DRJ# 4: Hamlet, Act 4
I felt this act was a pot being stirred. There were many different emotions and feelings going on. It reminds me of just society’s drama. People and kids are dealing with these types of things every day. You see it in the news about murders and potential suicides.
Poor Ophelia and her lovely soul. All I kept thinking about is her wounded heart for her father’s death. It took a huge tool on her and her being of acting normal. Her morning was something I have never seen before. The songs she was making up and just going around and singing. I think maybe one time she talked like a normal human person but other than that she was just singing and making up her own words. Ophelia always seemed sweet and caring of her dad and brother. When she died I was shocked. It really was a twist in the act. In her eyes she just wanted to love and someone love her.
When Laertes returns home all he wanted was to have revenge on whoever killed his father. But I was thinking about revenge as a theme for this act. I was in awe by the love this family had for each other. They had such a tight bond. It affected both of Polonius’s children where they both seemed lost without him. Then Hamlet sends Horatio a letter telling him what is going on. I thought “wow” what great friendship. So love/family/friendship popped out to me.
I really like the way that you mention how close Ophelia and Laertes are to their father. It is an interesting thing because both siblings have very passionate reactions to the death of Polonius, but in entirely different ways. Laertes becomes intent on taking revenge for his father's death, while Ophelia falls into a state of madness and depression. I wonder though if the loyalty that Polonius' children had for him stems from love and respect or from control and abuse.
ReplyDeleteI have read a few of your journals without commenting, and I enjoy how positive you are about these characters. I really enjoy how you see the good in them, rather than their potential for evil. I feel like Polonius' children were loyal because of reasons other than love or family; I think their loyalty stemmed from fear. Fear of disappointing their father or their family, perhaps even fear for their lives. I believe something other than insanity is going on with Ophelia, and it may not have anything to do with the death of her father.
ReplyDeleteAlthough i didn’t first think of the theme as being surrounded by family but with further thinking i can see that the revenge and turmoil was all created by the love of family. Hamlet wants revenge because of the wrong that was created on his father and the same with Laertes. Ophelia on the other hand didn’t seek revenge but the fact of her father’s death caused her to kill herself in hopes of seeing her father again.
ReplyDeleteI like how you put the final act was like the pot being stirred and how it finally reached a boiling point, if you would excuse the pun. It really didn't click with me how Polonius' children reacted with such emotional reactions. I hadn't really looked at them as brother and sister and how they must have cared for him. I think they reacted that way because he was all they knew, in a sense he was their life.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about how the theme of this play could be love and family and friendship. I hadnt thought about that being a theme of the play until I read your blog but now that seems like it really was a significant part but I still feel as though revenge is probably a stronger theme of the play just because there was so much of it involved.
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