Act 3 Scene 4 is the main turning point for Hamlet’s madness. The scene begins with a confrontation between Gertrude and Hamlet. Gertrude: “Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended” Hamlet: “Mother, you have my father much offended” The use of stichomythia in this conversation creates a sense of violence between the characters. It also confirms to the audience that Hamlet’s madness is still a performance, because he can respond quickly and with wit. When this is juxtaposed with Ophelia’s legitimate insanity, it becomes clear that Hamlet is still performing.
Ophelia was once flawless, but since her encounter with Hamlet she has fallen into the same madness and wants to kill herself. Ophelia opens up her feelings towards Hamlet, even though her father and brother both warn her not to. Hamlet’s madness causes him to push Ophelia to the point of a mental break down. He drags her into the same hell he is
The beginning of the key scene is important because, Hamlet has been summoned by his mother, who is furious with him for events surrounding the play-within-the-play, in which it has been suggested clearly that Hamlet’s father has been murdered by his brother. Hamlet, however, confronts his mother, still unhappy that she is married to his uncle, Claudius. Polonius has been sent to spy on Hamlet on behalf of Claudius. Hamlet kills Polonius, apparently believing it to be Claudius. Old Hamlet’s ghost appears for the second time to remind Hamlet of his mission of revenge for his father’s murder.
In the play, Hamlet is portrayed as a very philosophical character that thinks and analyzes every situation to the extreme. Hamlet undergoes many difficult situations such as the murder of his father, which causes him to act in a very mad and crazy manner, which plays a role in his relationship with Ophelia. Before the incident of Hamlet’s father’s death, Hamlet loves Ophelia and he demonstrates this by showing romantic gestures such as exchanging love letters with her. Hamlet sends her letters in which he refers to her as “the most beautified Ophelia” and his “soul’s idol” (2.2.109-110). Hamlet clearly demonstrates his expressions and feeling towards her through this letter and shows us that he does love her.
The readers introduction to Hamlet and King Claudius occurs in Act I Scene ii where the King explains that he has married his sister in law with mixed feelings but he believes Hamlet’s mourning should seize, to which his nephew replies with disdain and offense. This sets the mood for the relationship between the two characters as well as set Hamlet up for his first soliloquy, seen in Act I Scene ii line 133 O, that is too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve into dew! Or that the everlasting had not fix’d His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! Oh God! God!
Despite the general opinion that “Hamlet” contains the weakest women in Shakespeare’s works, the unraveling of the main plot can only be attributed to them. The first case in which we see woman as the catalyst of the play is with Gertrude being one of the main motivations for Claudius murdering his brother. Once Hamlet died, Claudius and Gertrude quickly exchanged wedding vows, maintaining the stability of Denmark during the unexpected death of King Hamlet. Hamlet continuously alludes that he knows what Claudius has done, and seeks to make him feel remorseful for his actions. He achieves this goal through a reenactment of Hamlet’s death, and the exchange of everlasting love between ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Gertrude’, played by the actors at Elsinore.
Furthermore, Shakespeare exhibits how Hamlet chose to devise a plan of acting mad, rather than avenging his father’s death immediately, progressing to his demise. On the other hand, Hamlet questions the appearance of his father: “The spirit that I have seen may be the devil”(II.ii.610,611). Consequently, Shakespeare conveys that Hamlet’s indecisiveness about his father’s murderer necessitates him to procrastinate more, and lead further to his death. However, Hamlet accomplishes the opportunity to murder Claudius, yet believes it is not the right time: “Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent”(III.iii.91). In fact, he desires that “...his soul may be damned and black as hell”(III.iii.97).
he expresses his sourness against the treachery of his uncle. Critics suggest that the first soliloquy is an outline of the coming tragedy of Hamlet's life. In the second soliloquy, Hamlet appears to be a man of decision. When the Ghost discloses the secrets of King Hamlet's murder, Hamlet decides to take revenge. he puts on a mask of madness to mislead the world.
He was totally disdained by their union and considered it an incestuous one. To further intensify Hamlet’s contempt, early in the plot Hamlet encountered a ghost. The ghost represented himself as the spirit of Hamlet’s father, the late king. He told Hamlet he had been murdered by his brother, now King Claudius. The demised king commissioned Hamlet to execute revenge against Claudius.
By saying these words to her he is crassly calling her a harlot, and making to appear that he never really loved her. Ophelia made one decision and that was to love Hamlet, and now he is using her actions to make her feel inferior and sinful. Up to this point in the play, Shakespeare depicted Hamlet as a mad man hell-bent on avenging his fathers suspect death, however: his cruel outburst at Ophelia is not a turning point in the story in which he goes from being a hero to being a cold-hearted oppressor. Hamlet tells Ophelia that she will have to ‘marry a fool’ because ‘wise men’ would know better than to marry her; he yells at her ‘get thee to a nunnery’, and yet the way it fits into the plot makes it seem almost expected. As the plot progresses Ophelia begins to lose her mind, resulting in her eventually suicide, but at no point his Hamlet called out for his harsh words against her in a significant way.