Hamlet Cruelty Quotes

Bryan Ortiz

Period 1

Hamlet “Cruelty” Essay

“All cruelty springs from weakness.” This quote can relate to Hamlets way of treating Ophelia and his mother. Throughout the play, Hamlet consistently treats both characters in a cruel manner. This is because it is Hamlets way of attempting to be kind yet showing what both women, who were the most important people in his life, has changed his view on women. He tries to get his mother to see her wrong doings and tries to prove a point with Ophelia that she is her own person and can make her own decisions.

Polonius, the father of Ophelia, likes to spy on anybody and is extremely controlling. He stalks his two children Laertes and Ophelia. Ophelia follows all of her father's wishes and lives under

his rule. This bothers Hamlet because she’s a grown woman capable of making her own decisions but she gets treated like a child by her father. Hamlet makes sarcastic remarks to Polonius about how controlling he his. For example, Hamlet tells Polonius to not let Ophelia get too close to the sun. This is referring to Icarus when he flew too close to the sun and his wings melted because they were made out of wax and he ultimately died. Another example of Hamlet's cruelty towards Ophelia is when Hamlet tells Ophelia, "get thee to a nunnery." He is talking about nunnery, where Women cannot marry at all and where they cannot be under the influence of any men. Hamlet felt that that was where a woman had a best chance at being faithful. As much as he is showing cruelty towards Ophelia, he is expressing his anger towards his mother as well, who he feels has been unfaithful and incestuous when she married his uncle.
Hamlet’s feelings towards his mother, Gertrude, are mixed, yet he still cares for her.

Two months have passed since his father's death and Queen Gertrude has already married another man. It is bad enough that Gertrude married again with such "wicked speed” according to the text, but what makes it much worse in is that she married King Hamlet's brother, Claudius. An example of his cruelty towards his mother was during the play within the play that he composed. It had a scene that was directed towards Gertrude. Hamlet, who was watching his mother, taking her agitation for guilt, mutters "Wormwood! Wormwood!" and finally breaks out into saying, "Madam, how like you this play?" Gertrude, who everyone was watching, can only gasp, in confusion, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Another example is the most important scene, in this scene Hamlet confronts his mother in her room. Hamlet is enraged to the point of wanting to "speak daggers to her.” The rage that he was showing while in her room was a cry for help. This cry resulted to Polonius’s death who was hiding behind a curtain. Hamlet stabbed the man behind the curtain thinking it had a possibility of being Claudius. Instead of causing her bodily harm, Hamlet tries to make her realize what a horrendous thing she had done. Hamlet shames his mother that she cries out: "O, speak to me no

more.”
All things considered, there is a huge display of anger throughout the play, all from Hamlet towards his mother, Gertrude, and Ophelia. The main anger comes out from his mother’s betrayal that then lead to his different view in women which led to his cruelty towards Ophelia. Hamlet still cares for his mother and still hopes that she will redeem herself. Hamlet tells Gertrude that "he is cruel only to be kind.” He states that his painful yet strong words will make his mother see what she has been trying to avoid all along, that her lust for Claudius, the man that killed his father is sinful and unlawful. His cruelty also applies to Ophelia, in the hopes that she will realize that she is her own person and that her father can't control her.