Answer only your assigned question with a perfect paragraph.
1. 167 lines into Act 2, we have not actually seen Hamlet. How is this structure similar to that of Act 1? How is it different? Why does Shakespeare start these acts with Hamlet offstage? What effect does it have? What do we learn of Hamlet before his entrance in line 168? Give clear evidence from the text.
2. We’ve seen quite a lot of Polonius in Act 2. Who is this guy? Describe his character. When he claims to have been a faithful and wise advisor to Claudius, can we believe him? Does he know how Claudius came to power? How sure is he that Hamlet’s alleged madness stems from unrequited love? Find examples in the text to prove your points.
3. What’s Claudius up to in Scene 2? Publicly, why does he send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet? Does he have any ulterior motives? From his conversations first with R & G and later with Polonius, what do we learn of his character? Provide evidence from the text.
4. Surveillance and deceit are developing themes in Act 2. How do these themes tie into the rising action? Compare/contrast the surveillance of Laertes and Hamlet. What kind of a country/court is Denmark? What effect does the government’s suspicious nature have upon foreign affairs? How does the situation with Norway seem to be resolving?
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The themes of surveillance and deceit tie into the rising action, because they are setting up delicate situations between Polonius and Laertes and Claudius and Hamlet. Both Polonius and Claudius hope to track the behavior of Laertes and Hamlet, but their methods slightly differ. Polonius sends Reynaldo to set traps for Laertes, to test him and make sure he does nothing wrong while in France. Claudius invites Hamlet's best friends to watch him carefully and find the cause of his craziness. This suggests that Denmark is a furtive place, that there are many hidden secrets and spies. Nobody really knows what the truth is behind the scenes, because you cannot trust that what is being said is actually happening. This makes foreign affairs seem somewhat disconnected. It does not appear that anyone has tried to resolve the situation with Norway,but rather it is playing out by itself. For instance, we do not know what prompted Norway to focus their forces elsewhere. This surveillance and deceit which is mirrored in all relationships in the play definitely cannot be good, because at some point the secrets will come out.
These themes tie into the rising action because they are foreshadowing. They are indicating a confrontation between Polonius and Laertes and Hamlet and Claudius. Both Polonius and Claudius are trying to appear as though they are looking out for their "sons" in a fatherly manner. They want to seem like they are spying on them because they care. However, Polonius and Claudius are worried about their reputations. Polonius spies on his son because he doesn't want his son sleeping around and going out to bars; that would look bad on Polonius as a father. Claudius is trying to put up an illusion as if everything in the castle is OK. However, if Hamlet is running around acting crazy, then people will realize that not all is right with the royal family. It is really important to Claudius that Hamlet not act out because of the series of changes that have occurred in Denmark. Claudius wants to be accepted by the people of Denmark so he spies on Hamlet. This suggests that the court of Denmark is very unstable. Polonius' and Claudius' need to spy on their children suggests that the court of Denmark has trust issues and spies often. This can relate to their foreign affairs because they could be spying on countries that they are not on good terms with, such as Norway. The situation with Norway has remained the same. Invasion is still imminent, yet when it is going to happen is not exactly clear.
Polonius and Claudius bring themes of surveillance and deceit into Act 2. Polonius secretly sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes to make sure that he isn't "stepping out of line" and is on his best behavior. Claudius brings two of Hamlet's friends from school to also "spy" on Hamlet in hopes that Hamlet will trust them enough to reveal why he is acting so strange. There is a strong sense of distrust and dishonesty with important members of the Denmark monarchy. If there is this much immoral corruption with the Polonius and Claudius, then there much be just as much deceit with the ordinary citizen and the rest of Denmark. Denmark has learned to accept and "turn their eye" to the amount of corruption that takes place within their country.
Hamlet is not seen in the first 167 lines of act 2 scene 2, never appears in act 1 scene 1, and doesnt make an appearance until like 75 in act 1 scene 2. These acts are similar because they each start with Claudius and Gertrude talking before Hamlet enters. The only difference is that in scene 2 Polonius is with them and they are all talking about Hamlet behind his back. Shakespeare starts these scenes with Hamlet offstage because it gives the audience an idea of what the rest of the character are thinking/feeling. When Hamlet is not present, other parts of characters are revealed.The only thing we learn about Hamlet before his entrance in like 168 is that he is clearly taking the break up with Ophelia very tough. He clearly has true feelings for her but Polonius has forbid her to see him. We know that Hamlet is having a hard time coping with the situation but we also know that he has everything planned out. When he encounters Polonius, he mocks him. Hamlet isn't actually how he appears to be to everyone. In act 1 when Hamlet tells Horatio and Marcellus to not hint to his weird behavior, we know that he's got something up his sleeve. This is all a part of his plan, he's got everyone thinking just like he wants them to be.
This structure of leaving Hamlet off stage is similair to that of act 1 because we do not see Hamlet until late in act 1. We dont hear from him until about line 65 in scene 2 of the first act. These introductions to Hamlet are a little bit different though. In the first act we find him very sad, mourning his fathers death. In act 2 we find him babbling things like, "Excellent well, y'are a fishmonger."(line 172) and trying to act crazy in front of his freinds who are spying on him. I think that Shakespeare starts both of these acts with Hamlet off stage because it shows how everyone is reacting to his supposed craziness, and how he is kind of singled out in this play. It also makes it easier to let the audience in on what character are thinking about in the play when you have certain characters talking about Hamlet and what they are going to do and stuff. This gves the play dramatic irony, because the audience knows what Hamlet does not. Before Hamlets entrance in act 2 we find out that Ophelia does not accept Hamlet's love anymore.
Hamlet is not introduced into act 2 until 167 lines into the second scene just as he is not introduced right away in the first act. The first act is mainly used to introduce everyone while the second is more into the plot. In the first act he is not included right away but he is not really mentioned either. No one is talking about him then, but before he comes into the second act everyone is talking about him. Polonius, Claudius, and Gertrude are all trying to figure out why he is acting so weird. They talk about him and Ophelia and their “love” and disguise a plan to figure out what is exactly wrong with him. Shakespeare starts these acts with Hamlet off stage so as to help us understand what is going on with all these other characters. The effect of this is that the reader feels as if Hamlet is on his own against everyone. We learn that Hamlet has written a love letter to Ophelia but Polonius does not want their love to succeed. Polonius states on line 140, “This must not be. And then I prescripts gave her that she should lock herself from his resort.” Polonius is very unsupportive of their relationship and desires to learn the truth of Hamlet weirdness.
Claudius is very deceitful and tries to look like he truly cares about Othello. His real motive is to find out why Hamlet has been acting madman. That is why Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are summoned to the court and ordered to spy on Hamlet. Claudius relies on the close bond with them and Hamlet to get to the truth. Claudius's real motives are to find out what Hamlet is planning and what he is up too, he could care less about Hamlet's mental health. We learn that he is a very evil and calculating character.
While off stage in the beginning of the act hamlets 2 friends fro school are spying on him. as this is going on hamlet has decided to brake up with ophelia. With out Ophelia in his life Hamlet will not hold back and will take any action he needs to. He does not want to drag he into what he is going to do in the future. As the prince Hamlet can not marry her because she is not a princess so the brake up would happen any way.
While Hamlet is offstage Polonius and Claudius plan to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet is about to break up with Ophelia. Breaking up with Ophelia is a very important turning point in the play because it shows that Hamlet actions in the future will be very outrageous. Hamlet is breaking up with her because he does not want to bring her through his troubles. “Lord hamlet is a prince out of thy star. This must not be.” Ophelia is the last thing in Hamlets life that retaining his sanity. They have a planned meeting where Polonius and Claudius are going to have spies watch Hamlet and Ophelia breaking up their relationship. Shakespeare excludes Hamlet in this scene in order to provide some foreground in the stage for some upcoming action. Claudius and Polunious are doing all they can to ruin their relationship.
The structure of Act 1 is similar to that of Act 2, because in both Hamlet is not seen. The difference is that in Act 1 nobody is talking about him like Gertrude, Claudius and Polonius are in Act 2. Shakespeare starts these acts with Hamlet offstage to show us the different points of view. In Act 2 we see Gertrude, Claudius and Polonius talking about Hamlet's craziness. This shows what the other characters think of Hamlet and how they talk about him behind his back. In Act 2 we hear them talking about his madness "He is mad, 'tis true; 'tis true 'tis pity" They talk about what the reason for his madness might be and this is when we find out that he is madly in love with Ophelia. Polonius thinks that the rejection of Ophelia might be the reason for his madness and he wants to prove it. "Fell into sadness, then into fast, thence into a watch...into the madness wherein now he raves" This is all part of Hamlet’s plan because he knows what he is doing and is smart with his words/moves.
Polonius was a King Hamlet's counselor and he becomes King Claudius's counselor. He is also a father of Laertes and Ophelia. Although Polonius seems like a righteous person and faithful, he actually thinks about his own reputation and power. I cannot believe Polonius when he claims to have been a faithful and wise advisor. How a person who does not trust his own son can trust King? He shows that he believes what King says, but he does not truly believe in King. Also, he does not do his best to give best advise to King when King Claudius is worried about Prince Hamlet. He sees other people's problems in shallow way. Polonius is as sly as Claudius, so he may knows how can Claudius come to power. But there is no clear evidence that can support this opinion. Polonius is 100% sure that Hamlet's madness steams from unrequited love. Polonius visits King Claudius and mentions about Hamlet's madness, and says, "Give first admittance to th'ambassadors. My new shall be the fruit to that great feast." (Act 2, Scene 2, 51~52) His news can cure Hamlet's madness and this will solve both King and queen's worriness about Prince Hamlet.
Polonius is the Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. He is a conceited and scheming old man who continually puts bad ideas into Ophelia’s head about Hamlet. He does not want their relationship to last anymore, and even convinces her to spy on Hamlet. When Polonius claims to have been a faithful and wise advisor to Claudius, the reader can make the assumption that he is telling the truth because Claudius says to him, “I know you are loyal and honorable (96).” At this point, Polonius is not aware of how Claudius came to power. Furthermore, Polonius is ridiculous and claims that he is positive what has caused Hamlet’s madness. Polonius shows Claudius a love letter that Hamlet has given to Ophelia, and claims that Hamlet’s words are awful and absurd. Polonius goes on and lies about the situation with Hamlet and Ophelia. For example, behind closed doors, Polonius tells Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet because he will leave her and does not truly love her. However, when he confronts Claudius about the situation, he says, “Lord Hamlet is a prince out of thy star. This must not be (96).” This quote illustrates how Polonius lies and makes it seem like Hamlet is too good for his daughter, however, in reality he does not want her to be with Hamlet. Polonius believes that since Ophelia has rejected Hamlet, he has gone mad, “And he, repelled, -- a short tale to make -- fell into a sadness, then into a fast, into the madness wherein he now raves (96).” Thus far, he is nothing but a conniving old man and is only causing problems for Hamlet.
In scene 2, Claudius is after information about the very deceptive Hamlet. By bringing in two of Hamlet's school friends, Claudius hopes to find out more about Hamlet. Claudius also remarks on how Hamlet may be acting strange because of something other than the death of his father. The reasoning behind the spying is because Claudius wants the kingdom to return to a normal state and Hamlet is making that difficult by acting out of the ordinary. It is clear that Claudius wants utter control over everything in his kingdom. He will do everything necessary to restore order, even spying on those close to him. He is also very persistent in his efforts which furthermore shows how eager Claudius is in his search for control. Pg 69, Line 56 "i doubt it is no other but the main: his father's death, and our o'erhasty marriage. Well, we shall sift him".
Claudius is all about his personal security and well-being. This means he must watch what Hamlet does and he must keep in check with him at all times. Publicly, King Claudius orders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to watch over Hamlet to make it seem like he genuinely cares about Hamlet's well-being, even though it's only for his own benefit. Privately, Hamlet wants to know what Hamlet is up to and why he is acting like a lunatic. In line 277 of Act 2 Scene 2, Guildenstern quotes "My lord, we were sent for." He does not believe that Hamlet is love-crazy because he knows something is up with Hamlet and it just does not have to do with love. We learn that Hamlet is persistent and intelligent through these conversations. We learn that Claudius is cautious about Hamlet's actions because he is smart enough to know how much they affect himself. Also, we learn throughout his conversation with Polonius that he is a very good actor and very good at dealing with his encounters.
These themes tie into the rising action because both Polonius and Claudius are trying to find information on Laertes and Hamlet. They do however, try separate methods to dig up information. Claudius invites Hamlet's friends from school to the castle to find the root of Hamlet's craziness. Polonius, however, hires Renaldo to spy on Laertes and to make sure he doesn't tarnish the family name by messing up. This suggests that Denmark is going through a rough time and that no one can be trusted at this point. This sense of mystery and distrust really confuses and worries the people about Norway's decision to focus elsewhere. The hidden information will all eventually come out, and all hell will break loose.
In both Act 1 and Act 2, the audience does not see Hamlet at the beginning of the act. This is because Skakespeare is trying to show what the other characters such as Polonius and Claudius think of his actions. Polonius states, "And then I prescripts gave her, that she should lock herself from his resort, admit no messengers, receive no tokens." By this Polonius is saying that he feels that Hamlet's mad and crazy behavior is a result of Ophelia rejecting his love. He tells claudius about his plan to spy on Hamlet in order to find the truth behind his madness, "You know sometimes he walks four hours together here in the lobby....at such a time ill lose my daughter to him. Be you and I behind an arras then." Polonius wants to hide behind a curtain so that he and Claudius can observe his unordinary behavior. This is all part of Hamlets plan to see whether or not he can trust the word of the ghost. He is not really mad but the other characters believe that he is, just as Hamlet had planned. Hamlet wants his friends who are actors to put on a small show showing the way that the ghost claims he was killed. Hamlet will judge the truthfulness of the ghost by Claudius' reaction.
Polonius is the father of Ophelia and Laertes. He is below king Claudius in rank and goes to him to keep on his good side. Claudius is a shady character that he will do anything to keep his stature with the king. He finds out that his daughter is in love with Hamlet and orders her to stop seeing him. He believed that Hamlet only wanted to pleasure himself with her. He also was scare that the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia would ruin his reputation with King Claudius. Also, he spies upon his own son who he thinks maybe participating in evil practices. Polonius says “…he’s very wild, Addicted so and so’” and “I saw him enter such a house of sale’ – Videlicet, a brothel - or so forth.” Showing that he thinks that his own son is up to uncertain practices.
He has been a faithful wise advisor to Claudius and only him. He tells Claudius that Hamlet is acting strange and he thinks it’s because of Ophelia’s dismiss of hi love. He then advises Claudius to spy on Hamlet to see if anything is up or he is planning on doing anything. He plans to set an arrangement to spy on Hamlet, he explains, “At such a time I’ll loose my daughter to him. Be you and I behind an arras then.” Thus showing Polonius anticipation to find out what’s up with Hamlet. Polonius probably does know how Claudius came to power because he probably helped plan it. Claudius says, thou still hast been the father of good news.” Giving evidence that Polonius perhaps did have something to do with Claudius getting in power. Love I don’t think has a major part of Hamlet’s madness. He so concerned about the revenge on Claudius that he doesn’t pay that much attention to his love that he once or still has for Ophelia. He shouts, “Bloody, bawdy villain! Remorseless, treacherous…Oh, vengeance!” showing insight to his rage against Claudius.
In Act 2, Hamlet is not introduced right away due to Shakespeare's intension of setting a plot. In Act 1, no one was really talking about Hamlet, Shakespeare was just kind of introducing everyone in the play. In Act two however, Gertrude, Claudius, and Polonius were actually talking about him, and how they were going to spy on him. Which is a subject that they are supposed to speak on private, in order for Hamlet not to find out. It is kind of better for Shakespeare to start the scenes this way, that way the reader knows what's going on and what to expect when Hamlet enters the stage. The conflict in this act is mainly Polonius trying extremely hard to cause Ophelia's love for Hamlet disappear. He wants Ophelia to get far from him as he says, "...she should lock herself from his resort." Here Polonius is going to the extreme with his desire to seperate them. But then again this situation helps Hamlet have a real reason for his "weirdness" although it is all planned.
Claudius’s main objective in the second scene is to discover the cause of Hamlet’s strange behavior. He ordered two of Hamlet’s friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to find out more about Hamlet’s bizarre conduct. One of the reason that Claudius is so concern about hamlet’s misconduct might be that he is afraid that Hamlet has found out the truth about the death of his father. So Claudius wanted to see if this is true, so that he can be prepared to take on Hamlet’s revenge. From his conversations with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, we can conclude that Claudius is a very persuasive person because he is able to convince Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet’s friends since his childhood, to spy on Hamlet. “ That being of so young days brought up with him … That opened lies with our remedy.” (p. 67, lines 11-19)
Question 2:
Polonius is the father of Ophelia and Laertes. He is cunning and knows how to get people to do what he wants. For instance, he sends his servant Reynaldo to spy on Laertes in France and even instructs him on how to go about this business. The reader can believe Polonius when he says he is an old and faithful advisor to Claudius, although he does not know the truth behind how Claudius came to power. Despite being incorrect, it seems that he is certain Hamlet’s apparent insanity stems from his love for Ophelia, who Polonius told to break up with Hamlet. He is still not 100% sure that this is the cause of Hamlet’s moodiness, and convinces Claudius that they must spy on Hamlet in order to find out if love is the center of his madness. Polonius is a sly character; he stays on the down low and sends others to do his work, that way he is never suspected of being overprotective or crazed with his children and other characters in the play.
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