Hamlet Act Three

1. Hamlet Act Three Naomi Vosneac and Kristen Waechter

2. Thesis Our thesis is based through a feminist belief that if Hamlet were a female, the play would have ended completely different The failure of Hamlet’s ability to be straightforward and upright is what dragged on the play.

3. Hamlet vs. Himself • Ever since his father died, Hamlet was always internally fighting with himself • Which later leads to conflicts with himself • As well as with other characters

4. Hamlet vs. Himself • Hamlet was unsure of trusting his instincts and being straight forward the entire play • Hamlet was overdramatic, and emotional at the beginning of the play • When confronted by the ghost, Hamlet then needed evidence and proof of his father’s murder • As Hamlet was unsure of what to believe, it lead to him emotionally becoming confused, which came across as “his madness”

5. Hamlet vs. Himself • Hamlet avoided talking about his feelings and emotions the entire play • Instead of talking about his emotions, and trying to resolve the conflicts, he acted out on his anger in uncivilized ways • Hamlet hurt himself by being so caught up in his suspicions, he distanced himself from the people he loved

6. Quotation – Act One “Why, what should be the fear?/ I do not set my life at a pin’s fee,/ And for my soul, what can it do to that,/ Being a thing immortal as itself?/ It waves me forth again. I’ll follow it (I.4.64-68).

7. Explanation • Hamlet expresses how he views and values his life • He tells his friends that his life is no longer important to him • Hamlet from the beginning of the play starts to progressively to turn against himself, valuing both himself less, and becoming more secluded and aggressive. • But Hamlet would continue to turn against himself as the play progressed

8. Quotation – Act Three “To be, or not to be: that is the question:/Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/ Or to take arms against a sea of troubles...Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,/And thus the native hue of resolution/ Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of great pitch and moment,/ With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action”(3.1.56-89).

9. Explanation • This shows Hamlet’s indecision he is saying that is noble to battle with what is going only in his mind rather than to act upon the problems • Hamlet is saying that he wants to go through with his plan but his conscience is making a fool of him and basically preventing him from going through with his plan • All the second guessing he is doing is making him lose his momentum on his plan so he has make a decision and follow through

10. Quotation – Act Three “I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offenses at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in.” (3.1.124-128)

11. Explanation • In this quotation, Hamlet explains that he has many different emotions and plans that he wishes to be able to fulfill, while knowingly aware that many of them will not occur • He explains that he has too many “ill” thoughts, and that he is incapable to act out on all of them

12. Turning Point • The turning point for Hamlet is at the play when he witnesses Claudius’s reaction while watching the King be poisoned • Hamlet got the reassurance he needed to know that Claudius killed his father, allowing him to finally be able to react upon his father’s ghost’s wishes

13. Conclusion • In the previous quotations we see examples of how Hamlet fits into the typical male stereotypes of avoidance of being straightforward and unable to act upon his feelings and emotions

14. Discussion Questions • What other characteristics are seen throughout the other male characters that Hamlet comes in contact with throughout the play? • What other males in the play possess the same characteristics that Hamlet emulates? How are they similar?