BAIT!

There are many times in the play when baiting is used by the characters to get what they want out of the other characters. Polonius uses Gertrude as bait, King Claudius and Polonius use Ophelia as bait to catch Hamlet, Polonius uses Reynaldo as bait to spy on Laertes, etc. Using the bait often times did not prove to be successful and would just result in a more confusing or disasterous situation. They only time when using bait actually worked was when Hamlet used the players and the skit to catch King Claudius. Hamlet used the play to tell if Claudius really killed his father, and when the king left in the middle of the play in a rage, Hamlet knew his bait had worked. So, for everyone beside Hamlet, the bait did not work. But of course since this play revolves around Hamlet, his bait was successful.

T.S. Elliott!!!

ok, so I think we had to blog about how T.S. Elliott's poem structure helped convey the theme/meaning. Well, he had it written very formally, I guess that would be the word, like it was written in perfect lines and not all over the place like William Carlos Williams poem. I think the regularity of Elliott's poem shows the wallflower part of him more and how everything just kind of blends and doesn't stand out. But then theres a few lines that do break away from the pack and are alone. I think these lines represent the part of him thats wants to be mad for life and is scared of dying and missing the oppurtunites. He sees all that he's missed, he seen a flicker of his greatness and he's let it go. His structure shows his struggle to be both in his life and not one of the two extremes. Being a wallflower is dominating the poem though because that whats he is and he doesn't know how to escape it.

Matts question: Is anyone suspicious that King Claudius left to get some air? aka left during the play.

I'm not sure if anyone in Hamlet, except for Hamlet himeslf, is suspicious when the king left. They don't really have any reason to be because they have not seen or encountered the same things Hamlet has. They have not been warned by a ghost and they do not know king Claudius personally or under what circumstances he and gertrude married. They probably think that the king just needed to get away or that the play was to intense for him. Which is stupid because then he would be an extreme pansy, but I don't know what else they would think.

World views

Hamlets parents (before his father was murdered) did expect him to inherit the throne which can be a worldview in a way. After his fathers death there was the obligation given to Hamlet to avenge his fathers death. His famliy, mostly his mother and uncle, handed down the worldview that he should be tolerable and go along with their marriage. So he is expected to be tolerant of an outrageous situstaion. Hamlet wasn't expected to rebel.

MaDnEsS

I don't think the king really thinks Hamlets crazy. I think he is suspicious of how much Hamlet knows about the murder. After the play that Hamlet has the players perform, King Claudius says to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, "I like him not, nor stands it safe with us to let his madness range. Therefore prepare you. I your commission will forthwith dispatch, and he to England shall along with you." Before the play, the king, still isn't certain whether Hamlet is insane or not, he is still gathering evidence for the reason behind his behavior. It is only after Hamlet contructs a play that models the murder, that Claudius decides he must be removed from the castle due to his "madness". But is Claudius really sending him away because he believes he's mad or is it because he knows that Hamlet knows his secret? I believe it is the second.

2 questions

Does King Claudius know that Hamlet knows about the murder?

Why Does Hamlet choose not kill the king?

Hamlets L.O.V.E.

I think before his father died, Hamlet really did love Ophelia or at least maybe liked her. Because in Act 1 scene 3, Ophelia tells her father about the love notes that Hamlet sends her but we do not know whether these notes were sent before or after his fathers death. I'm guessing before and if thats so then Hamlet really was interested in Ophelia. When his father dies though Ophelia probably isn't as important anymore because Hamlet is focused on his grief and revenge. He begins to push Ophelia away because he believes his love for her and women to be trivial matter compared to avenging his father. This would explain Hamlets dissapproval of Ophelia and his rude comments. So yes, I think Hamlet did, at one time, love Ophelia but that love became overshadowed by death.

Act 3 Scene 1

In act 3 scene 1 Hamlet continues with his mysterious disposition. In this scene he does not really present himself as crazy to his family, just cynical and sarcastic. He takes out his anger on Ophelia which, to the King and Queen, contradicts Polonius’ view that he was crazy because of un-answered love. He does not sound insane to me in this scene, just disgusted and annoyed. Hamlet seems to be more fed up with Ophelia and her love than desiring of it. But this poses the question whether he was just acting crazy in front of Ophelia in act 2 or whether it was genuine. I lean more towards the acting side because after Hamlet sees the ghost, he tells Horatio and the others that he is going to go insane for little while. But if he really did love Ophelia, maybe the scene in act 2 was symbolic of letting go, rather than insanity. Anyway, Hamlets “plan of action” I think is just getting more complicated and it’s turning out exactly the way he wants it too…so far. In scene 1, we as readers are given more insight into his character, as confusing as it might be.