I know I seem like I hold a double standard for my children but I am just trying to give them the best advice I can for their specific situation. My son needed to go off on his own so I gave him the proper advice for his journey. "To be true to thine self" (1.3.78), and to listen what everyone has to say but to conversate only with those with good opinions and who can listen to him. "The wind sits in the shoulder" of his sail (1.3.56), and he needed my blessing and best advice to get him going. He needed a positive and thoughtful farewell, but my daughter needed some sense knocked into her. She was caught up in the idea of the young and prestigious Hamlet loving her but I know from experience that he doesn't really mean it. My dear Ophelia still speaks "like a green girl," (1.3.101), saying what Hamlet and her have is real. It is not. "When the blood burns," the tongue says things that the brain deceives it to think as true (1.3.116). Lust has taken over many men, including myself, and led them to profess things that were fallacious. I do not want my daughter to be another victim. To "believe so much in him" (1.3.125), is a mistake because he will disappoint her, so I had no choice but to forbid her from seeing him. It may seem harsh now to break up young love but it is for practicality's sake and for my daughter.She said she will obey me and I hope she does for I know Hamlet is not a good man for her.
I am just using my experience to help both my children, but they are in different situations so of course it's not going to be the same. Laertes has many opportunities ahead of him for finding out who he is and what he wants but Ophelia thinks she's already found it so it is my duty to set her straight and protect her from inevitable heartbreak.
No comments:
Post a Comment