Hamlet-discussion

Izymunz

I just wanted to create a place where one could be free to express their views on Hamlet. You may choose either, the play or the character.
:O
It does not have to strictly academic with complicated meanings. I want you to try and enjoy the play a bit more.
I hope it will help!!

PictureFrame

Izymunz wrote: »

I want you to try and enjoy the play a bit more.

:mad:

Izymunz wrote: »

I want you to try and enjoy the play a bit more.

:mad:

Izymunz wrote: »

I want you to try and enjoy the play a bit more.

I FÚCKIN HATE HAMLET...........................

Canard

I love the play Do yiz think he was actually insane or pretending? He claims he's 'but mad north north west' then tells Laertes it wasnt him who killed Polonius, it was his madness :rolleyes:

reznov

Hamlet was a very melancholous fellow,
Suffering from the Oedipus Complex,
His mindset labelled by Freud,
Disliked how Gertrude was toyed,
By an adulterous beast Claudius
By Hamlet's actions the fair Ophelia was destroyed,
Reflecting the rotten state of Denmark
The prince's procrastination was stark
His mother was left in the dark,
Failed to kill a king, no prophetic soul would hark
Who thought an ending so carnal would spark?

Meowth

Patchy~ wrote: »

I love the play Do yiz think he was actually insane or pretending? He claims he's 'but mad north north west' then tells Laertes it wasnt him who killed Polonius, it was his madness :rolleyes:

I love the play too
I think he was pretending but that just my opinion. For instance, he tells many characters throughout the play of his madness but if he was truly mad, he shouldn't have been aware that he was :P Just my opinion though, take it with a grain of salt.

posted this before, I will post it again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGPes8KWE0s

Stalin and rugby

Was Hamlet really crazy or was he putting it on? (ultimate conversation stimulus)

Namlub

It is clear that Hamlet was so consumed by his assumed antic disposition that the line between sanity and madness was blurred, but he undergoes a catharsis of sorts in the play's final scene, allowing his fundamental nobility as a character to shine through.

Yes :cool:

Izymunz

PictureFrame wrote: »

:mad:






:mad:




I FÚCKIN HATE HAMLET...........................

Haha, that really made me laugh!!
Perhaps, if you participated you might find Hamlet is not that bad. Maybe try and find something you can identify with!
Seriously, if you think that "hey, I have been through those emotions..etc."
you will not find it boring.

Izymunz

Patchy~ wrote: »

I love the play Do yiz think he was actually insane or pretending? He claims he's 'but mad north north west' then tells Laertes it wasnt him who killed Polonius, it was his madness :rolleyes:

I do not think that he was mad. Evidence for his sanity are scattered throughout the play. At one point even Polonius comments that
"though this be madness,yet there is method in it".
I think the madness you are referring to with Laertes^ is rather a fit of rage, a brief moment of madness. This 'madness' however is common. All of us have, if you will excuse the phrase, "lost it"!

Wesc.

Izymunz, I sometimes find you harder to understand than Hamlet himself. :P

Incompetent

Izymunz wrote: »

I would be grateful, if we could all contribute honestly as, this would help all of us in the long term.

I had to read that sentence in the voice of Stevie from Malcolm in the Middle!

reznov

Ham is certainly not mad! He's the witty prince who studied at Wittenberg. He announced he would fabricate an antic disposition, it did not occur by chance. His moves are calculated e.g. Mousetrap, Prayer Scene (realizing Claud's soul may be whisked to heaven), carried out with a certain goal in mind. When Gertrude pleads with him to cast off "your inky cloak", he is quick to state that "these are the actions that a man might play, but I have that within which passes show, these are but the trappings and suits of woe", consciously refuting her plea. Also, Ophelia is a perfect example of someone who is in genuine disposition. In many ways her persona is just like Ham's and Shakespeare utilized Ophelia to hint what real schizophrenia is like.

Izymunz

Seriously people!!
How about just on the character of Hamlet? Do you like the character of Hamlet?
:P

Eathrin

Prepare for some mind blowing shít

We see the events of Hamlet from Horatio's perspective. He is in every important scene and has off-stage events reported to him. He promises to tell Fortinbras the story of how Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet, Laertes, Ophelia, Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern wound up dead. So he makes up an odd story involving ghosts, dueling with poisoned swords, mistaken identity and insanity to cover up that he's an Axe Crazy maniac. For all we know, Horatio even murdered Yorick when he was a boy.

randylonghorn

Eathrin wrote: »

Prepare for some mind blowing shít

We see the events of Hamlet from Horatio's perspective. He is in every important scene and has off-stage events reported to him. He promises to tell Fortinbras the story of how Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet, Laertes, Ophelia, Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern wound up dead. So he makes up an odd story involving ghosts, dueling with poisoned swords, mistaken identity and insanity to cover up that he's an Axe Crazy maniac. For all we know, Horatio even murdered Yorick when he was a boy.

So Horatio is really Couer?! :cool:

Izymunz wrote: »

Seriously people!!
How about just on the character of Hamlet? Do you like the character of Hamlet?
:P

He is bereaved ... he has just lost his father.

In some ways, he has just lost his mother too ... she has re-married "before the funeral meats were cold".

He is confronted with the ghost of his father, who claims he has been murdered and demands revenge, and Hamlet is (naturally) angry enough to want revenge. Yet he shies away from killing Claudius, suggesting a more noble character than Claudius or indeed Laertes, demanding more absolute proof before he will act. Perhaps indeed he is in fact mistrustful of his own sanity (seeing ghosts?).

He demonstrates a strong loyalty to his father and king, and feels doubly betrayed by his mother's marriage as it is in his mind betrayal of both her husband and her king.

He loves Ophelia, who by the end of the play is also dead.

So this is the story of a young man, not that much older than you lot, who in a short period has lost:

- father (and king)
- mother
- uncle (who turns out a betrayer)
- loved one

His life has been entirely turned on its head, with the psychological trauma which might be expected, and death may in the end be a relief.

Izymunz

Thanks!!!
Is is appropriate to find Hamlet irritating in some scenes? I found him really irritating in some of the scens, especially Act 3 Scene 3.
Also I think that old Hamlet is villainous in asking his son to seek revenge for him! If he was truly a father that cared for his son he would have realised that the task cannot be given to Hamlet as he simply does not have "the means" to do it. The only thing at Hamlet's disposal are words through which he obviously cannot kill...

Togepi

Does anyone think Hamlet goes mad at any point? When

he kills Polonius

, for example?

(Had to spoiler that incase any of you haven't read the play yet.) :P

mnop

I think he did really go mad.

Not everyone has mental strength that Simba showed after Mufasa's death and Scar's betrayal.

mnop

But in fariness I think the play is sooooo disconcerting for the way Royalty is a Ghost, Comedy is a Skull and the definitve sign of sovereign disintegration (caused by a monarch disentitled from ethical and logical legitimation) that i don't think it's very easy to resent Hamlet or find him annoying.

And also I hear everybody complain of his treatment of Ophelia but the whole situation with his father's "spirit in arms" and all, I don't think there's anything wrong with not cavorting with da beures...

Izymunz

Why is Laertes so important in the play?

K_1

Izymunz wrote: »

Why is Laertes so important in the play?

He is the corresponding character to Hamlet, he is everything Hamlet is not.

Same reason Fortinbras is in it.

Izymunz

What about the two women in the play..? If a question came up on them what would you say? I would love to know your opinions.