Monday, October 18, 2010

Is Fortinbras Right In His Assessment Of Hamlet?

In my opinion, Fortinbras could not be more wrong on his assessment of Hamlet.
He claims that Hamlet would have "proved most royal" had he been given a chance. 
If you look at everything that happens within the play, there is nothing kingly about him!!
The first thing Hamlet could have done that would have been royal was prevent the too-soon marriage of his mother and his uncle.  A royal may have stood up for what he believed was right (not adultery, in this case) and now, being the protector of his mother after his father's death, put his foot down and said "No!  It has only been two months since your husband, my father, died.  I demand you grieve some more!"
That would have been very royal, and many may have held him in a very high esteem.
Even if he didn't put to rest the idea of his mother's remarriage, a good, noble thing to have done would have been, having learnt of his father's murder, to have chopped Claudius' head off in vengeance (something which would have been respected and honoured in the day of the play).  Instead, he does something which seems meak and weedy, and pretends to go insane.
The author of this does not in the slightest see how madness would help in this situation.
Fortinbras must KNOW that Hamlet went mad.
So how has he come to the conclusion that Hamlet would have made a fit king?  Ridiculous.
The next thing Hamlet does that I disagree with is the fact that, whilst mad, Hamlet bares himself infront of the woman he has seduced.  That is not in the least royal, regal, noble, or however you call it.  This is humiliating for Ophelia, and not even a tiny bit dignified, which kings always seem to be.
So Hamlet is being highly unkingly now, and continues to be for the rest of the play.
In actual fact, the only good things that this author can see about Hamlet is that he does want revenge (yet goes entirely the wrong way about it), and then has a duel.
The duel is a noble thing to do.
I'm unclear as to the reason they duel.  Possibly for Laertes' father's honour, or Ophelia's honour.  But I'm not sure.  At least this part is in all fairness.
This is the only part however.
The rest of the play is spent with Hamlet dashing about the castle acting like someone out of an asylum, when he could actually be doing something useful with his time, like defending his father's honour, ending his mother's adulterous marriage, or, and this would be the best ending in my opinion, getting Ophelia's hand in marriage, forgetting the whole affair with the murder and the adultery and the throne, and taking Ophelia off to somewhere nicer, or warmer, and marrying her there, having a whole bunch of good looking babies, and being generally happy with life.
So no.  Fortinbras is NOT right in that Hamlet would have made a great king.  He was a philosopher and a pansy.

The End Of Hamlet, Having Lost Which Act We Got Up To

WELL.
About time some people died. 
Okay, since last time I typed this thing, Hamlet Jr has come running back from wherever he was (he never got as far as England, where he was sent by Claudius to get killed off because he'd gone batty.) and found Ophelia's funeral.
He didn't even realise she was dead.
So NOW he declares massive great love for the woman who made flower garlands to wear whilst she drowned herself, which has made room for a LOVELY picture by Millais, here featured:


This painting is the ONE reason I am glad Ophelia died in Hamlet.
But I digress.
When Hamlet finds Ophelia's funeral, possibly the one bit of true madness happens, (as far as Hamlet is concerned) and he throws himself into her grave, swiftly followed by her brother, who is understandably angered.
They have a bit of a tiff.
Hamlet is dragged out of the grave by Horatio, and Hamlet has a bit of a grieve.
The inherent and unending issue I still have with this is that NONE of the bad guys are dead.
Or are they?
Previous to this, Hamlet sent a letter to the King saying that he was on his way back, having been attacked by pirates, and brought back to Denmark by them.
Personally, this seems more than unlikely.
My experience of pirates, though limited, suggests that they are a wee bit bloodthirsty, and, even if they were not to kill him, surely they would get a ransom for him.
So here's my theory.
He killed off Rosencrantz and Gildernstern sharpish, then legged it back on a rowing boat or something.
Although, personally, I'm not even sure they got as far as the ship.  Possibly, Hamlet got his big sword out and knocked em off before they even got as far as the sea.
So anyway.
Hamlet is BACK.
And Hamlet is MAD.
Not mad mad.  Angry mad.  You get it.
Anywho.
Hamlet is angry, because Ophelia is dead and he STILL hasn't avenged his father's death.
He REALLY wants Claudius dead. 
This is NOT however what he immeadiatly goes off to do, like a normal, vengeful person would.
OH no. 
He waits a bit, then gets challenged to a duel by Ophelia's brother.
So yeah, that seems like the honorable thing to do.  
Now, if only that was what Ophelia's brother was thinking.
Pfft.
He's poisoned his sword so that one single little scratch will kill Hamlet.
Niiiice.   Very much a decent thing to do. Uh, not.
Now, you'd think that'd be enough for brother dearest.
HA.
He's scheming with the King to get rid of Hamlet, so the King also poisons the drink that Hamlet will have so that he is DEFINATELY dead.
Oh dear.
This is not looking good for Hamlet.
So, Hamlet and the brother guy start their duel, and it begins pretty well, with fairness and all.
THEN it gets bad.
They take a quick break to refresh themselves, and Hamlet's mum has a drink to toast to Hamlet's health and success.  The drink the King poisoned.
So she's going to die.
She doesn't die instantly, however.
First off, Hamlet and the brother start fighting again.
Brother scratches Hamlet.
Somehow the swords swap, and Hamlet scratches brother.
NOW the queen collapses.
The king claims it's because she doesn't like seeing blood.
She goes, no, the drink was poisoned, and promptly dies.
Brother has also collapsed onto the floor, and goes, yeah Hamlet, sorry about that, but the sword is poisoned too.  You're gonna die, I'ma die, and the king was the one that poisoned your ma.
Hamlet gets very angry, even more than usual, and FINALLY kills the king by forcing him to drink the poison that killed his ma.
Then the brother dies.
Right now, Hamlet, Horatio, and the one that's a bit of a fop are the only ones left alive.
At which point, having heard the prince of Norway heading in his direction, he leaves the country of Denmark in the capable hands of the man who's invading them, and dies.
Okay.
So let's summarise the whole of Hamlet.
King Hamlet dies.
Claudius becomes King.
Hamlet sees a ghost of his dad.
Hamlet wants to kill Claudius.
Hamlet goes mad, getting his bojangles out.
Hamlet kills Ophelia's dad.
Ophelia kills herself.
Everyone else dies.
Elements of tragedy?
I think the fact that everyone dies is fairly tragic, especially the hero, who in my opinion was NOT all that heroic and instead a wuss.

Didn't really like Hamlet, honestly.
THIS is a good tragedy.
This is the Lady Of Shallot.
All King Arthur and the like.
Rather amazing.
Here's a painting :
Have a good read.

Monday, October 11, 2010

The nice little endy bit of Act Three, blurring in with Act Four.

WELL.
That is more goddamn like it!!
Some death!
This is what I was waiting for.
So Hamlet runs off to his ma's room because she wants to talk to him, maybe hoping that, just maybe, she's realised that Claudius killed her first husband, and so he can tell her what's really going on.
Alas.
She calls Claudius his dad and says that Hamlet has upset him.
I think this probably started making Hamlet a fair bit angry, seeing as how, even after his dramatic efforts, no-one believes him that Claudius killed Hamlet Sr.
Although, to be honest, I'm querying if turning it into a play was the best idea, because now people of the court, thinking that he's gone a bit doo-lally as it is, are just going to tell him "No, dear, that was just a play."  So possibly there's the fact that Hamlet's master plan of wonderfulness is actually a bit rubbish.
And HE STILL HASN'T KILLED CLAUDIUS.
But I digress.
He runs into his mum's room and she goes "Alas, Hamlet, you've gone mental" (not exact words).
Then Hamlet starts mucking about, shoving her around and Polonius, from where he's hidden in her closet, freaks out and shouts for help.
So Hamlet stabs him.
This is actually fairly refreshing after his general pansiness of before.  He's previously been a bit of a weakling, and more of a thinker than a fighter, which, in Shakespeare, is a little bit disappointing.
But NOW he's stabbed his girlfriend's dad.
Wahey, really.
Much more exciting.  Before, there haven't been so many major plot twists.  Sure, espionage and forbidding and all sorts, but no real TWISTS, apart from that  big old "poison in the ear" thing.
So Hamlet has gone even more mental than before, possibly now sincerely mental.
Now it's really getting fascinating, and is becoming more compelling to read onwards and discover what's going to happen next, where before it was all a bit like "Oh, he's going to go mad.  Oh, he's got his bojangles out.  Oh, he's being packed off to England because they want him got rid of."
Now it's getting good.
So, he's killed the dad of his girlfriend.
And now SHE'S going mad.
Madness seems rather prevalent in this play, whether accidental (i.e. brought on by the brutal and unfortunate killing of the character's father) or put on (i.e. oh my God, Uncle Claudius killed my Dad, let's pretend to go mental). 
And so Ophelia, the lovely Ophelia, starts singing all over the place.
And when her brother shows up, trying to steal the throne from Claudius, he declares her insane and now has to grieve the loss of his father, his father's body, and now his sister's sanity.  Not a good day for Laertes.
Not that it won't get worse if he finds out that Hamlet not only stabbed his father to death, sent his sister mad and hid the father's body, but that the body is more than likely chopped into thousands of pieces because Hamlet rather let go of all his control and took his sword to the corpse.
Pretty mad.

Acts Two and Three of Hamlet

Hamlet starts getting dramatic when he goes and flashes Ophelia.
This is a bit like a big ole tragic scream, particularly from Hamlet Jr, as it's like a huge cry for help where he's gotten to the point where he's gone so mad he's getting his bojangles out.
There's also the MASSIVE GREAT HUGE pivotal moment where Hamlet Jr gets the actors to put on a performance of what he believes happened to his father, with the poisoning and the like.  Just prior to the performance, Hamlet does his "to be or not to be" speech.
There are LOADS of different opinions on this speech, and what the hell he's talking about.
Some people reckon he's discussing suicide, and whether or not to top himself.
Others think he's discussing whether or not he should continue existing at all.
I honestly think he's discussing whether or not ANYTHING should exist at all.
Which is a pretty cool thing to be thinking.
He's being a bit melodramatic, in my opinion, but it's actually pretty profound.  He wishes that we could all sleep, and never feel hurt again, but then realises that if we sleep, we are "perchance to dream", which is a bit rubbish, because they may be nightmares and that would just defy the point.  So really, he's contemplating the life, the universe and everything, which is average for a philosophy student, but cool for a prince who's gone a little bit mad.
When we get to the bit with the players, Hamlet Jr sets Horatio to watching the King to see what expression he has on his face when he realises the play is about him, and whether or not this look is of guilt or more "Eh?"
Turns out, VERY guilty, and off Claudius goes, ending the play and conspiring with Polonius.
After deciding Polonius will spy on Hamlet talking to his ma, Claudius prays.
Hamlet shows up, decides to kill him, then can't kill him because he's worried that, as he's praying, he'll go straight to heaven, when actually he'd rather he go to hell.
So he doesn't kill him.
I mean really.
Just get on with it, mate.

Monday, October 4, 2010

What I Reckon Of Hamlet So Far

Right so. 
Hamlet.
Bit of an idiot, really.
In his last soliloquy, which we just read, he's basically berating himself for doing a whole big bunch of stupid stupid things.
LIKE getting some actors to add in a speech to their play that directly references the tyranical murder of his father by his father's brother.
Right.  That'll help.
So, when the actors tell your father/uncle/thing EXACTLY what you did, and he finds out that you think he killed your dad, and he knows he killed your dad, and he gets mad, and he has you killed, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO THEN?
Apart from rotting in a grave, of course.
Okay, so let's think about what Hamlet Jr could have done to make it all better.
To start off with, he could have told his little guardy mates that they were being ridiculous, his dad was dead, and OBVIOUSLY ghosts don't exist.
Then, if that didn't happen, he could have just gone and chopped off his stepdad's head, rescued his mum and declared himself King Of Denmark.
OR given this Claudius bloke a piece of his own medicine and poured poison in his ear!!
NOT pretended to go mad.
If he wasn't already acting mad, I would debate whether or not he was going mad.
Clearly, he's got bats in the belfrey.
Okay, so now, having decided to go a bit mad (WHY HAMLET??? JUST GET YOUR BIG SWORD OUT, YOU MENTAL BLOKE!!), he goes and flashes the girl he's in love with AKA Ophelia.
Um.
Why?
Would it not just have been more sensible to, I don't know, danced around in jelly or something??
Equally mad, SO much less offensive.
He could have climbed a tree in the garden and sung christmas carols in June or something.
FLASHING WOMEN IS NOT THE WAY TO GO MAD.
Frankly, it's not mad, it's just a bit stupid.  Her dad could have had him killed for that.
My dad would have if I was Ophelia!!
Although, actually, if you think about it, he could have just gone to talk to his ma about the whole thing.
THAT would have him construed as a bit like a fruitcake, whether or not he actually saw a ghost.
In my honest and undying opinion, of which I have many about varying things here, Hamlet is going about this in entirely the wrong way.
To escape all the stress and such, get a horse, grab Ophelia and some cash, leg it to Switzerland.
They're neutral, will probably let you marry Ophelia, and then everything will be fine.
DUH.
Why didn't he think of that??

Hamlet, Act One.

Tragedy begins to be established in Hamlet's act one by the old King Hamlet being poisoned by his own brother.  This creates a position in which the villain is in charge of everything, and essentially winning.
Hamlet Jr is already somewhat coming down from being in his prime.  He was previously swanning around at university, getting his education, until the tragic demise of his father, then the wedding two months later of his mother to his uncle, the now King of Denmark.  Hamlet Jr considers this incestual, and is really rather angry about it all.
As the act moved on, the character of Hamlet Jr developed into a man we are rather confused by.  He begins relatively normally, and at that point we are sympathetic towards him and understanding of his plight.  Then he meets the ghost of his dead dad, has a chat with him, and, on hearing that his uncle/stepdad/king thing killed Hamlet Sr, he decides to pretend to be mad.
Um, what?
So, let me get this straight.
Your dad got killed by your uncle, who then started, in your opinion, to have an incestuous relationship with your ma, and you AREN'T going to go downstairs, where he's lying there a bit drunk, and chop his head off with your great big sword??
The character of Hamlet Jr here is being developed as the tragic hero, but one that we just don't understand at the moment.  He makes odd decisions and swears his soldiers to secrecy on the ONE thing that could help him, literally, get away with murder.
A tragic element already being portrayed is that of conflict in Ophelia.  She seems to be pretty mad over Hamlet Jr, but her brother and father are warning her away from him to the point of forbidding her from having anything to do with him.  So what does she do?