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The relationships between parents and children in Hamlet
Hamlet good and evil
The relationships between parents and children in Hamlet
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Since the dawn of time, man has struggled fiercely over the internal conflict within himself between doing what is right for oneself as opposed to doing what is right for society in general. It is what I refer to as the good vs. evil complex. The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare somewhere between 1599 and 1603, presents a plethora of characters that are faced with the challenge of not allowing self-interest to reign supreme.
One character in particular that is a parody of divergent personalities is Polonius. Polonius is the father of Laertes and Ophelia, and also acts as council to the king. One can see within him the conflict of self-interest vs. being the loyal father and servant. (I.iii.55-59). One can see both acts of altruism and episodes of scheming and attempts to capitalize on a situation.
Initially, there is an instance in the play where Polonius gives advice to his son Laertes. As Laertes boards the ship to go to France for school, Polonius to says to him, “Give every man thy ear but few thy voice”. (I.iii.68). He then further expands his advice with the following quote:
“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
(I.iii.78-80)
It is here that one sees the care and concern of a loving father, providing advice to aid in his son being successful in his studies. Another instance where Polonius’ good nature is shown occurs when his daughter Ophelia comes to him frantic that Hamlet, the man she loves, is going crazy. In this scene, Polonius demonstrates concern for his daughter as it was he who forbade Ophelia to see or talk to Hamlet...
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...he’s going to his mother’s closet Behind the arras I’ll convey myself to hear the process(III.iii.27-29).
Queen Gertrude infuriates Prince Hamlet and fears that Prince Hamlet may kill her. She states:
“A will come straight. Look you lay home to him. Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with, And that Your Grace hath screened and stood between
Much heat and him. I’ll silence me even here. Pray you. Be round with him.”
(III.iv.1-5)
She then proceeds to say, ”What wilt thou do? Thou wilt not murder me? Help, ho!”(III.iv.23-24) Polonius hears Queen Gertrude’s distress. He calls out for help, “What ho! Help” Hamlet stab him as he is hidden behind the curtain, As he lay dying, he replies, “Oh, I am slain!”(II.iv.).
So right at the outset the reader/viewer respects the lord chamberlain as a very fluent spokesman of the language, and respectful of his superior, the king. Later, in Polonius’ house, Laertes is taking leave of his sister, Ophelia, and, in the process, giving her conservative advice regarding her boyfriend, Hamlet.
... he over re-acts and the ghost of his father appears to remind him of why he was there. Gertrude senses Hamlets anger after he kills Polonius and asked what have I done? Hamlets reply was one full of grief, anxiety and anger. He begins to tell his mother of what he knows and what he expects from her. Not to share her bed with Claudius as well as take part in any more corruption. Gertrude then begins to see that her son is not mad with sickness, but is more mad with anger over her stupidity. Hamlet has let his mother become his main role model for all women in the world and that is why he is so negative towards women.
Polonius instructs Ophelia on how to behave while he and the King are spying on Hamlet.
The main plot of Shakespeare's Hamlet centers around Prince Hamlet's desire to repay King Claudius for his evil deeds. Around this central action revolve the stories concerning the minor characters of Polonius and Ophelia. Though they do not motivate Hamlet's actions towards the King, these characters act as forces upon Hamlet himself, trying to spur him to do things he does not want to do. Both Polonius and Ophelia try, unsuccessfully, to manipulate Hamlet into a place of inferiority.
As the plat goes on it shows that Hamlet is not the only one trying to appear to be doing one thing but has another motive. "Polonius appears to be a loyal councilor to Claudius, honest trusting man and a caring father to Laertes and Ophelia when in reality,
The meaning of evil has changed throughout history. In today’s world, evil has become a hazy term. What is evil? Who is evil? Men like Osama Bin Laden have been described as the term 'evil' for their atrocities against humanity. Now it seems evil has an exclusively human meaning; when a person violates the rights of others on a massive scale, he or she is evil. In Shakespeare's time, the Renaissance period, evil had a similar, but altered meaning for people. Evil was a being that violated Christian moral codes. Therefore, a man such as Claudius, from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, a murderer and a ruthless manipulator, who uses "rank" deeds to usurp the thrown is in direct violation with the Elizabethan societal rules, and he is evil. Greed,
Clearly, Hamlet’s concern for the Queen, his mother, is of genuine association to the death of King Hamlet. Within this solitary thought, Hamlet realizes the severity of his mother’s actions while also attempting to rationalize her mentality so that he may understand, and perhaps, cope with the untimely nature of the Queen’s marriage to Claudius. Understandably, Hamlet is disturbed. Gertrude causes such confusion in Hamlet that throughout the play, he constantly wonders how it could be possible that events would turn out the way they did.
This initial encounter between the two men reveals a sea of mutual hostilities and as a broker of the king's will, Polonius parallels such an antagonism. The advisor's first meeting with Haml...
At times it seems that Gertrude does not know or pretends not to know why Hamlet is so angry with her and with Claudius ('What have I done, that thou dar'st wag thy tongue/ In noise so rude against me?'). At other times she seems to know exactly what is troubling him ('His father's death and our o'er-hasty marriage', II.2.57). But Hamlet, too, does not come clean directly. He does not confront her with the murder, but rather sets out 'to wring her heart' (III.4.35), and plays upon her emotions rather than on her reason. Instead, he shows her two pictures, and compares at great length his father with his uncle (55 ff.). In this long speech, the son touches on many matters so delicate that critics can be forgiven for detecting more than a whiff oedipal sentiment in Hamlet himself. He plays on his mother's sense of shame, even bringing her eroticism or lack of it into play, and culminating in a vision of his mother making love in a bed stained with semen - not a pretty sight:
Polonius is a father first and foremost in this story. He is a man who has seen a lot and understands much about the world around him and the people in it. The most Polonius is heard in the play is when he tries to impart wisdom to his children in act 1 scene 3. This shows off a lot about who he is and his world view. I think Polonius character is a perfect example of a person bound by society and the philosophy of one such person and this can be seen in his character, his philosophy and the influence upon him.
Before Laertes is about to go to France, Polonius talks to him and tells him all of his good advice. While Polonius tells Laertes all of his good advice, he says, “My blessing with thee'; (I.iii.61). This statement shows that Polonius really wants Laertes to be successful when he goes to France. Polonius says, “Beware of entrance to a quarrel';, (I.iii.69) because he wants him to be safe. Polonius wants Laertes to stay out of trouble, and to be friendly with everyone he meets. Another point Polonius wants to make is that it is better to listen than to talk. “Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice'; (I.iii.72). Polonius believes that it is better to listen too much than to talk too much, because sometimes people who talk too much get into trouble, and others don’t like them. Whereas, people who listen more than they talk rarely have others who don’t like them and they don’t get into much trouble. Another way Polonius tells Laertes to stay out of trouble is when he says, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be'; (I.iii.80). This is important because sometimes when things are borrowed, the lender will get mad that the borrower didn’t return when it was needed or the borrower ruined part of it. Even when it is an accident, it is still better to not borrow or lend anything from anyone just in case one person has a short temper. Polonius lastly and most importantly tells Laertes, “This above all to thine own self be true';. This is good advice because if people are not true to themselves, then they can’t really be true to anyone else. Polonius believes that Laertes should have enough self-respect to be true to himself.
character Polonius in Shakespeare’s Hamlet fits the description of one who tries to deceive others
Hamlet Act 2 starts with a conversation between Polonius and Reynaldo, his servant, about how Reynaldo is to find out about the behavior of Laertes, Polonius’ son. This event foreshadows the Queen and King’s conversation with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about how Hamlet’s two friends will uncover the reason for Hamlet’s recent behavior change. In their conversation, Polonius tells Reynaldo that he is to ask random people about Laertes and to tell the people about how Laertes, in his youth, gambled, was intoxicated and got into fights. He then tells Reynaldo to spy on Laertes. Through these actions, Polonius shows that he will do almost anything to control his children and their reputations. Throughout this Act, one general theme is revealed. This theme is the scheming of characters to
Hamlet however, continues his rude remarks by say what lies between maids laps is “nothing” (III.ii.128). In this case the word nothing does not mean what is usually does and instead has a double meaning for a vagina. With his vulgar language and his profane comments Hamlet takes out his anger on someone with less power than he has, praying in the weak in order to make himself feel better. Another character who weathers Hamlet’s coarse commentary is his mother, Gertrude, whom he disrespects the most using her as a punching bag in order to vent out his own anger. After the play has taken place and the king leaves in the middle of it, clearly troubled by Hamlet’s scene resembling his father’s death, Gertrude calls her son to come to her bedchamber. There, Hamlet says to his mother in response to her questioning him, “Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue” (III.iiii.15). Gertrude is the only character in the play to call Hamlet out on his nasty remarks because she is one of the only characters who Hamlet’s has a personal relationship with. Even his schoolboy friends whom he has known for years he
He is essentially telling Ophelia how she should be behaving and reacting to her own situations. This is portraying her as a woman who cannot think for herself and is dependant on Polonius. In addition, Polonius’ death is the trigger to Ophelia’s insanity, because she depended upon him a great deal. When Ophelia is told by Polonius to never contact Hamlet again, she obeys Polonius, but Hamlet acts crazy in reaction to her denial. Ophelia says, “No, my good lord; but, as you did command, / I did repel his letters and denied / His actions to me.” (2.1.109-111) By doing everything Polonius tell her to do, she makes matters for herself worse. Ophelia cannot stand up for her...