- Twists of Fate- I found this to be one of the main themes in act five. It seems that the King will get away with another murder, this time to the son of King Hamlet. Laertes and Claudius plan the murder of Hamlet and it completely backfires. Hamlet says before he goes to fence Laertes that his fate is in God's hands and whatever happens to him will happen according to the will of God, and it seems that the fate of Laertes and Claudius was turned around due to their scheming plans and attempt to murder Hamlet. It seems that by their attempt to take another life, their fate was turned around and, despite killing Hamlet in the end, their plan completely backfired. Instead of forgiving Hamlet for the murder of Polonius and the madness he has caused in the kingdom, they end up killing basically anyone of any significance in the kingdom. The twist of fate ends up giving Claudius his own death sentence as well as the Queen and Laertes.
Personal Response:
This act completely shocked me. I had no clue that when the word "tragedy" was used to describe Hamlet, it meant an all out killing. I find it fitting that Hamlet is later recognized for his actions when everyone doubted him and called him mad. King Claudius was awarded his own death after attempting to kill Hamlet. It seems like this act is comparative to how life works sometimes. When we make a wrong decision or two out of our own selfish desires, it turns out to hurt those we love in more ways than we could imagine, even though we didn't mean for it to. I found this act to be a very good ending to a suspense filled book. By it ending this way, it leaves almost all questions answered and it begins to show insight for the future of this country. It was ultimately disappointing Hamlet had to die, even though in the beginning we had a pretty good idea that he would end up dying.
Carli
ReplyDeleteTwists of fate is definitely the perfect way to describe act 5. Nothing really worked out they way anyone planned or intended. It was total chaos and everything back fired on everyone. I was especially shocked that the queen died by drinking the poison intended for Hamlet. This seemed like it could have easily been prevented. I want to call her innocent but she's really not, although she never murdered anyone she betrayed old king hamlet and Hamlet her son by immediately sleeping with and marrying her brother-in-law. So it's like karma came back on everyone that it needed to, but in a surprising, unexpected way.
Erika-
ReplyDeleteAt times Hamlet's appearance of madness seems to have become a reality. The duel scene presents an appearance vs. reality. The duel appears to be an innocent competition between two rivals; in reality, it is a deadly match that causes the death of the four main characters. Also, Vengeance is a very big theme in this act. Eventually Hamlet’s revenge occurs, but at a great cost. The irony is that Hamlet, by fulfilling his revenge, has destroyed the family whose honor he wanted to avenge. Hamlet and his mother both died, as well as the love of his life. Laertes is the second son to avenge a father, but he causes great destruction as well. He allows his anger to overtake him, and he becomes sucked into Claudius’ evil plan. Rather than approach vengeance like a man, Hamlet and Laertes think murder is the only means of revenge. Unfortunately, this decision ultimately destroys them both.