Hire's Hamlet Log 2:1

Act 2, Scene 1
(I need to start numbering my choices)

Number 5: I want to react to Polonius as a character and his idea of why it is good to send someone to spy on your son and spread bad rumors about him. First of all, I love Polonius; I love his character. He’s a great stage character because he’s quirky and he interacts with the audience. He is longwinded and his speeches reek with puns and double entendres. In this scene, we really get to know Polonius’s personality. He’s funny, yet kind of two faced and unnatural. Wait till you see K.B.’s interpretation of this scene, I really like it. So he sends Reynaldo to not only spy on Laertes, but to spread crazy rumors about him. But…he says to “breath his faults so quaintly that they may seem the taints of liberty.” Lines 34-35. So like, make it seem like he’s a cool bad kid. Then, if Laertes doesn’t disagree…it must be true! I just wonder what Polonius’s punishment would be for Laertes if this scam does work. This scheming actually reminds me of my dad when I was in high school! (scary as that may be) He wants the best for his son, that’s apparent, but it’s a weird approach. I think it shows that Polonius is a little “off” in his thinking.
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Number 7: If I were playing Ophelia in this scene…I would have to make some of my own interpretations of things. For example, how involved do I think that Hamlet and Ophelia are/were? Personally, I think they are/were definitely dating/courting. Why else would Ophelia act the way she does later on? I also think that she obeys her father (perhaps out of fear...maybe respect) when he tells her to stop seeing Hamlet. However, I don’t think that’s why he’s so crazy in this scene. I think his franticness and weirdness is because of the ghost and his message. He goes to Ophelia for comfort…which she must deny to him because of her father. Anyhoo…if I was playing her…and I see Hamlet come into the room all disheveled, I think I would go to him! A lot happens before this actual scene takes place that the audience doesn’t see. So when Ophelia explains it to her father in this scene, she must be completely clear to the audience. I would probably stretch the lines slowly and really pantomime the actions out…or use Polonius (wait, that might be weird) or a prop of some kind to stand for Hamlet. This is a very important scene that is often overlooked. It helps to define Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship. (and much is left open to interpretation.)
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Number ? kind of #2: The same sorts of things go arry in lots of Shakespeare plays. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, if only people took regular baths, the plague would not have been an issue, and instead of getting quarrentined in a house he had been blessing, he could have delivered Friar Lawrence’s letter to Romeo and no one would be dead. (Except Tyblat and Mercutio) In Othello, if Iago would have gotten the job in the first place, Desdemona’s dad wasn’t so racist and certain secrets were revealed, no one would be dead either. In Hamlet, Polonius and Ophelia are confused as to why Hamlet is so distressed. Therefore…they go and tell King Claudius who comes up with a plan involving more spying, eventually conspiring, and everyone ends up dead again. This scene starts the misconceptions that Shakespeare plays are famous for.