Act 3 scene 4 Flashcards
(23 cards)
Polonius - “Look” “lay” “Tell” “be”
Polonius uses imperative lexicon to command Gertrude as to how she must act when speaking with her son
Reinforces Polonius’ view of women as weak and not particularly useful. Similarly, in A3.1, he hid behind a tapestry so as to hear for himself Ophelia’s encounter with Hamlet
Sense of distrust as Polonius attempts to control Gertrude’s behaviour, and by extension, Hamlet’s response
Polonius oversteps his boundaries under the pretext of loyalty and service as he asserts his control over the queen herself. This illustrates Polonius’ inflated sense of importance
Polonius treats personal relationships, eg. the bond between Gertrude and Hamlet, as a state affair, and instrumentalises Gertrude as a tool to observe Hamlet rather than viewing her as a grieving mother
Polonius - “your grace hath screen’d and stood between / Much heat and him.”
Metaphor presents Gertrude as a good and protective mother. However Polonius is presented as a sycophantic character as he uses a critical tone to suggest that Gertrude’s maternal indulgence has resulted in political instability
Acknowledgement that Hamlet has been under pressure: “much heat”
Irony in that Polonius criticises Gertrude for emotionally “screen[ing]” Hamlet yet he himself literally hides behind a screen, embodying a sense of deceptive surveillance
Hamlet - “I set you up a glass / Where you may see the inmost part of you.”
Hamlet means to enable Gertrude to “see”, and thus trouble her conscience in order to separate her intimate relationship with Claudius
Metaphor for self-reflection “glass” symbolises introspection and self-awareness
Implication that Gertrude cannot recognise her sinful behaviour without Hamlet’s interference, which emphasises how Hamlet sees her as a static and two-dimensional character
Gertrude - “Thou wilt not murder me? / Help, ho!”
True alarm in that she literally interprets Hamlet’s words as a threat to her life
Or else Gertrude mocks Hamlet by questioning if he will truly act; if by calling for help she is making fun of him, in part she is to blame for Polonius’ murder
Gertrude uses the informal second person singular pronoun “thou” whereas Hamlet uses “you”. It is evident that Gertrude still cares for Hamlet despite his sentiment that she has betrayed him and his father
Gertrude - “O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!”
Exclamatory interjection “O” reflects how Gertrude is genuinely unsettled by her son’s actions
Irony in that for the duration of the play, Hamlet has not acted and instead thought long on the moral issue of killing Claudius. However when he finally acts, albeit “rash[ly]” and impulsively, his abandonment of his prior hesitation leads him to killing the wrong man
Gertrude - “As kill a king?”
Through Gertrude’s bewilderment and confusion at Hamlet’s accusation, he is able to confirm that she was not involved in Claudius’ plot to murder Old Hamlet and thus is somewhat able to partially redeem her
In the 1603 Quarto 1 version, Gertrude vows she “never knew of this most horrid murder”, whereas in the 1604 Quarto 2 and 1523 Folio 1 versions, she merely expresses astonishment at Hamlet’s accusation
Hamlet - “Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool” “Thou find’st to be too busy is some danger.”
Hamlet uses tricolon to escalate the blame of Polonius’ death on Polonius himself, creating an accusatory and dismissive tone. Element of justification or moral superiority to his language
Plosives reflect Hamlet’s heightened aggression and unstable mental state
Irony as Hamlet criticises Polonius for being “rash”, a quality that he himself has just embodied
Sense of moral aphorism as Hamlet universalises Polonius’ death as a warning that excessive meddling leads to destruction. Adjective “busy” trivialises Polonius’ political scheming and espionage
Hamlet’s descent into moral absolutism: he no longer debates right vs wrong but unilaterally declares it
Hamlet - “let me wring your heart […] if it be […] penetrable”
Verb “wring” is very visceral and evokes the image of physically twisting something to the point of distress. This illustrates how Hamlet wishes to emotionally contort Gertrude’s heart and bring her pain
Conditional clause implies that Gertrude may lack a sense of guilt or remorse for her actions
Hamlet views Gertrude as shameful and sinful, and wants to provide her with a service of moral restoration. However the violent language demonstrates how Hamlet continues to look down upon Gertrude and view her as weak and frail
Hamlet - “Such an act / That blurs the grace and blush of modesty”
Hamlet shames Gertrude for having committed what sees to be a violation of feminine virtue and natural order
Noun “blush” connotes shame or moral awareness, suggesting that Gertrude’s actions have erased the natural signs of modesty. Hamlet criticises her for not having more shame or decorum
Hamlet - “What devil was’t / That thus hath cozen’d you at hoodman-blind?”
Suggests that female agency is non-existent. Hamlet suggests that Gertrude has been influenced by the “devil” and deceived into her moral blindness
Portrays Gertrude as a naive participant in the plots that Claudius has orchestrated. Although diminishing Gertrude’s significance and thus undermining her as a character, perhaps this implies that Hamlet doesn’t believe Gertrude is fully guilty for her actions, thus he has remaining hope for her redemption
Hamlet - “O shame! Where is thy blush?”
Exclamatory and interrogative phrases demonstrate how Hamlet is deeply perturbed by Gertrude’s apparent moral blindness and betrayal
Hamlet highlights that Gertrude has failed to acknowledge the weight of her actions, which for him seems to be a more critical point for judgement than her actions themselves. Hamlet seeks for Gertrude to gain self-awareness before instructing her to end her relationship with Claudius, which suggests that it is important for him to morally redeem her
Hamlet - “Rebellious hell” “flaming” “melt” “her own fire” “burn”
Semantic field of heat depicts Hamlet’s judgement of what he feels to be Gertrude’s lust
Gertrude - “[in] my very soul […] I see such black and grained spots / As will not leave their tinct.”
Gertrude’s conscience becomes increasingly prominent throughout the play
The colour black is associated with sin. Metaphor “black and grained spots” alludes to how Gertrude is stained and corrupted with guilt. It “will not leave”, which emphasises the permanent effects of Gertrude’s sin
Gertrude - “These words like daggers enter in my ears.”
Simile “like daggers” illustrates the painful effect of Hamlet’s words on Gertrude, and once more repeats the motif of damage to ears
“Daggers” can be seen as a symbol of the fact that the truth is painful and hard to hear
- Enter GHOST *
Hamlet - “Save me and hover o’er me with your wings, / You heavenly guards!”
Similarly to the Ghost’s appearance in A1.4, Hamlet calls on “heavenly guards” to offer him protection
Hamlet appeals to be “save[d]”, perhaps implying that the Ghost is not necessarily a good spirit, or more simply, has brought Hamlet intense mental torment which he wishes to be relieved from
Gertrude - “Alas, he’s mad.” “To whom do you speak this?”
Gertrude is unable to see the Ghost, which creates uncertainty as to whether it is truly there. In its previous appearances in A1.1 and A1.4, the Ghost was verified by multiple witnesses, whereas now it appears only to Hamlet
The Ghost’s appearance can be seen as a hallucination, thus indicating that Hamlet’s pretense madness has now become very true
Gertrude is unable to see the Ghost, perhaps because it is a hallucination to Hamlet, or else a comment on her inability to confront the guilt surrounding her marriage to Claudius after Old Hamlet’s death
Ghost - “Do not forget. This visitation / Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.”
Ghost’s last words to Hamlet were “remember me”, and now he appears to remind Hamlet to “not forget”, as he is straying to far from his purpose
“Visitation” can be understood as a supernatural appearance or as a moral reckoning; both ways they serve to remind Hamlet of his task of serving justice
Verb “whet” implies how Old Hamlet sees his son as a weapon to be used as it is associated with sharpening knives
Adjective “blunted” reflects Hamlet’s internal conflict and illustrates that his motive has been compromised by his lack of action
Ghost - “step between her and her fighting soul”
The Ghost suggests Hamlet protect her from her struggling soul, and reminds him that his purpose is to avenge his murder by killing Claudius
Hamlet’s feeling the need to redeem Gertrude and enable her conscience is unnecessary as per the Ghost’s demands. He does this himself out of his desire to in a sense avenge her, but delays in killing Claudius perhaps because this
Hamlet - “tears perchance for blood.”
Antithesis of “tears” and “blood” reflect Hamlet’s inner conflict. Tears represent grief and show how Hamlet is mourning his father, whereas blood refers to the violent act of vengeance that Hamlet is urged to carry out by the Ghost
Hamlet is caught between the idea of justice through bloodshed and his moral dilemma (grief)
Hamlet recognises that the Ghost wants “blood” and not “tears”. The Ghost wants to be avenged, and is not a figure who can comfort Hamlet
Gertrude - “This is the very coinage of your brain: / This bodiless creation ecstasy / Is very cunning in.”
Noun “coinage” suggests that Hamlet is experiencing a hallucination, by comparing the apparition to a counterfeit coin
Adjective “cunning” reflects the deceptive nature of Hamlet’s mind, as he tricks himself into believing that the Ghost is there. This makes the Ghost’s appearance very ambiguous to the audience: does the Ghost just not appear to Gertrude, or does it not appear at all?
Hamlet - “Confess yourself to heaven / Repent what’s past, avoid what is to come”
Hamlet orders Gertrude to “confess” so that she acknowledges her wrongdoing
Hamlet advises that Gertrude must “repent” in order to “avoid what is to come”:
1) Hamlet has just witnessed Claudius’ confession and believes that Claudius has repented. This means that he fears that Claudius has been absolved of his sin whereas Gertrude has not
2) He has witnessed the appearance of the spirit of his father, who cannot rest because he was unable to confess before death. Hamlet aims to spare Gertrude of the same fate
Hamlet - “I must be cruel, only to be kind. / Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.”
Paradox in that Hamlet’s cruelty in fact serves a kind purpose. Sense that Hamlet attempts to convince himself and justify that he is acting for the greater good, as the audience has already witnessed and judged Hamlet for his unnecessary spite
Consequences of Hamlet’s action are inevitably “bad” and will inevitably become “worse”; there is no way for his situation to have a positive outcome as the extent of his suffering will only escalate
Hamlet - “I’ll lug the guts into the neighbour room.” “Come, sir, to draw toward an end with you.”
Synecdoche of “the guts” for Polonius reflects how Hamlet sees no real value and him and is not particularly remorseful about his death
Mocking tone further reinforces Hamlet’s cruelty and makes it increasingly more difficult for the audience to discern whether Hamlet is truly mad
