Hamlet Act 1 scene 2 Notes The second

Hamlet Act 1 scene 2 Notes

The second part of scene two l l After the court with Claudius and Gertrude Deals with Hamlet's reactions, his melancholy, and its causes:

Hamlet’s reactions, his melancholy and its causes: l l Frustrated: can’t do anything about the marriage “O God, O god heaven and earth must I remember. ”

Confused l Doesn’t know how much time has passed since his father died l (two months, within a month)

Feeling Useless l l l Wishes his “sullied flesh would melt. ” Suicidal His flesh is sullied because he carries his mother’s blood

Hateful and Revolted l l l Hateful towards Claudius Revolted by mother She didn’t mourn long enough She is behaving lustfully She is behaving incestuously with Claudius

Disillusioned l l Hamlet thought his parents wildly in love “she would hang on him as if increase of appetite grown/by what it fed on. ”

Progressively More Emotional l His speech gets choppier as the scene progresses.

Feels His World has Collapsed l Because his father is dead, and his mother remarried very quickly, he has lost both a mother and a father. l This world is rank (disease imagery): an “unweeded garden that grows to seed”

Changeable l He then very quickly becomes affectionate and polite to Horatio, the soldiers Marcellus and Bernardo

Suspicious l l Aware of the foul situation “foul deeds will rise/Though all the earth o’erwhelm them to men’s eyes. ”