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Polonius Hamlet Appearance v. Reality Polonius the kings royal assistant has a preoccupation with appearance. He always wants to keep up the appearance of loving and caring person. Polonius appears like a man who loves and cares about his son, Laertes. Polonius speaks to his son with advice that sounds sincere but in reality it is rehearsed, hollow and without feeling. Polonius gives his advice only to appear to be the loving caring father.
The reality is he only speaks to appear sincere as a politician, to look good rather then actually be good: And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Farewell; my blessing season this in thee! Act 1 Through the characters within the play all help to show the theme, that being appearance verses reality. Polonius, Rosencrantz (Guildenstern) and the king all appear to be good and honest. As Hamlet finds out, all contain lies and have hidden intentions within them.
As each character is presented in the play all appear to be good and honest making it a difficult task for Hamlet to uncover the hidden truth about the nature of each character. As Hamlet best said it somethings is rotten in Denmark That being the lies which have replaced or covered the true state of each character. Madness Unlike Hamlet, Laertes has developed a different kind of madness, a madness that is controlled by revenge. When Laertes is talking to Claudius, Laertes gets so much revenge building up inside him against Hamlet that Laertes now wants to cut his throat. (Act 4, Sc. 7, 125) Laertes behavior is caused by the sudden death of his father who was without a due ceremony, and his sister who has been driven mad, has contributed to the madness that is being built up inside Laertes. This madness grows even stronger when Claudius promises no wind of blame (Act IV. Sc 7, 66) when Laertes kills Hamlet.
With Claudius being the puppet holder and Laertes being the puppet, Claudius turns Laertes into a savage beast to avenge for his fathers death; perhaps this is what the Claudius has planned all along. Laertes has a form of madness that is escalating because Laertes knows that he has the capabilities and motivation to act on what he believes on. Ophelia has a unique form of madness unlike Hamlet s and Laertes because it a mixture of love and hate. An example of hate is when she sings about a bakers daughter. (Act IV, Sc. 5, 42) Ophelia is referring to the way her father used to treat her before the tragic incident of his death.
A love within her madness is when she speaks about the events on Valentine s day. (Act IV, Sc. 5, 48) When Ophelia speaks about Valentines day she is referring to the events of romance that she was denied. Ophelia s madness is brought on by her lack of being able to demonstrate any maturity in trying to cope with her losses and in return can only inflict her madness on the court. Tragedy In any tragedy there is a tragic hero, and he must possess certain characteristics in order to be one. He must have many good traits such as loyalty and bravery, but one bad one such as pride. Also the audience must have sympathy for the hero. A tragic hero also must have free will or his fate would be decided for him, and his death could be avoided.
Finally, the audience must have sympathy for the tragic hero, or it wouldnt seem so tragic. Hamlet is a perfect example of a tragic hero. He was brave, loyal, and intelligent, but he couldnt move on past one thing, which led to his death. He had a choice of how he would deal with Claudius, and like other tragic heros made a decision. Also, the audience was able to feel sympathy for the position Hamlet was in. These attributes made Hamlet the perfect example of a tragic hero.
The real tragedy of Hamlet is not that of Hamlet or his family but of Polonius family because their deaths were not the consequence of sinful actions of their own but rather by their innocent involvement in the schemes of Claudius and Hamlet. Ophelia s death is tragic because of her complete innocence in the situation. Some may argue that Polonius deserves his fate because of his deceitfulness in dealing with Hamlet while he is mad, but Ophelia is entirely manipulated and used by Hamlet and the king for their own selfish reasons. An example of how Ophelia is used by Hamlet takes place in Act II, scene I, when Hamlet uses her to convince his family he is mad. Ophelia explains to Polonius how Hamlet has scared her, causing Polonius to draw the conclusion that Hamlet has an antic disposition. Although this is the subject to interpretation and many believe that this is simply Hamlet taking one last look at Ophelia before he becomes engaged in his plan to kill Claudius, the fact that he scares her and does not try to alleviate these fears points to the conclusion that he is simply using her to help word of his madness spread throughout the kingdom via Polonius.
In Act III, scene iv, Hamlet kills Polonius while he is hiding behind the arras in the Queen s room. This event causes Ophelia to become insane and leads to her eventual death in a river near the castle in Act IV, scene vii. It can be seen how the combined scheming of Hamlet s scheme which brings about the death of Polonius which leads to Ophelia s death. The passing of Ophelia is a tragedy because she does nothing deserving of death, she is merely used for other people s personal gain. Laertes death is tragic because, although he kills Hamlet, he is avenging his father s death, an act, with reference to the moral climate of the 1600 s, that would have been condoned by the people who saw the play. The difference between Hamlet and Laertes is that Laertes does not use others to attain his goals and his revenge is in part due to the pressure put on him by Claudius.
This makes Laertes murder of Hamlet excusable and his death a tragedy. An example of how Claudius uses Laertes to try and murder Hamlet is seen in Act IV, scene vii. Claudius and Laertes are discussing Hamlet when Claudius says: Laertes, was your father dear to you? Or are you like painting of a sorrow, A face without a heart?
He is asking Laertes whether he is really sorry about his father s death or if he is just acting mournful without feeling mournful. Claudius uses these lines to lead Laertes into a plan to kill Hamlet, asking him what will he do to prove his love for his father in ActIV, scene vii. Hamlet comes back; what would you undertake to show yourself in deed your father s son more than in more than words? It can be easily seen how Laertes, influenced by Claudius in the heat of his anger, could conspire to murder Hamlet and it is in this attempt that Laertes loses his own life to the very poison he kills Hamlet with. Supernatural In two such plays, Hamlet and Macbeth, the supernatural is an integral part of the structure of the plot.
It provides a catalyst for action, an insight into character, and augments the impact of many key scenes. The supernatural appears to the audience in many varied forms. In Hamlet there appears perhaps the most notable of the supernatural forms, the ghost. However, in Macbeth, not only does a ghost appear but a floating dagger, witches, and prophetic apparitions make appearances. The role of the supernatural is very important in Hamlet and Macbeth.
A ghost, appearing in the form of Hamlet+s father, makes several appearances in the play. It first appears to the watchmen, Marcellus and Bernardo, along with Horatio near the guardsmen's post. The ghost says nothing to them and is perceived with fear and apprehension, |It harrows me with fear and wonder X. It is not until the appearance of Hamlet that the ghost speaks, and only then after Horatio has expressed his fears about Hamlet following it, |What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord, or to the dreadful summit of the cliff X.
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