Blog #13: Hamlet Blog Assigment #1

Ah where to begin... let's just say, a lot has happened these past few weeks. Ever since King Hamlet died, it seems as though everything is traveling in a downwards spiral. Prince Hamlet refuses to accept his father's death which, I personally think, is understandable as it has not even been two months since King Hamlet's passing. What doesn't help the cause, however, is that his mother, Queen Gertrude, has already remarried. And to make matters worse, her new husband is King Hamlet's brother, Claudius. To put it simply (well, as simple as this can get), Queen Gertrude has married her former brother-in-law, making Prince Hamlet both the son and the nephew of his former uncle turned father... Even King Claudius himself doesn't know how to address Prince Hamlet calling him both his "cousin Hamlet, and [his] son" (1.2.64). Talk about screwed up, am I right? How this is even legal I'm not quite sure. I suppose it must be because they are royalty. Royalty does, after all, do whatever they please. What makes me the most angry about this situation is that both Queen Gertrude and King Claudius expect Prince Hamlet to just forget his father and move on. Gertrude said to him, "Do not forever with thy vailèd lids/ Seek for thy noble father in the dust./ Thou know’st ’tis common./ All that lives must die,/ Passing through nature to eternity" (1.2.70-73). I mean, yes, everyone does die eventually. And yes, at some point or another you must move on with your life. But as I said, it hasn't even been two months! Give the man a break. Perhaps if Gertrude hadn't remarried so quickly, Hamlet wouldn't have such a hard time coping with his father's death. Hamlet was right when he said that "The funeral baked meats/ Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables" (1.2.179-180). And on top of all that, Claudius has already established himself as Prince Hamlet's father. Typically when a mother remarries, the step-father takes his time to get acquainted with his new children but not Claudius. No, Claudius is too good for that. What really got my goat was when Gertrude and Hamlet were having their own conversation about mourning King Hamlet's death when all of a sudden, Claudius decided to chime in telling Hamlet to "throw to earth/ This unprevailing woe, and think of us/ As of a father" (1.2.107-109). Good job, Claudius. Tell your new son that his mourning is pathetic and useless. See how far that gets you. It's as though Claudius just assumes that because he is officially married to Hamlet's mother he automatically becomes Hamlet's father too. Well, newsflash Claudius, you might be married to Queen Gertrude but Hamlet isn't calling you "father" anytime soon. Oh poor, poor Hamlet. I do not know how he will ever make it through this. I simply hope and pray that I can be all the friend he needs during this time. Aside from my worries for Hamlet, though, I worry for this country. Already we have Young Fortinbras pining against us. All because King Hamlet killed his father. And King Claudius thinks that he can take on Fortinbras. What a fool, Claudius couldn't take on a field of daisies if he tried. Nevertheless he continues to gloat, claiming that he has strength and power as he says that Young Fortinbras is "Holding a weak supposal of our worth" (1.2.18). Well maybe so, King Claudius, but perhaps Young Fortinbras is right. Maybe we are weak. After all, what do you know about being King? I sincerely hope that the death of King Hamlet, the marriage of Queen Gertrude and King Claudius, and the pathetic state of Prince Hamlet do not too terribly affect our country. May God help us all.