DRJ #1: Act I
Allison Hartsell
No one in Act I reminds me of anyone I
know specifically. When Polonius warns Ophelia to guard her virtue
from Hamlet, it seems a very common warning from fathers to their
daughters. King Hamlet being killed by his shady brother (possibly)
sounds a bit like The Lion King.
I am going to
focus on Claudius, because I sense that I'm going to like him the
least. If the ghost of Hamlet Sr. is not a liar, then Claudius is not
a hero, but certainly has a fatal flaw: greed. I don't know yet if he
wanted Hamlet's kingdom or simply his wife, but in either case, the
willingness to murder his own brother by sneak attack is
just...shady. I would not say that the conflict he creates is caused
intentionally (yet—hard to say right now, as I'm only through Act
II); I don't think he wanted anyone to find out about his murdering
of Hamlet Sr. He should be quite comfortable, having inherited the
queen and the kingdom of Denmark. The supposed purity and perfection
of the dead King Hamlet quite contrasts Claudius' intentions and
behavior.
If I had to choose
one theme to focus on during Act I (and it turns out I do, because
that's the assignment), I would say it is this: through the way he
has constructed his female characters, he is suggesting that women
are easily seduced. *Disclaimer: I do not agree with this, I'm just
accusing Shakespeare of thinking so. At 1.2.146, the protagonist
Hamlet says, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” This is sparked by the
fact that his mother recovered from the death of Hamlet Sr. so
quickly, easily trapped by Claudius. Shakespeare probably would not
have used his most significant character to state such a thing if he
did not believe so himself. In addition, Ophelia needs directions
from both her brother and father to protect her virtue from Hamlet.
Ophelia suggests to her father Polonius that Hamlet loves her, to
which Polonius responds, “Affection!Pooh! You speak like a green
girl/Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.” (1.3.101-102). Both
of these women require little coaxing to fall in love/lust with men,
and both approach romance with naivete.
Same here with me, I choose Claudius for my character analysis because he is my least like character. I know this is just a drama story, but yeah, lol.
ReplyDeleteI agree about your analysis on Shakespeare's theme. Not at all true for strong women. I don't like Claudius that much.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comparison to the Lion King...I think that movie is a spin of this tragedy. Claudius does seem very shady and covers it well with the way he talks. I'm not sure if I agree with the comment on easily seduced women, though. I simply think times were different in those days between the roles of men and women.
ReplyDeleteI do see how Shakespeare's view on women is that they are naive and quick to fall in love and be seduced by the most powerful man at that time. Gertrude and Ophelia were dummies to me. I do not agree with the role that the women have to play in Shakespeare's literature however.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your theme of how women are easily seduced. I also got the feeling that Shakespeare was also trying to illicit that women were only good for sex. Every women in the story was called a whore or lustful. Even 'lady luck'.
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