DRJ # 4 Acts 4 & 5

Drama Reading Journal # 4 Acts 4 & 5

   My initial reaction to acts 4 and 5 was excitement that the details of the play were coming to a head.  I was sad for Ophelia who took the death of her father so hard.  I was also shocked that after all that Gertrude learned from Hamlet in the previous act was all but forgotten.  She essentially decided to find Hamlet nothing but crazy which was very disappointing to me.

  

I decided to discuss Laertes.  We do not know a lot about Laertes except that his own father decided to spy on him in Paris as he suspected that he partied too much.  However, what I see from Laertes's actions is that he seems to be an honorable character who may be too concerned with what is seen as proper not necessarily what is proper.  He is definitely an antagonist to Hamlet as he wants to collect his just revenge against Hamlet for murdering his father.  However, in doing so Hamlet is able to find a way to slay Claudius.  So in a way Hamlet is able to fulfill his desire for revenge even though it was not accomplished in the way he originally desired.  They all ended up dying.  Later on Laertes realizes he was used by the King in his plots to get rid of Hamlet. 

   I think Acts 4 and 5 both displayed the theme of guilt and sin.  All of the sins and guilt play into the denouement of the plot.  There is a lot of sins being committed in these acts.  The first big one is the King Claudius ordering the King of England to kill Hamlet when he arrives in England.  Of course the next one is the suggestion that Ophelia committed suicide.  This would have been seen as a egregious sin against God in the Christian religion and all were shocked she was even given a Christian burial.  Claudius is full of sin in other ways.  He poisons his own son's beverage which accidently befalls his wife Gertrude.  Whether or not he feels guilty over it or not is debatable.  But, he is full of guilt in these acts.  He is guilty of prodding Laertes to duel and exact revenge from Hamlet.  He is guilty of plotting to kill Hamlet in two different accounts.  These two acts are a culmination of guilt and sin coming together for one last final dance.