Hamlet
Hamlet is a play that provokes questions in the minds of its audience members and readers. Some are answered explicitly in the text, and some go unanswered, leaving the audience
to ponder the true meaning for themselves. Some questions, however, have implicit answers in
the text, left up for a bit of interpretation. These questions and answers will be explored here.
Question One
Does Hamlet go mad, or is he faking the entire time?
In Act 1, Scene 5, Hamlet first encounters the ghost. The ghost claims to be his father, who has been killed by his brother Claudius. He tells Hamlet to avenge his death by killing Claudius himself. Immediately after this encounter, Hamlet sees his friends Horatio and Marcellus. After just a few words are exchanged between them, Horatio says to Hamlet, “These are but wild and whirling words, my lord.” Horatio and Hamlet are close friends, so it’s interesting that Horatio would immediately be concerned by how ‘wild’ he may be acting. If anyone were to pick up on that vibe, it would be Horatio. It could be argued that anyone who has experienced what Hamlet experiences would be acting the same. Hamlet then explains to his friends not to worry about him, and that he’ll only act crazy, not actually go crazy. But his initial behavior in this scene can lead us to believe that he is mad right away. He doesn’t have to act crazy because he actually is.
Question Two
Is Hamlet a coward?
Hamlet asks himself this question in Act 2, Scene 2, “Am I a coward?” Throughout the play, we see Hamlet talk a lot about what he wants to do, which is to kill King Claudius. He has the opportunity to do this in Act 3, Scene 3 while Claudius is praying, but he doesn’t do it because he doesn’t want Claudius to go to heaven. Some could argue that this was just an excuse from Hamlet, and he was afraid to do it.
But the biggest piece of evidence to show that Hamlet is a coward is the time at which he kills Claudius. In Act 5, Scene 2, Gertrude dies during the duel because she drinks the poisoned cup. She says, “O, my dear Hamlet! The drink, the drink, I am poisoned,” and then she dies. After this, Laertes tells Hamlet to take the envenomed sword and stab the king. Hamlet does and then forces the king to drink the poison, and then Claudius is dead. Hamlet only killed Claudius after his mother died. This could show that Hamlet is a coward because even when he had the opportunity to kill Claudius in private, he wouldn’t. He never tried again or devised a plan to kill Claudius until the last moments of his life when the opportunity presented itself and his mom was dead.
Question Three
In Act 1, why does the ghost tell the guys to swear on Hamlet’s sword?
After Hamlet’s encounter with the ghost in Act 1, he tells the other guys to swear on his sword that they will never reveal the things Hamlet has told them. He says, “Swear by my sword.” Then, there’s a pause because the guys don’t do anything right away. So, the ghost says,
“Swear... Swear by his sword.” This is what makes the guys swear. The ghost tells them to swear because he knows that if he scares these guys into it, they will swear on Hamlet’s sword. It also benefits the ghost if these men keep their word and don’t say anything because it means that Hamlet will have a chance to kill the King. If the wrong person were to find out about Hamlet’s plan, he could be killed before he has the chance to avenge the death of the ghost. So of course, the ghost doesn’t want this information to get out.
Question Four
Does Hamlet love Ophelia?
Hamlet and Ophelia exchange a lot of flirty lines throughout the play. It’s implied that they have a sexual relationship as well. They spend so much time together that even Ophelia’s brother Laertes is concerned for her, and he warns her to be careful and not to sleep with Hamlet. As the play progresses and Hamlet starts to act crazy, he tells Ophelia that he never loved her. He says “You should not have believed me... I loved you not.” In this scene, Hamlet is driven so mad by his encounter with the ghost and his emotions about Claudius and Gertrude being together, that he takes out these feelings on Ophelia.
After Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia also goes mad and ends up dying by drowning in a river. At this point, Hamlet has been sent to England and doesn’t know that she died. He comes back during her funeral, and when it is revealed to him that Ophelia has died, Hamlet emotionally professes his love. He says, “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?” One can believe that Hamlet didn’t love Ophelia, he loved the idea of her. He loved having her there for support during this challenging time. He also was able to use her to get his emotions out. One could argue that he acted most insane around her. This was because, to him, Ophelia was just someone to use for pleasure and as an outlet for his emotions.
Question Five
Were Claudius and Gertrude having an affair before Old Hamlet’s death?
It’s never explicitly said in the text whether or not an affair was taking place before the death of Old Hamlet. However, many instances imply that this was the case. For example, during Hamlet’s first interaction with the ghost in Act 1, the ghost refers to Claudius as “that incestuous, that adulterate beast.” The use of the word “adulterate” implies adultery, which means to have an affair. If the ghost is calling Claudius “adulterate” one can assume that there was an affair happening, and even that Old Hamlet knew about it.
The other biggest implication of an affair happens in Act 3 when Hamlet has his intense interaction with Gertrude. Hamlet is angry with his mother for her very fast marriage to Claudius after Old Hamlet was killed. He describes very intimate details about their relationship and shames her for them. In response to these things, Gertrude says, “I see such black and grained spots as will not leave their tinct. O, speak to me no more! These words like daggers enter my ears.” The guilt that Gertrude appears to feel is so strong that she describes it like black spots on her soul and daggers in her ears. This kind of guilt would only come with the guilt of something like an affair.
Question Six
Is Polonius abusive towards Ophelia? If so, in what way(s)?
Polonius and Ophelia’s relationship is complex. Some may observe this behavior and simply say that Polonius is a protective father. However, the way he speaks to Ophelia and interferes with her relationship with Hamlet suggests emotional abuse. The most evidence of this is found in Act 1, Scene 3. In her conversation with Laertes, Ophelia is very open about how she feels about Hamlet. But once Laertes leaves and she is alone with Polonius, she’s more hesitant to share things.
She tells Polonius that Hamlet is being affectionate towards her and she thinks he cares about her. In response to this, Polonius says, “Affection, puh! You speak like a green girl unsifted in such perilous circumstance.” He’s saying that Ophelia is just a child who doesn’t understand the world. He continues with this when he says, “Think yourself a baby that you have ta’en these tenders for true pay.” The argument that he is being protective is understandable here, but the way he talks down to her could be seen as emotional and verbal abuse. Especially when we see her submissive response, “I shall obey, my lord.”
Question Seven
Was Gertrude involved in the murder of Old Hamlet?
The audience knows that Claudius is the one who killed Old Hamlet. However, it is never explicitly said if Gertrude was involved, or even knew about the murder. Some may assume that because they may have been sleeping together before the death of Old Hamlet, this means they were involved together in the murder. But when the ghost is talking to Hamlet, he says this about Gertrude, “Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her.” The ghost tells Hamlet to leave his mother alone. He doesn’t want to get any revenge on Gertrude, thus implying that she is innocent of the murder. When he talks about the thorns in her bosom, he could be referring to the guilt she potentially feels because of the incest and potential infidelity before his death, not his murder.
Question Eight
Why doesn’t the ghost want Gertrude to see him?
The ghost allows Hamlet to see him, as well as Horatio, Marcellus, and Barnardo. The ghost speaks to Hamlet face to face, and he tells the other guys to swear on Hamlet’s sword not to reveal what they’ve seen. But when the ghost appears to Hamlet during his altercation with Gertrude, she can’t see or hear the ghost. One can assume that this is because the ghost is trying to protect Gertrude. During Hamlet’s initial interaction with the ghost, he says this about Gertrude, “Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her.” The ghost wants Hamlet to leave Gertrude alone, and to focus on avenging his death by killing Claudius.
This is also apparent when the ghost appears to Hamlet during Act 3 when he’s talking to Gertrude. He tells Hamlet, “Do not forget. This visitation is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose. But look, amazement on thy mother sits. O, step between her and her fighting soul.” The ghost seems to be trying to project Gertrude here. It’s almost like he’s telling Hamlet to stop scaring her. He also tells Hamlet to ‘not forget.’ The ghost's goal is not to threaten or harm Gertrude, he just wants Hamlet to avenge his death and kill Claudius. He can accomplish this without Gertrude seeing him.
The many questions that Hamlet provokes cannot be answered simply. Some require further analysis of the text, and some don’t have a certain answer. As we read or watch Hamlet, we must question everything. We must question people’s motives, behavior, and what they say. As we do this, we understand each character more. Questioning helps us gain more from our experience with the play, even though there are some things we will never know for certain. In the mind of Shakespeare, anything is possible.
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