Honestly, Hamlet really annoyed me throughout the play. He didn't DO anything. He just sat around judging everyone else. I thought he would move mountains to get revenge.... he holds a play... AND he thinks he can be the moral judge...?
Hamlet likens himself to a God while determining the fate of others. He didn't just want Claudius dead. He wanted Claudius in Hell. Ummmm, sorry Hamlet, but I think that's for God to decide. At the end of scene three, Hamlet decides to kill Claudius "when he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed... then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven, and that his soul may be as dam'd and black as hell..." (Act 3 Scene 3). Hamlet, who may possibly have had intimate relations with Ophelia and then basically abandoned her, is judging somebody else's love life. Even with Ophelia, Hamlet attempts to control her. He acts like God, commanding her to "take thee to a nunnery." He calls her a whore and says she needs to leave, because HE knows best.
He is very prone to judgement when it comes to women in general. I didn't think Hamlet would be misogynistic. Angry at his mother for re-marrying, he denounces ALL women by declaring "Frailty thy name is woman" (Act 2 Scene 2). He tried to judge the women and then interfere, trying to save them. He tells his own mother what to do... "either shame the devil or throw him out" (Scene 4 Act 3). He's running around tell everyone what to do. There is also the other meaning of nunnery. It is possible that Hamlet is also trying to save Ophelia here by telling her to go away because this world is so harsh. He could be trying to protect her. But even if he is trying to save his mother or Ophelia, he still doesn't get to run around pretending he knows best.
Honestly, I was surprised that Hamlet wasn't a teenager. Hamlet is very much like Grendel, judging and throwing fits, and even the existential void. But, Hamlet is an adult. He is 30 years old... He should know better. He ought to be mature at this point.
No comments:
Post a Comment