Deliverable: Activity 1.2

Hamlet activity 1.2


Deliverable: Identify the major family units in the play and develop a family tree to illustrate the relationships among the family members. Identify what crises affect each family. Describe how each family copes. Compare and contrast how the roles of a stereotypical nuclear family are fulfilled in the play.

Royal family:
King Hamlet was married to the Queen, Gertrude.
Their son was Hamlet.
Claudius is the brother of King Hamlet—the uncle of young Hamlet. He marries Gertrude after the murder of King Hamlet; becoming Hamlet’s step-father.

Crises:
The death of King Hamlet and Gertrude marrying his brother so quickly afterwards. One could also argue that Hamlet’s acting of/or truly going mad also counts as a crisis.

Coping:
I don’t really see a lot that can be called coping in this family.
Hamlet lashes out at the people closest to him, feeling betrayed. He also seeks revenge on his uncle for the death of his father.
Gertrude marries Claudius, perhaps to keep herself secure as Queen.
Claudius, as being the one who murdered his brother, prays for forgiveness for murdering his brother, and attempts to remove Hamlet from Denmark.

Comparing to a stereotypical nuclear family:
Similarities--> Son is unhappy and confused as to how his mother could remarry so soon after the death of her husband.
-->Mother wants to help her son and support him, as she loves him dearly.
-->There’s a lot of stress and sadness in the family, as there would be, when a death occurs.

Differences--> One brother usually doesn’t kill another.
-->A son usually doesn’t take out revenge on their uncle, and then again, it’s not too common for the uncle to become the son’s stepfather.
--> Father’s ghost usually doesn’t come to his son and tell him to avenge him.


Family of Chamberlain:
Polonius is the father of Laerties and Ophelia. Their mother is not mentioned.

Crises:
Ophelia’s decent into madness and her state of depression. The death of Polonius later on in the play is also a crisis.

Coping:
Ophelia can’t seem to deal with the death of her father, and goes into a state of madness. Laerties is angry when he finds out about both his father and then his sister’s death, and wants to kill Hamlet for what he’s done.

Comparing to a stereotypical nuclear family:
Similarities--> Laerties is angry towards the man who has destroyed his family.

Differences--> Normally attempted murder is not a way that someone deals with problems. People usually try and save a person from going mad, rather than leaving her be.