((This is a "pull-out" from my journal. I just want some comments on it and see if there can be anything added. Thank you.))
As I recently read The Trojan Woman by Euripides, I didn't know that I was going to read the tale about Hecuba. In the play, Hecuba was a royal mother of a country. In that country, a war broke out, her husband's army lost, and the land was scorched to ruins.
Hecuba ",My country is lost, my children, my husband," (Euripides, 2006).
In that lost Hecuba experienced an even greater loss; her husband died in battle and now the winning enemy was taking the winner's role of decision. Which that resulted in Hecuba's family become separated and her youngest son to be eradicated.
Hecuba ",O my children, you have gone and left your mother in a deserted city--to the bitterness of dirges and lamentations and tears, fountains of tears, in our home," (Euripides, 2006).
Now going back to Hamlet, he displays the understanding of his mother and he understands that she is not lamenting like a loving and loyal wife. Instead, Hamlet see his mother marrying and fornicating with her brother right after the death of her husband. That is when Hamlet decides to use Hecuba as his mother's opposite. Hamlet understands the tale of the loving mother Hecuba to the "T," which makes him dislike his mother’s irrational actions.
I know it’s kind of off topic with the title but it is still about Hamlet's mother. I was talking with Amber today about the book, and she brought it up to me that she thinks the Queen was the one who killed Ophelia. When I asked why, she commented on the way Ophelia was acting when she was singing and handing out flowers but she had a strong reason to live. She was after Hamlet the whole time, she loved him despite how her father intervened she still wanted to be with him. SO... Why would she kill herself?
ReplyDeleteFor one the Queen was the one who "found" her in the water, and she did provide some pretty good details about her death. Though she said she couldn’t swim, I'm sure it was still in her power to call for help. Maybe she didn’t want Ophelia stealing what left of her son she had (since hamlet WAS still mad at her for the hasty marriage between her and his uncle).
Now Hamlet was not around when Ophelia was presenting flowers and acting kind of insane... so maybe the Queen was kind of protecting Hamlet. After all Hamlet was still in a slight despair of his father’s death, so it could be a possibility that if Hamlet saw Ophelia that distraught he couldn’t take it.
So maybe the Queen didn’t actually kill her, but she did use an awful lot of detail when she came running back to tell people of the news. If that was the case then she could have only been a witness that didn’t call for help. That’s my opinion.
Amber's view on Hamlet's mother being Ophelia's killer kind of says that the mother is jealous. Did I get that wrong? I mean, that is what it sounds like.
ReplyDeleteThat's actually quite an interesting theory :) Have you tried searching online to find some literary criticism on it?
ReplyDeleteI like this insight, Jacob! It actually helped me understand the connection between Hecuba and Gertrude the Queen a bit more.
ReplyDeleteAs to Amber's theory, like Lesly said, it is very interesting. I also found it odd that only the Queen had discovered Ophelia dead in the pond, lake, whichever haha. The fact that she also described in almost a poetic prose the WAY she died made it seem as if she herself saw it all coming and did not stop her. I agree, Emily. Maybe the Queen did not kill her, but if she was witness to this suicide, then it would make her just as guilty as if she would have killed her.