Sarah Barczuk
Shakespeare for Nonmajors
Kirstyn Leuner
Short Paper #1
Hamlet: Crazy in Love or Just Crazy?
At this point in the play, Polonius has just finished talking to Reynaldo about his
son, Laertes. Laertes is in France and Polonius wants Reynaldo to go check up on him
and make sure he is doing well. Reynaldo exits and Ophelia, Polonius’s daughter, enters
her father’s room and tells him that Hamlet just came into her room. He appeared out of
sorts and grungy looking. Ophelia is speaking to Polonius, and she is very frantic and
upset. I think that this speech is a piece of dialogue between two individuals. This is
important because the reader and audience know that Ophelia is speaking these lines to
someone else, specifically Polonius, and she is not alone on the stage acting out a
soliloquy.
These several lines are not extremely difficult to understand, but it is still helpful
to translate it into layman’s terms. Ophelia says that Hamlet grabbed her very hard, by
the wrist. She seemed to be very surprised by his aggressiveness. So he grabbed her
forcefully and then suddenly let her arm go and he backed up to about an arm’s length
away from her. He began to stare at her and continued on for a while just gazing,
analyzing her as an artist would something he was about to paint. She then says he just
stayed like that for a long time, just staring at her. But then, he grabbed her arm again,
not as aggressively as the first time, and starting shaking it and jerking his head back and
forth. He took a sigh that Ophelia described as very intense and one that sounded like he
was taking his last breath. Finally, he let her go for good, and proceeded to leave the
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room. But, he kept his eyes on her the entire time he was walking out. Ophelia explains
this all to Polonius, who then says he is going to tell this to the King because he believes
that Hamlet is crazy in love with his daughter.
This section of text is rich with figurative language. The following passage is an
example of a simile, a hyperbole, and alliteration: “He raised a sigh so piteous and
profound as it did seem to shatter all his bulk and end his being” (II.i.93-95).
Shakespeare is comparing the pitiful and profound sigh to something that is going to
destroy Hamlet. I think he used this comparison to further emphasize the intensity of the
situation and of Hamlet’s encounter with Ophelia. He is in love with Ophelia and very
attracted to her sexually and physically. The simile shines more light onto these things.
The hyperbole in this passage is when he states that the sigh is going to “shatter all his
bulk and end his being” (II.i.94-95). Obviously, it is not going to do that to Hamlet, but
Shakespeare exaggerates this, again, to show how into the situation Hamlet is and how
into Ophelia he is too. Finally, the alliteration is seen with the phrase “seem to shatter”
(II.i.93-94). The letter ‘s’ is a good letter to alliterate because it rolls off the tongue and
is very obvious when it’s used in alliteration. I think Shakespeare used the alliteration he
did here potentially to highlight the sexuality of the situation, because the word sex also
starts with the letter ‘s’. Another example of figurative language is seen throughout the
entire excerpt. This whole passage is an allusion, and is alluding to the fact that Hamlet
is acting out in a sexual manner towards Ophelia in this situation. The way he acted
towards her in her bedroom was just showing all of the sexual frustrations he has towards
her and that he wants to perform sexual acts to and with Ophelia. The figurative language
completely embellishes and enhances these lines.
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This speech is important to the play and brings up many important themes. For
example, love is a theme exemplified in this passage. It is clear that Hamlet has undying
feelings of love for Ophelia at this point in the play. We are not sure if she feels the same
way, but it is obvious that Hamlet is very in love with her. Another theme would be
sexual tension. Shakespeare tends to be very sexual, and I think that part of the reason
Hamlet was physical with Ophelia and came in her room with his stockings at his ankles
was because of the sexual tension he feels with Ophelia. He obviously is very attracted
to her and wants to pursue things physically. A final theme of this passage would be
trust. Hamlet has to trust Ophelia to do act the way he did with her in her bedroom and
also Ophelia has to trust Polonius to confide in him about what Hamlet did.
Finally, this speech raises questions for the reader to ponder. Not just silly,
unimportant questions, but bigger, umbrella questions. First, does Hamlet have some sort
of mental disability like craziness, or is he truly just in love with and attracted to
Ophelia? Sometimes when I read this play, I would question Hamlet’s sanity, like if he
was really seeing the ghost or if it was just a figment of his crazy mind. Hamlet’s
craziness is exposed through most of this play, so this question is applicable for many
parts of the play. Another question would be does Ophelia love Hamlet? What are her
feelings for him, if any? Does she choose the feel the way she does due to the influence
of her dad and brother? I was always wondering where she stood in terms of Hamlet.
Ophelia is a very mysterious character in this play, and it’s sometimes difficult to analyze
how she is feeling. Asking umbrella questions are helpful and can aid your
understanding of many confusing aspects about a Shakespearean play.
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