Hamlet Rising Action Essay In Act II of William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, we are reading into the rising action of the play. The anticipation is created through the character development of Hamlet from Act I, the conflict between Hamlet and Claudius, and the tension growing between Hamlet and Polonius. In Act I, Hamlet was introduced as a misunderstood character. His grieving was seen as “a will most incorrect to heaven.” Throughout Act I, Hamlet expressed his disgust towards Gertrude’s “incestuous” marriage with Claudius. We can understand the anger and disgust Hamlet feels seeing his mother hand in hand with her deceased husband’s brother. Hamlet expresses his emotions towards the marriage in his first soliloquy, “so excellent a
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Hamlet develops into a manipulative and bitter man. As we see in Act II, Hamlet plays to Ophelia a man in desperation, with the sole purpose of using her to get this madness reported to Claudius. Hamlet’s change is due to the exposure to the truth about his father’s death. His thirst for revenge drove him into using Ophelia as a tool for his revenge. Taking the whole play into consideration, we can say this contributed to Ophelia's own madness because she believed he went mad due to her rejection bringing her emotions of overwhelming guilt. No longer grieving, Hamlet puts on a play using those closest to Claudius as his props. We understand Hamlet’s loss of sanity is intentionally acted as he says, “I am but mad north-west; when the wind is southerly- I know a hawk from a handsaw.” The bitterness with which Hamlet looks at everyone around him and life itself had been present since Act I. We gather Hamlet’s feelings of contempt at his life in his first soliloquy when he says, “O, that this sullied flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew.” Now the wishes for self-slaughter have changed into murderous thoughts against Claudius. No longer suicidal, Hamlet is vengeful and determined to drag others into his …show more content…
We know from Act I, Polonius is the king’s advisor. Hamlet and Polonius had an indirect relationship, that is until Ophelia told her father about Hamlet’s “tenders.” Polonius’ command to Ophelia to not “give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet” were expected to cause a problem between Hamlet and Polonius, but in the development Act II we see this tension grow due to Polonius’ relationship with the King. Polonius sees Hamlet as a man trying to corrupt his daughter, while Hamlet sees Polonius as a chess piece for his plan. In Act II, we see how Hamlet tries to degrade Polonius by calling him a “fishmonger” and by the way he continues to mock Polonius in front of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet’s comments regarding Ophelia such as, “Let her not walk i’ th’ sun. Conception is a blessing, but as your daughter may conceive,” make Polonius angry towards Hamlet. The tension grows as they each have their own agenda and share a common piece, Ophelia; Hamlet purposely uses Ophelia as a means of bothering her father and Polonius uses Ophelia as bait for Hamlet. By reading Act II, we could infer their relationship would continue to intensify; the tension between them formed part of the later mountain of tragedies, as Polonius’ murder by Hamlet was the first irreversible action in Act
Hamlet develops into a manipulative and bitter man. As we see in Act II, Hamlet plays to Ophelia a man in desperation, with the sole purpose of using her to get this madness reported to Claudius. Hamlet’s change is due to the exposure to the truth about his father’s death. His thirst for revenge drove him into using Ophelia as a tool for his revenge. Taking the whole play into consideration, we can say this contributed to Ophelia's own madness because she believed he went mad due to her rejection bringing her emotions of overwhelming guilt. No longer grieving, Hamlet puts on a play using those closest to Claudius as his props. We understand Hamlet’s loss of sanity is intentionally acted as he says, “I am but mad north-west; when the wind is southerly- I know a hawk from a handsaw.” The bitterness with which Hamlet looks at everyone around him and life itself had been present since Act I. We gather Hamlet’s feelings of contempt at his life in his first soliloquy when he says, “O, that this sullied flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew.” Now the wishes for self-slaughter have changed into murderous thoughts against Claudius. No longer suicidal, Hamlet is vengeful and determined to drag others into his …show more content…
We know from Act I, Polonius is the king’s advisor. Hamlet and Polonius had an indirect relationship, that is until Ophelia told her father about Hamlet’s “tenders.” Polonius’ command to Ophelia to not “give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet” were expected to cause a problem between Hamlet and Polonius, but in the development Act II we see this tension grow due to Polonius’ relationship with the King. Polonius sees Hamlet as a man trying to corrupt his daughter, while Hamlet sees Polonius as a chess piece for his plan. In Act II, we see how Hamlet tries to degrade Polonius by calling him a “fishmonger” and by the way he continues to mock Polonius in front of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet’s comments regarding Ophelia such as, “Let her not walk i’ th’ sun. Conception is a blessing, but as your daughter may conceive,” make Polonius angry towards Hamlet. The tension grows as they each have their own agenda and share a common piece, Ophelia; Hamlet purposely uses Ophelia as a means of bothering her father and Polonius uses Ophelia as bait for Hamlet. By reading Act II, we could infer their relationship would continue to intensify; the tension between them formed part of the later mountain of tragedies, as Polonius’ murder by Hamlet was the first irreversible action in Act