What Three Decisions Does Hamlet Make After the Exit of the Ghost?
The first decision occurs during the soliloquy, where Hamlet vows to avenge murder when he says “Now to my word: It is ‘Adieu, adieu, remember me.’ 1 have sworn’t”. This introduces the crucial issue of what it means to make a vow or take an oath and the consequences for Hamlet of making this vow at this moment. If Hamlet did not vow to avenge his father’s murder, he would not be compelled to act—he might even, for example, return to Wittenberg to continue his studies.
But having made this vow, he soon has doubts about the nature of the Ghost—another topic for students to investigate, starting with the fact that in the 22nd of its 39 Articles, the Anglican Church had declared Purgatory a “superstition,” so that Catholic and Protestant members of the original audiences would have had divergent beliefs about the Ghost’s origin. Hamlet is impelled to test the veracity of the Ghost, since if the Ghost is a devil his vow would risk Hamlet’s damnation. Resolving this doubt impels him to conduct the play-within-the-play, which leads him to postpone killing the king and then kill Polonius, and thus pass the point of no return toward the tragic conclusion. Hamlet makes his second decision when he announces he will “put an antic disposition on”. This can be explored not only by looking at the note in the text you are using but also at how Shakespeare uses the word antic in Richard It’s famous speech, where he describes Death as “the antic” (Richard II 3.2.144-77), and where you can ask students to analyze the whole speech to understand why Richard perceives Death as displaying “an antic disposition.” In putting on the antic disposition, Hamlet adopts not merely an attitude but a mode of action that shapes how he acts in his encounters with everyone except Horatio and the Players in the next three acts.
The third decision occurs when Hamlet concludes, “The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right”. The task of securing revenge for his father’s death at the hands of his brother the present king is daunting enough, but Hamlet—for a reason or reasons he never does and perhaps cannot explain—undertakes this radically expanded version of the project he swore to complete. Students can trace how each decision shapes Hamlet’s action and how the three decisions interact in ways that contribute to the tragic conclusion.
Cartier Pasha Seatimer 2006 Replica are fashion timepieces with a modern twist. Otherwise, you can enjoy life’s luxury by the trendy Replica Cartier Pasha C Chronograph Pink Dial.
Processing your request, Please wait....
