John's Act II Characters and Personal Response

• Reynaldo- servant of Polonius. He is basically being ordered to spy on Laertes and see what he is up to in Paris.

• Polonius- trying to find out what his son is doing in Paris. He becomes frightened that Hamlet has been to see his daughter and gives Hamlet's letter to his daughter to the King.

•  Ophelia- brings her father news that Hamlet has been to see her. She seems to act innocent as to show her father that none of this can be her fault.

• King Claudius- basically orders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to "check on" Hamlet. Shows interest for Hamlet in Act II, probably because he fears Hamlets grief could ultimately hurt him.

• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern- old friends of Hamlet. Both were sent by the King and Queen to see what else was wrong with Hamlet.

• Hamlet- recieves Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with questions of why they have visited him. He seems to show Polonius hostility when he arrives. Towards the end of the Act he basically curses himself and calls himself a coward for doing nothing in the revenge of the murderous King. He reveals his plan to attack the conscious of the hopefully guilty King in a play put on by the actors. He also reveals that he has a bit of trouble when it comes to trusting the ghost due to the belief that he could  possibly be the devil's work.

I thought Act II was a bit harder to understand as compared to Act I, possibly because we weren't introduced to the film before we read. I thought you had to do a lot more guessing in this Act when it came to the feelings, attitudes, and tones between each of the characters. I thought Rosencrantz and Guidenstein were set up as spys for the King, even though they have been friends with Hamlet since childhood. Towards the end of Act II, I think we start to really see the true feelings of Hamlet towards his uncle. He plans to discover whether the ghost was being honest to him in telling him that it was his uncle that killed his father. I think this plan to to enter the lines into this play will draw a very distinct reaction from his uncle. Personally, I think his uncle will soon discover that Hamlet knows what happened to his father.