Monday, November 15, 2010

Hopeless Hamlet

We were asked in class to take notice of the way the male characters in Hamlet attempt to control the sexuality of the female characters. Polonius and Laertes tell Ophelia in Act I to stay away from Hamlet and that his sentiments of love to her are invalid and not to be taken seriously. They believe Hamlet is a threat and they want to protect her virtue. Hamlet has an unusual interest in the love life of his mother and torments himself thinking about her being with his father's brother sexually.
In Kenneth Branaugh's movie version of
Hamlet he portrays to the viewer an interesting interpretation of Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship. Early on in the movie he insinuates that Hamlet and Ophelia have already been sexually intimate which means her virtue is already tainted. Hamlet never speaks directly about his feelings toward and relationship with Ophelia to the audience or any characters in the play . In the third act when Ophelia returns to Hamlet the love letters he sent her he becomes enraged. It is unclear whether this is an “act” he is putting on or not, but I believe it is genuine. Hamlet wishes to control his relationship with Ophelia just as he wishes to control his mother's relationships. Hamlet, like Iago, is experiencing feelings of impotence. His Uncle is King and the girl he has been involved with has dumped him. These frustrations can only inspire with in him feelings of madness.
Act III scene IV is an incredibly uncomfortable scene between Hamlet and his mother. He begins telling her “Mother, you have my father much offended” (10) then begins speaking directly to her about her sex life with his uncle stating “but to live/In the rand sweat of an enseamed bed,/stewed in corruption, honeying and making love/Over the nasty sty-” (80-84). These lines are an absolutely grotesque description of Gertrude sleeping with Claudius over the “nasty sty”, the bed she slept in with Hamlet I. Shortly after Hamlet spews these obscenities at his mother the Ghost enters reminding Hamlet to leave his mother alone; she is not guilty of anything and he must focus on avenging his death. Hamlet has ignored these directions through out the play because he is so frustrated with his lack of control over the people around him.
Hamlet is similar to the villains we have read in other dramas because he yearns to control the situations around him, but I do not see him as a villain. Hamlet is suffering from his recent misfortunes and struggling to reclaim control over his life.

2 comments:

Sarah LeBarron said...

I think you make a good point. Hamlet is trying to get over the recent misfortunes and in all honesty no one is helping him. I perceive Hamlet as the poor small child who just doesn't know what to do in the wake of such devastating tragedies. Hamlet is a somewhat saddening character to the audience. Essentially he is acting out in retaliation to is mothers apparent neglect. You are right to say that "these frustrations can only inspire with in him feelings of madness." It's curious to think though, what about Gertrude? Is she doing this purposefully to her son? Did she really have a choice in marrying Claudious? I'm not sure and Hamlets inability to cope or understand his mother is testament to his fragile state.

Cyrus Mulready said...

Do we have any sympathy for Gertrude? Perhaps she is similar to Lady Anne, who married a person out of convenience and political necessity, rather than love? The play does suggest that Gertrude and Claudius are perhaps more connected than that, but most of our understanding of their relationship comes from Hamlet, not from them.