The opening scene where Hamlet confronts his mother has the conflict between characters that one might assume to have a serious tone, but the overall disturbing sexual tension between mother and son as well as the humorous one-liners that Hamlet and Polonius give make for a scene that leaves the audience wondering where the line of reality is drawn.
Hamlet, finally making up his mind to kill who he believes to be the king, accidentally kills Polonius instead. From what we have learned about his inner conflict about the guilt he feels about killing another person, I would have assumed that he would have been devastated about killing another person. However, this is not how Hamlet feels. Hamlet almost immediately accuses Polonius of being a fool and deserving his death because he was spying on him. And in another shift in character, Hamlet very quickly moves on from the murder of Polonius and attacks his own mother in a very cruel, disturbing, and sexual fashion. Frankly, I do not agree with the argument that Hamlet is in love with his mother sexually. However, that being said, I do not understand his reasoning for discussing such intimate details with his mother. Was it because of his fractured relationship with Ophelia? Was it because of his lack of attention he receives from his mother? Or was it because of the betrayal he felt from his mother’s marriage to his uncle?
Directly following this scene, Gertrude illustrates her conflict of protecting her husband or protecting Hamlet. After she witnesses Polonius’ death by the hands of Hamlet, she goes to inform the king. This gives us insight into where her loyalties actually lie. She had the opportunity to help Hamlet, he actually begged her to stop seeing the king, but she made the choice to protect the king’s wellbeing rather than her son’s. I am surprised that she continues to be loyal to her husband even after Hamlet reveals that it was he who murdered her former husband. I have a suspicion that she was aware of Claudius’ role in the death of Hamlet Sr. , but she did not know the extent to which he was involved. This would explain why she did not make more of a scene and choose to help her son rather than the king.
What was also surprising to me was the fact that Claudius was so eager to send Hamlet off to his death in England. It was only a few scenes ago where Claudius was so desperate to pray and repent for killing Hamlet Sr. Not only this, but he continues to use Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to his advantage by sending them to pry information out of Hamlet regarding the location of Polonius’ body. Hamlet then begins to act insane and avoid answering questions. I am unsure at this point if Hamlet’s faux insanity has turned into real insanity. Between the death of his father, the tension with Ophelia, the betrayal of his mother, and the betrayal of his good friends, I think that the confrontation that he has with his mother is his breaking point. I no longer believe that Hamlet is faking his insanity because at this point there is every reason for him to actually be insane.
Last but not least, Hamlet is sent off to England where he runs into Fortinbras who is attempting to take a worthless tract of land in Poland. Hamlet is inspired by the focus that Fortinbras has towards his goal of claiming the land. Hamlet ends the scene with a very ironic statement that from now on all of his thoughts will be bloody (meaning he will focus on the murder of Claudius). This is ironic because he has literally just murdered Polonius, and he has already forgotten about it.
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