Blog Post #24: Hamlet: Act IV Character Perspective

Heat rises to my cheeks as I read Peter Seng’s ridiculous interpretations of Ophelia’s words. Certainly, she is not -- as Cladius suggested -- “Divided from herself and her fair judgment, / Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts” (4.5.79-81). Ophelia is intelligent, balanced, and well-protected -- I refuse to believe that my actions sparked her crazed thoughts and ballads.

I can agree with Seng’s basic interpretations. He points out that, “That the ballad relates to the death of Polonius -- is not wrong; it simply does not go far enough. The song does, after all, tell of a loved one who was unexpectedly died and who has been buried without loving rites” (Seng, 217). I disagree with Seng because I believe it must be more than relate to Polonius or myself; in fact, it also ties to my father’s death.

In noting this connection, I am certain that Ophelia is not of unsound mind. Ophelia, like myself, must be acting! “Though this be madness, yet there is a method in't” (2.2.199). Her ballad, referencing the burial without “loving rites” was most certainly a snub towards my mother, achieved through her crazed tone. In this state of mind, Ophelia can say and do anything; they will not punish her or be offended! I am certain that this insulting my mother is Ophelia’s way of supporting. She is not crazed.

Seng, indeed, noticed these chides as well. “That obviously interpolated negative chides Gertrude for her inadequate mourning for King Hamlet, and perhaps for worse offences as well” (218, Seng). Strangely enough, Seng did not see these chides as evidence for the mental sanity of Ophelia. She had to be acting! I refuse to believe that my love lost her mind.

Ophelia’s exaggerated points are not missed by Gertrude. “Which bewept to the grace did not go with true-love showers” (4.5.39-40) In fact, it is clear that Gertrude is affected by them; when asked to see Ophelia she exclaims that “Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss/ So full of artless jealousy is guilt,/ It spills itself in fearing to be spilt” (4.5.18-20). Gertrude sensed the impending disaster of losing her guard and being exposed in public as an adulterous and undeserving wife of the King.

Perhaps I am doing it again -- you know, the whole rationalizing thing. Perhaps I am wrong. Could I have truly caused Ophelia so much hurt that she has gone mad?

After all, she refers to what she assumed to be her future mother in law as “beauteous Majesty of Denmark” (4.5.22). And then, of course, there’s Seng’s point:

“Ophelia’s song begins with an imaginary wayfarer’s echo of her simple query about her missing lover; it ends with the equally simple statement about his burial in a foreign land. Hamlet has been laid to earth by strangers, and without the tribute of Ophelia’s true-love tears. Such a burial is a foreshadowing of her own barren rites a few scenes later in the unconsecrated plot of Elsinore churchyard” (Seng, 219). Well.

I did not predict that Ophelia’s story would end in such an untimely death. I cannot believe the misfortune that is my life! First my father, now my love?! How much more can Cladius take away from me?

Thoughts Hamlet

@ToBeOrNotToBe: Why is Cladius so quick to point out Ophelia’s lack of a rational mind, when he himself holds no shame? #Where’sYourConscience ?

@ToBeOrNotToBe: “Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality” #CheshireCatWisdom #LewisCarroll

@ToBeOrNotToBe: A hasty funeral #WhereAreYourTearsGertrude

@QueenGertrude: I feel so guilty! I can feel karma just around the corner… #Can’tWinForTooLong #WhoWillBringMyDemise ? #Scared

@TheFlowerGirl: That beautiful queen, Gertrude #lying #adulterous #conniving #subtweet #ThoughtsOphelia #GotYourBackHamlet

Blog Post #23: Hamlet: Act III Character Perspective

Blog Post #22: Hamlet: Act II Character Perspective

“What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.”

It seems as though we make up everything in our heads.

Though the voice of the King’s ghost echoes in my ears, I am reminded that ghosts cannot be real and that it must all be in my head. Perhaps things are not as they seem, but more likely, perhaps my imagination is running wild. Have I created this character -- promoted this evidence of Cladius’ guilt -- to soothe my anger, my discontent with the aftermath of my father’s death? Indeed, “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” (2.2.236-237) and perhaps it is time to admit that I have made Cladius as so…

Just as Quentin, in Paper Towns, creates Margot to be far more than a person, fixing his irrational desires and hopes upon her -- or, more accurately, his idea of her.  But how could Margot’s disappearance -- the disappearance of a girl who existed far more in Quentin’s mind than in reality -- spark such a grand reaction in him? If their relationship was within his imagination -- if it was fake -- how could he have been sprung into action? “What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, / That he should weep for her?” (2.2.484-485)

A teenage boy can be so moved, so incontestably changed by the disappearance of a girl and I -- a prince and son of a KING sit idly by, rationalizing reality until it is diminished into nothing. Quentin Jacobson can carry out an entire investigation, embark on an endless car ride to New York, and search fruitlessly for Paper Towns simply in the name of a girl, yet I -- I sit alone in denial, convincing myself into inaction, avoiding the truth.

“Am I a coward?” (2.2.497)

Undeniably, it must be true! This generation’s latest fads have outed real art, still an insignificant story about a teenager’s trivial obsession over a girl holds more passion than I am exhibiting for the revenge of my father! Margo and Quentin’s pranks on her ex-friends reeked of far more resentment than my plan to kill Cladius!

Nay, I must relax. Although I may appear to be melting into a puddle of my tears, I know that “Though this be madness, yet there is a method in't” (2.2.199). Though I may feel impatient for revenge, I am certainly not a coward. My plan is in the works.  Just as Quentin’s search for Margo took time, my plot to punish Cladius must run its course.

Ultimately, “The play's the thing,/ Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king” (2.2.532-533)

Thoughts Hamlet

@ToTweetOrNotToTweet: We see things the way we want to see them #Perspective #TheBreakfastClub #MargoRothSpieglman

@ToTweetOrNotToTweet: How can I sit idly by, when others feel such strong emotions for such trivial things? #WhatAmIDoing #SelfDoubtIsCrippling #Ugh

@ToTweetOrNotToTweet: Am I? #Coward #InactionIsFrustration #IWantToKillCladius #EarPoison

@ToTweetOrNotToTweet: Revenge is best served cold? No. Revenge is best served carefully, calculated, and cold. Cold like an icicle stabbed deep, deep within the heart... #I’mComingForYouCladius #Can’tStopMeNow #SubtweetingLikeABoss

@ToTweetOrNotToTweet: I’ll Get You My Little Pretty! @KingCladius #WizardOfDenmark #WickedKingoftheDanes

Blog Post #21: Hamlet: Act I Character Perspective

The tables of life are turning far too quickly for me to maintain my balance.

Days earlier, I was the content, scholarly Prince and student of Wittenberg -- but today I have nothing to lay my claim to. No longer am I in attendance at Wittenberg and no longer am I a content Prince. In a matter of days, I lost all things to which I attached my identity. Nevertheless, the state of Denmark’s crown is not the product of an unfortunate loss but the backwash of a calamitous robbery.

As the ghost -- my father? I am still unsure of what to call him -- mentioned, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life / Now wears his crown.” (1.5.38-39). My uncle, I am certain, is responsible for these horrifying events. And my mother, by jumping onto the marriage wagon so quickly -- even when ““the funeral bak’d meats / Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables” (1.2.180-181) -- is nothing short of an adulterous accomplice to Cladius’ contrivances.

And, now, I am left with nothing. Though my broken ties with my mother may have been voluntary, I did not surrender my connections to my father willingly. Still, I must come to terms that I will never have a father figure, like Laertes does. Never again, will I gain unsolicited -- yet crucial -- advice. Oh, how I long to hear my father remind me in his booming voice, “This above all: to thine own self be true” (1.3.78)

Woe is me. “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world!” (1.2.133-134)

Everything has gone wrong, and yet, the worst days of my life have served as Cladius’ best. It is gravely suspicious of how quickly he came to secure the throne and don the royal robes. Maybe it is a testament to my instability, but the ghost is the only person in this kingdom who makes sense to me.

Indeed, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” (1.4.90)

Perhaps it is time for revenge...

Thoughts Hamlet

@ToTweetOrNotToTweet: @KingCladius you give royalty a bad name #ShotThroughTheHeart #Ow

@ToTweetOrNotToTweet: S/o to the priest for officiating a funeral & wedding back2back -.-  #CrapCladiusDoes @KingCladius jumping the gun are you?

@ToTweetOrNotToTweet: Missing dad’s wise words :( #UnsolicitedAdvice #YouDoYou

@ToTweetOrNotToTweet: Everything sucks butt #ThoughtsHamlet #WoeIsMe #ScrewYouCladius (and you too, mom)

@ToTweetOrNotToTweet: @Ghost & I are coming for you @KingCladius. Watch out. #IKnowWhat’sUp #Can’tFoolMe #Can'tStopWon'tStop #ToThineOwnSelfBeTrue