[Hamlet] - rough interpretations
- → yes, it’s a custom but they should respect the old King and not celebrate it (his death)
- the drinking and partying makes us look bad; the other nations think us drunkards
- [Claudius] should be taking this seriously and should be mourning
“King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me!” - Hamlet
- Hamlet recognizes the ghost as his father; gives credibility to the ghost
- Remember: ghost is an omen (reinforces it) → unfinished business; shows something wrong with the balance of the kingdom
- Horatio and Marcellus warns Hamlet that the Ghost will trick him into doing something terrible
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” - Marcellus
- moral and political corruption → foul play; Claudius’s misguidance as king
- Hamlet’s father (ghost) is in purgatory going to hell
- readers find out that he was murdered → king was sleeping in the garden when Claudius pours poison (snake venom) into his ear causing his blood to clot
- [rough interpretation] Gertrude was seduced by Claudius even before the murder occurred
- giving over to lust
- (to Hamlet) “let God judge her and let her guilt consume her [Gertrude]”
- don’t let emotions rule you (act of revenge) → do it for your country and of your birth
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
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