In Act I, the ghost causes Hamlet to go from feeling grief
stricken to feeling the need to avenge his father’s death. The ghost relays this message intentionally
as he has been murdered by his own brother.
This character is no better than its murderer as revenge is the only
thing on its mind. It doesn’t think
about the repercussion if the new King is murdered by his own nephew/son and
how it will look upon Denmark and its people, Hamlet, and the Queen. In this Act, the ghost gives Hamlet a sense
of direction and inner conflict as stated in line 100.
In “Hamlet’s” Act I, Shakespeare’s use of characters to
convey family relations and friendship reinforces the author’s idea that
conflicts can arise when loyalty are tested between family issues. In this Act there are conflicts between
Hamlet and his family as well as Ophelia and her family status against Hamlet.
As in Scene III, Laertes tells Ophelia
to be careful of Hamlet and his position in Denmark as well as Polonius tells her
the same thing and to protect her honor as she is a woman. That is illustrated when
Laertes tells her “Then if he says he loves you, it fits your wisdom so far to
believe it as he is in his particular place may give his saying deed which is
no further than the main voice of Denmark goes withal then weigh what loss your
honour may sustain”. Ophelia took the
brother’s advice but also tells him to” recs not his own rede” as he needs to
take his own advice. Hamlet also has
loyalties to his mother as he obeys her when she says to stay in Denmark even
though he did not approve of the situation.
He also is loyal to his father as even as a ghost Hamlet says “and thy
commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain” as he trys to make sense of it all. Other characters that prove their loyalties
includes Horatio and Marcellus who swore upon Hamlet’s sword to not speak a
word that they saw the ghost. They swore
in fear as the ghost kept on telling them to swear so their allegiance is to Hamlet instead of to the King.
I couldn't agree more on your Theme Analysis. I also wrote about the loyalty that was express within Act 1. Everyone here is tested between the people who are most important to them. It does not have to talk about just family issues. You stated that he made the guards and his closest friend to swear upon the sword for their allegiance.
ReplyDeleteI find your story about knowing someone who has done some form of semi-incest situation. I would not want to put in any bad words, but in a society where it is not widely accepted and individuals are taught otherwise, I do admit it sounds odd to me and as horrible as this is about to sound, I am not surprised they only lasted one year.
I would not like to leave this comment on a bad note. I'm glad you mentioned how the ghost did not put into consideration what the outcome may be if Denmark had discovered Hamlet had killed Claudius. If the story did end with Hamlet staying alive along with his mother, but Claudius dead, would you think Denmark would have been against his actions? This is, assuming the know the truth about Claudius murdering Hamlet's father.
I really like your interpretation of King Hamlet's ghost. I hadn't considered the ghost to be a selfish character, similar to his brother in that respect. I also found it interesting that you pointed out the lack of consideration of the ripple effect on the nation which Hamlet's family governs. It seems that the only characters which directly consider their nation are Laretes and the night watchmen. Everyone else is absorbed in their own trials and tribulations, much the same as I was drawn into them while reading the play. I find it ironic that the characters who should be most concerned with the state of the nation are the ones who seem to be least concerned with it's possible overthrow.
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