Your daily dose of thought

Monday 26 October 2015

Hamlets Intellect - To be or not to be?

William Shakespeare exploits Hamlets wit and intellect from the very moment he walks on stage. This is done through his dialogue with the Kings counsel; Polonius. Hamlet insults him with phrases that could potentially have double meaning and he does so whilst also reading a book which leaves Polonius perplexed as to whom Hamlets words are directed to and he persists on making sense of them. I feel as if this draws the audience into the play and introduces them to Hamlets calibre of thought, height of wit, and ability to make even an advisor look like a fool.

After Hamlets banter session with Rosencratz and Guildenstern, Hamlet becomes more serious and starts to reflect on his own melancholy state. He refers to both his parents as "uncle-father and aunt-mother" and this, in my opinion, is a perfect summation of how emotionally attached he feels to both of them - calling them aunt and uncle shows that he feels no nuclear family connection to them. This also shows that at times he feels mad but at other times he feels sane. He is psychologically stretched to two different extremes of mental well-being and cause of all this is the idea that his father might want vengeance. Hamlet decides to settle this by commanding the actors re-enact the alleged murder scene and hope for a response from Claudius. Players and actors were expected to perform for the royalties during Shakespearean era; an idea that has been nicely interweaved with the storyline. In his soliloquy, Hamlet compares his indecisiveness to bad actors.


 Like Hamlet, Fortinbras is the grieving son of a dead king, a prince whose uncle inherited the throne in his place. But where Hamlet has sunk into despair, Fortinbras has devoted himself to the pursuit of revenge. Here, it is important mainly to note that Fortinbras’s uncle has forbidden him to attack Denmark but has given him permission to ride through Denmark on his way to attack Poland. It is notable that Claudius appears indifferent to the fact that a powerful enemy will be riding through his country with a large army in tow. Claudius seems much more worried about Hamlet’s madness, indicating that where King Hamlet was a powerful warrior who sought to expand Denmark’s power abroad, Claudius is a politician who is more concerned about threats from within his state. This highlights where the kings priorities lie and the fragility of his relationships within his own household.

 
Share This
Designed By Blogger Templates