Hamlet shows that he stresses moral integrity by the fact that he is mad at his mother. She remarried very quickly, and this is seen as immoral in the eyes of Hamlet. When he says, "She'll keep her word", he is discussing that the woman in the play says she wont remarry, but Hamlet uses sarcasm to say that she definitely will, much like his mother.
I think Hamlet went insane during this act because he kills Polonius and he doesn't really care. Before, he was careful not to make a mistake and now he makes a mistake and doesn't care.
personally i dont see morals as being a big issue at this time. gertrude is married to her ex-husbands brother only months after his deateh, ophelia is sleeping with hamlet and they'ren not married, and hamlet is spending majority of his time trying to plan the murder of his step dad... i dont really see how morals have any role in their actions
i dont think that hamlet killing polonius shows that he is insane, more maybe that he is getting impatient with the whole issue, he is becoming overwhelmed with the whole ordeal that doesnt necesasrily mean he is insane
I think that the point at which Hamlet truly does go insane is after the play when he finally realizes Claudius is truly guilty. Subconciously, he realizes that this is the point of no return, that he must continue along the path of revenge since he sought out whether or not Claudius did kill his father. In a way, Hamlet seems to realize that his actions after this point may cause his downfall, but he doesn't consider this in his actions.
Perhaps he doesn't want to show his mother, but he kills the person hiding without any rational thought. Earlier he was doing nothing and now he is killing someone without thinking. Doesn't that show a change in sanity?
Concerning Jeff's comment, I also think that Hamlet consideres morality and religion before he acts. He doesnt kill Claudius when he is praying because he believes that Claudius will go to heaven if he kills him in prayer. This clearly shows that believes in morals.
I agree with Zach in the fact that Hamlet is somewhat hypocritical. He condones his mother for her unnatural marriage, but he is sleeping with Ophelia without being married. Also, while his murder of Polonius was not planned, Hamlet still kills an innocent man much the same as Claudius kills old King Hamlet. His words illustrate an ideal image of virtue and morals, but his actions show a different side of him entirely.
It seems ironic that Hamlet is saying that God is letting him kill Claudius, when that is what made Claudius immoral. Also, it seems ironic that God would let Hamlet commit a sin, where he would be damned because of it. Hamlet seems to be just trying to create an escape for him by doing what he knows is wrong and immoral.
I think that Hamlet is actually becoming insane, answering what Claire brought up. Before, other people, one being Horatio, have seeen the ghost. Now, Hamlet is the only one that can see him and Gertrude can not. This might mean that Hamlet is just seing the ghost in his imagination, showing that he is crazy.
im gonna have to agree with steph, that hamlet isn't worried about his puinishment from God, i mean if he is planning to murder someone then it is pretty much a given that he will be punished by god after his death. (assuming his beliefs) but if he was truly worried about what god was goin to do to him then i dont think that he would be carrying out with the murder, and by him killing polonius, it just shows that his motive to kill is legit, he is not just all talk
Mark, I think that him killing Polonious was just a reaction not really a change in sanity. I think that he assumed that it was Claudious since he was in the king and queen's room so I can understand why he reacted like he did.
I think that no one else being able to see the ghost before Hamlet kills Polonious, is Shakespeare showing us that Hamlet is going crazy and cannot control what goes on around him anymore.
righto scott, just because hamlet acted out doesnt meant he is insane, he was in the queens room and i doubt it occured to him that polonius was chillin in the room with her, and he just assumed that it was claudius hiding in there so he felt it was a good time to kill him while he was sinning by spying on them
I dont think that the ghost is mad at Gertrude, he doesn't want Hamlet to punish her. Although, the ghost could want Gertrude to live through finding out that Claudius killed him and she has a very immoral marraige. I understand that the ghost wants heaven to judge Gertrude, but why doesnt the ghost want heaven to judge Claudius too?
I agree with dave, I don't think that Hamlet killed Polonius because he is crazy. I think he killed him because he thougt it was Claudius, and was going to kill him anyway.
steph, i honestly dont think hamlet cares at this point, he has already got himself in the midset to kill, and under the amount of stress he is feeling i dont really think that this "minor setback" is really going to affect him
It seems kinda weird that Hamlet and the ghost seem to let God do His will with Gertrude, but have to take Claudius' revenge into their, Hamlet's, hands.
I think that Hamlet's apparent lack of remorse over killing Polonius proves that Hamlet has become at least partially insane. He does has morals, as we see in many of his monologues, but in his rage over his mother and his thirst for revenge, he doesn't seem to care that he killed an "innocent" man. If he were sane, I think he would at least feel guilt at this murder.
It seems to me that if Hamlet really wanted to be king he would have taken power before this point. It also seems that the people would want to support the rightful heir to the throne so I don't think becoming king is real inportant to Hamlet.
It seems to me that by killing Claudious "before his time" like King Hamlet it would almost help him in the after life since he didn't have time to repent for his sins.
I agree Kurt's idea that Hamlet's ghost is possibly a messenger of God. By killing old Hamlet, Claudius went "above God", so to speak, to gain the throne. He was not chosen by Divine Right, but rather he usurped the throne by murder. In this way, Hamlet's quest for revenge can be seen almost as a holy quest, because he is doing God's work.
When Claudius says he needs light, I think that he really means that he has just realized his sins. It has hit him like light when it is dark. He can't stand the darkness and the sins he is dealing with, so he wants light, or freedom and innocence.
Light seems to represent heaven and goodness, and Matt makes a good point, it seems that lights seem to represent good whereas dark is bad. All sins happened in darkness, and many were dark deeds. By getting light, Claudius is trying to cleanse himself of his sinful deeds.
I think that Claudius saying "give me light" has a double meaning along with Leanne. Perhaps his guilt climaxes at this point, and he is reffering to light as God or redemption. He wants light because he realizes the evil of his acts, and this is also illustrated by the fact that he goes to pray after asking for light.
I also think that Claudius still wants to keep the throne even though he knows and realizes his sins. Gaining forgiveness and righting his wrong is not worth giving up the throne.
hes waiting to kill him because he wants to catch him in a sinful act so he doesnt kill him when he is forgivien he wants to make wure ther "timing" is premium
I think that Hamlet just dragging away the body of Polonius is Shakespeare's comment on man, and how a man, Hamlet, who is fighting for man's morality, would kill someone that he was not supposed to kill and not even worry about it. It is showing the brutish quality of man.
When Hamlet kills Polonius, I truly believe that he thought he was killing Claudius. He does, however, act very rapidly when he hears the cry from behind the curtain, which is very uncharacteristic of Hamlet so far.
In response to Matt's question, I do think that Hamlet would mourn his friends if they were hidden behind the curtain. Hamlet resents Polonius for his control over Ophelia and their relationship, so he doesn't care too much that he killed Polonius (along with the fact that he is going insane). If it were his friends, though, I think he would mourn because he realizes that they were honest at the beginning and told him they were spying on him, so he respects them and cares about them.
Hamlet holds everyone else to higher standards than he holds himself to. He gets mad about what everyone else does but does not look in the mirror and look at his own actions. Some of his actions that are questionable are killing Polonius and mistreating Ophelia and his mother.
I don't think that Hamlet is a hero in any way. What are his heroic acts? He has the trait of pursuing one main goal, but a hero has to have done something heroic in order to have a tragic downfall. He is setting the stage for his downfall but never had a peak or highpoint.
I think that Hamlet doesn't care that he killed Polonious because of all the things that Polonious has done against him through the entire play and I think he probably wanted to kill him anyway and he set himself up to be killed by spying on him. I think that killing Polonious was Hamlet's revenge and now he can get his father's revenge.
I see Hamlet as tragic, but I have trouble defining him as a hero. All his actions, and often his inaction, don't really show a great noble character. The only truly noble action that we wee is his intent to avenge his father. He speaks nobly but doesn't suit actions to words
Hey guy's I am sick that’s why I wasn't there today. But I believe that threw this Act and revealing of the plot we see how threw Hamlets acting crazy he finally becomes crazy. By devising a play that is pretty straight forwardly directed at Claudius with the poison in the ear and stealing of the wife and throne and all, Hamlet becoming insane doesn’t fully come until the end of the short play where Hamlet sees Claudius reaction that he fully snaps.
As to the ghost appearing and only hamlet can see it, I believe that it is in his mind. He feel that he needs backing for what he has done and that backing needs to come from his father so he hallucinates this image of his father.
I agree with Matt and Kyle when they say that darkness represents evil and light represents good. Kyle says how Claudius asks for the lights to be turned on during the play so that was he can almost be washed of his sins. But think of this why is it that before hamlet has only seen his father’s ghost at night, before the sun has risen. Is his father’s ghost evil then or sinful or is it just coincidence?
Steph, don't you think that no matter what hamlets family and friends are going to know who killed Claudius if he mysteriously dies. I mean there is only one person that we truly see that hates Claudius enough to kill him. Unless all the people are as dumb as Oedipus then how could hamlet possibly get away with it?
Emily and Caitlin, I think that there is that Hamlet waiting for Claudius to act sinfully is much more likely than any other situation. Like it was said before hamlet doesn’t want to kill Claudius and send him to heaven, he wants to kill him and dam him to hell.
44 Comments:
This act was really revealing for the plot, as the murder of Polonius means that Hamlet has reached the point of no return in his plot for revenge.
I agree with matt that this has certainly signified that Hamlet has pretended to be crazy enough that it has actually driven him mad.
I'm not really sure if Hamlet has gone insane yet because killing Polonius seemed to be more like self-defence since he was spying on him.
Hamlet shows that he stresses moral integrity by the fact that he is mad at his mother. She remarried very quickly, and this is seen as immoral in the eyes of Hamlet. When he says, "She'll keep her word", he is discussing that the woman in the play says she wont remarry, but Hamlet uses sarcasm to say that she definitely will, much like his mother.
Another moral lesson that Shakespeare might be trying to teach us is that revenge can lead to your own insanity.
I think Hamlet went insane during this act because he kills Polonius and he doesn't really care. Before, he was careful not to make a mistake and now he makes a mistake and doesn't care.
personally i dont see morals as being a big issue at this time. gertrude is married to her ex-husbands brother only months after his deateh, ophelia is sleeping with hamlet and they'ren not married, and hamlet is spending majority of his time trying to plan the murder of his step dad... i dont really see how morals have any role in their actions
So is Shakespeare saying that revenge isn't worth the risk of going insane?
i dont think that hamlet killing polonius shows that he is insane, more maybe that he is getting impatient with the whole issue, he is becoming overwhelmed with the whole ordeal that doesnt necesasrily mean he is insane
I think that the point at which Hamlet truly does go insane is after the play when he finally realizes Claudius is truly guilty. Subconciously, he realizes that this is the point of no return, that he must continue along the path of revenge since he sought out whether or not Claudius did kill his father. In a way, Hamlet seems to realize that his actions after this point may cause his downfall, but he doesn't consider this in his actions.
Perhaps he doesn't want to show his mother, but he kills the person hiding without any rational thought. Earlier he was doing nothing and now he is killing someone without thinking. Doesn't that show a change in sanity?
Concerning Jeff's comment, I also think that Hamlet consideres morality and religion before he acts. He doesnt kill Claudius when he is praying because he believes that Claudius will go to heaven if he kills him in prayer. This clearly shows that believes in morals.
I agree with Zach in the fact that Hamlet is somewhat hypocritical. He condones his mother for her unnatural marriage, but he is sleeping with Ophelia without being married. Also, while his murder of Polonius was not planned, Hamlet still kills an innocent man much the same as Claudius kills old King Hamlet. His words illustrate an ideal image of virtue and morals, but his actions show a different side of him entirely.
It seems ironic that Hamlet is saying that God is letting him kill Claudius, when that is what made Claudius immoral. Also, it seems ironic that God would let Hamlet commit a sin, where he would be damned because of it. Hamlet seems to be just trying to create an escape for him by doing what he knows is wrong and immoral.
I think that Hamlet is actually becoming insane, answering what Claire brought up. Before, other people, one being Horatio, have seeen the ghost. Now, Hamlet is the only one that can see him and Gertrude can not. This might mean that Hamlet is just seing the ghost in his imagination, showing that he is crazy.
im gonna have to agree with steph, that hamlet isn't worried about his puinishment from God, i mean if he is planning to murder someone then it is pretty much a given that he will be punished by god after his death. (assuming his beliefs) but if he was truly worried about what god was goin to do to him then i dont think that he would be carrying out with the murder, and by him killing polonius, it just shows that his motive to kill is legit, he is not just all talk
Mark, I think that him killing Polonious was just a reaction not really a change in sanity. I think that he assumed that it was Claudious since he was in the king and queen's room so I can understand why he reacted like he did.
I think that no one else being able to see the ghost before Hamlet kills Polonious, is Shakespeare showing us that Hamlet is going crazy and cannot control what goes on around him anymore.
righto scott, just because hamlet acted out doesnt meant he is insane, he was in the queens room and i doubt it occured to him that polonius was chillin in the room with her, and he just assumed that it was claudius hiding in there so he felt it was a good time to kill him while he was sinning by spying on them
I dont think that the ghost is mad at Gertrude, he doesn't want Hamlet to punish her. Although, the ghost could want Gertrude to live through finding out that Claudius killed him and she has a very immoral marraige. I understand that the ghost wants heaven to judge Gertrude, but why doesnt the ghost want heaven to judge Claudius too?
I agree with dave, I don't think that Hamlet killed Polonius because he is crazy. I think he killed him because he thougt it was Claudius, and was going to kill him anyway.
steph, i honestly dont think hamlet cares at this point, he has already got himself in the midset to kill, and under the amount of stress he is feeling i dont really think that this "minor setback" is really going to affect him
It seems kinda weird that Hamlet and the ghost seem to let God do His will with Gertrude, but have to take Claudius' revenge into their, Hamlet's, hands.
I think that Hamlet's apparent lack of remorse over killing Polonius proves that Hamlet has become at least partially insane. He does has morals, as we see in many of his monologues, but in his rage over his mother and his thirst for revenge, he doesn't seem to care that he killed an "innocent" man. If he were sane, I think he would at least feel guilt at this murder.
why wouldnt he want claudius judged, he has obviously done wrong and in being judged, hes gonna get punished in hell
It seems to me that if Hamlet really wanted to be king he would have taken power before this point. It also seems that the people would want to support the rightful heir to the throne so I don't think becoming king is real inportant to Hamlet.
It seems to me that by killing Claudious "before his time" like King Hamlet it would almost help him in the after life since he didn't have time to repent for his sins.
alright steph you need to stop jacking my comments seriously
I agree Kurt's idea that Hamlet's ghost is possibly a messenger of God. By killing old Hamlet, Claudius went "above God", so to speak, to gain the throne. He was not chosen by Divine Right, but rather he usurped the throne by murder. In this way, Hamlet's quest for revenge can be seen almost as a holy quest, because he is doing God's work.
When Claudius says he needs light, I think that he really means that he has just realized his sins. It has hit him like light when it is dark. He can't stand the darkness and the sins he is dealing with, so he wants light, or freedom and innocence.
Light seems to represent heaven and goodness, and Matt makes a good point, it seems that lights seem to represent good whereas dark is bad. All sins happened in darkness, and many were dark deeds. By getting light, Claudius is trying to cleanse himself of his sinful deeds.
I think Claudius feels sorry that he was caught, not of his actions, because he still would not give up what he recieved from his sinful actions.
I think that Claudius saying "give me light" has a double meaning along with Leanne. Perhaps his guilt climaxes at this point, and he is reffering to light as God or redemption. He wants light because he realizes the evil of his acts, and this is also illustrated by the fact that he goes to pray after asking for light.
I also think that Claudius still wants to keep the throne even though he knows and realizes his sins. Gaining forgiveness and righting his wrong is not worth giving up the throne.
hes waiting to kill him because he wants to catch him in a sinful act so he doesnt kill him when he is forgivien he wants to make wure ther "timing" is premium
I think that Hamlet just dragging away the body of Polonius is Shakespeare's comment on man, and how a man, Hamlet, who is fighting for man's morality, would kill someone that he was not supposed to kill and not even worry about it. It is showing the brutish quality of man.
When Hamlet kills Polonius, I truly believe that he thought he was killing Claudius. He does, however, act very rapidly when he hears the cry from behind the curtain, which is very uncharacteristic of Hamlet so far.
In response to Matt's question, I do think that Hamlet would mourn his friends if they were hidden behind the curtain. Hamlet resents Polonius for his control over Ophelia and their relationship, so he doesn't care too much that he killed Polonius (along with the fact that he is going insane). If it were his friends, though, I think he would mourn because he realizes that they were honest at the beginning and told him they were spying on him, so he respects them and cares about them.
Hamlet holds everyone else to higher standards than he holds himself to. He gets mad about what everyone else does but does not look in the mirror and look at his own actions. Some of his actions that are questionable are killing Polonius and mistreating Ophelia and his mother.
I don't think that Hamlet is a hero in any way. What are his heroic acts? He has the trait of pursuing one main goal, but a hero has to have done something heroic in order to have a tragic downfall. He is setting the stage for his downfall but never had a peak or highpoint.
I think that Hamlet doesn't care that he killed Polonious because of all the things that Polonious has done against him through the entire play and I think he probably wanted to kill him anyway and he set himself up to be killed by spying on him. I think that killing Polonious was Hamlet's revenge and now he can get his father's revenge.
I see Hamlet as tragic, but I have trouble defining him as a hero. All his actions, and often his inaction, don't really show a great noble character. The only truly noble action that we wee is his intent to avenge his father. He speaks nobly but doesn't suit actions to words
I think that Hamlet is a hero. He is more of a common man hero than Oedipus was.
Hey guy's I am sick that’s why I wasn't there today. But I believe that threw this Act and revealing of the plot we see how threw Hamlets acting crazy he finally becomes crazy. By devising a play that is pretty straight forwardly directed at Claudius with the poison in the ear and stealing of the wife and throne and all, Hamlet becoming insane doesn’t fully come until the end of the short play where Hamlet sees Claudius reaction that he fully snaps.
As to the ghost appearing and only hamlet can see it, I believe that it is in his mind. He feel that he needs backing for what he has done and that backing needs to come from his father so he hallucinates this image of his father.
I agree with Matt and Kyle when they say that darkness represents evil and light represents good. Kyle says how Claudius asks for the lights to be turned on during the play so that was he can almost be washed of his sins. But think of this why is it that before hamlet has only seen his father’s ghost at night, before the sun has risen. Is his father’s ghost evil then or sinful or is it just coincidence?
Steph, don't you think that no matter what hamlets family and friends are going to know who killed Claudius if he mysteriously dies. I mean there is only one person that we truly see that hates Claudius enough to kill him. Unless all the people are as dumb as Oedipus then how could hamlet possibly get away with it?
Emily and Caitlin, I think that there is that Hamlet waiting for Claudius to act sinfully is much more likely than any other situation. Like it was said before hamlet doesn’t want to kill Claudius and send him to heaven, he wants to kill him and dam him to hell.
Post a Comment
<< Home