Blogging Hamlet: Act 1, Scene 2

1. Summary:
The scene opens with King Claudius's speech to his court, explaining his marriage to Gertrude. Claudius claims he misses his brother dearly, but becomes optimistic as he looks towards the future. Laertes asks for permission to return to France, and Claudius agrees, heartily giving his blessing. Claudius then chides Hamlet on how he has been mourning his father's death for to long. He does not wish for Hamlet to study in Whittenberg again, and asks Hamlet to stay in the castle. After the the king, queen, and courtiers leave, Hamlet begins to unload all his inner thoughts and troubles. However, is is cut short when Marcello, Bernando, and Horatio enter the room. They tell Hamlet of the sightings of his father's ghost, and Hamlet wishes he could have been there. He makes up his mind to look for his father's ghost when night comes.

4. Quote from the scene:
"Oh that this too too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon 'gainst self slaughter! Oh God, God."


I basically fell in love with Hamlet's soliloquy on pages 27 and 28. The passage highlights Hamlet's immense anguish at his father's untimely death a quite beautiful way. For example, Hamlet does not simply want to commit suicide. Rather, he wishes his "too too sullied flesh would melt... into a dew." His inner torment is expressed as he remarks how "weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable" the world now seems to him. He is tortured by the fact that in a mere month, his father passed away and his mother hastily married his uncle. He feels strangely misunderstood as he is alienated from his kingdom; it seems to him that he is the only mourner amidst an unwarranted celebration. He tenderly remembers his father, an "excellent king," and is confused by the conflicting images of his lovingly devoted mother prior to his father's death, and his blissfully apathetic mother after his father's passing. He curses the "wicked speed" but quickly quiets down when he hears someone approaching.


5. Reaction to Claudius:
King Claudius is frustrating me. His monologue on page 25 gave a strange urge to punch someone in the face. Hamelet is obviously mourning his father's death, but does Claudius leave him alone? No! He treats Hamelet's grief as a sin, condemning his nephew as one "of impious stubborness." He taunts Hamlet by calling his "mind impatient" and his "heart unfortified." He even blames Hamlet for finding "faults in heaven" and being "against the dead." In short, Claudius is actually treating Hamlet as one who is blatantly against his late father. What uncle does that? An uncle who's up to no good, that's who. You may have read my previous post about how I heard that Hamlet was like The Lion King. Well so far, it's sure turning out to be that way. In the movie, Simba has an evil uncle who gains the throne after the king's death. I'm going to make a prediction here - Claudius killed Hamlet's father.