Hamlet

I rather liked it. Despite it being tough to follow at points, and the language odd, I found some of it strangely relatable (just a bit). Though Hamlet is really bad at his job, it's kind of hard to not see the reason why (I mean, his dad wants him to commit murder, he thinks his girlfriend dumped him, he doesn't even get the throne: his life is a mess). I do wish that there was more on Ophelia. For as important as she seemed to be to the title character's psyche, there really isn't much about her other than that she broke up with Hamlet and that she dies herself. 

Claudius still confuses me: he doesn't seem to care much when Gurtrude dies, even though I thought that we established that he loved her (maybe?). Also, why does Hamlet die a military death? Is it supposed to be the 'honorable' escape (AKA suicide that they just aren't calling suicide so he doesn't go to hell)?

Hamlet: Act V response

So did Hamlet really love Ophelia? I can't decide and am a little bit confused. I know that he professes his love to her postmortem, but prior to that he pretty much called her a whore (not really a nice thing to say to your girlfriend). To me it seems like he can't decide whether or not her likes her and, like with killing his uncle, he's just really indecisive about it. Obviously Ophelia liked him enough to lose her mind when this was coupled with her father's death, but Hamlet I'm not so sure about. It just seems a little to easy for him to profess his love, considering all of the nasty things he said about her.

Hamlet: response 2

Act 3 just seems very ironic to me. Honestly there are so many examples: Hamlet's oxymoronic and condescending view of the play despite Hamlet being a play, Rosencrantz considering himself a "friend" (Act 3 scene 2 line 367)  even though he's spying on Hamlet, Polonius' death after telling the kind that he will report to him when he returns, Claudius' praying, Hamlet's killing of Polonius and more if I kept looking. I don't know if they really serve a purpose besides being ironic, but I thought that ironies usually showed up in Shakespeare's comedies. Maybe I'm looking too deep into something superficial or maybe I just haven't read Shakespeare in a while (it might be both...)

Hamlet: response 1

I find Hamlet's decent into madness interesting. Though he plans this 'justifiable' murder of his uncle, he kills the wrong man, which I feel speaks to this madness. Not in that his intentions are misplaced (beside the whole murder is wrong thing) but in how he unintentionally strays from his original target (sort of like how his plan of fake madness seems to be falling away to true mental instability).  The calmness he seems to present post-murder of Polonius (such as ending act. 3 with "good night, mother") should be out of place considering that not only did he just kill someone, said someone was not even his intended victim. It seems to me that the two ideas of madness and murder seem to parallel each other while also playing into and effecting one another.