U3A4- Dramatic Irony
Critical Analysis I am going to choose my third dramatic irony example as I believe this incident manipulates the audiences’ sympathies the most as this is the event that develops the whole play and makes Hamlet into what Shakespeare wanted him to be. In act II, scene II, Polonius extremely thinks that Hamlet has gone insane, or in his words, “…nothing else but mad” (II. II. 92-94). Ophelia has gone to her father explaining what Hamlet did in her presence and from this Polonius thinks Hamlet is madly in love and it is driving Hamlet insane due to the rejection of Ophelia. Therefore from this, Polonius informs Hamlets uncle, the new King, and Hamlet’s mother who is newly wed to Hamlet’s uncle which they assume increases his insanity along with what Polonius’ explanation of why he is insane. This may manipulate the audience into thinking Hamlet really is going insane. However, the audience knows that Hamlet knows Claudius has poisoned the King so he can get to crown. Therefore the audiences can prophesize that Hamlet will make a plan to bring Claudius into discovery of the true way the King died. Which will then bring sympathy to the King as he will be caught and therefore cause sympathy to the Queen; most likely. This develops the character of Hamlet as now everyone will assume he is insane and therefore he reacts oddly on everyone and they will just try to ignore him or not be around him; allowing him to be free from Claudius’ watch and be able to plan his revenge against him. This develops the plot also, as Claudius does not want to take any chances in having the possibility of Hamlet discovering what Claudius actually did to the King therefore prevents Hamlet from going back to school and therefore having his eye on him around Denmark. I believe the new King will plan to kill Hamlet as well. However, Hamlet knows he will attempt to do so I’m sure. So the first two scenes of Hamlet are what thickens the plot and theme of the play.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
We are first introduced to Horatio when Marcellus and Barnardo, the night guards, ask him to confirm their sighting of a ghost and to speak to it, because he “art a scholar” (I.i.51) Horatio faces the ghost and questions it without hesitance or fear, yelling to it, “Stay, speak, speak, I charge thee speak!” (I.i.63) Amanda Mabillard mentions that Horatio is a “calm, resolute, and rational character,” which is “why Hamlet chooses Horatio to become the sole person on whom he can rely.” After Horatio recovers from the initial shock of seeing the ghostly apparition of King Hamlet, one of his first thoughts is that they should tell Prince Hamlet because it is “needful in [their] loves” and “fitting [of their] duty” (I.i.190). When Horatio informs Hamlet that they saw his father’s ghost, Hamlet immediately believes the bizarre tale without a doubt, which further illustrates his deep trust in Horatio. Hamlet interrogates the three of them about specific details, and they decide to meet late that night during watch duty to try to see the ghost again.…
- 1763 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
Horatio is speaking to Marcellus; Horatio is referring to the ghost of Hamlet Sr. that they have just witnessed.…
- 378 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In Hamlet ; act II, scene I of the play; Hamlet finds out that his father was murdered by his own brother. Rather than him dying from a snake bit, that everyone else knows of. Hamlet had decided to act crazy and tell no one about what his father told him. His father told him that he wasn’t bite by a snake; Hamlets, fathers; brother put poison in his ear and killed him.After his fathers’ death, Hamlet didn’t know how to control his emotions. Anguished, he laments his father’s death and his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle. He remembers how deeply in love his parents seemed, and he curses the thought that now, not yet two month after his father’s death, his mother has married his father’s far inferior brother.…
- 445 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Here, all those characters listed above are trying to succeed something and that is by spying on Hamlet. Claudius portrays antipathy from the beginning of the play, by marrying his brother’s wife and being insensitive at Hamlet’s mourning of the loss of his Father. Additionally, certainly these characters do not care for Hamlet since they did not only to try to expose him but also started spying on him to find out the reason behind Hamlets madness. Especially Claudius and Polonius this far in the play, they certainly do not want Hamlet around. While, from the beginning the audience feels sympathy for Hamlet since his father had been murdered, the ghost of his father revealed to him a truth not…
- 524 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
When Horatio was first told about the appearance of the apparition, he was skeptical, " Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy And will not let belief take hold of him" ( 1.1.29). When the ghost was first sighted in the play, Bernardo remarks that the ghost looks similar to the King Hamlet, and Marcellus reasons with Horatio that he should address the ghost. This usage of the word " thou" causes the ghost to exit. Marcellus comments that the ghost was offended, meaning that by Horatio speaking to the ghost of the King with such lack of respect and with demands the ghost left.…
- 2070 Words
- 9 Pages
Better Essays -
Hamlet begins with guards whose main importance in the play is to give credibility to the ghost. If Hamlet were to see his father's ghost in private, the argument for his madness would greatly improve. Yet, not one, but three men together witness the ghost before even thinking to notify Hamlet. As Horatio says, being the only of the guards to play a significant role in the rest of the play, "Before my God, I might not this believe / Without the sensible and true avouch / Of mine own eyes. (I.i.56-8)" Horatio, who appears frequently throughout the play, acts as an unquestionably sane alibi to…
- 1831 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
Hamlet may hate me but that’s only because he doesn’t know or understand what really happened between Claudius and I. It all started at a family feast and that’s when I began to realise… well, when I began to realise I was with the wrong brother. My marriage with my previous husband was monotonous. He was the father of my child, yes,-but daily life with him was becoming excruciating. He was never affectionate towards me and didn’t give me what I wanted. He was too busy ruling the country and it felt like he didn’t care about me. My eye began to wander and it was at this family feast that my feelings towards Claudius became so strong. Could you blame me if my eye began to wander? He showered me with…
- 789 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
• The audience knows the truth about Old Hamlet`s death, however, all of the characters in the play, apart from Hamlet, believe that Old Hamlet`s death was a tragic accident.…
- 1184 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Hamlet’s suspicious behavior causes the people of Denmark to begin to assume there is a certain drive that is causing him to lose his mind. One consideration is Ophelia. who Hamlet takes great interest in. Polonius and Claudius work together to try and manipulate Hamlet and stop him and his crazy actions. Hamlet acts this way in order to satisfy his father. He has a talk with his mother, and suddenly forces her to look into her soul which were marks of sin; Gertrude was reflecting on her actions she has done, due to the truth Hamlet gave…
- 753 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Hamlet, himself, exhibits faults in his personality, often acting volatile and reckless in situations beyond his control. In Act 1, Scene 3, Ophelia describes Hamlet as an admirer who had ‘made many tenders of his affection’ to her but later on, in Act 3, Scene 1, when they confront each other about their feelings, Hamlet angrily shouts ‘Get thee to a nunnery’, insulting her and not realising the possible consequences of his actions. Ophelia isn’t without flaws, herself, as shown by her tendency to be influenced by the men around her. Whilst it was common for the women during Shakespeare’s time to be obedient to their men, Ophelia’s submissiveness eventually drives her to insanity and leads to her suicide. Furthermore, Ophelia’s father, Polonius, is also a fatally flawed character, with his peripeteia being his nosiness and propensity to pry, which then leads to his death. Shakespeare uses the weaknesses of each character to emphasise that human beings are flawed to warn his audience that if these flaws are not recognised, they may, and often will, bring…
- 943 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Right away in the first scene and a few others you can see that there is a going to be a mysterious mood with a few weird things happening in during the rest of the play. In the beginning of the first scene Marcellus says, "Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour, / With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch"(1,1,76-77). Marcellus is telling Horatio about the ghost that he and Barnardo have seen on a two occasions. They don't think that anyone will believe them so they bring Horatio along because if he sees it people will believe him because he is a scholar and he is respected. All three of the men tried to speak to the ghost but they are not successful, so a in Scene 4 they bring Hamlet along with them to see if he can talk to it because they said it looked like King Hamlet who had just been slain about two months ago. The ghost reveals that he is Hamlet's father and that Claudius killed him by being poisoned. This ghost and the scenes being set at night show that there are most likely going to be some mysterious events happening as the storyline unfolds.…
- 748 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Ophelia is crestfallen when she is told that she cannot meet with Hamlet anymore. She thinks back on the advice her father and brother had given her about the shallowness of Hamlet 's love, and at first she does not believe them. However, her stubbornness against her father 's will is tested when Hamlet appears in her bedchamber, looking haggard and unkempt. He grabs her arm, brushes her hair away, and heaves a great sigh. He then leaves, staring at her with an unwavering gaze. This makes Ophelia feel guilty, thinking that she is the cause for Hamlet 's madness when in fact this is a call for help. After Polonius dies and Hamlet leaves for England, Ophelia looks back on this, wondering if there was anything she could have done to help. This, given time and two other aspects of her life, caused her to turn deeper and deeper into herself, until she was twisted into madness.…
- 743 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Hamlet has traveling actors to perform a play fairly similar to how Hamlet’s father was killed, to see Claudius' reaction. This is where he seems to access some kind of madness, because he also becomes abusive to his mother and castigates her for what she has done, even stabbing Polonius, Ophelia’s father, thinking it was Claudius standing behind the curtains. He becomes more abusive to Ophelia, and claims her to be disloyal and deceiving, even as so far to go and say, “I loved you not.” His actions become self-destructive and burdened with emotions. At this point, it is hard to tell if Hamlet is still acting on this madness or if he really has reached the point of insanity. After Ophelia’s depression and suicide, Hamlet seems to lose touch of real life. His plan of avenging his father ultimately rebounds, because he has upset everyone that he was close to and in the end, has either killed or indirectly killed them. Even though his madness was supposed to be an act, it ultimately controlled him resulting in his…
- 334 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
1. Claudius tells the court that he is king now in the first part of his speech. He also told the court that Fortinbras thinks of him as a weak person and that there will be disorder because of hamlets death. He says that young Fortinbras and the king of Norway have plans to take the land back that hamlet took.…
- 1190 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
After he found out that Claudius killed his father, Hamlet swore that he would gain vengeance. He also wants vengeance because he is the rightful heir to the throne, an opportunity that was snatched away from his uncle. (Shannon Kisch) In order to get his revenge, he told Horatio he will put on an “antic disposition”. The first explanation for Hamlet’s strange behavior is his love for Ophelia. Ophelia tells the story of how a scruffy looking Hamlet approached her, simply ran his hand down her arm, stared at her and left. Polonius assumes that love for Ophelia drove Hamlet crazy and tells the king of his discovery. Polonius tests his theory by placing Ophelia in the path of Hamlet, before speaking to Hamlet himself. When speaking to Polonius, Hamlet may sound insane, but he uses this conversation to warn Polonius to keep his daughter away from the king (“the sun”) as well as to insult him. These insults and warnings seem to suggest that his madness is nothing but a hoax. In addition, when speaking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet drops some of the mad characteristics he displays with other characters. He quotes some of a monologue he had heard some time before when the players arrive on the scene. He also plots revenge and plans how to test the guilt of the king. He does this by inviting his uncle/stepfather and mother to a play, which reenacts the murder of his…
- 1103 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays