Hamlet's Mirror

[Nirome]

Shakespeare's Hamlet appears to reach a climax in Act III, scene iv as Hamlet verbally assaults his mother, releasing a torrent of long suppressed resentment over her betrayal of King Hamlet.

Queen: Have you forgot me?
Hamlet: No, by the rood, not so.
You are the Queen, your husband's brother's wife,
And (would it were not so) you are my mother. (3.4.15-18)

Shortly after this exchange, the Queen recognizes that her son has not come to her chamber to be disciplined, but instead intends to show her how distorted her perception has become. Gertrude then seeks to escape the chamber, but she cannot avoid looking at what she has become.

Hamlet: Come, Come, and sit you down; you shall not
budge.
You go not until I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you. (3.4.19-21)

The mirror Hamlet forces his mother to examine reveals, "such black and grained spots as will not leave their tinct" (3.4.92-93). Why does Hamlet's mirror have so much power over his mother? When Gertrude gazes into this mirror, what exactly does she see?

Apparently, Gertrude, prior to Hamlet's visitation, was unable or unwilling to see the enormity of her sin-- a loyal husband dishonorably given an abbreviated period of mourning, a ous brother-in-law exchanged for the "goodly king", a son completely cut off, abandoned by his mother in a time of need.

In Harold C. Goddard's book The Meaning of Shakespeare offers up an interpretation of what Gertrude may have seen.
"And the sin which he chastizes in his mother is nothing but his own in reverse. Anger and (plus cruelty in which they both usually culminate) are the two nt passions in man, one generically masculine, the other feminine" (372).

My question for this discussion thread is this: what did Gertrude see in this glass? Perhaps most importantly, what do we, as readers, see when Hamlet holds up this mirror to us-- demanding that we examine closely who we truly are and what we intend to do with this self-knowledge?

[Amleth]

What actually happens in the Closet Scene is a bad misunderstanding between Hamlet and Gertrude.

When Hamlet says "by the rood" he's holding his sword up to Gertrude. "Rood" is a word for the Christian cross, and Hamlet is swearing on the cross, using his sword. (It's the identical symbolism as the "swear" passage when the Ghost called out from the earth. Hamlet wanted Horatio and Marcellus to swear on the cross, using his sword to symbolize it.) Here, Hamlet is using his sword as he "swears on the cross" that he knows who Gertrude is. That's why Hamlet says "rood."

But when Gertrude sees Hamlet hold his sword up at her, and hears him say he doesn't like it that she's his mother, she becomes frightened. She mistakenly sees it as a threat. She starts for the door to get some guards, who "speak" the language of swords, figuratively speaking. She's going to get the guards to take Hamlet's sword away, and restrain him.

Hamlet stops Gertrude, and makes her sit in a chair. He wants to lecture her.

He says he'll set up a mirror, and show her her "inmost" part. What he means is that he's going to "paint her a picture in words," so to speak, so that as she hears him, it'll be like she's seeing the condition of her own soul in the mirror. Hamlet is using figurative language.

But as Gertrude hears Hamlet, and sees him with the sword, she takes it literally. She thinks Hamlet has just said that he's literally going to set a mirror in front of her, then slice her open with that sword he's holding, and make her look at her insides in the mirror.

To Gertrude, it sounds absolutely crazy, and very frightening. That's why she exclaims about "murder" and screams for help. Then Polonius takes up the call for help, and so on.

And you'll find any number of books that deal only in odd philosophical and psychological generalities, because the authors couldn't follow the play events, and didn't have the slightest idea why any of the characters does or says anything.

[Ashley Hallford]

I think that, in Hamlet's hypothetical "mirror", Gertrude finally recognized the implications of her actions. She realized how sinful she had been by marrying her late husband's brother quite shortly after his death, which thus could have been interpreted to mean that she was not faithful to her former husband, or possibly that she didn't even love him. And if neither of these assumptions were correct in her case, then she would of course be consumed with guilt and regret, and she would be quite displeased with herself. She may have been upset with the fact that Hamlet would say such disrespectful things to her, but I think she may have partially been grateful, because of Hamlet's honesty and insight, that she had the chance to "right her wrongs" later on in the play.

[Ashley Hallford]

And in response to your question about what Hamlet causes the readers and audience to see in themselves when he holds up the "mirror", I would say that he makes them (us) examine our existence and our purpose in this world. He makes us question our morality and mortality, and makes us take a closer examination of ourselves and the lives we have led thus far. In many ways, he brings forth the parts of ourselves or our lives that we dislike the most, and sometimes, he makes us realize that we resemble him or some of the other characters in the play. In essence, he reminds us that, although we each are different, we all are human- that we all have sinned, that we all have our regrets, and conversely, that we all have our dreams, hopes and desires.

[Lote-Tree]

Perhaps most importantly, what do we, as readers, see when Hamlet holds up this mirror to us-- demanding that we examine closely who we truly are and what we intend to do with this self-knowledge?

How does that help Hamlet?

[Nirome]

How does that help Hamlet?

HAMLET
Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion
be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the
word to the action; with this special o'erstep not
the modesty of nature: for any thing so overdone is
from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the
first and now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the
mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature,
scorn her own image, and the very age and body of
the time his form and pressure. Now this overdone,
or come tardy off, though it make the unskilful
laugh, cannot but make the judicious grieve; the
censure of the which one must in your allowance
o'erweigh a whole theatre of others. O, there be
players that I have seen play, and heard others
praise, and that highly, not to speak it profanely,
that, neither having the accent of Christians nor
the gait of Christian, pagan, nor man, have so
strutted and bellowed that I have thought some of
nature's journeymen had made men and not made them
well, they imitated humanity so abominably. (3.2.17-37)

The metaphorical mirror we have been discussing helps Hamlet to expose the weaknesses and folly of the main characters in the play. As for Hamlet, I believe Shakespeare used Hamlet, the character, to show us what it means to be human and to live under the restrictions of our limited perceptions.

Harold Bloom in his book Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human described this mirror metaphor in Hamlet as, "a reflective pool, a spacious mirror in which we needs must see ourselves. Permit this dramatist a concourse of contraries, and he will show us everybody and nobody, all at once" (401).

What we learn, I think, is that we require the help of others in order to clearly understand who we are--to help us interpret and integrate a continual barrage of life's events through the often distorting filter of human consciousness. Without looking through this mirror of perception, Hamlet's mirror, we have no hope of distinguishing appearance from reality.

[HomeSkillet]

This particular scene is one of my favorites in the play. When first reading the play I also believed that Hamlet was actually threatening to cut out his mother's insides and show them to her in a mirror. (Drastic and really freaky) After a discussion in class with a very intelligent teacher of mine, I'm beginning to think that I took the words way too literally. Since the play is filled with deep meaning, it is only fitting that this scene is no different. By showing the mirror to Gertrude, Hamlet is showing his mother what she has turned into. She has turned into a creature that is no longer his caring, trusting mother that he has once known, but a spiteful and traitorous one! Hamlet is really only saying what most readers are thinking. . .("Jezz Gertrude quit being such a b----") He hopes to show her true-self and how she has changed in the inside. Hamlet is just one of those characters that is brutally honest. In this case, his brutally honest words are very powerful because he is saying them to his mother.

[Amleth]

... When first reading the play I also believed that Hamlet was actually threatening to cut out his mother's insides and show them to her in a mirror. (Drastic and really freaky) After a discussion in class with a very intelligent teacher of mine, I'm beginning to think that I took the words way too literally. ...

It's unfortunate if your teacher talked you out of the truth. That wouldn't be intelligent by a teacher, or even competent. It would be irresponsible and foolish behavior by a teacher to mislead a student, when in fact, the student is at least partly right.

You were, in fact, partly correct. It is a fact in the play that Gertrude does think that. It's what causes her to exclaim about being "murdered" and scream for help. If your teacher doesn't even know Hamlet well enough to know the basic dialogue, your teacher is not somebody to listen to on the subject.

But Gertrude's view isn't the whole story, of course. Hamlet really intends Gertrude no harm. He was speaking figuratively.

There's more than one character in the scene, so full understanding requires considering both their points of view.

Since the play is filled with deep meaning, ...

Like what? It's a stage play. It's a known fact that the play was written to entertain an audience. It has some superb writing, some interesting observations about the human condition, and so on, but Hamlet is a stage play. It is not Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, nor Hume's essay on morals, or anything like that, and of course it was never written to be.

There's all kinds of writers who try to leech off Hamlet - because it's famous - to promote their own ideas, or agendas, but they don't really write about Hamlet at all, and generally they don't even really know the play dialogue.

[Rinas_Jaded]

Like what? It's a stage play. It's a known fact that the play was written to entertain an audience. It has some superb writing, some interesting observations about the human condition, and so on, but Hamlet is a stage play. It is not Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, nor Hume's essay on morals, or anything like that, and of course it was never written to be.

There's all kinds of writers who try to leech off Hamlet - because it's famous - to promote their own ideas, or agendas, but they don't really write about Hamlet at all, and generally they don't even really know the play dialogue.

I believe some people overthink Hamlet.

[Zirkle2007]

It's unfortunate if your teacher talked you out of the truth. That wouldn't be intelligent by a teacher, or even competent. It would be irresponsible and foolish behavior by a teacher to mislead a student, when in fact, the student is at least partly right.

You were, in fact, partly correct. It is a fact in the play that Gertrude does think that. It's what causes her to exclaim about being "murdered" and scream for help. If your teacher doesn't even know Hamlet well enough to know the basic dialogue, your teacher is not somebody to listen to on the subject.

But Gertrude's view isn't the whole story, of course. Hamlet really intends Gertrude no harm. He was speaking figuratively.

There's more than one character in the scene, so full understanding requires considering both their points of view.



Like what? It's a stage play. It's a known fact that the play was written to entertain an audience. It has some superb writing, some interesting observations about the human condition, and so on, but Hamlet is a stage play. It is not Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, nor Hume's essay on morals, or anything like that, and of course it was never written to be.

There's all kinds of writers who try to leech off Hamlet - because it's famous - to promote their own ideas, or agendas, but they don't really write about Hamlet at all, and generally they don't even really know the play dialogue.

Hamlet, like most other works of literature, are open to interpretation. The reader takes what they want from it, so don't criticize people for their view of a play.

Also, the whole play is full of meaning. What do think the "To Be Or Not To Be" speech is all about??? Is that just to entertain us with some joke? Have you even read Hamlet? Only a fool would say the things you have said.

[Hyatt07]

Hamlet, like most other works of literature, are open to interpretation. The reader takes what they want from it, so don't criticize people for their view of a play.

Also, the whole play is full of meaning. What do think the "To Be Or Not To Be" speech is all about??? Is that just to entertain us with some joke? Have you even read Hamlet? Only a fool would say the things you have said.

I totally agree. I guess some people just don't know how to interperet literature.

[Madkins]

It's unfortunate if your teacher talked you out of the truth. That wouldn't be intelligent by a teacher, or even competent. It would be irresponsible and foolish behavior by a teacher to mislead a student, when in fact, the student is at least partly right.

You were, in fact, partly correct. It is a fact in the play that Gertrude does think that. It's what causes her to exclaim about being "murdered" and scream for help. If your teacher doesn't even know Hamlet well enough to know the basic dialogue, your teacher is not somebody to listen to on the subject.

But Gertrude's view isn't the whole story, of course. Hamlet really intends Gertrude no harm. He was speaking figuratively.

There's more than one character in the scene, so full understanding requires considering both their points of view.



Like what? It's a stage play. It's a known fact that the play was written to entertain an audience. It has some superb writing, some interesting observations about the human condition, and so on, but Hamlet is a stage play. It is not Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, nor Hume's essay on morals, or anything like that, and of course it was never written to be.

There's all kinds of writers who try to leech off Hamlet - because it's famous - to promote their own ideas, or agendas, but they don't really write about Hamlet at all, and generally they don't even really know the play dialogue.

I forgot this was the online-bash other's opinions forums. I could have sworn that we were here to discuss, not put down, others' interpretations of a play or work of literature. If you honestly have enough time to troll around forums and bash people...then...well. enough said.

[Andrea2007]

Shakespeare's Hamlet appears to reach a climax in Act III, scene iv as Hamlet verbally assaults his mother, releasing a torrent of long suppressed resentment over her betrayal of King Hamlet.

Queen: Have you forgot me?
Hamlet: No, by the rood, not so.
You are the Queen, your husband's brother's wife,
And (would it were not so) you are my mother. (3.4.15-18)

Shortly after this exchange, the Queen recognizes that her son has not come to her chamber to be disciplined, but instead intends to show her how distorted her perception has become. Gertrude then seeks to escape the chamber, but she cannot avoid looking at what she has become.

Hamlet: Come, Come, and sit you down; you shall not
budge.
You go not until I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you. (3.4.19-21)

The mirror Hamlet forces his mother to examine reveals, "such black and grained spots as will not leave their tinct" (3.4.92-93). Why does Hamlet's mirror have so much power over his mother? When Gertrude gazes into this mirror, what exactly does she see?

Apparently, Gertrude, prior to Hamlet's visitation, was unable or unwilling to see the enormity of her sin-- a loyal husband dishonorably given an abbreviated period of mourning, a ous brother-in-law exchanged for the "goodly king", a son completely cut off, abandoned by his mother in a time of need.

In Harold C. Goddard's book The Meaning of Shakespeare offers up an interpretation of what Gertrude may have seen.
"And the sin which he chastizes in his mother is nothing but his own in reverse. Anger and (plus cruelty in which they both usually culminate) are the two nt passions in man, one generically masculine, the other feminine" (372).

My question for this discussion thread is this: what did Gertrude see in this glass? Perhaps most importantly, what do we, as readers, see when Hamlet holds up this mirror to us-- demanding that we examine closely who we truly are and what we intend to do with this self-knowledge?

The mirror that Hamlet shows his mother reflects the truth of the situation. Gertrude has been blind, believing the King and accepting him as her new husband. After he killed King Hamlet, his own brother, Claudius takes his crown and everything that belongs to him. Gertrude is naive and somewhat self-centered, not thinking about the betrayal to her late husband, King Hamlet. Hamlet harshly opens her eyes, making her realize what she has done, and the truth about her precious husband. Gertrude is upset by all of this because she has been wrong and knows she is partially at fault.

[Rinas_Jaded]

I forgot this was the online-bash other's opinions forums. I could have sworn that we were here to discuss, not put down, others' interpretations of a play or work of literature.. l2go outside. seriously. If you honestly have enough time to troll around forums and bash people...then...well. enough said.

Sometimes I wonder, Than I just walk away slowly, and watch what happens next.

[HeatherBug]

I agree with Zirkle2007, everyone views a play differently. Everyone has different opinons, and you don't have to agree with them, but you NEED to respect it!!!