Analysis of Hamlet Act II.2 Essay

Act 2, Scene 2 is an important scene for the audience’s impressions of Hamlet, as it is the first time we can see the â€Å"antic disposition† of which he has previously spoken. He enters the scene on page 50, and immediately enters into conversation with Polonius. We can see that the act of his madness relies upon rhetoric devices such as puns and double meanings, which are deliberately intended to confuse. On page 51, for example, when Polonius asks him what matter he reads, he replies: HAMLET: Between who? In this, Hamlet is playing on the double meaning of the word â€Å"matter†- although Polonius intends it to mean his reading matter, Hamlet knows it could also mean personal matters, and picks the wrong interpretation, intending Polonius to think that his mental instability is such that he cannot follow the conversation. Although there are these occasions upon which Hamlet seems to be truly mad, the audience can see that he is being rather clever in constructing his act. When Polonius clarifies the meaning of the word â€Å"matter† which he intended, Hamlet responds with a thinly veiled attack on him: HAMLET: The satirical rogue says here that old men have grey beards, (†¦ ) and that they have a plentiful lack of wit. Here, Hamlet pretends to discuss the â€Å"slanders† of which he reads, but the audience can see that he is commenting on Polonius as an old man. By mentioning the â€Å"plentiful lack of wit†, he recognises how obvious Polonius’ motives are in conversing with him, and attacking his methods. Although Polonius does not pick up on this, he does see that there is more to the â€Å"madness† of Hamlet than is seen, commenting â€Å"there is method in’t. † While Hamlet’s act here seems rather convincing, as soon as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter his madness begins to slip. His conversation with the two is coherent, as he directly questions them to see how honest they are. For example, on pages 53-54: HAMLET:Were you not sent for? Is it your own inclining? Is it a free visitation? This short, direct questioning shows his cynicism of the two- he knows that they did not come of their own free will, and is simply testing them to prove their honesty. When they are hesitant to answer, he decides they have not passed his test, and afterwards treats them with a contempt or disregard. This wariness in his personality will become important later in the scene when he contrives a means of testing Claudius. Furthermore, the coherency with which he asks these questions show the sanity underlying his act of madness. Hamlet himself recognises this, when on page 57 he comments â€Å"I am but mad north-north-west. â€Å", implying that although there are times when he acts with seeming insanity, he is also capable of coherent conversation. This also emphasises to the audience that what they see is simply an act, and underneath the madness there is a young man obsessed with avenging the death of his father. Although his mood during this first part of the conversation is that of anger and mistrust towards his two friends, there is an abrupt change in his speech and actions when the players are mentioned to him. In fact, his speech becomes uplifted and he appears to be genuinely excited about the upcoming play. For example, on page 55: HAMLET: He that plays the king shall be welcome- his majesty shall have tribute of me. This is rather ironic- while he shall welcome the actor who plays the king, in reality it is a king who is the source of all his problems. This shows Hamlet’s love for actors in that while very few people in his life are trustworthy and it is hard to distinguish their actions from the meanings behind them, one can be certain that the actors will be acting. After this, he then goes on to list the many characters who appear in a play, explaining what they shall do and how he shall enjoy it- â€Å"the lover shall not sigh gratis†. This also shows that he is knowledgable on the matter of the theatre, as he is acquainted with the many parts which are played. It also shows his excitement, as he speaks more a long time on the matter. His speech is not organised into short, direct questioning as before, but instead he speaks in longer, freer sentences. This change in syntax clearly shows his mood- whereas before his short sentences showed doubt and mistrustfulness, these longer sentences show that he is what he is saying is exactly what he thinks- in contrast to the earlier part of the conversation, he now clearly seems to be relishing and enjoying the words as he says them. This is the first time that the audience is made aware of Hamlet’s love of drama, which is an important part of his personality and will become vital later on in the scene, when the audience is made aware of his plans. It also explains how, when faced with the dilemma of how he should react to the news of the ghost, his immediate reaction is to put on an act. At the end of the scene, Hamlet is left alone and speaks his second soliloquy of the play. As is typical of Shakespearean dramas, soliloquies are used to give the audience an insight into the character’s innermost thoughts and feelings without worrying about the opinions and reactions of other characters towards them. The speech is organised into three main parts: the first, a comment on the player he has just seen perform, followed by a self-critical analysis, before he goes on to explain his plan of action. He begins by speaking about the player, who has put such great emotion into his performances that he weeps during them. Hamlet contrasts this with the state of emotional turmoil in which he resides, although he is not allowed to show it externally. During the soloiloquy, Shakepeare uses several rhetoric devices to communicate this distress to the audience- for example, the frequent use of exclamation marks, which suggest a passion behind his speech. By line 568, he uses a great deal of rhetorical questions: HAMLET: Am I a coward? Who calls me villain? Breaks my pate across? These questions serve to increase his anger, and as he says them his speech becomes increasingly passionate. At this point, he is talking about himself- by saying â€Å"Who calls me villain? † he is opening up to criticism from others, but then swiftly moves on to speak about himself. HAMLET: But I am pigeon-livered and lack gall During this section of the soliloquy, Hamlet reveals his attitude to the revenge which he has sworn to take. He shows the audience his conflicting feelings- on one hand, we can see that he feels he is cowardly for not having acted sooner. This shows a contrast between what he feels he should be and what he actually is, which is further reinforced when he explains â€Å"ere this/I should ha’ fatted all the region kites/ With this slave’s offal. † This shows that he feels that he should have taken revenge by now in order to remain true to his dead father, and yet he is reluctant to act too quickly. To add to this feeling, he has just ben watching the players speak of Pyrrhus, who was a man of revenge and action- what Hamlet feels he should be. He is also clearly filled with loathing towards his uncle- at one point referring to him as: HAMLET: Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain! This list of negative adjectives very clearly show the audience how passionate he is upon this issue. By this point, his extreme hatred of Claudius is obvious, and by describing him in this way Hamlet is only working himself into greater fits of passion and determination to act upon the situation. However, Hamlet is not, like his father, a man of war and fighting, but instead rather more cunning in his revenge- in this respect, he could almost be described as like Claudius. He realises that passion is not the way to solve his problems, saying on page 63: HAMLET: About, my brains. This signifies a change in his thoughts- whereas before he was speaking with passion and anger, he has now regained some control over his emotions and can speak with a greater coherency. It shows his belief that, in order to exact his vengance most effectively, he will need to remain calm and collected while thinking about it. As revenge is clearly the most urgent matter on his mind at this tiime, then, there is a need for him to think carefully, and by saying â€Å"About, my brains. † he is recognising this. It is at this point in the scene that the cynical facet of Hamlet’s personality comes back into importance- we can see that he needs evidence before he acts, as he declares towards the end of page 63: HAMLET: I’ll have grounds more relative than this. To the audience, this is further reinforcement of his suspicious nature- rather than simply take revenge without thought, he must first devise a plan to test the truth of the ghost’s words. This in in keeping with what we have been told of his past- namely, that he is a scholar from Wittenberg, which at the time was one of the most prestigious universities in Europe. Therefore, his questioning nature is in keeping with this- for, being educated, he is less likely simply to accept what others tell him wthout proof. We see this during his â€Å"testing† of the motives of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern earlier on in the scene, but only now does it begin to relate directly to the central plot. This concludes Act 2:2, during which Hamlet as a character has greatly developed. We see his plans begin to come together, as he feigns the â€Å"antic disposition† which was spoken of in previous scenes. The audience also begins to see his character develop, as we are introduced to such elements of his personality as his love for drama and his cynicism, all of which fashion the style which revenge will take, and ultimately guide the play to its inevitable ending.