ACT II
Scene I
- Polonius tells Reynaldo to go to Paris to check on Laertes
- Can you get a sense of his character by the company he keeps
- Reynaldo doesn’t want to dishonor Laertes
- Polonius lost train of thought
- talks more than he thinks
- “your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth”
- “by indirections, find directions out”
- fake it til you make it
·
Ophelia talks to Polonius
o Hamlet
came in lost, half dressed, for a brief minute
o Like
he’s in this dark and she’s in the light
o There
in misery
o Polonius
asks if he’s lovesick because Ophelia hasn’t let herself be seen by Hamlet
since the convo^
·
Hamlet could be faking it, could be grieving, could be lovesick like
Polonius said…
o Shakespeare
leaves open
Scene II
·
Claudius is telling people to do the same that
Polonius told Reynaldo
o Talk
to elicit information
o Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern
o They’re
going to be paid
·
Implied that Claudius knows (thinks) Hamlet’s
going crazy
·
Polonius is back, the other two leave
o False
humility
·
Older Fortinbras (who’s alive actually) didn’t
like what young Fortinbras was doing so he arrested him. They want to
peacefully come through Denmark to fight the Polish
·
“brevity is the soul of wit”
o confirms
Polonius’ and Claudius’ …
·
they’re wondering what’s up with Hamlet
o Gertrude
was right I her assumption that Hamlet’s acting weird because of their quick
marriage and king’s death.
o Polonius
thinks it’s bec he can’t see Ophelia
·
Hamlet Enters
o Calls
Polonius a fish monger
§ Insult
§ Throws
off Polonius,not on his guard if he thinks Hamlet has lost it
·
“though this be madness, yet there is method in
it”
o Polonius
breaks the fourth wall
o He
sees how Hamlet’s responses have double meanings
·
Enter Rosencrantz and Giuldenstern
·
“What a piece of work is a man”
o Hamlet
o cliché
o theme
of the play
§ man
can do so much great in creating and being genuine and everything else awesome
that humans can do
§ man
can also destroy and be evil and do awful things
·
Hamlet to his friends
o “Denmark
is a prison”
§ he’s
not allowed to leave
o he
knows that the two were sent for by the king and queen and they admit it
o Hamlet
tells them that he’s not his usual self
o He
tells them that he’s sort of mad
§ Testing
whether or not they are going to tell the king and queen what he says and if
they can be trusted
·
There’s a play coming to the castle
o The
friends tell Hamlet that the actors don’t take things seriously anymore
·
Polonius enters
o He
wants the play to be a lighthearted comedy, for fun
o He
exits
·
Hamlet tries to get the first player (actor) to
tell a story about a king who gets caught in a scandal
o Aha
o Murder
of Gontago
o He
wants to insert 16 of his own lines
o “the
play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king”
§ if
the king and queen make it visible in public their guilt, then Hamlet has
something to build from in credibility
·
Hamlet’s soliloquy #2
o Hamlet’s
beating himself up
o Compares
himself to the actor
§ He
can’t make himself act on what he needs to do
o Feels
like a coward being private
o Nobody’s
giving him tough love
o If
he could speak out, talk is cheap
§ Actions
speak louder than words
§ Doing
the deed is required
o Integrity
= integrating word, action, & deed
o The
play within the play
§ When
he wants the players to act out his father’s death and prove it by the king and
queen’s reactions
·
Evidence
·
He wants everyone’s guard’s down
o That’s
why he’s acting crazy
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