Hamlet Act 1, Scenes 3-5

 

In last night's reading of Hamlet, many significant events took place. We are introduced to Ophelia, Laertes and Polonius. We discover a very interesting hierarchical relationship between the three, as well as their perspectives on Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship. However, I would like to focus on the interaction between Hamlet and the Ghost of his father. While the Ghost describes to Hamlet the cause of his death and who killed him, he uses specific contrasting language to reveal his feelings towards both Claudius and Gertrude. He refers to Claudius as a “serpent that did sting thy father’s life” (1.5.38). Expressing his brother in this dark light shows his deep bitterness towards him. A serpent also implies a devilish aspect that the Ghost believes Claudius embodies. Furthermore, to him Claudius is an “incestuous” and “adulterate beast” (1.5.42). He continues to describe Claudius as less than human, especially when marrying his wife; however, in the same breath he refers to his former wife as a “most seeming virtuous queen” (1.5.46). This implies that the Ghost is reluctant to blame or look down upon Gertrude for her marriage to Claudius. This contrast between the demonic Claudius and virtuous Gertrude reveals the Ghost's feelings towards the two of them. He places the most fault on Claudius when in reality it was both of their decisions. He believes Claudius used “witchcraft of his wits” and “traitorous gifts” to seduce Gertrude and corrupt her (1.5.43). This furthers his belief that Claudius is something less than human and took advantage of his wife. 

Overall, contrast the Ghost illustrates between Gertrude and Claudius show that his anger lies mostly with Claudius. Similarly, we saw this in the Scarlet Letter with Roger Chillingworth. He only blamed Dimmesdale for the relationship between him and Hester, and his revenge ultimately led to his demise. Though Hamlet’s father is already dead, I am interested to see how this influences Hamlet, and the revenge he takes for his father. 

Hamlet Act 2

    In Act 2, themes such as love, madness, and deceit develop further as the play unfolds. The combination of all of these themes eventually leads up to Hamlet's second soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 2 and this is what I mainly want to focus on. However it is important to note how Shakespeare includes some of these themes in his play prior to the soliloquy in order to understand the context that surrounds Hamlet's emotions. In Act 2 Scene 1, deceit and lying are used to discover the source of Hamlet's madness. When Claudius and Gertrude question the motive for Hamlet's recent mad behavior, they ask two of Hamlet's friends to, "draw him on to pleasure, and to gather so much as from occasion you may glean, whether aught to us known afflicts him thus, that opened lies within our remedy" (2.2.15-17). Claudius and Gertrude are asking two of Hamlet's good friends to deceitfully dig into his life in order to uncover what could be driving him to this madness he is experiencing. I think this is interesting because it further shows the kind of people Claudius and Gertrude are and that they don't necessarily have the best intentions when it comes to Hamlet.

    In Hamlet's second soliloquy, his true emotions are revealed. The true reason for Hamlet's madness is due to his confusion of emotions surrounding his father's death and his insecurity of taking revenge on Claudius. After watching the players act out a scene, Hamlet is amazed with the emotion that they were able to display, and he wonders why he does not feel more upset about his own father's murder. Hamlet says to himself, "Yet I,/A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak/Like a John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,/And can say nothing-no, not for a king,/Upon whose property and most dear life/A damned defeat was made. Am I a coward?" (2.2.518-523). Hamlet wonders why he is not more upset over his father's death and concludes that he must be a coward for not having a plan of revenge yet. Later Hamlet states, "This is most brave/That I, the son of the dear murdered/Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,/Must unpack my heart with words" (2.2.535-538). Hamlet continues to struggle with the notion that he has this great responsibility to seek revenge, but all he can do is talk about his problems to himself. 

    I think that the second soliloquy highlights a very interesting side of Hamlet that we have not seen yet. His inability to take action and the guilt that he feels about this emphasizes the difficult situation he is in. Shakespeare's choice to reveal Hamlet's internal struggle adds more depth to his character and makes me wonder how this mindset is going to evolve and impact him in the future. 

Scarlet Letter: Final Reading Blog Post

While the concluding paragraphs of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne are filled with action and suspense, I would like to focus on Hawthorne’s depictions of Pearl as a symbol of innocence. In our class discussions, Pearl often represents the sin between Arthur and Hester. However, I think that Hawthorne creates Pearl’s unique personality to separate her from the other characters in the novel. This can be seen when Hester, Arthur, and Pearl join in the forest and discuss their plan of escape. After removing her scarlet letter, Hester sits with the minister and watches Pearl play by the brook and gathers jewels. Hawthorne describes Pearl as, “looking so steadfastly at them through the dim medium of the forest-gloom; herself, meanwhile, all glorified with a ray of sunshine…” (Hawthorne 191). Hester has removed the scarlet letter from her chest, and Pearl refuses to return to her mother. Hawthorne’s depiction of the sin-ridden couple sitting in the dark while Pearl glows in the light shows the child’s innocence, despite coming from an unfortunate pairing. The child of love is embodying light while Hester and Arthur sit in the darkness of public shame and internal guilt. Furthermore, Pearl’s special charm can be seen during election day. As the townspeople gather to hear the Election Sermon, Pearl is in her own world, dancing and galloping among the chaos. Hawthorne uses romantic techniques and compares Pearl to nature. When describing her clothing, Hawthorne writes, “The dress seemed an… outward manifestation of her character…the many hued brilliancy from a butterfly’s wing, or the painted glory from the leaf of a bright flower…her garb was all of one idea with her nature” (209). Compared to the gray garment Hester hides under, Hawthorne decorates Pearl in the reality of her personality. Using “brilliant” and “bright” to describe how Pearl stands out, Hawthorne continues to draw a contrast between Pearl, Hester, and the puritan community which surrounds her. 

Pearl is the result of an unlawful union and that is the reason she is so special. Although she was born as innocently as any other baby, she was raised to endure the crudeness of Puritan culture. Pearl never learned that sin should be a secret because she and her mother were the embodiment of one. Her innocent mind was forced to see sin as a natural thing, and this is what sets her apart from the other members of society. 

Chapters 12-19

    Several crucial turning points unfold in these 8 chapters, but I want to focus specifically on chapter 12. In this chapter, the four main characters are gathered at the scaffold for the first time since the beginning of the novel, when Hester stands alone facing the town. Despite being located in the same place, these two scenes could not be more different. The first scaffold scene takes place publicly in the daylight, with the town's scorn being directed solely at Hester. The chapter evokes the crushing feeling of Hester's shame and humiliation. In chapter twelve, however, the moment occurs during the midnight hours while the town sleeps. Both Hester and Dimmesdale take their places on the scaffold, but the scene is primarily focused on Dimmesdale's buried guilt. Readers witness the inner workings of his subconscious mind, which is arguably the source of his prolonged agony. The knawing feeling of his shame is further exacerbated by Pearl's repeated question, "Wilt thou stand with mother and me, to-morrow noontide?" (Hawthorne, 139). In the first half of the chapter, readers are under the impression that Dimmesdale wants his secret to be revealed, but Pearl's comment reaffirms his fear of public scrutiny. And so, he decides to keep the truth locked away. This is Dimmesdale's second refusal to publicly acknowledge his relationship with Hester, and on a more figurative level, his second denial of Christ/God's will. 

    Later on, when the red light miraculously flashes in the sky, it is suggestive of supernatural occurrences, but Hawthorne purposefully gives a natural explanation, insinuating the light's deeper meaning is a figment of Dimmesdale's imagination. Hawthorne says, the light was "doubtlessly caused by one of those meteors, which the night-watcher may so often observe, burning out to waste" (140). The answer as to whether the ominous A actually appears/holds a deeper meaning is ambiguous because the author does take time to describe how celestial abnormalities could be perceived as prophecies. Hawthorne reflects, "It was, indeed, a majestic idea, that the destiny of nations should be revealed, in these awful hieroglyphics, on the cope of heaven" (141). However, shortly after this, Hawthorne shifts back to a more practical interpretation of the situation. He states that the flashing A "could only be a symptom of a highly disordered mental state, when a man, rendered morbidly self-contemplative by long, intense, and secret pain, had extended his egotism over the whole expanse of nature, until the firmament itself should appear no more than a fitting page for his soul's history and fate" (141). To put it simply, Dimmesdale's guilt has grown so far out of his control that he is projecting his shame onto the world around him. What may have been a typical meteor shower is wrongly considered to be supernatural. The idea that this moment is simply a figment of Dimmesdale's imagination is not very mysterious, but it is indicative of his declining mental state. As the story continues to unfold, we can assume that Dimmesdale will continue to spiral out of control. - Hallie