Journal 27
(I read the whole play so spoilers are involved)
Honestly, what was running through my mind was that Hamlet was getting progressively more and more annoying and that it really was only a matter of time before someone decided to kill him. I was reminded of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "He's not quite dead!". Hamlet's death was only a matter of time (and it took him long enough).
You could simply see events spiraling out of control in the first three acts with all the characters; Claudius trying to atone himself for murdering his brother, Ophelia and Hamlet's descent into their own madnesses, Gertrude trying to come to terms with King Hamlet's death and her marriage to Claudius, Laertes loss of family...it was a recipe for disaster, which is exactly how it all turns out.
-Hilary
Too bad Hamlet never said "I
Too bad Hamlet never said "I feel happy. I feel happy" like the guy who wasn't dead in Monty Python. It might have ended better for the whole cast of characters. All the characters definitely seemed to struggle with their views on morality in this play. Like, Claudius who feels that murdering his brother and marrying his wife wasn't a bad thing until halfway through the play. Or Hamlet who thinks that Pelonius deserved to die. There is a definite question of morality and whether theses characters really have any.
Happy
The characters morality is for sure a struggle for every one. They all needed to take a step back and look at there actions that they were committing.
Someone should have just
Someone should have just whacked him on the head and everyone would have been better off. Maybe if Hamlet would have died sooner, other characters may have lived.
Oh yeah
That would probably have saved everyone. It would have been a move for the greater good.
Dementors
I swear, there must have been an influx of dementors in Denmark at the time. Everyone is so depressed. When one person dies, it makes someone else sad enough to kill themselves. Then they make someone else want to die. It's a horrible cycle of death!!
Renee
I like you Hp reference...
That would be a great way to describe all the depression going on.
Denmark
Considering other Shakespeare settings like England and Italy, Denmark does seem like a forgotten nation in comparrison. It seems as though Shakespeare is using Denmark in this play for a reason, I just don't know any Danish history to back it up.
Ryan K Bishop
I never thought of that
I guess that is true. Most of his plays are relatively local. I wonder why this one is so far off. Maybe he had some political reasons to do so...Or maybe it just works to have it there because it gives Gertrude sort of a reason to get married so quickly. If they had been a larger world power, there wouldn't have been as much need to get a new leader so soon. But I bet there is a better reason than that.
the original dane
The tale from which the play is adapted is from Denmark, and Hamlet, in a variety of spellings, was a Prince of Denmark. Bradley
Bradley
All Interesting Observations
Particularly that there was an influx of dementors, nice one!
Morality is obviously a large portion of the play, and I do wonder what would have happened if Hamlet would have died sooner. I suppose Claudius would have continued on as King, Ophelia might have lived, we really just don't know. It brings back to old argument of whether it is more moral to save more people by killing one or not... given the chance, would you kill Hamlet?
-Hilary