Hamlet 5.2

    In Act 5 Scene 2, we finally see Hamlet kill Claudius, as the king's ghost asked at the play's beginning. Before the final scenes, however, Hamlet starts to act, something he has not been able to do yet. After learning of their plan (with Claudius) to call for his own execution by the English, Hamlet replaces the letter with one demanding the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This scene demonstrates the continued shift from the Hamlet we have seen in the past, someone who calls for action and revenge but cannot follow through, to a character who is willing to sacrifice. Once Hamlet returns to Denmark, Osric informs them of the wager King Claudius has put into place. Laertes will fence Hamlet in front of the King, Queen, and the court. I believe there is irony in the fact that these characters are fencing, using foils as weapons. Throughout the play, we see Hamlet and Laertes as foils of each other. Laertes was able to take revenge for his father’s death, while Hamlet was not able to follow through with the revenge he had planned. Now, the character foils are fencing each other using foils. (I just thought this was funny). We learn that Claudius has created a grand scheme to poison Hamlet mid-duel. The foil that Laertes plans to hurt Hamlet with is poisoned, and Claudius offers Hamlet a drink of poisonous wine during the duel. However, Gertrude is the one to drink from the poisoned cup “It is the poisoned cup: it is too late” (V.ii.235). After being stabbed with the poisonous foil, Laertes declared Claudius the creator of this plan. “The king, the king’s to blame.” (V.11.300) Finally, Hamlet can kill Claudius. “Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, drink off this potion. Is thy union here? Follow my mother” (V.ii. 304-306). After Claudius’s death, Fortinbras, with the English ambassador, enters the room. Hamlet, stabbed with the poisonous foil, declares Fortinbras King of Denmark in his dying words. Fortinbras ensures that Hamlet is deemed a soldier for his honor and is respected, saying, “Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, for he was likely, had he been put on to have proved most royal” (V.ii.375-378).

 

Hamlet 4.7-5.1 Blog Post

In Act 4 Scene 7, Claudius's manipulation is shown as he tells Laertes that Hamlet killed Polonius and urges him to take revenge. Although he mentions Hamlet kills Polonius, he doesn’t mention that he believes Hamlet to be mad, purposefully convincing Laertes even more to kill Hamlet. It is discovered that Claudius’s plan to kill Hamlet has failed, and Hamlet is returning to Denmark instead. Using Laertes’s newfound anger, he urges him to take revenge and kill Hamlet. Claudius’s plans for Hamlet to die in a way that seems like an accident, not to make Gertude mad and to still appeal likeable to the people. Claudius suggests poisoning Hamlet’s drink which is like how Claudius killed King Hamlet, by pouring poison in his ear. Claudius constantly plays on Laertes recent emotions of his father’s death and the discovery that Ophelia’s mad to urge him to take revenge. Laertes tells Claudius, “To cut his throat the church” (4.7.125). This shows Laertes willingness to act. Laertes is not worried in a spiritual and religious sense about murdering Hamlet, claiming that he would murder Hamlet in church. Whereas for Hamlet, religion is a constant reason for Hamlet’s inaction to murder Claudius.

 

In Act 5 Scene 1, the question arises whether Ophelia death of drowning was by suicide or on accident. The gravediggers discuss her death and whether they believe it to be suicide. The gravediggers offer an outside perspective from ordinary people. They say, “If this had not been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o' Christian burial” (5.1.20-21). The gravediggers believe that she did commit suicide but is still being given a Christian funeral because of her high rank. Continuing they say, "and the more pity that great folk should have countenance in this world to drown or hang themselves more than their even-Christen" (5.1.22-24). The gravediggers criticize society, claiming that the rich and noble are hypocritical because Ophelia is given a proper Christian burial even though she broke religious rules.

 

When Hamlet walks into the graveyard, he begins to speculate about who the skulls on the ground belonged to. Being face to face with the remains of humans affects Hamlet’s perspective. Throughout the novel, Hamlet’s thoughts have been surrounding death, whether that be his own, his father’s cruel death, or how he will murder Claudius. However, only now is he truly reflecting on death. When he discovers that one of the skulls was Yorick, the King's jester whom he used to be friends with, he falls into a deeper spiral about death. Hamlet realizes that all that is left of Yorick is his skull, not any of his defining characteristics. Hamlet asks Horatio: "Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this fashion the earth? (5.1.167). Hamlet begins to realize that all humans end up the same after death, even someone as great and powerful as Alexander the Great. This confirms Hamlet’s view of life as meaningless. 

Hamlet 3.3-3.4

     In Act III scene iii, Hamlet for a moment seems like he is finally ready to avenge his father's death by killing Claudius. He feels that Claudius's reaction to the play has proved his guilt, and at this point the audience is also sure of his guilt given his spontaneous confession. The pictures in our book show that in some stagings of the play, Hamlet even has his sword raised above Claudius, ready to strike. Yet, he is unable to see the murder through, further delaying the task the Ghost has charged him with.

    Hamlet rationalizes his delay by saying he wants more complete revenge--he does not want to kill Claudius while he is praying and thus send his soul to heaven. But is Hamlet truly concerned with the fate of Claudius's soul, or is he merely finding something else to be uncertain about now that he is sure of his guilt? Is it possible for Hamlet to ever be sure of such a fate? In scene iv, Hamlet admits to not being sure of the fate of his father's soul: "how his audit stands, who knows, save heaven?" (line 82). Given this, it seems more likely that Hamlet, though at surface level looking for total revenge, is merely finding more reasons for delay.

    Also in scene iv, Hamlet has a lengthy exchange with Gertrude after he rashly murders Polonius, mostly on the subject of how vile he finds her relationship with Claudius. Gertrude shows a range of reactions throughout the scene, having earlier accused Hamlet of offending Claudius but eventually conceding that she has sinned: "Thou turn'st my eyes into my soul,/And there I see such black and grained spots/As will not leave their tinct" (lines 89-91). But has Hamlet really gotten through to her? It's possible he has, but it also seems that Gertrude as a character generally submits easily to powerful men, and she could be merely going along with what Hamlet is saying given his potent behavior. Additionally, Gertrude seems convinced of Hamlet's madness when the Ghost appears and he converses with it, as she cannot see or hear it. It's possible she's frightened by both this and his earlier violent behavior, and so she appears to agree with/side with him out of fear.

    Lastly, towards the end of their dialogue in scene iv, Hamlet persistently urges Gertrude to not sleep with Claudius, saying he wants to keep her from sinning (and we know from various other lines and scenes that Hamlet is generally repulsed by their relationship). Hamlet earlier in scene iii says that one of the scenarios in which he would kill Claudius was while he was being lustful, as his soul would then be sent to hell, so this urging to Gertrude perhaps also serves the dual purpose of further delaying Claudius's murder.

Hamlet Act 4.1-4.6

In the opening scene of Act 4, the reader experiences Claudius's reaction to the death of Polonius, but his concern is not for the death of his friend and is instead the possible consequences he will face. Although Hamlet is the murder, Claudius is worried that he will be held responisble despite Hamlet (as stated by Gertrude) being a mad man because, as Claudius later says, he is loved by the people of Denmark and therefore will not be harshly punished for his act. However, Claudius is desperate to find the body of Polonius and sends Rosencratnz and Guildenstern to find the body, but when they ask Hamlet, he answers in a series of riddles and words of a mad man. Finally, after teasing Claudius of the bodies location, Hamlet reveals where the body is saying, "But if indeed you find him/not within this month, you shall nose him as you gip up the stairs/into the lobby" (4.3.32-34). In Act 4, Scene 3, Claudius finally reveals that he will send Hamlet to England, somthing that he has been planning and threatening for a long time. It is revealed the the reader that Hamlet is to be killed on arrival to England. This exemplifies the bad relationship between Hamlet and Claudius and how desperate Claudius is to be rid of Hamlet. In Act 4, Scene 4, Hamlet encounters a Captain of Fortinbras's army who is seeking permission to pass through Danish lands on their journey to aquire a invaluable piece of Poland. This encounter causes Hamlet to refelct on the nature of society full of death and blood. He realizes that he has a great cause for bloodshed on order to avend his father's death, but he has failed to act. In his soliliquy, Hamler says, "Oh from this time forth,/My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth" (4.4.65-66). Hamlet's words indicate to the reader that he is more motivated than ever to avenge his father's death. In scene 5, Ophelia is seen as mad following the death of her father, and Laertes is also distraught after hearing of his father's death. People have begun to riot because of the unknown circumstances surrounding the death. Ophelia talks much of death and Claudius promises the either be found guilty of Polonius's death and give up his title, or to be found innocent and help seek revenge (4.5.201-207). There is now more tension and conflict in the play, and I am excited to see what happens in the following acts.