Hamlet as the fool.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Hamlet's Many Faces
Hamlet takes on many different
archetypes during the course of the play. He plays the moral judge,
fool/jester, impulsive fighter, scholar, artist, philosopher, and coward. We
see a different side of Hamlet every time he puts on a different mask. The scholar
is witty. We see him play the scholar as he shows off his intellectual prowess.
This is often seen in his exchanges with Polonius in which he makes Polonius
seem ignorant and foolish. He keeps his cool and calm demeanor in these scenes.
However, as the fool, Hamlet is at his most honest state (see what I did
there?). He is able to speak his mind, though his sincerity is masked by his
outlandish humor. It’s the only way he knows how to break out of his silence. In
Act I, he speaks about his inability to express his emotions through a soliloquy,
in which he says, “But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.” So playing “the
fool” is the only way Hamlet knows how to break free of walls that conceal his
emotions. With humor, there is truth. By being absurd, rude, and comical,
Hamlet is able to get away with saying some pretty sharp comments. In Act III,
he insults both his mother, Queen Gertrude, and his exgirlfriend (depending on
how you interpreted the scene before), Ophelia, in front of the entire court. He
makes some very crude jokes, and even remarks, “That’s a fair thought to lie
between maidens’ legs” for the pure purpose of provoking her. Ophelia has no
choice but to keep her anger hidden because Hamlet is much higher in rank,
since he is the prince of
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