Hamlet+1.2

3) Queen Gertrude- Your son is correct. If your husband just died, hardly a month ago, how could you possibly be marrying his brother. Not only are you remarrying before giving yourself a chance to fully grieve, how is it that you could have fallen in love with this man in such a short period of time, unless of course you do not love him and are marrying him simple for the title, or you were cheating on your husband and have secretly loved him forever. Your son also makes a good point when he mentions how you went "with such dexterity to incestuous sheets!" (1.2.162). Your husband, that allegedly treated you like the queen you were and you apparently could not get enough of when he was alive, you have now moved past in a matter of a few weeks. This situation seems off.

4)"A little more than kin and a little less than kind" (1.2.67) When Hamlet says this he is taking a jab at his uncle saying they are related in two ways and that that is weird. I agree wholeheartedly with this statement and I think it was very good of Hamlet to stand up for himself and tell the King that he is being a little bit creepy and that the situation is out of the ordinary. Not only is the Hamlet in the grieving process for his father, but now he must deal with the fact that his mother is remarrying, and that she is marrying his uncle. Claudius is being too presumptuous at this point and really pushing Hamlet's buttons, whether or not he realizes it. Hamlet is uncomfortable and Claudius keeps calling him son, and telling him to cheer up and celebrate. He is saying his grieving is getting annoying and rude and he should move on, so Hamlet was right to have stood up for himself and to have said something to Claudius about how strange and inappropriate he is being without being rude because after-all, Claudius is now the king.

7) Claudius seems very proud of himself. He seems to be happy that everything is working out for him and clearly wants to celebrate that fact rather than dwell on his brother's death. This could lead to the tension between Hamlet and Claudius because Hamlet is being very obstinant and seems to be the only one not excited for the wedding and for Claudius. The King's opening soliloquy seems fake, he does not seem genuniely sad about his brother's death and is merely saying all these things for appearance so I feel he would be over acting, he would be too dramatic with his face and his sadness, leading the audience to believe it is all for show as well. From his speech he seems fairly full of himself, saying the whole nation should be just as happy I am getting married as they are sad that their King has just died. Acting this out however I think a good way to go about it would to be to try and make it seem like the wedding is almost to get people's mind off the death and that he is very sad, but he is making this sacrifice for the people, when in reality it seems like he is very proud of whatever it is he has accomplished and that all his plans seem to be going perfectly.