1.2 Family Unit project

The major family units it the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare are:
-The Family of Hamlet
-The Family of Polonius

The Hamlet Family
The family tree of Hamlet is this. Hamlet (senior) and Gertrude are married and they have a son named Hamlet (junior). Claudius is the brother to Hamlet (sr) and an uncle to Hamlet (jr). He becomes Hamlet (jr)’s stepfather once he marries Gertrude after Hamlet (sr)’s murder. The crisis that affects the Family of Hamlet is that of the death of old Hamlet. The way Hamlet copes with the death is by distancing himself from his mother and his uncle. He becomes snide in his remarks and very unpredictable. Gertrude on the other hand does not see overly bothered by her husband’s death. She goes on with life as though nothing happened. She remarries rather quickly and does not spend much time mourning. Claudius is not bothered in the least by Hamlet’s death, possibly because it was by his engineering that Hamlet died.

The Polonius Family
The family tree of Polonius is this. Polonius is the father of Ophelia and Leartes. There is no mention of the mother. The crisis that affects this family is the death of Polonius himself. He is murdered by the unknowing Hamlet. Ophelia takes her father’s very harshly. It drives her to insanity and eventually to suicide. Leartes reacts with anger. He swears revenge against Hamlet and promises his downfall.

The roles of stereotypical family are fulfilled in this play using the family of Hamlet before old Hamlet's death. It had Hamlet (sr) as the father and Gertrude as the mother, with Hamlet (jr) as the son. This continues until the death of Hamlet (sr) and Gertrude remarries Claudius. This then becomes an extended family.