Polony is a Good Man

ACT II SCENE I

So far, we get the impression that Polony  is a manipulative man. In this particular scene, he sends a servant to gather information about how his son is faring in France, telling him to gain honest answers from Laertes’ acquaintances by using indirect language and by fabricating some minor bad habits Laertes practices. This, along with the earlier scene in which Polonius suspects Hamlet’s intentions behind pursuing his daughter, shows that Polonius is a man who is very confident in his own analysis of people. He seems to think humans other than himself are very simple-minded – he casts off Hamlet as some typical youth who wants to sleepeth with Ophelia, and now he assumes that Laertes’ French acquaintances can be easily fooled into spilling over the needed details. Makes me curious about Polony’s past. Why does he have such a low opinion of people? The fact that he’s sending a servant to secretly check up on his son could also further show his distrustful nature.

The scene continues with the entrance of a distressed and confused Ophelia, prodding Polonius to ask her what’s wrong (for the second time that we’ve seen them interact).

No matter how manipulative and judgmental Polonius seems, I can’t help but find his character interesting and somewhat likable. Also, what happens next shows that he is still a good father despite his evident flaws. Though he assumes too quickly that Hamlet’s actions are the result of love/lust, he still apologizes to his daughter for his misjudgment earlier and immediately takes action to do something about the situation by reporting it to the king. “Come, go we to the King. / This must be known, which, being kept close, might move / More grief to hide than hate to utter love.” (130-132) Or in other words, “this love might cause more grief if hidden than hatred if told about” (sidenote). Not only is he a distrustful and judgmental man, but he’s also a pessimistic one, and he wants to prevent the worst outcome possible.

The only motive I can see behind his prompt actions is his sincere concern for his daughter, Ophelia. In fact, all we have seen from Polonius so far is his strong role as a father in his children’s lives. First time we meet him, Polonius states that he’s upset to let his son go back to France after he had just come back to visit for King Claudius’ coronation (Act I Scene ii, 60-64). Then in Act I scene iii, he gives both Laertes and Ophelia each a lengthy piece of advice surrounding their situations. Now in Act II scene i, we see him playing the fatherly role again, as he dispatches a servant to keep an eye on his son and tries to solve his daughter’s problems. He also seems to be concerned about Hamlet’s own feelings now since lines 131-132 (quoted above) indicate that he’d rather let hatred sprout than to leave Hamlet to wallow in grief.

Murder Most Foul

Hey, am I the only one peeved here that WordPress has that annoying “Just another WordPress blog” dangling under the header? What do you mean just another WordPress blog, huh?

Haha anyways, moving right along.

ACT I SCENE V

I’m a little perplexed with what to make of the ghost’s character, and truthfully, I don’t think it’s safe at this point to judge King Hamlet’s character based on this scene alone. From what I’ve learned in the past, ghosts are supposed to be vengeful spirits of deceased people who refuse to “cross over” because they harbor some “unfinished business” in the realm of the living. Most ghosts do not behave like they normally did when they were alive. Usually they’re so preoccupied with securing their revenge that they rule out everything else, and present themselves as angry and bitter things. So, perhaps King Hamlet really was this valiant and courageous hero that his son had depicted him to be earlier in the play. We just can’t see that side of him right now because he’s too consumed in his anger as a vengeful ghost.

And King Hamlet does have good reason to be angry. He was robbed of his life, his title, and his wife by someone who he (probably) trusted the most – his very own sibling, Claudius! (“…by a brother’s hand / Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched…” 81-82) Evidently, he’s disgusted with his brother for his villainous actions. Not-so-evidently, he’s possibly hurt by his “most seeming-virtuous queen.” (53)

Actually, I’m actually a bit confused with how King Hamlet feels about his wife. He only commands his son to take revenge upon King Claudius, but doesn’t tell him to do the same to Gertrude. In fact, he seems to ask his son to leave her alone and to not have too much of a bad opinion of her.

“But, howsomever thou pursues this act,
Taint not they mind, nor let they soul contrive
Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge
To prick and sting her…” (91-95)

The heaven-bit of the passage given above seems to be his way of saying to leave her to feel the heavy burden of guilt instead. I’m not sure if King Hamlet is saying this out of mercy for his wife, or if he, in fact, is giving her an even harsher punishment than the one he has planned for Claudius, since living a life immersed in guilt and torment is arguably a lot more painful than just death. (Well, assuming that Hammy decides to go in for the kill. Which I think is pretty inevitable, since it’s Shakespeare and death/murder has to be involved somehow. An eye for an eye, no?) I personally thing it’s a bit of both. To me, it seems as if King Hamlet is asking his son to respect his mother. At the same time, because ghosty is still hurt by the fact that Gerty married Claudy after just a month of his death (short-lived mourning period!), King Hamlet’s vengeful ghost also wishes that she becomes aware of what she’s done.

Awww… how complicated & sad .

Though I do admit I got the chills towards the end of the scene when ghosty started shouting the words “Swear it!” over and over again, I always find myself sympathizing with ghosts whenever I find them floating about in a piece of fiction. (Looks like Hamlet‘s going to be no different!) Think about it. Yes, the ghost’s vengeful attitude is probably going to be the cause (or rather, one of the causes) of Hammy’s demise (this is called “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” after all) but we have to keep in mind the main cause of his hateful behavior (a “murder most foul”~!) as well as the fact that, again, he’s a ghost. A vengeful one. His only purpose to float around in the living world at the moment is for revenge. And until Claudius meets his end, he’s

“Doomed for a certain term to walk the night
And for the day confined to fast in fires
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away…” (15-18)

The sad thing I find about this is that even if the two Hammies get their revenge, I doubt that either will be satisfied with death on their hands. Claudius killed in order to get where is right now, killing him in turn is just stooping to his level. Killing him will eventually turn Hamlet evil in a way too, since hate never brings good.

PS. I TOTALLY did not write this at 4:00 AM. WordPress is a liar. >:I

Foreshadowing?

ACT I SCENE IV

So Hamlet finally meets the ghost, who we suspect for the moment, to be King Hamlet. Yet despite being the very two who led Hamlet to this fateful encounter, Horatio and Marcellus are against the idea of their royal friend going off with the ghost alone. Hamlet is determined to find out what the ghost has to say however, and in the end, tears himself away from his friends’ clutches and follows after it.

There are two main reactions to the ghost beckoning Hamlet to which we must pay attention – Hamlet’s reaction and Horatio’s and Marcellus’ reactions.

Hamlet appears desperate to know why his father has reappeared in his life. He insists on going, to the point that he even threatens to “make a ghost out of” his own friends if they did not let him go. Though some may perceive this as an extreme reaction, I think it’s pretty understandable, considering the grief he expressed earlier of his late father’s recent death.

Horatio’s and Marcellus’ reactions, though their comments also reflect the naturally concerned nature of friends/servants, are particularly interesting to me. Especially the part where Horatio warns Hamlet of the ghost’s intentions:

“What if it tempted you toward the flood, my lord?
Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff
…And there assume some other horrible form
Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason
And draw you into madness?” (77-82)

I wonder if it’s safe to assume that this is Shakespeare’s way of foreshadowing what’s to come? Although I doubt the ghost would lead him off a cliff – as that would be a very quick (& sad ._.) ending for our protagonist, and we’re only in the first scene – maybe it’s a figurative way of hinting that something terrible will happen as a result of this meeting. Something terrible that will especially hurt Hamlet, and perhaps even “draw him into madness.” Something terrible that would result in the ghost figuratively leading Hamlet off a cliff to his downfall.

The fact that both Horatio and Marcellus seem to have a gut feeling that something is wrong about this scenario further supports this point. Even though they’re lower in rank, they still think that their judgment of the ghost is better than Hamlet’s (“’tis not fit thus to obey him” 98) and follow after him despite the fact that he wants to be alone with the mysterious spirit.

Advices & Relationships

ACT I SCENE III

Like Ms. Maloney mentioned earlier in class today, this scene is jam-packed with characters giving advices: Laertes advises Ophelia on how to approach the whole affair with Hamlet. Polonius advises Laertes how to behave while he’s away. And finally, Polonius turns to Ophelia and gives his own two cents on how she should view Hamlet’s affections.

Laertes  & Ophelia
Judging from how Laertes speaks to Ophelia, it seems that these two siblings are pretty close to each other, as Laertes insists that Ophelia keeps in touch – “…sister, as the winds give benefit / And convey (is) assistant, do not sleep, / But let me hear from you” (2-4) – and Ophelia responds that she naturally will – “Do you doubt that?” (5).
The following advice he then gives to his sister naturally suits their closeness as siblings, as he warns her not to easily fall for Hamlet, reminding her that Hamlet is next in line for the throne. This means that if he married, he’d have to marry with the stability of his kingdom in mind.  Even if he did love Ophelia, there is a great possibility that he won’t be able to marry her due to his duty as future king. (Touché.)  Laertes also implies that Hamlet’s love is probably  an impulsive & immature one, a love that will not last long – “Forward, not permanent, sweet, but not lasting / The perfume and suppliance of a minute. / No more” (9-11).
I found Laertes’ concern for his sister particularly endearing, and his advice something that any caring brother would probably say. The advice itself is also pretty logical, as Ophelia seems to accept, although she does remind him not to condemn her “as some ungracious pastors do,” but rather, to guide her into following his advice.

Polonius & Laertes
I found Polonius’ enthusiasm for Laertes to leave a little strange. (“Yet here, Laertes? Aboard, aboard, for shame!” 60-61) Wasn’t he just saying in the scene prior about how he strongly insisted against Laertes going away? (“…wrung from me my slow leave / By laborsome petition, and at last / Upon his will I sealed by hard consent.” Act 1 scene 2 lines 60-63) What’s with the sudden change of attitude? Am I reading too much into this or was Polonius totally lying/acting earlier when he said he didn’t want to see his son go? Why are the two so eager for Laertes to leave anyway?
The advice Polonius gives Laertes is a bit odd as well, and could also shed some light on Polonius’ suspicious character. From keeping one’s thoughts to one’s self, listening to others’ judgments but reserving one’s own, never borrowing/lending money, etc., Polonius’ advice seems to reflect his own distrustful and self-reliant nature.

Polonius & Ophelia
From the very beginning, Polonius has been suspicious about his daughter’s relationship with Hamlet. While Laertes seems to have had prior knowledge about the whole situation – maybe Ophelia confided in him about it some time ago – Polonius has to prod his daughter to have her “give up the truth.” (Wow, it’s like he’s cornering a criminal or something.) But even before he gets the whole story straight from her, he says, “You do not understand yourself clearly,” indicating that he has an idea of what’s going on (shows that he’s a very sharp & observant guy) and has already judged her based on what he thinks he knows, or maybe definitely knows.
This makes him out to be very similar to those condemning, “ungracious pastors” Ophelia had mentioned earlier. Yet despite his nasty comments, his interruptions, and his rude attitude, Ophelia remains polite & formal with her father.  Maybe an indication that she is not as close with her father as she is with her brother, and that she knows that it’s useless to argue with the opinionated man.
As for the actual advice Polonius gives her, he’s pretty much saying that Ophelia would be a complete idiot to fall for sneaky Hammy’s trap. Harsh words. He’s completely ruling out the idea that Hamlet’s actually in love and assuming that Hamlet is just trying to reel her in for a sinful affair. As shown earlier when he was giving advice to Laertes, Polonius is a man who doesn’t seem to trust many people around him. He mixes in a lot of finance, diplomacy, and military-oriented phrases as well, which I believe further emphasizes that he is a man who laughs at the idea of “affection” and instead resorts to manipulative thinking.