Twists of Fate
Out of all the themes this caught my attention because of the scene where Hamlet was talking to his mother and Hamlet kills Polonius through the curtain. This was seen as a twist of fate because Polonius was simply just a nosy fool, all along Hamlet has been wanting to avenge his father and kill Claudius, but instead Polonius ends up getting killed. An innocent but stupid man in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hamlet was even hoping that the man was the king, he didn't even know who he stabbed. All along the reader just assumes, especially after what the play revealed, that Hamlet is soon going to kill Claudius. But that doesn't happen at all, at least not yet. All of sudden Polonius ends up dead, not someone many probably predicted would be killed.
Personal Response
I liked this act the best so far. I was shocked how upset the King got when watching the play, he was so obvious that he was guilty. He even stopped the whole play. I had also been waiting to see when the king would actually admit either to someone else or to himself that he murdered old Hamlet. He finally did and for some reason I kept doubting that he was actually guilty. But now I know for sure that he did murder his brother. The way he admitted it was interesting. I couldn't tell if he felt bad about it, or felt bad that someone was suspicious of him. I also thought it was confusing why Hamlet would just stab the curtain without even knowing who was behind it.
Erika-
ReplyDeleteI think another theme for this Act would be madness. Hamlet started out acting like he was mad to distracting everyone from the information that only he knew, but now that he knows King Claudius is the murderer Hamlet is going mad with vengeance. He wants to kill King Claudius, but he keeps delaying it, not finding the right time. Though Hamlet obsesses over the fact that he wants to kill King Claudius, he badgers himself for being a coward. King Claudius is also on the verge of madness, because he is scared that Hamlet knows the truth of him, and is in a panic of trying to know what to do.