Hamlet 5: Discussion with Mother

               Throughout the entire play, there are instances of King Claudius and Queen Gertrude try to spy on Hamlet in order to determine his state of madness. Each time, Hamlet is too wise to be fooled, discovering the trickery being committed. When the prince storms into his mother's room, he quickly discovers Polonius spying on their conversation. In the scene before, the king and queen send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to bring Hamlet to England to isolate him from his murderous plans and to then kill him. The deception and trickery always backfires due to Hamlet's quick-witted and skillful role-play. However, in his encounter with the Queen he loses control, letting his emotional fury take over. It is here when his mother thinks him mad, though he is not embodying a prepared role of madness. She feels his hurtful but truthful remarks: "These words are like daggers enter into my ears" (III.iv.108) and "thou has cleft my heart in twain!" (III.iv.177). Hamlet makes the most emotional impact when unleashing his overpowering emotions to his mother. Yet even with the emotional confession and accusation, Gertrude does not seem to take Hamlet's plea to not "spread the compost on the weeds / To make them ranker" (III.iv.172-173). Gertrude does not stop Claudius' wrath from taking control of her, of Hamlet, and of Denmark with corruption and deceitfulness. She does not pursue the King and simply regards Hamlet as being mad beyond recovery.

Poem of CHOICE

The dreams we dream are foggy,
Wispy swirls of longing
That float around our heads.
"Dream big," we're told.
But when a cloud is too big
It can be intoxicating.
The blurriness pollutes
When dreams become distant daydreams.
Distractions invade,
Your head is lost in the clouds.
The danger of glorifying the far future
Lies in losing sight of the present tense,
As the dreamy swirls veil your vision,
Allowing the drive of now fade

 away.

Hamlet #5

              Hamlet's soliloquy found at the end of Act II helps develop his plan to reveal the evil deed of the current King Claudius. He does so by considering the many uncontrollable aspects of true emotion. As he observes one of the players perform a scene from a passionate play, he notices how emotional the actor becomes, weeping uncontrollably. He realizes the strength of excellent acting in portraying emotion: "He would drown the stage with tears / And cleave the general ear with horrid speech, / Make mad the guilty and appall the free, / Confound the ignorant and amaze indeed / The very faculties of eyes and ears" (II.ii.589-593). Everyone is affected and made true. The falseness that Hamlet so despises is washed away with successful acting. He also notes that he has "heard/ That guilty creatures sitting at the play / Been struck so to the soul that presently / They have proclaimed their malefactions" (II.ii.617-621). Hamlet understands that the King is protected physically, but his emotional reactions are not necessarily guarded. He believes the likeness of the play to the deed of the King will reveal to all watching that he stores a dark secret.

Poem Using Patter/Struture

 The Red Dagger

You and whose army?                                                (line derived from Radiohead song of same title)
Sans knives or swords or suits of metal,
Even as I speak calmly,
Your eyes can't seem to settle.

You question my validity,
You seek to destroy the truth of my honor,
You try to see through me,
But all you are is just a goner.

A secrete weapon you say?
I have blades and flames and clubs of steel,
Your fork is made of clay,
So now the time has come to kneel.

Silence steadily grows
And the rose petals softly fall,
And I think of the woes
That cause me and you to bawl.

I might have the sword
And other weapons of man's making,
But your love bored
Deeper into my eternal breaking.

Poem on Mom/College/Leaving

Hopes and fears
Mixed with the thrill of change,
And the sadness of it.
I do not doubt
That she will find a group,
That she will belong and feel belonged,
Be a part of the social scene she has been yearning for for too long.
Good influences,
Mutual friendships.
Experimentation is one way to gain knowledge,
As long as she can stay in control,
Knows her limits,
Keeps to her morals.

I want all of her expectations to be met,
For her abilities to be used to their fullest,
For her to flourish to her closest potential,
(Something I believe has yet to happen).
I want her to find love in every sense,
And while keeping her passion for art,
Exploring and delving into new ones.

I don't expect her to come home too often,
I don't think it would be healthy to,
But to see her genuine smile
Radiating through her as she speaks of her Hampshire experiences--
To the ups and downs of
New people,
New curriculum,
New freedom--
Will be the greatest gift to me as a mother. 

Hamlet 2

          The family circuit of Polonius, Laertes, and Ophelia seem to be an overall healthy and supportive one. Both Polonius and Laertes give wise advice to others in the family in a seemingly genuine manner. Laertes has Ophelia's best interests in mind. He worries she be lost in love for Hamlet, without considering his restricting position as Prince of Denmark: "Perhaps he loves you now, / And now no soil or cautel doth besmirch / The virtue of his will; but you must fear, / His greatness is weighed, his will is not his own" (I.iii. 17-20). His tone is deeply concerned and caring, as a brother should be when giving advice about risky love. Polonius gives similar sincere parental advice to Laertes as he leaves for France. The advice is general but useful, including wise considerations such as, "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice" (74). Both instances of advice are considerate and given only for the receiver to go about their lives with the most success. This normal portrayal of family love greatly contrasts the relationship between Hamlet, Claudius, and Gertrude. The royal family is anything but natural, and the tension between each member causes great discomfort.