Thursday, March 8, 2012

DRJ #3: Hamlet, Act III


Initial Reaction:  When the “play within a play” starts it reminded me of a junior high play. It’s a weird comparison but for some reason it just reminded me of that. Without the sexual remarks.

Character Analysis: :  I chose Ophelia for the third act character analysis. She is weak and passive and we see this every time she agrees to do what her father, Polonius suggest she do. She doesn’t have much say and is compared to Gertrude through Hamlet. Ophelia is placed into the same pool of woman that Gertrude is in by Hamlet, could be said by saying, “they drink the same water”. Hamlet’s phrase says it all, “I have heard of your paintings too, well enough.”

Theme Analysis:  One particular theme that stands out to me most is revenge. Hamlet creates this “play within a play” to get a reaction out of Claudius so he can get revenge on him. Then when Hamlet sees Claudius vulnerable and gets the chance to kill him he decides not too but it seems to easy at the moment. If he kills him then and there Hamlet won’t get his full revenge. Claudius is praying at the moment and if he kills him then he will go to heaven but he doesn’t want him to go to heaven but to hell.

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