Socks down, head nodding, arm-grabbing . . .

[Miss Plum]

Does anyone have an idea just what on earth Hamlet meant by running into Ophelia's closet all loony-like? Why were his socks down? Why didn't he speak a word to her? Why did he seize her arm? Why did he nod three times? Why did he feel his way to the door while keeping his eyes on her?

The way Franco Zefferelli staged it, Hamlet faked the whole thing so Polonius would spread the word that he was mad.

I need help understanding that scene. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Charles Darnay]

Zeffirelli had to beat his audience over the head with his interpretation.

To answer your question, you must ask "how shook up was Hamlet by the ghost"? Going to Ophelia was probably his first act after leaving the stage in I.v. Part of me likes to believe that Hamlet went to Ophelia in a sincere, vulnerable state. Of course there are problems with this.

[Jim58]

On its surface this is Hamlet post "antic disposition", so we presume that Hamlet is acting (this is an thematic element). For Polonius' arc through the play, this is the beginning of his meddling Hamlet-is-mad-for-love theory that ultimately leads to his demise in the closet scene. This is also the first time that Hamlet and Ophelia meet (within the confines of the play itself) and it contrasts with what we have been led to believe at this point from Laertes and Polonius in 1.3. But, more to the point this sequence of events of Hamlet visiting Ophelia in her closet is told to us through an alarmed Ophelia rather than presented on stage as part of a scene, thus I have a disagreement with any production that visualizes it. It is not that we don't believe Ophelia, but ambiguity, duplicity, duality is a primary theme of the play and but for the audience being privy to Hamlet's antic disposition declaration we might just see Polonius' diagnosis of Hamlet as reasonable. The key here is that Polonius sees this incident as he wants to see it. Shakespeare clearly has set this incident (to us) ambiguously so we are left with the question, is Hamlet real or is he acting?

[Miss Plum]

Okay, so there's no easy answer that I'm missing. I do have trouble with Shakespeare's "mad" characters anyway. I've seen a few homeless people wandering around babbling like loons, but I usually think of them has having chemical problems rather than issues with dead fathers, abusive boyfriends, etc.

Ambiguity, thy name is Hamlet!




Oh, and let me add . . .

I hadn't thought of the possibility that Ophelia is an unreliable reporter. Intriguing.

[Jim58]

Ambiguity just doesn't belong to Hamlet. It belongs to Gertrude, Claudius, Osric, Laertes, the ghost and R&G. This is why duality is such a plenary theme in the play. Humans have the ability to reason and make choices. We are also subject to our baser instincts.

In the original Amleth legend, the title character feigns being retarded to ease any perceived threat by the new king. But, that murder was also done publicly. Here, in Hamlet, the murder was done secretly (thus the ghost) so Shakespeare uses the madness issue for dramatic range and also as an element of the image/reality theme.

For Ophelia, it is not that she is unreliable. It is that she believes as true what we think is false. Because she believes it, she is able to convincingly deliver the message to Polonius. Since Polonius has suffered much extremity for love that's how he interprets Hamlet's antics. Only his mother ascribes the o'er hasty marriage and his father's death as a cause for Hamlet's antics. Claudius sees a more deliberate and sinister motive while R&G see it as sprung from ambition.