Despite Hamlet’s insistence that the play he puts on will be
for the sake of trapping his homicidal uncle, Hamlet’s true intention is to use
the reenactment to force himself to express some sort of normal human emotion
in response to his father’s murder.
In spite of
his disregard for the actual content of the scene the players put on (I mean
really, what’s so special about Hecuba?) Hamlet has a strong emotional reaction
to the actor’s portrayal of it. Because of this, Hamlet views the actors as
magicians, capable of manipulating a subject with little emotional impact into
something beautiful and significant. Hamlet expresses his self-hatred over his
inability to feel passion in the face of his father’s murder, calling himself an “ass… whore,” and “rascal,” among other things. Hamlet's fury at his lack of passion suggests his ultimate desire to react more deeply to the loss of his father than he has previously been able to. This desire causes him to envy the actor's ability to act passionately at the drop of a hat: “drown[ing] the stage
with tears,” and “cleav[ing] the general ear with horrid speech.” Hamlet's complete lack of understanding of emotion leads him to the conclusion that the actors are his key to unlocking the passion that he so desperately wants to express.
Ultimately, Hamlet associates the actors with passionate expression of emotion and, as a result, thinks that he is more likely to emotionally react to their reenactment of his father's murder than he is to his father's actual murder.
I think it is interesting that the reason he choses a play to trap Claudius is because Hamlet noticed the passion they conveyed, and thought it would cause a show of passion in him. However, I didn't see the actors as magicians, I think they were able to exhibit so much passion because it shows how capable they are of emotion relative to Hamlet.
ReplyDeleteI love your comment about Hamlet's true intentions. I think it's interesting that you mention his extreme emotional response to his lack of emotion (how paradoxical is that) and I wish you had expanded a bit upon that. That, however, did not detract from the quality of your blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that Hamlet associates actors with passionate expression of emotion, as that makes it sounds like he respects them. He refers to them as "monstrous", making me think that he has a more negative association with the actors.
ReplyDeleteI like your point about how Hamlet associates with the actors. Contrary to what Marie said (love you, Marie!), I think it is definitely a different, provocative claim. He looks down on them but he also looks down on himself.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm supposed to be critical but I just wanted to say that your arguments are always very insightful and enjoyable to read. Keep up the good work!