John Kerrigan- Memory and Rememberance

John Kerrigan- Memory and Rememberance

1. Ophelia knows the old, noble Hamlet, we're only introduced to the mad one. Both characters are plagued by the past. 'O what a noble mind is o'erthrown!'

2. The ghost is the personification of the past and creates feelings of loss and a duty to commemorate in Hamlet.

3. Hamlet never promises to avenge, only to remember.

4. As the play begins, we must remember and celebrate Old Hamlets life and how Denmark has lost an age of political issues being solved through combat unlike how the current king gains power tthrough cheating and poison- cowardly methods when compared.

5. Memories and obsessing over the past slow the plays progress, diverting it.

6. Some characters are sincere with their remembrance, e.g. Hamlet, Ophelia and Laertes. These are clear. Claudius uses this as a way to seem caring. His remembrance moves the attention onto him

7. Hamlet was remembering his father before the ghost appeared. When he does see the ghost, he immediately wants to share this with a friend showing the trust (which is rare). He says 'I shall not look upon his like again'. He was one of a kind, even in death, Hamlet admires him.

8. Remembrance haunts Hamlet, to the point of madness. 'The heart of his mystery', he tells G heart can never be plucked out of memory.

9. While comfort can be found in the past, it only makes the present more desolate.

10. John Bowlby- 'the persistent and insatiable nature of yearning for the lost figure, pain is inevitable'. The measure of Hamlets anguish creates an exaggerated memory of his dad, calling him a Hyperion (Greek titan).

11. Not two months after the death, he is told his grieving is unmanly by Claudius. His dad is replaced by C and his mother moves on with no problem. He feels alone in his grief. To Hamlet, Claudius is a Satyr, not even human in comparison to old Hamlet.

12. Hamlet is condemned by his father to avenge him and remember. It becomes an obsession, taking over his life and leads to his demise.

13. The 'tenders of affection made to Ophelia' is an example of how hamlet is trying to replace a source of affection he got from his father onto Ophelia

14. His inky cloak shows how he is still respectfully mourning his father but also how he wants to detach himself

    • Freud pointed out that mourning has a physical task to detach the survivors memories from the dead.

15. Ophelia rejecting Hamlets love is one way that he cannot move on. She was the safety object to replace his fathers love. Without her his love is thrown back onto his father who never emotionally betrayed him.

    • 'I have remembrances of yours, I have longed long to redeliver'. It confirms his suspicions that a woman's love is 'brief and unworthy'. It links to his anger at his mother and reminds him of her shot mourning process and fast remarriage.
      • Ophelia works well to recover from Hamlet this way. By giving back the letters etc, she is able to detach herself from him, much like how Gertrude's fast marriage allowed her to move on. However people aren't allowed to move on, particularly Ophelia, when Hamlet consistently attacks her. This doesn't allow him to move on either, he just makes the situation worse.
        • However by returning these letters, she is forcing Hamlet to remember and in turn she must remember also as he keeps returning to her.

16. When Claudius refuses to let him go back to Wittenburg, Hamlet is surrounded by people and places that constantly remind his of his dad. He cannot move on. Uni is symbolic of his freedom.

17. Freud ' Hysterics suffer mainly from reminiscences'. It explains why Hamlet goes into hysteria after he loses everyone.