Transcript Hamlet

Hamlet
Act IV
Hamlet’s Foils
 Fortinbras = raises an army to
fight a senseless battle for the
principle of honor
 Laertes = gives no thought for his
immortal soul to avenge a father’s
senseless death
Claudius’ Politic Genius
 Pressures Fortinbras’ uncle to
thwart Fortinbras’ advances
 Sends off Hamlet to avoid
upheaval from Danes devoted to
him
 Forges an alliance with Laertes to
avoid overthrow
Claudius’ Politic Genius
 Feeding imagery = dog-eat-dog
court machinations
 Disease imagery = underscores the
corruption of the garden
Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern
 Increasingly in Claudius’ inner
circle (sponge metaphor)
 Sent to dispatch Hamlet to
England (petard metaphor)
Hamlet’s Character
 Hamlet now in league with darker
elements (pirates?)
 Accidental or intentional plan?
 Follows Hamlet’s “thoughts be
bloody or be nothing worth”
soliloquy
Hamlet’s Character
 Weak = does not kills Claudius,
foolishly kills Polonius
 Over-intellectualizes actions
 Torn between honor and taboo
Hamlet’s Character
 Strong = similar circumstances
drive Ophelia truly mad and coax
Laertes into criminal deceit
 Strong = Hamlet’s polarized virtue
leaves him to struggle with the
most complex of spiritual issues
Ophelia’s Madness
 Parallels Hamlet’s decline
 Parent’s death
 Loss of a confidant, discarded by
Hamlet
 Yet Ophelia is truly mad
Ophelia’s Madness
 Associated with the perfect rose in
the garden
 Gives rue (regret) to Gertude =
sorrow
 Violets withered = no faithfulness/
garden gone to weeds
Ophelia’s Madness
 Distributes the other flowers = to
whom?
 Fennel = deceit
 Daisy = dissembling
 Rosemary = remembrance
Ophelia’s Madness
 Favorite image of the PreRaphaelite artists
 Image of abused womanhood
 Innocence corrupted
 Dutiful daughter
 Virgin/whore archetypes
(nunnery)
Millais
Waterhouse
Waterhouse
Waterhouse
Hughes
Hughes