that is causing him to be in a melancholy mood, and that his words didn't sound like they came from a insane man. Claudius sees the possibilities for something deeper, that could cause hamlet dangerous harm. " Madness in great ones must careful be watched" . ;)
ReplyDeletei don't think that Hamlet should kill himself. In my opinion this will only make matters worse. There is also no logical reason for this kind of thinking.
ReplyDelete3:1-ok ok ok...so everyone is saying how Hamlet is going to commit suicide, no tell me where does it say that? I mean personally i think Hamlet has all the people that is in his buniess in his grasp...he playing them like a fiddle. He just seems to calm and collective, i think he knows about Claudius and all the spes, he just playing their game..or he can be really crazy...or the Ophelia is.hmmmm
ReplyDeleteAct III scene i: So why is it that Ophelia is clueless to all that is happening. She is stuck in the middle of all the sneaky plans everone has to spy on Hamlet, yet she has no idea what is going on. She still believes that what her dad said it right and she should not have anything to do with Hamlet. Or at least that is what I am getting from the dialogue between Hamlet and Ophelia.
ReplyDeleteDamaris S.--
ReplyDeleteHamlet must truly be going insane if he wants to kill himself. I don't believe this is the right decision due to the fact he's creating this strong relationship with that chick & it's just not right.Oh yeah & what's up with this ghost?Is it evil or like Casper the friendly ghost or something?
I don't understand the connection Hamlet makes between the difference between beauty and goodness and the fact that he never loved Ophelia.
ReplyDeleteHamlet is definitely "losing it" but i think its just a cover for what hes really planing.
ReplyDeleteI believe he has some tricks up his sleeves, and this is just a cover for them. he is sane some times and insane other times, which is suspicious, and leads me to believe hes up to something.
polonius' comment about how people act devoted to god only to mask their wrongdoings shows the attitudes of that time period towards people who claim to be pious.
ReplyDeleteand hamlet has lost it. his little rant to ophelia is not normal. and he has grown exceptionally bitter. could he be bipolar? he sure goes from one emotion to another quite quickly.
victoria mark
I think that Ophelia is much to oblivious, it's almost not believable. Also, I feel bad for her putting all of this trust and confidence in her father and brother, when they are going against her love, and are out for Hamlet. Away from the love story, I was under the impression that the King told Hamlet that Claudius killed him the first time they spoke?
ReplyDelete- Savannah Goole
Amonee REad
ReplyDeleteOk so im just a tad bit lost , but HEY it's SHAKESPEARE what can i say not the most easiest language to comprehend...ANywho, while reading one is trying to figure out does HAmlet love OPhelia or not....THinking he needs to get his feelings in check and do sumnthing thats going to let her kno where his head at....but to add to that is HAmlet really going to kill himslef , i mean REally..is he really thinking of suicide.. I think HAmlet is doing just a little bit too much and idk if he can handle all the tasks or things / sitiuations thatv he has on his mind , all at one time . Personally that's why i think he's coming off to others aa a little bit crazy , because i mean even us today . When we have to much on our minds we have a tendency to act a certain way and or be a little fizzled out and short ! soooo who knows....cant wait too see what happens!!!! I hope he dose'nt kill himslef thats just unnecessary!!
Hamlet is obviously going through an emotional breakdown here as show as he talks to Ophelia with his "To be or not to be" speech. His own issues are leading him to suicide now? Well that's just stupid. Hamlet really let it out on Ophelia this time, telling her that they're not getting married and then telling her to go to a nunnery, I would've taken that as a threat. Meanwhile Claudius and Polonius are talking, saying that he should be sent to England. What things wait for Hamlet in England?
ReplyDeletePS: Hamlet= Bipolar? Or suffering from his own social issues?
aldin hamzabegovic
ReplyDeletei'm wondering why hamlet is denying that he loves ophelia. perhaps its because he does love her and he doesn’t want to break apart her family, which is why he lets her go. but it also seems as if hamlet is going through an emotional stage in his life, a situation which he does not have much control of.
Willie Said for friday.... Hamlet mind starting to look at life in alot of negative ways becuase he hurt about his fathers death. Everybody thinking hes crazy which is making things worst. His mother and father are sending old friends to get information, but Hamlets not stupid so he knows what there doing. I just hope this doesnt drive Hamlet to do something crazy like kill somebody.
ReplyDeletejayshawn says....
ReplyDeleteHamlets decision to commmit suicide makes no sense,this would only make matters worst for the situation at hand and his reasoning isn't logical at all
Sorry I am posting late my computer wouldn't start up.
ReplyDeleteBut anyhow:
ooh this is the play where the whole "to be or not to be thing came from"lol. I had no idea.
In this speech Hamlet's giving the pro and cons of dying and he makes some good points.For instance, if you die you cant dream(which I really enjoy doing), you dont know how life may be after death(it could be worst than the life you have now)and so your life may be bad but it's worth it cosidering everything i just listed.
Why couldn't Polonius just leave the whole Hamlet going crazy over Ophelia alone?
But nooo he has to keep going with it.(he'a ao dumb)
So yeah this part I found hilarious.LOL!!
Ophelia's trying to come in all innocently(like this whole thing wasn't planned) and all of a sudden is basically like "Oh Hamlet I am sorry about blowing you off last time but I really do love you"
Then Hamlet is like "What are you talking about I never liked you"
So at that point Ophelia is feeling pretty dumb and embarassed. But just like her father she couldn't just take her humiliation and walk away she had to keep going with it and embarass herself more.
And soo she keeps on with it.
Then Hamlets just like " Just be a nun and pure because I dont want you and a wise guys wouldn't want you 'cause you just make fools outof them any ways. So you can be a nun or marry a fool."
LOL!!!!
However even though Hamlet treated her like crap I think he seemed kind of out of it like he was saying that stuff but didn't mean it. If he wasn't so depressed he wouldn't have done that. So Hamlets still cool in my book.
In conclusion, this seen was great Polonius(still in denial about Hamlet not liking Ophelia) and Ophelia ended up looking pretty stupid. I cannot stress enough LOL!!
People are calling Hamlet crazy but wasn't the idea of a heliocentric universe also crazy to some? There's always a method to madness and Hamlet jr's goal is to kill claudius. His denial that he loves Ophelia makes me believe that at his point he has a tunnel vision that can only see revenge. As gandhi said..."An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
ReplyDelete