Hamlet+3.3-3.4

4. When Hamlet is debating on whether or not he should actually kill his uncle, Claudius, he says, "Now might I do it (pat,) now he is a-praying, / And now I'll do 't. / And so he goes to heaven, / And so am I (revenged.) That would be scanned: / A villian kills my father, and for that, / I his sole son, do this same villian send / To heaven" (3.3.77-83). This quote shows Hamlet questioning whether or not it would be beneficial for him to kill Claudius. He attempts to kill Claudius; however, right after he draws his sword, he regrets his attempt because he realizes that if he were to kill Claudius while he was praying, he would go to heaven. Hamlet would instead like to kill Claudius when he is committing a sin because then he would go to hell, which is Hamlet's ultimate goal for Claudius. According to Hamlet, it is only fair that Claudius go to hell because he committed such a terrible crime: assasinating a king.

8. When Hamlet is discussing many different things with his mother, Gertrude, it seems that Hamlet wants to kill his mother. This goes against the Oedipus complex which is a psychological complex which states that the son wants to sleep with the mother; however, it could be out of jealousy for the father. After Queen Gertrude asks Hamlet if he has forgotten her, Hamlet answers with, "No, by the rood, not so. / You are the Queen, your husband's brother's wife, / And (would it were not so) you are my mother" (3.4.19-21). Hamlet is telling his mother that he has not forgotten who she is; however, he seems to wish he could forget she was his mother. It seems that Hamlet's mother has disgraced him by marrying his own uncle a short two months after the death of Hamlet's father. This quote is ambiguous because there are many ways that the quotation, more specifically the "would it were not so" part, could be interpreted. When I first read over the passage, I took the quotation as Hamlet telling his mother he sometimes wished she was not his mother because of the disgrace and distress he caused her. However, after re-reading the passage, I then took the quotation as Hamlet telling his mother that he has a secret plan to kill/hurt his mother if he cannot succesfully kill Claudius without being accused of assassinating the king. I think that Hamlet is in a liminal state because he has been informed by a ghost, a ghost that his mother is unable to see, to kill his own uncle because his uncle is guilty in murdering his father. However, Hamlet does not know if revenge is the right thing to do when it comes to the future of Denmark. Part of his mind is telling him to murder Claudius because that is what he deserves; however, the other part of his mind is telling Hamlet not to murder Claudius because the result could ruin Denmark and Hamlet's reputation.

5. The Oedipus complex is a psychological complex which states that a son wants to sleep with his mother; however, it could be out of pure jealousy for the father. However, Hamlet does not seem to have this jealousy of his dead father. He seems to have no sexual desire for his mother; however, in some Hamlet movies, the movies show Hamlet walking towards his mother, Gertrude, and eventually placing his hands on her. This really surprised me because I always thought Hamlet would keep his distance from Gertrude during this scene because it is his mother. Second, I find it to be quite an awkward situation where Hamlet tells Gertrude to "go not to [his] uncle's bed" (3.4.180). Normally I think of a mother-son relationship as the mother advising the son what to do; however, in this situation, Hamlet seems to be advising Gertrude what to do when it comes to her relationship. This surprises me. I think that Hamlet is angry with his mother because he may think that Gertrude had something to do with his father's murder. Although it is ambiguous whether or not Gertrude actually knew of Claudius's plan before he committed the crime, I find it a little strange that Gertrude just happened to leave King Hamlet sleeping amongst flowers right before his death. Getrude may be guilty in knowing of the crime prior to its existence; however, she may have pushed the crime out of her brain so much that she now thinks she has nothing to do with it. In Jodi Picoult's //Plain Truth//, the protagonist is excused of killing her newborn son. Although the truth never comes out about who actually killed the son, many think that the mother killed the son, but denied it so much that she began to think she really actually did not kill her son. This relates to my psychology class and the self-fulfilling prophecy which has to do with stereotypes. Although stereotypes are normally false generalizations, the stereotypes many times become true when a person being stereotyped is constantly reminded of the stereotype that it ends up becoming true. Like these two examples, I believe that Getrude knew of Claudius's plan all along; however, she will deny it because she tries to completely block it out of her mind.