Robby Shaunetta KatieTaylor Alexis
lolz it’s Drakespere
Act II Review-Hamlet
“ You cannot take from me anything that I will more willingly part withal-except my life, except my life, except my life.” (p.157)-Hamlet
Plot Development
If you step back and take a general look at Hamlet, you can see that each act matches up with a step in the plot diagram. Act I begins by introducing the play, problems begin to arise. Act II has major themes of murder, revenge, and shows Hamlet’s indecisiveness. The outcome of act II determines the outcome of the play. Act III contains Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy, another visit from the ghost, and kindly reminds Hamlet to kill Claudius. Act IV has Polonius’ accidental murder, and Claudius begins to grow distracted by all of the ruckus. Act V has the gravedigger scene, more death, and then everyone dies.
As Hamlet debates on whether he should seek revenge or not, it leads to the climax of the plot.
The specifics that help the plot raise to the climax are:
~ Hamlet’s incident with Ophelia (which causes her to report and describe the incident to her father/Polonius finds out as well. Polonius then announces that he knows the reason that Hamlet has gone mad)
~ Claudius sets off to find his own answer to Hamlet’s madness
~ Polonius tells Claudius that Hamlet has gone mad because he’s deeply in love with Ophelia
~ Hamlet’s second soliloquy
Each one of these specifics help Hamlet make up his mind on whether he would like to seek revenge or not. Hamlet’s final choice determines the outcome of the play. Each event eventually helps lead to his final soliloquy. The soliloquy sums up his feelings and also ties together the small climaxes/less noticeable climaxes. Each and every event has an important role and moves the plot forwards. Act II had many significant changes and shifts which are the smaller climaxes used to progress to the final scene. Those will be listed and explained later on (#6)
Settings
As specified by Hamlet in towards the end of the act, the geographical location of this act is in Elsinore, a city on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark.
The first scene of Act II begins, presumably, within the king’s court itself. Polonius is speaking to one of his servants named Reynaldo, directing him to travel to France in order to watch and gather information about Laertes. Once Reynaldo leaves, Ophelia enters and speaks to her father but the setting remains the same.
The second scene of Act II also takes place within the king’s court with Claudius and Gertrude entering the scene with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. As the scene continues, a series of characters including the four already mentioned, Polonius, the two ambassadors from Norway, Hamlet, and the company of actors all come and go with no indication of a change in setting.
With the overall location of this act, we see the important power moves by both Claudius and Polonius. The location of the king’s court itself gives them power and control and in this setting, they feel comfortable to demand what they please and exert their power over others. In addition, this scene is important to the development of Hamlet as a character. While talking to Polonius and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet states:
Polonius: (aside) Though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t.—(to HAMLET) Will you walk out of the air, my lord?
Hamlet: Into my grave
Guildenstern: Prison, my lord?
Hamlet: Denmark’s a prison.
Rosencrantz: Then is the world one.
Hamlet: A goodly one, in which there are many confines, wards, and dungeons, Denmark being one o' th' worst.
In these two statements, we learn of Hamlet’s true feelings of entrapment and his universal unhappiness with his stay in Denmark. In addition, due to the location within the king’s court and contributing it to the fact that the court locale gives the king absolute power and authority, we learn of Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Polonius’s absolute loyalty to the king and about their desire to be faithful now and reap the benefits of this loyalty later.
Characters (other than Hamlet)
Polonius: He appears in the opening scene of act 2. His main purpose in this scene is to give instructions to Reynaldo regarding how he is supposed to obtain information from Laertes. At first it may seem as if Polonius is a responsible father who is looking out for his son, but in reality he is untrustworthy. The only reason he sends Reynaldo to look after Laertes is so he can find out what Laertes is up to. In general Polonius is a character who is always trying to be involved in situations that he does not belong in. His behavior foreshadows his unfortunate/ accidental death.
Reynaldo: He is the man that Polonius sends to spy on Laertes. He was given a detailed set of instructions on how he was supposed to go about his mission. It is evident that he did not approve of how Polonius wanted him to dig into Laertes business, but he obeyed him anyway. That is basically his only purpose in this scene.
Ophelia: She entered in scene one distressed due to her traumatic encounter with Hamlet. Her main purpose for this particular scene is to make it seem as if the cause of Hamlet’s madness is a result of the lack of love he is receiving from Ophelia. At this point in the story all of the characters are constantly debating what the true cause of Hamlet’s madness may be. After Ophelia describes her experience with Hamlet, it is Polonius that assumes that Ophelia’s rejection is Hamlets issue. This is typical Polonius trying to create false assumptions to involve himself in royal affairs. Ophelia develops as character because by the end of the act she is interacting with Hamlet and not letting his harsh words affect her as much as they should.
Claudius: He enters in scene two as he is discussing plans to spy on Hamlet with the help of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Claudius is no different than any other character, considering he is plotting against his own son/nephew. The fact that Claudius put his trust in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern was not one of his smartest moves…. If he even has smart moves. It didn’t take Hamlet long to realize exactly what Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were up to. This is typical Claudius looking out for only himself but not in the most practical manner. I think that Claudius doesn’t fully think through his actions as much as Hamlet does, which untimely leads to his death. I do not think Claudius develops as a character throughout the play. The only changes in attitude we see from him is his occasional outbursts of grief, but they never last long.
Gertrude: This scene amplifies her apathetic attitude. She tends to go along with whatever ideas Claudius arranges. I don’t think she is a very strong character. She knows that Hamlet is very close to R & G, but of course she goes along with the Kings plan.
Voltemand & Cornelius: These men are the ambassadors that Claudius sent to Norway. Their only purpose is to report to Claudius that Fortinbras will not be attacking Denmark.
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern: Friends of Hamlet who obey the Kings orders of getting to the bottom of Hamlets madness. I don’t think they were exactly comfortable will going behind Hamlets back, but there was no way that they could disrespect a King. They were stuck in a bad situation. They also arranged for the players to come to Denmark to put on a play for Hamlet. I don’t see any development in these characters. They are no different than the other characters because they are deliberately plotting against a friend, even if they didn’t want to do it in the first place.
The players: The players serve almost as a wake up call to Hamlet. Hamlet realizes that he is the one that should be feeling the deep pain from his loss, not one of the players. The player helps Hamlet realize that he needs to dedicate his life to getting revenge on his uncle.
Significant Quotes
Disease and poison
“Polo.- Madam, I swear I use no art at all.
That he is mad, ‘tis true. Tis true, ‘tis pity,
And pity ‘tis ‘tis true—A foolish figure,
But Farewell it, For I will use no art.” Pg. 93
In this comical excerpt, Polonius is restating the fact that Gertrude, the King, Polonius and Ophelia all believe Hamlet to be insane. Hamlet’s “insanity” (some may argue that even though Hamlet is admittedly pretending to be insane, just the idea and ability to pull off such a feat proves that he is in fact insane and just doesn’t know or accept it) is an enormous driving factor in the play as a whole. His insanity causes Polonius to snoop on Hamlet, and eventually leads to the slaying of the concealed Polonius. The combination of Polonius’s death and Hamlets apparent rejection and current behavior eventually drives Ophelia out of her mind and leads to her eventual presumed suicide. The idea of insanity is nestled deep in the roots of this play, and can cause characters to become polar opposites of themselves at times, specifically Hamlet and Ophelia.
Appearance vs. Reality
“Polo.- (Aside) Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.” Pg102
This aside occurs when Polonius and Hamlet are conversing and Hamlet appears insane for one of the first times. After Polonius and Hamlet go back and forth for a while, with Hamlet doing his best to sound crazy, Polonius realizes something is askew. The famous comment that there is a method to his madness shows that Polonius might be a shady and foolish character sometimes, but he is not easily fooled. He can tell that although Hamlet appears to be speaking gibberish, there is really meaning behind his illogical statements and phrases. Polonius still thinks that Hamlet is insane, he is just commenting that even an insane person’s words can have gravity. The madness that Hamlet portrays when talking to others sparks a chain of events that will eventually lead to many tragic deaths at the end of the play.
“Polo.- What do you think of me?
Clau.- As of a man faithful and honorable.
Polo.- I would Fain prove so.” Pg. 97
In this sequence, Polonius is starting up his argument to the king to let him spy on his daughter and Hamlet to see if she is the reason behind his madness. It appears that Polonius is attempting to help the king and prove himself an “honorable and faithful” man in his eyes. However, we learn that in reality Polonius is just using this as an excuse to spy on his daughter and her lover, and he is really a deceitful and coward of a man. Polonius is developing into more of a shady and slimy character as he begins to start his obsession with spying on Hamlet and sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. The fact that Polonius is starting to become interested in spying is setting up for the scene where his is stabbed while spying in Gertrude’s chambers. That scene starts the sequence of events that eventually leads to almost every main character’s gruesome demise.
Revenge
“Ham.- Remorseless, Treacherous, lecherous, Kindless villain!
O Vengeance!
Why, What an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murdered,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words
And fall a-cursing like a very drab,
A scullion! Fie upon’t, foh!
About, my brain.” Pg.131
Hamlet is grappling with the idea of seeking revenge against Claudius for the murder of his father, but something is holding him back and Hamlet hates this about himself. Hamlet envies the players who can summon emotion about a character that is not real or has no significant meaning to them while he cannot build up the courage to take action against his father’s own murderer. This excerpt contains one of the play’s major issues, which is the issue of Hamlet deciding between action and observation. Hamlet denies and denies himself the opportunity of seeking revenge, and this frustrated him because he feels like his is being a coward. This frustration Hamlet builds up finally erupts in the last act of the play when Hamlet takes action and exacts his revenge…sort of.
Fortune fate and Providence
“Ham.- The Spirit that I have seen
May be the Devil, and the Devil hath power
T’ assume a pleasing shape. Yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my Melancholy,
As he is very potent with such Spirits,
Abuses me to damn me.” Pg. 113
In this section of Hamlet’s final soliloquy that closes out the act, Hamlet is pondering how the ghost he saw could possibly be a demon that is attempting to mislead him. This idea is one of the major reasons Hamlet does not seek action against his Uncle right away after his encounter with the ghost. Instead, Hamlet decides to wait for an opportunity to see if the king truly is guilty, and this opportunity comes when the players come to the castle. After the king storms out of the play, all of his second guessing about the ghost are thrown out the window and he starts to plot his revenge.
Style
hyperbole
● “....The majestical roof fretted with golden fire..” (p.161-Hamlet)
● “...He would drown the stage with tears..” (p.179-Hamlet-Soliloquy)
● “...This is most excellent..” (p.181- Hamlet’s soliloquy)- Here Hamlet is exaggerating on his faults and fears in not being able to fully addresses the issues that is he witnessing/experiencing
simile
● “Yet I, a dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause.” (p.179-Hamlet’s soliloquy)
● “..Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other….as if he has been loosed out of Hell..” (p.133- Ophelia to Polonius)- her terrifying encounter with Hamlet :“the mad-man”