Prompt: The Divided Body
In
Hamlet, Shakespeare illustrates a very divided family. Hamlet's uncle,
Claudius,
recently murdered the king his brother- Hamlet's father. Hamlet is
visited by his
father's ghost who informs him that Claudius murdered him to
obtain the crown.
Shakespeare illustrates the tension that rises from Hamlet's
knowledge to show
family dysfunctionality in its worst so that he may compare a
dysfunctional
family as a "divided body" to a dysfunctional or divided
relationship.
To
begin, the family is divided at the start of the play. Hamlet already does
not like Claudius
and is angry with his mother's hasty marriage to Claudius. The
divided family
represents a divided relationship that could be divided by a secret--holding,
confusion,
misunderstanding, or any combination of these. Hamlet feels
very frustrated
since he does not know why his mother would remarry so quickly much
like how a person
today is frustrated when he or she doesn't understand
why his or her
friend is behaving in a particular way.
As
Hamlet's frustration rises, he learns that Claudius had murdered his father,
and from learning
this, he begins to go completely crazy. Hamlet's reaction here
is far too
natural to be blown off as mere artwork or character development
because
Shakespeare is paralleling the divided family to a divided relationship.
When bad things
happen in a relationship that are kept secret, they are almost
always found out.
When someone finds out their husband, boyfriend, wife, or
girlfriend
cheated on him or her, he or she would typically be pretty ticked off and
perhaps very
confused.
In
Hamlet's confusion, he turns on his mother to let off his steam and while
screaming, he
kills Polonius, thinking that he was thinking spying on him. This is
an example of
all-too-hasty, serious judgment that nobody in their right mind
would make.
Hamlet's action here parallels itself to hasty and sometimes serious
judgments that
betrayed people make to those who betrayed them. With a lack
of communication
between Polonius and Hamlet, Hamlet misidentified Polonius
as Claudius.
Likewise, without communication in a relationship,
misunderstandings
can lead to serious misjudgments- including divorce.
After
her father's death, Ophelia goes crazy. Her madness has nothing to do
with any sin that
she has committed, but has all to do with Claudius' sin and the
dysfunctionality
between Hamlet and the rest of the royal family. Hamlet's
misjudgment-
resulting from a lack of communication- lead to Ophelia's going
crazy and
ultimately, her death. Shakespeare shows the audience here that our
actions toward
others in relationships affect not only those directly involved, but
affects many
indirectly involved people. For example, if parents divorce, the
divorce not only
affects the husband and wife, but also affects their children,
friends, and
their children's friends.
Ultimately,
the entire royal family kills itself. Claudius kills Gertrude; Hamlet
kills Laertes and
Claudius; and Laertes kills Hamlet. The significance that the
dysfunctional
family destroyed itself lies in the fact that nobody outside the royal
family killed the
royal family. A dysfunctional relationship with the disfunctioning
ignored will
never fix itself; the disfunctionality will exponentially grow until those
involved cannot
bear it. Dysfunctionality can tear any relationship apart and
should be
addressed and fixed as soon as it arises.
Shakespeare's
Hamlet is not only an awesome drama, but is also an
awesome
commentary on dysfunctionality and how people should behave in
relationships.
People should communicate, understand, and be open with one
another. Without
one of these qualities, relationships plummet into unhappiness
and
will inevitably tear themselves apart.
No comments:
Post a Comment