This act is very
intense. Ophelia is commits suicide, Laertes is out for revenge, and Claudius
wants to kill off Hamlet so he can be in peace. This act by far was the most
intense out of all the previous acts. The predicament at hand seems to be a
movie about murder. Two people are planning it and even planning another plan
just in case the first one doesn’t go through. Claudius and Laertes really want
Hamlet dead and in this scene it shows.
The character that
stands out the most is Laertes. He is all about killing the person responsible
for killing his father and turning his sister crazy. Laertes plays the
protagonist in this act fighting for justice. He believes that Hamlet needs to
die for the fact that he has killed Polonius. However this protagonist has a
fall because Claudius is playing him and helping him plot the murder for
Hamlet. Claudius is helping him because he also wants Hamlet dead. Laertes is
playing a foil character to Hamlet. Laertes is fighting for justice the right
way while Hamlet is doing it the wrong way to where he looks crazy.
The theme of this act
is Madness. Everyone in this act seems to be going crazy. Ophelia commits
suicide, and Laertes and Claudius plan to kill Hamlet. The way that Claudius and
Laertes plan to kill hamlet is horrible. Not only do they come up with one
plan, but they come up with a couple plans. This shows how mad they are at
Hamlet. They want him dead and only dead. The author uses this theme to show
that Hamlet has caused many people to want to kill him. He has caused chaos and
some people want him dead now. Madness is taking over everyone in this act and
now people are turning against each other and pointing fingers at one another.
This act was very important in showing that chaos has now taken center stage.
The action gets convoluted for sure. Everyone is either plotting to harm someone, or being used in as a pawn within the plotting. I don't know that I would call Laertes a protagonist, as he sets out to kill the protagonist Hamlet; but I DO believe he is a good guy who just gets pushed to the edge by the death of his father and sister. And everyone does appear to go mad! There isn't a calm and collected one of them in the whole bunch.
ReplyDeleteI Agree with Allison how Laertes is a good guy. He was loyalty here because he cares for his sister and father that he wanted revenge for them. But Claudius who hated his nephew Hamlet and wanted him to be dead. So he put the blame on Hamlet. And Hamlet is stupid for that, but I think Hamlet thought it was Claudius who was behind the arras because he said, "How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!" (3.4.25).
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Laerets is fogting the right way, he knew about the poisoned sword thats not the right way. Yes hes taking action but he is doing so without integrity but with deceit.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason i feel as if Act 4 was very fast paste, i feel that Shakespear just rushed everything. The first three acts are slow paste and go smoothly but i just feel like the fourth was too fast. Laertes just throws me off a little, i understand that him and Hamlet share the common thought of venging their fathers death but it just confuses me a little.
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