Travel and Discovery and Hamlet

1. I am presenting the travel and discovery works in class today.

1. The opening scene of Hamlet gives an eerie and dark mood to the play. It seems to be quiet as the men stand outside. The watchmen are frightened and startle each other. They both believe they have seen apparitions in the form of the King. Before anything really occurs in the play the audience, or reader, knows that this creepy mood is significant in some way. The fact that they speak of the ghost right from the start shows what will be important in the following scenes. Bernardo and Marcellus talk in a whisper about what they have seen and the overall scene seems eerie to the characters and the reader. In scene IV the men are in the same place as they were in scene I. Haratio and Marcellus are there this time and look around quietly. It is night again and they wait to see if the ghost appears. Both scenes have the same mood.

2. Toward his son, Polonius acts kindly and trusts him to go on his own. He gives him encouraging advice, but allows him to make his own decisions. Laertes basically tells Polonius that he is leaving for school and that's that. However, with Ophelia he acts as a typical father by not wanting her to be with Hamlet. His decision does not seen completely evil, but maybe just protective. Laertes and Polonius seem to think that she is naive and incapable of making her own decisions. This was typically what was assumed of most girls of that time. Perhaps Laertes acts toward Ophelia as a protective brother would, trying to make sure nothing happens to her just like her father. The men clearly are in control of the household and and the women are expected to do as they say. Ophelia does not argue with her father and brother but instead obeys. This reflects the gender roles of the period- men being in charge and all-knowing and women being less than them and ignorant.

3. The ghost says that he is Hamlet's father and that he seeks revenge. He explains to Hamlet how he was killed. He seems selfish and comes just to ask a favor from his son. He comes to ask Hamlet to kill the one who killed him so that he can be free. Hamlet responds in a way that acknowledges that he has heard the ghost but seems unsure of whether it was really his uncle who killed him. Despite his uncertainty he swears that he will kill his father's murderer. His father tells him that it is his uncle that he must kill. Hamlet concocts a plan to act crazy in order to figure out who is truly the murderer. He hopes to trick his uncle to find out if it is in fact him who killed his father and gives hints of this plan.