Junior Varsity English (Prep for AP, Humanities, and Big Time University): action and inaction

Friday, April 13, 2007

action and inaction

action and inaction: 2.2.593-607, 2.2.611-616

3 comments:

Alisha Reppucci said...: HAMLET:
“Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak
Like john-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing-no, not for a king
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damned defeat was made. Am I a coward?
Who calls me “villain”? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? Gives me the lie i’ th’ throat
As deep as to the lungs? Who does me this?
Ha! ‘Swounds, I should take it! For it cannot be
But I am pigeon-livered and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave’s offal. Bloody, bawdy villain!”

The second soliloquy is filled with Hamlet’s thoughts on why he has failed to make any actions toward his uncle Claudius or his mother Gertrude. Hamlet expresses that he is dull-spirited and moping around like a daydreamer quite empty of his cause. Because of all that has happened, Hamlet knows that he should be making some sort of action but still stays quiet. His father’s life was defeated and his mother betrayed their family but Hamlet cannot bring himself to make a decision on how to act. After revealing how he really felt about himself, Hamlet then asks, “Am I a coward?” Hamlet then goes on to say in the upcoming lines, what kind of person kills my father and then shoves it in my face by marrying my mother? Of course Hamlet does not say that directly but in phrases like: “Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face?” Calling himself “pigeon-livered” and “lacking gall” are only more insults towards the fact that he has done nothing for revenge and believes that he lacks the courage to do so. King Hamlet was portrayed as a strong, noble man who was ten times the king Claudius is now. What is ironic about the situation is that Hamlet keeps talking to himself instead of actually doing anything about his feelings. Compared to his father who is seen as a courageous man, Hamlet looks weak. Another feeling about this motif is that because it is prolonged so much, the outcome could end up being more than everyone expects. If Hamlet is holding in all his anger then when he finally acts the results could be disastrous and out of control.

HAMLET:
“Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murdered,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words
And fall a-cursing like a very drab,
A scullion! Fie upon ’t! Foh!”

Later on in his soliloquy Hamlet is still criticizing himself for not seeking revenge on King Claudius. Although Hamlet is tempted to act on the past events something is holding him back. At this point Hamlet does not know whether or not the ghost is actually his father or an imposter. The soliloquy concludes with a plan that Hamlet devised to see if Claudius was guilty or innocent in a non-violent way. Hamlet knows that he has been expresses himself through words instead of actions like that of a whore. He says he curses like a prostitute and then goes on to call himself a scullion, which is a male whore. Shakespeare’s comparison of Hamlet to a whore depends on how one interprets it. Prostitutes have a single track mind, doing the same act over and over again to make money which requires no intelligence. I’m sure not many whores want to prostitute their bodies but can think of no other way to have an income, even though they know they should get a real job. Prostitution is not a job someone can keep forever because eventually it is going to catch up with the whore or the prostitute is going to stop getting business. Hamlet is talking to himself over and over again repeating the fact that he should seek revenge but just never acts on it. He knows that he cannot keep talking forever and that at some point he has to take action. However, by the end of his speech Hamlet moves onward instead of repeating himself again by planning to set up his uncle at the play.

Question: Is the reason for Hamlet’s apparent madness caused by the prolonging of the revenge Hamlet knows he has to take?; April 24, 2007 at 7:24 PM
Alisha Reppucci said...: A.

Act 3 Scene 2
PLAYER: I warrant your Honor.
HAMLET: Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor. Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o’erstep not the modesty of nature.

Not only is action and inaction brought up in each of Hamlet’s soliloquies but they are also mentioned numerous times between characters in conversation with one another. The quote I selected from act 3 scene 2 is when Hamlet is directing the players on how to act during the performance. Hamlet tells the player not to be too tame when he is acting because he wants the actors to show Claudius a replica of exactly what happened. Hamlet wants the actors to fit their words with their actions and he wants the performance to be convincing. If the players do not make their performance look natural then it will not have any effect on the King and Hamlet may not be able to judge whether he is guilty. The player’s actions and words are very important to Hamlet and to the novel itself because this scene is the deciding factor on Hamlet’s revenge on Claudius.

Act 4 Scene 7
LAERTES: To cut his throat I’ th’ church.

Throughout the play Hamlet contemplates whether or not he should seek revenge and take action on Claudius. It takes Hamlet until the last scene for him to finally make a decision. When Laertes states that he would cut Hamlet’s throat in a church, it shows how extremely different the two characters are. Both Hamlet and Laertes are in the same situation (both father’s were murdered) but their actions after the deaths are like night and day. Hamlet chooses to wait, question, and plan exactly how he would kill Claudius. On the other hand, Laertes decides right away that he wants to avenge his father’s murder and kill Hamlet. Laertes claims that he would murder Hamlet even if they were in a church. When Hamlet saw Claudius praying he restrained from killing him because he would have gone to heaven. Those two scenes are perfect examples on how to compare and contrast Laertes and Hamlet. Laertes acts on impulse whereas Hamlet ponders what he should do and how he should act.

Act 5 Scene 2
HAMLET: The poison envenomed too! Then, venom, to thy work. (Hurts the King.)
ALL: Treason, treason!
KING: O, yet defend me, friends! I am but hurt.
HAMLET: Here, thou incestuous, murd’rous, damned Dane, drink off this potion. Is thy union here? (Forcing him to drink the poison) Follow my mother. (King dies.)

The last scene in the play is when Hamlet finally takes action. He stabs Claudius with the poisoned rapier and then forces Claudius drink the poisoned wine, which is ultimately making the King commit suicide. After all the internal pain Hamlet has gone through because of the death of his father, Claudius ends up accidentally killing Hamlet’s mother too. When Gertrude dies on the floor in front of everyone something snaps inside of Hamlet and he knows that it is time for Claudius to die. When Hamlet realizes that Claudius has managed to kill both his father and his mother he immediately takes action. Hamlet first weakens his uncle with the rapier and then insults Claudius by calling him an incestuous, murderous, damned Dane. Hamlet finishes him off but just before Claudius’ death he says, “Follow my mother.”

B.

Question: Is the reason for Hamlet’s apparent madness caused by the prolonging of the revenge Hamlet knows he has to take?

I believe that Hamlet is not actually insane nor pretending to be, just the people of the Danish kingdom perceive him to be. Hamlet has been through a tremendous ordeal in a very short amount of time that has obviously changed his personality from what it was before. His father was murdered, his mother married his uncle shortly afterward, and his lover Ophelia was banned from ever seeing him again. Hamlet knows that because the ghost’s words were proven correct that he must seek some sort of revenge against King Claudius. Hamlet procrastinates ever taking action until Claudius accidentally kills Gertrude in the 5th act. I do not believe Hamlet is mad but I do think that Hamlet knows and is obsessed with revenging against his uncle.

C.

Action and Inaction are found in every one of Hamlet’s soliloquies. A lot of the time action is not mentioned directly but it is implied.

Act 3 Scene 1- pg. 127; lines 63-68
Act 3 Scene 1- pg. 129; lines 95-96
Act 3 Scene 2- pg. 137; lines 16-21
Act 4 Scene 4- pg. 203; lines 34-37
Act 4 Scene 4- pg. 203; lines 59-65
Act 4 Scene 7- pg. 231; line 143
Act 5 Scene 2- pg. 261; lines 57-64
Act 5 Scene 2- pg. 281; lines 352-358; May 15, 2007 at 6:40 PM
Unknown said...: In act two scene two lines 593-607 Hamlet explains to the audience his inability to act and seek revenge on Claudius.
“The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I, A dull and muddy-mettled rascal peak Like John-a-dreams, impregnate of my cause, And can say nothing-no, not for a king a damned defeat was made. Am I a coward? Who calls me “villain”? breaks my pate across? Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face ? Tweaks me by the nose? Gives me the lie I’th’ throat As deep as to the lungs? Who does me this? Ha! ‘Swounds, I should take it! For it cannot be But I am pigeon-livered and lack gall To make opression bitter, or ere this I should have fatted all the region kites With the slave’s offal. Bloody, bawdy villain”

This quote occurs after Hamlet has entered into insanity and has hatched his plan to put on a play to catch the king’s guilty conscience. In these lines Hamlet saying, I’m an absent minded dreamer that isn’t able to act or speak for my cause, not say anything for my father who was wronged. Am I a coward ? Who calls me a coward, taunts me, calls me a liar? I have passion with out action. This quote is significant to Hamlets insanity due to is constant inability to take action. Hamlet is constantly tormented by his fathers death and his desire to kill Claudius and his inability to. This quote reveals Hamlet questioning himself and his cowardly tendencies. Hamlet reveals that his inaction is torturing him. The motif of inaction is significant to Hamlet because it is the reason for his actions and inactions throughout the play along with the cause for his insanity throughout the play.; May 16, 2007 at 8:18 AM