Hamlet Part 2

Today in class, we had a discussion about the ghost’s intentions. Is the ghost noble or selfish? One could make an argument about either side. The ghost’s revelations obviously had a profound impact on Hamlet. After Hamlet learned what really happened from the ghost, he becomes consummated by these revelations. His mental stability is also in question after seeing the ghost. In Elizabethan times, a ghost was a bad omen. Many thought that ghosts were the spirits that reached neither hell nor heaven. They sought eternal salvation by “working off” their sins in purgatory. In that sense, maybe the ghost was trying to restore order. Thus, the ghost’s intentions would be pure and noble. The counter argument to that would be the fact that the appearance of the ghost itself disrupts order. Also, some would say that the ghost’s intentions are not noble because it planted seeds of revenge in Hamlet. Regardless of the ghost’s intention, the ghost greatly affects Hamlet. Hamlet becomes all disheveled and approaches Ophelia. There is irony in the scene with Ophelia and Hamlet because Ophelia believes that Hamlet looks all depressed because she listened to her father’s advice of not seeing him anymore. The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia isn’t lucid at all. Shakespeare never directly states their relationship. The audience knows that they both have some feelings towards each other. But, the audience doesn’t know the extent of their relationship. In some of the renditions of the play, Ophelia and Hamlet are portrayed as a real couple. In other renditions, they are portrayed as people who have feelings for each other but haven’t had the chance to express their love for each other. Their relationship also led some people into thinking that Hamlet was just “playing” without Ophelia since he is a prince and she’s not worthy enough. However, I think that act 2 disproved that view of Hamlet. The fact that Hamlet visited Ophelia is significant. It shows that in times of despair and unrest, he comes to Ophelia. In other words, Hamlet has opened up to Ophelia. That scene is also interesting because Polonius was in it as well. In the video we saw today, Polonius was secretly observing the pair. Polonius as well as Ophelia doesn’t know why Hamlet is really acting the way he is. As a result, they both begin to think that Hamlet looks so depressed because he is separated from Ophelia. An interesting point to note here is Polonius’s character. From spying on his son to his daughter, Polonius seems like a very conniving kind of character. Also, in the court with the king, he manipulates the ambassadors in an attempt to try to impress everyone. That brings me to King Claudius. He is definitely worried about Hamlet and “hires” Hamlet’s childhood friends to spy on him. In that sense, King Claudius and Polonius are alike. I look forward to reading rest of the play as I want to see Hamlet revenge his father’s death.