Monday, September 9, 2013

Hamlet Initial Character Impressions



After the death of the king, King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, and Hamlet all seem to handle their emotions in different ways.
At the beginning of the scene, the King appears to be in mourning over the loss of his brother. However, throughout his speech, he also hints at the fact that he does not actually miss his brother. Instead, I think that Claudius enjoyed taking over what previously belonged to his brother, such as the Queen. Claudius tries to convince Hamlet that grieving for his father is offensive to heaven and to his father himself. He also tries to console Hamlet with the fact that all fathers die, but it is disrespectful to constantly grieve. Thus far, I consider the King to be selfish and suspicious. I question why the King is so opposed to grieving his brother, who only passed away two months earlier. I am also suspicious of the fact that he attempts to persuade Hamlet not to mourn. It almost seems as if he wants everyone to forget about the former King.
Queen Gertrude acts like she never loved her husband at all. She marries Claudius so close to her late husband’s death that her actions also arouse suspicion. Gertrude shows no sympathy for Hamlet, telling him to stop being sad and be kinder to King Claudius. She tells Hamlet that it looks like he is looking for his father in the dust, and he should know that it is normal for people to pass away. She then selfishly asks Hamlet to stay home and not attend Wittenberg, where he has been attending college. Even though Hamlet agrees to his mother’s request, I am curious why Gertrude wants Hamlet to stay home. Overall, I do not trust Gertrude and I want to know her motives that result in the lack of grief for her late husband and the lack of concern for her son.
Prince Hamlet reacts to his father’s death far differently than the rest of the characters. Right off the bat, it is obvious that Hamlet is devastated over his father’s death, and his actions are on the borderline of depression. He becomes angry when the King refers to him as his son, mumbling to himself that he does not consider himself to be the son of the King, but rather he is only his nephew. In fact, Hamlet tells the King that he is suffering from too much “sun”, and it is no coincidence that this sounds like “son”, which further demonstrates his animosity towards his uncle. Hamlet further illustrates his depressed nature when he silently wishes he could commit suicide. This shows the reader the extreme extent to which Hamlet misses his father. This sadness also stems from the anger over his mother’s lack of mourning, saying that even a wild animal would have mourned for a longer period. However, Hamlet’s mood quickly changes when Horatio tells him that he has seen the ghost of King Hamlet. He jumps at the chance to possibly see his father again, and claims that he will speak to the ghost no matter what consequences he may face. I admire this determination within Hamlet to do anything it takes to see his father, who he clearly deeply loved and respected. He is clearly a passionate and driven character, and both of those character traits are ones that I admire. I also find it respectable that Hamlet continues to grieve for his father, despite the fact that the other characters have already moved on and are encouraging him to do the same. This shows that Hamlet does not easily give in to the requests of others, and he is deeply in touch with his emotions.

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