It’s kind of bothering me that Polonius us spying on his son. Here I thought that Polonius and Laertes had this wonderful father/son relationship, only to discover that Polonius is faking it. Granted, he is a clever guy for sure. It’s just annoying that the one seemingly clean relationship in the book ends up being an act. And, Polonius has exhibited some rather expertise advice on discovering the facts on his son. This expertise advice leads me to believe that he has been in the corruption/ spying/ manipulating business for quite some time. Maybe he and Claudius worked together or something… I don’t know. But I’m sure he has some sort of evil about him. So far, we have Polonius spying on Laertes, Hamlet attempting to murder his uncle, Claudius killing Hamlet, Gertrude partaking in an incestuous relationship, Ophelia possibly opening her chaste treasure, the ghost of King Hamlet emerging in the wilderness, and Hamlet rapidly losing all sanity. I’d say that this is a classic case of chaos vs. order. These people certainly know how to stir up drama. All I know is that I’m just going to go ahead and call that Hamlet fools us all. He is obviously the smartest one of all of the characters, so any ludicrous actions are very likely an act. He says that he will from now on be devoted to avenging his father, so I believe that he will now be doing whatever is in his power to do just that. So, if Hamlet has to pretend to be crazy in order to kill Claudius, than he will absolutely do that. If his first insane act was that skit with Ophelia, than he’s doing a nice job. That was really awkward. Hamlet certainly knows how to turn on the cheese in a situation. Speaking of which, did Ophelia or did Ophelia not open her chaste treasure? That is the question. And if she did (as Kate Winslet suggests), was it because Hamlet truly loves her or because he truly is a great actor? Or because Kenneth Branagh wanted a sex scene? All are completely valid ideas. Speaking of so many questions, what’s up with all the questions in Hamlet? I guess it ties into the whole “play within a play” theme. You never know what’s true and what’s fake, so questions are always appropriate and always showing up. “To be or not to be” is essentially turning into the punch-line of the play. Is anybody in this play actually being themselves? Not really. Oh, and also, why are the girls so dumb? I’m not a raging feminist by any stretch, but really Shakespeare? Gertrude is weak and easily persuaded and sleeping with her brother in law. And Ophelia is possibly completely fooled by Hamlet… and if she isn’t, than she just told on her lover for being insane which will inevitably hurt him. Either way, Ophelia has lost her love. And Gertrude is common. Come on ladies. Pull it together.
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