Book Reports /
'Hamlet delays his revenge' - Another Hamlet essay [8]
Merged: The Hamlet in Me - By finding Indirections we find Directions out
I decided to choose a simpler aphorism and do an essay on it. Just to make sure about the meaning of this aphorism, does it has to do something about appearance and their reality?
Is this essay a much better improvement then the previous one I did?
The Hamlet in MeDeep within the castle of Elsinnore lurks a despicable creature that uses the blood of his own brother to feed his infinite ambitions. Moving swiftly and cautiously toward the king's orchard, Claudius the venomous chameleon pours the vial of toxin into the ear of his unsuspecting prey. Chained to the castle, the pitiful ghost, Hamlet, appears in front of his son, catalyzing the inevitability and demanding Claudius to be put to justice, which was necessary to give the tormented soul repose. While questioning his conscience whether to believe the ghost or not, Hamlet constructed a plan to prove the ghost's sincerity; a façade was created. However, due to his over-analytical manner and the complexity of the ghost's conditions, much time passes before Hamlet can carry out his orders. Shakespeare developed the idea that, by finding "indirections" we find "directions" out. Hamlet, Claudius and Polonius each inherit a chameleon's characteristic; the ability to camouflage and disguise itself in order to blend in with the changing environment and deceive its prey. This ability serves two purposes, an offense and a defense mechanism.
Polonius, the master of using "indirections", give us a vivid description on how deceits can be used to find out the truth. Before Laertes take off to Paris, Polonius gave his son some fatherly advices but in reality these advices turn out to be meaningless, hollow, and hypocritical. Like an iceberg, showing only one-eighth of his character above the surface, we see him set up an elaborate scheme to spy on his own son. "And thus do we of wisdom and of reach, / with windlasses and with assays of bias, / by indirections find directions out" (II.I.61-63), says Polonius, boasting of his ability to discover the real truth about his son's behavior in Paris.
After the play within the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern questioned Hamlet, the reasons for his insanity. Hamlet then handed these two a pipe and asked them to play a tune. When they can't, he mocked them, "Do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me." (III.II.363-365). Hamlet realized that these characters were using "indirections", in hoping to receive some answers from Hamlet's guarded mouth, so they won't return empty handed to Claudius.
While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern failed in finding out the causes of Hamlet's madness, the mischievous Polonius uses his daughter, Ophelia, as a tool, to seduce Hamlet into revealing the truth. Once again the attempt failed and result Ophelia to be heartbroken. The characters in Hamlet seem to assume that the people around them are deceiving them, and trust cannot be given to just anybody, including the person you most love. "Hamlet: We are arrant knaves all; believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery. Where's your father?" (III.I.137-139). Hamlet realizes that Polonius was hiding behind the curtains eavesdropping into their conversation. Hamlet main objective is to figure out if Ophelia is trying to deceive him, by asking "where is your father". Ophelia responded, "At home, my lord". Betray by Ophelia, Hamlet, experiencing bouts of uncontrollable rage, releases it upon the foolish girl.
Hamlet's "antic-disposition" act as a defensive mechanism to hide from his predators in order to carry out his ulterior motives. Hamlet was first introduced as an attractive, young gentleman, but both his appearance and behavior were change as the play develops. Ophelia, among other characters, Shakespeare uses her most to describe Hamlet "antic-disposition". "Lady shall I lie in your lap?" (III.II.107-108), this humorous question was asked right after Hamlet releases his rage upon Ophelia, giving the audience a piece of Hamlet superior acting skills when his predators are around.
Throughout my grade eight years, bullies were overpopulated and needed to be weeded out. In order to eradicate these annoying, unintelligent pests, a plan was needed. The first step included bribing these fools with sugar coated sweets, this in turn developed "friendship" among the bully and the one being bullied and their daily target would change. Of course, my revenge doesn't end there. They needed to be EXTERMINATED, to prevent others from getting sabotage.
During unit exams, these fools would cheat off each other, hoping to receive good marks. The results were as followed, "Billy Madison 28%, Scott Malcolm 32%..." Knowing these rascals would copy answers from me while my desk is unoccupied, immediately to take upon my revenge, the answers that were on my Scantron were switch from "a" to "b" and vice versa. As I return to my desk, before handing in the test the answers were re-corrected. Over time their test results and their incomplete assignments reflected in their report card, and were later forced by the administrators to repeat grade eight. The build up rage over the year was finally release, instead of throwing a fist it was release through a more civilize manner. In order to carry out my ulterior motives, the body and mind has to adapt to its changing environment; a façade like Hamlet was created. When opportunity is given and timing is just right, it is time to gobble up your prey. Hence, appearance may not be the reality.
In the end, this belief system "By finding indirections we find directions out" causes the downfall of every main character in the play. Only Hamlet was successful at using this technique, to revealed Claudius's secrets, by reenacting the gruesome murder of Priam, which serves to mirror Claudius previous actions. As each character is presented in the play most appear to be good and honest, making it a difficult task for Hamlet to uncover the hidden truth about the nature of each character. To expose their nature, Hamlet must first cover his own and thus that is how Hamlet seeks upon his revenge.
