DRJ # 3: Hamlet, Act III

My initial reaction is that Claudius showed his guilt!  I expected him to show more restraint but his guilt took over.  I was also surprised by the way Hamlet spoke to Gertrude.  The ghost previously advised Hamlet to let God deal with her and to not go against her.  However, I can say that I believe it is just human nature.  As a son who loved his father Hamlet could not help the feelings he was having.  Most people in his situation would have difficulty holding in those emotions.  The only character that reminds me of someone in my life is Horatio.  He was there for Hamlet just as friends should be.  I know if I were going through a tough situation like that my best friend would be there for me to listen and help out just like Horatio.

Shakespeare gave us a lot of insight into Hamlet's character in this scene.  In the beginning we can almost feel Hamlet's despair when he is talking to himself about whether it is better to live or die.  When Hamlet says:  “For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, Th’ oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, the pangs of despised love, the laws delay, the insolence of office and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes”, we feel his complete loss of faith that there is anything good left in the world.  In addition to Hamlet’s show of despair, we see him acting somewhat bizarre with Ophelia.  In his conversation with Ophelia I believe he intentionally wanted to appear that he had gone mad but some of it was an expression of his broken heart and loss of faith in women.  At the end of his conversation with Ophelia he tells her “God hath given you one face and you make yourselves another: you jig, you amble, and you lisp; you nickname God’s creatures and make your wantonness your ignorance”.  Hamlet was basically saying that women are deceiving and conniving.  I believe he was venting over his broken heart because Ophelia would not be with him any longer but at the same time making Ophelia believe he had gone crazy.  Also in this act we see Hamlet expressing sincere admiration for Horatio and we also begin to see Hamlet plotting to get to the truth about what happened to his father.  He contrived a plan to have the actors act out a scene that depicts the murder as the ghost had described it to him.  In this one act we see Hamlet’s character go through many different thoughts and emotions.  This scene gives us a true sense of who Hamlet is, a man who has lost his zest for life and found himself in great turmoil within himself because of the situation that has landed in his lap; a man who was trying to keep himself together for the sake of revenge.

Shakespeare uses the plot of this act to support the concept of guilt/sin.  Through the play that Hamlet contrived, the guilt of Claudius is confirmed and his sins are displayed.  This play forces Claudius into rage and also sends him into prayer.  He feels so guilty about his actions against his brother he almost cannot pray.  We also see Gertrude in this act being reduced to shame and guilt.  After Hamlet murdered Polonius and told his mother of her evil ways she could barely stand to listen to him any more and said: “O Hamlet speak no more: Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul; and there I see such black and grained spots as will not leave their tinct”.  Gertrude feels that she can never be forgiven for the sins that she has committed and doesn’t want to hear of them or think of them.  Unlike Claudius who was holding out hope that somehow he could be forgiven for his awful sins.