Act II

Act II Scene ii

In this blog I decided to pick out a certain part of Act II and explain it and my opinion on what is happening.

In the beginning of this Act it starts off when Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are greeted by Gertrude and her husband Claudius. Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are Hamlets good friends. But lately Hamlet has been acting different and Claudius and Gertrude want to know what is exactly going on. They want his good friends to secretly find out what’s wrong with Hamlet by asking him in a way that he wont realize he is giving away information about himself. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meet with Hamlet they simply say, “How are you Hamlet and how is everything?” But Hamlet is suspicious and when he asks them why they have come they simply say they are just there to visit him. Hamlet knows that the King and Queen have sent for him and when he asks the two men they give in and tell him, yes. The King And Queen sent them to him themselves. Hamlet is always sad anymore and has lost all of his good and happy qualities.

This certain part of Act II stood out for me. I think it starts the beginning of Hamlets madness and how he begins to go all crazy on everyone. It shows how he is smart though to know exactly what his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were up to. They didn’t want to hurt Hamlets feelings they just wanted the true and honest story of what was wrong with him. Even though it might have not been the right thing to do, they had to because it was under the King and Queens orders.

In class, my group and me a few weeks ago acted out this very scene of the play. We made the character Hamlet seem carefree and willing and the two friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to seem sneaky but telling Hamlet that they are his friends and he can tell them anything. By acting out this part of Hamlet it made it more clearly about the characters and how they are being portrayed.

I thought that we made a little bit of a different interpretation on these characters then what they really are and how they acted in the play. But, It’s a good idea to understand different parts of the story by making it more of how you will understand it based with the same thing thats happening and maybe even comparing their situation with a present situation that is going on in the world or just a situation in general.