January 1st 2012
English Hamlet ISU
The Crisis of
Hamlet
Shakespeare's
style of writing tragedy plays makes the crisis fall out at the geometric
center of the play. Shakespeare's tragedy play, Hamlet, offers three
possibilities for the crisis of the play. All these possibilities fall out
during Act 3, the middle of the play. The first is in Act 3 Scene 2, when
Claudius flees from the play that Hamlet had staged to see if Claudius was
guilty of killing Old Hamlet. The second occurs in Act 3 Scene 3, when Hamlet
is given a opportunity to kill Claudius in the chapel but he forgoes it. The
third possibility happens in Act 3 Scene 4, when Polonius hides behind the
tapestry while Hamlet is talking with his mother, Gertrude. Hamlet sees the
tapestry move thinking Claudius was behind it he stabs it killing Polonius who
was hiding behind it. Each of these possibilities can fit into be the crisis of
the play each in their own way.
Hamlet, the main protagonist of the play is
determined to find out if Claudius, his uncle, had murdered Old Hamlet, Hamlet's father, to gain
the throne after the ghosts testimony. Hamlet asks the player to play the
Murder of Gonzago in the theater in font of the king and queen. The
play-within-a-play tells us the story of Gonzago, the Duke of Vienna, and his
wife, Baptista, who marries his murdering nephew, Lucianus. This play resembles
what Claudius had done to Old Hamlet. In order for Hamlet and Horatio, Hamlet's
friend, to verify the word of the ghost they would be watching for King
Claudius’s reaction. The play begins and when the murder pours the poison into
the kings ear, Claudius gets up, cries out, and flees the room followed by the
audience. “[Claudius cries out] Give me some light. Away!”(3.2.266). Hamlet and
Horatio talk about what had occurred. They agree that the behavior of the king
was telling of his actions to Old Hamlet and that the ghost was telling the
truth: “I'll take the ghost's word for a thousand pound”(3.2.283-284). Hamlet
realizes that Claudius’s reaction might have not geared to murderers actions
which copies the way he killed of Old Hamlet but of the murderer. The play
shows that the nephew pours the poison into his uncles ear, but in Claudius
case, Claudius pours the poison into his brothers ear. Before Claudius had
become Hamlets stepfather, he his uncle and Hamlet was his nephew. Claudius
might had run out of the room because he thought that Hamlet was going to kill
him. Hamlet and Horatio don’t know if Claudius reacted to his own crime or that Hamlet, his nephew, would try to kill
him. This scene demonstrates that Claudius had a important reason to flee.
After this scene Hamlet and Horatio consider themselves to have proven Claudius
guilt and that they can move to the next level of planning to murder him.
In
Act 3 Scene 3, Claudius enters the chapel and recites a soliloquy. In the
soliloquy Claudius, for the first time, openly admits that he had murdered Old
Hamlet. Claudius says his prayer wont work because he is not willing to give up
the throne and queen: “I am still possess'd / Of
those effects for which I did the murder,/ My crown,
mine own ambition and my queen”(3.3.53-55). Hamlet enters into the chapel and
receives a opportunity to kill Claudius once and for all. Hamlet being a very
thoughtful person, thinks to himself that if he would kill Claudius right after
he was praying for forgiveness, Claudius would go straight to heaven, “and so
he goes to heaven, /And so am I reveng'd.”(3.3.74-75). Hamlet tells himself
that its not right to kill Claudius now and he leaves to talk to his mother.
Hamlet tells himself that he would kill Claudius when he would be sinning:
“When he is drunk, asleep, or in rage, /Or in the impetuous pleasure of his
bed”(3.3.89-90). Later Claudius ponders that if Hamlet had indeed killed him in
the chapel he would have gone to hell because his words were useless: “My words
fly up, my thoughts remain below”(3.3.96).
In the exact middle if the play Hamlet gets what he wanted. Since the beginning
of the play Hamlet wants to revenge on the murder of his father and he is given
a chance to kill Claudius but he starts thinking. From all of the play Hamlets
over thinks, and here as a example too much and this thinking saved Claudius
from certain death.
Hamlet
angrily goes to his mothers room. Gertrude tells Hamlet that he has offended
his father, meaning his stepfather Claudius: “Hamlet, thou hast thy father much
offended”(3.4.9). Hamlet responds that she had offended his father, Old Hamlet,
by marrying Claudius: “Mother, you have my father much offended”(3.4.10).
Hamlet starts arguing and making her aware of what she had done. Hamlet was
starting to act violently and his actions make contact with her guilty
conscience, and she screams fearing for her life: “What wilt thou do? Thou wilt
not murder me?”(3.4.21). Polonius who was hiding behind the tapestry cries out
for help, “What, ho! Help, help,help!”(3.4.22). Hamlet thinking Claudius was
behind the tapestry and cries out, “How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat,
dead!”(3.4.22). He pulls his sword
and stabs though the tapestry killing Polonius who was behind it. We see many
things from Hamlet's actions here. Hamlet acted upon instinct without thinking.
He pulled his dagger and stabbed the tapestry. Claudius notes of Hamlet, “His
liberty is full of threats to all”(4.2.14). When Hamlet stabbed the tapestry he
revealed his deep desire to murder Claudius.
Each
of these events can be the crisis of the play. I think that the third
possibility suits to be the crisis the play. Hamlet has been thinking
throughout the play until this point where he just commits the action of murder
only to find that he had killed the wrong person. Once he had killed Polonius
he had seen what his thoughts and action had led to. We see that that this
crisis fits to be the turning point in the play. Hamlet has been more
active after this scene:
Rashly,
/And prais'd be rashness for it, let us know, /Our indiscretion sometime serves
us well... There's a divinity that
shapes out ends, Rough-hew them how we will. (5.2.6-11)
Hamlet senses that fate controls
destiny. Claudius realizes that Hamlet is a threat after Hamlet had killed
Polonius and sends him to England. Hamlet being sent to England is a positive
resolution of Denmark. After the turning point
Hamlet acts more and thinks less. Hamlet rewrites the letter that was being
sent to England with instructions to kill Rosencranz and Guildenstern. When
Hamlet find out of Ophelia's interment he jumps into the grave followed by
Laertes which leads to brawl in the ground.
All these are some examples of what had happened after the crisis of the
play. We uncover one of Hamlet's tragic flaws, his inability to coordinate
between his thoughts and actions. When Hamlet would be in his thinking “mode”
he thinks of the good and bad consequences of his actions and then he would not
commit the action like what happened in the chapel. But when Hamlet does
decides to act, he does it blindly, as by the crisis, killing Polonius.
Work
Cited:
Shakespeare,
William. Hamlet. Mississauga: Canadian School Book Exchange, 1996.
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