Hamlet Act 2 analysis continued

Today I am going to analyze act 2 scene two of William Shakespeare's famous play Hamlet. In the scene Claudius and Gertrude order Hamlet's friends to spy on him to find out the reason for his foul mood. Polonius than tell the king and queen about Hamlet's love for his daughter Ophelia. Polonius shows the royals love letters and poems that Hamlet has given to his daughter Ophelia as proof of his love for her. To further prove that Hamlet is in love with Ophelia, Polonius suggested that the Claudius, Gertrude, and himself should hide behind a current as Hamlet and Ophelia talk. They notice Hamlet walking while reading and Polonius offered to talk with the prince. Polonius attempts to converse with Hamlet, who appears insane; he calls the old man a “fishmonger” and answers his questions irrationally. Yet, Hamlet's words seem to have hidden meanings; Polonius mentioned that his replies were "pregnant" with meaning. As Polonius leaves Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter and talk with Hamlet. Hamlet asks why they were sent to him and his friends tell him that they were just visiting. The prince saw through this lie and said that he knows the real reason why they were there. I am going to paraphrase what Hamlet tells his friends; he told them, "I will tell you why. My anticipation will reveals how you are trying to prevent your discovery about your secrecy to the king and queen's demands. Lately I have lost all my happiness and stopped all my customs." This part of the scene is very important and may be one of the most important in this scene, because it shows the mirthless situation Hamlet is going through, since not only is his family trying to discretely spy on him they are using his best friends to do it. Furthermore, these lines are important, because it shows that Hamlet is fully aware of his family's plans and intentions, which can show that Hamlet is sane and fully aware of his situation. With these lines Shakespeare helps establish not only Hamlet's mirthless situation, but also his awareness of his family's discreet plans. These lines connect to early in the act when Polonius tells Claudius and Gertrude, " At such a time I'll lose my daughter to him./ Be you and I behind an arras then./ Mark the encounter." Polonius was telling the royal family about his secret plan to discreetly hid and watch Hamlet engaging with his daughter, so that it will prove Hamlet's madness; this connects to the lines I chose, since in both his family is developing plans to spy on Hamlet.

 

AP Lit Hamlet Act 2 analysis

                    Today I am going to analyze act 2 scene one of William Shakespeare's famous play Hamlet. In the scene Ophelia, visibly upset tells Polonius that Hamlet, unkempt and wild-eyed, has accosted her. Hamlet grabbed her, held her, and sighed heavily, but did not speak to her. Polonius tells her that Hamlet must be mad with his love for Ophelia, since she has distanced herself from him ever since he ordered her to do so. Polonius speculates that this love-sickness might be the cause of Hamlet’s moodiness, and he hurries to tell King Claudius of his idea. I am going to paraphrase what Polonius told Ophelia after she told him about Hamlet's recent actions; he told her, "Come with me. I will go to the king. Hamlet is very deep in love. His love sickness ruins himself. It causes his moodiness, just like any passion does on Earth." Ophelia has just told Polonius about how Hamlet grabbed her arm and did not speak. So, in this section of the scene, Polonius is saying that he will tell the king about Hamlet's love sickness. These lines are important because they clearly establish how people think that Hamlet is not in his right state of mind. Furthermore, the lines are important because they show that Polonius and Ophelia believe that Hamlet's love sickness is causing his abnormal behavior. Moreover,  the lines show that Polonius and Ophelia believe that they need to inform the king about how Hamlet's love with Ophelia is the cause of his abnormal state of mind. With these lines Shakespeare, helps portray to the audience how negatively Hamlet's love is viewed by everybody. These lines connect to another discussion about Ophelia and Hamlet's relationship in act one when Polonius told Ophelia, " You must not take fire. From this time. Be something scanter of your maiden presence" (1.3. 118-200). Polonius was telling Ophelia to avoid Hamlet and to not give him her virginity in act one, while in act two he tells her to avoid Hamlet, because and to come with him to tell the king about the relationship, because it is causing Hamlet's abnormal behavior. In both acts, Ophelia is told to avoid Hamlet, which is how the lines connect to each other. So clearly act two helps reinforce the fact that Polonius does not want Ophelia and Hamlet together. By deciding to discreetly go to the king and queen behind Hamlet's back, Polonius helps reinforce what Hamlet called him earlier in the play, a fish monger. Scene one of act two continues helps continue the negative chain of events on Hamlet's life, since Polonius is planning on telling the royal family about the prince's recent love.

Hamlet Act 1 Scene 4 Discussion

             Today I am going to analyze act 1 scene four of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. In the scene the king decides to throw a celebration, due to the fact that Hamlet is not going away for his studies. Hamlet describes to Horatio that the celebration makes a fool of the Danish people. Specifically in lines nineteen and twenty-one, Hamlet really insults his uncle's actions. I will paraphrase the lines Hamlet said. " This idiotic celebration, makes the Danes look foolish to other nations. They will think that the Danes are drunks and idiotic, the custom ruins the Dane's achievements, although many achievements were great." The key words here are "taxed" and " soil". The word "taxed" denotes " to lay a burden on; make serious demands on. In these lines, the word could refer to the disruption of the Dane's reputation, because of the king's disgraceful celebration and how that will result in other countries looking down on the country. The king lays a burden on his country; the word taxed is used to show that the king burden's his people through the celebration. Another definition of the word taxed is to make serious demands on; the word can show that the king's celebration makes a serious demand on his people, because in return for the celebration, the Dane's foreign reputation will be soiled. The word "soiled" can be either a noun or a verb. As a noun soil can be a country, land, or region but as a verb soil can mean to sully or tarnish, as with disgrace. Hamlet said the word soiled to represent both the fact that the king's celebration represented the country, land, and people of the country. Furthermore, the verb soil means to tarnish or sully, and Hamlet could have said soiled to show how the king's celebration tarnish's the Dane's reputation with foreign lands. Shakespeare put the words taxed and soiled for their double meanings in the scene to further portray Hamlet's disdain for Claudius's celebration. These lines are important because they clearly establish the state of anguish Hamlet feels about the king's celebration. These lines connect to act two when Hamlet says to his uncle, "  A little more than kin, and less than kind"(1.2. 65). In the lines in scene two, Hamlet was showing that he does not view his uncle highly and does not want to be very closely associated with him; this connects to the lines in scene four, because in both acts Hamlets detests his uncles actions, and scene two shows his lack of love for his uncle. He finds the party a disgrace to the Danes, and thinks that Danish achievements are becoming undermined, due to the disgracefulness of the king's celebration. With these lines, Shakespeare helps establish the fact that Hamlet dislikes almost everything that his uncle does. Hamlet spends much of the act complaining about a celebratory, which further demonstrates how much disdain he feels for his uncle, the king of the Danes.