Throughout Act I in Hamlet, you learn a lot about the characters without Shakespeare specifically saying anything about them. Everything you learn about each character in the first Act is strictly by what they do and say so you as a reader have to make assumptions and draw conclusion about each character. This really helped me to really take in the story because it doesn’t just tell you what to think, but it allows you to draw in on personal experiences to figure out what kind of person each character is.
One of the characters who really stuck out to me is King Claudius. You don’t really hear much from King Claudius himself, but you learn a lot about the kind of person he is from Act I. You learn about how selfish he is when you find out that he seduces Hamlet’s mother so he can be King. You then find out how conniving he is when you find out that he poisoned Hamlet’s father. Without actually saying that King Claudius is a bad man, you automatically hate this man from the start and feel sorry for Hamlet.
Another character, who on the other hand you hear a lot from but learn more about him by what he does, rather then what he says is Hamlet. Right from the start of Act I you realize that Hamlet will be the complicated character of the book both external and internally. Through the weeping over his father’s death, and his pronounced love for Ophelia, you realize how sensitive a man Hamlet is. You also learn that he is a respectful son when he chooses to bite his tongue rather then speak out against his mother and uncle’s marriage. This shows what strong character he is. Although we don’t know that much about Hamlet yet, I feel as though you can never learn everything there is to Hamlet because that’s how “deep” he is as a character in this story.
The last character I would like to point out is Gertrude. Now this character I don’t really know about, but from reading the first act, I have a lot of questions that I will hope to be answered throughout this play. Right now I am undecided on whether Queen Gertrude is innocent to what had happened to her husband, or if she was in on it. Hamlet states that her and his father were truly in love, but now that you see that she was so eager to go off and get married so soon, how do we truly know that she was in love. I am wondering if she helped plot the king’s murder or she is just so naive that she just doesn’t see what Claudius is doing. Either way, I find it very hard to sympathize with this character and I feel she will be my least favorite in the play. As the plot thickens, I hope to learn more of her connection to what is happening with the corruption going on in the kingdom.
So far, I am really enjoying reading this play. I’ve only read the first Act and I am already drawing conclusion to which everyone may be internally and how they affect the story externally. I am looking forward to reading on and finding out what really happened the day the king was murdered and who was actually in on the scheme.
When you comment on this particular blog, I would appreciate if you could focus on the ideas that i pointed out about the characters. I would love to hear if anyone felt the same way I did about these characters or if you don't feel the same way give me your input on how your opinion differs. Also if you would like to give me a critique on my grammar and organization skills that would be very helpful to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment