Does Hamlet really love Ophelia? Did they have sex? Does Hamlet know that Ophelia betrayed her along with his parents? All these questions ran through all of our heads while we acted out our scenes and watched the different versions. Here's what I think:
I think that Hamlet is a smart ass and knew the whole time. I think he loves to be sarcastic and play with people's minds, almost to the point where it's hard to follow. There are so many word plays, especially in the scenes when he is talking to Polonius, Guildenstern, and Rosencrantz. It seems almost obvious that he knows when he says, "I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw" (Shakespeare 79). He's basically saying 'I am mad because I know what is going on'. I think Hamlet is extremely smart but not alot of the other characters know that or catch on to his intelligence.
As for the Ophelia-Hamlet love thing, I think that they did have sex and I feel like he found out half way through act 3 scene1 that Laertes and Polonius were watching. The version we watched today (I forgot the name of it) portrayed it the best to me. (the one with the mirrors). I thought it was realistic because I feel like, if they really did have sex and they did love each other, then they would have had that much passion and feelings for each other. Even though the actor playing Hamlet was a little much, I thought he did a good job at portraying Hamlet's feelings and emotions.
3 comments:
I'm not so sure if Hamlet was in love with her. It seems that Ophelia likes Hamlet more than he likes her. If he really liked her, he wouldn't have killed Polonius... right?
I totally think that Hamlet is playing with everyones heads as well. But it does seem that Ophelia is the one who ends up getting hurt the most after her breakup with Hamlet. However, we talked about in class today that Hamlet thought that Polonius was the King hiding, so I dont think his love for Ophelia has anything to do with her fathers death.
True Lexie, however, once he found that it was Polonius that he had killed, he didn't even think about it and called him an 'old fool' for spying.
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