Blog Post #14 - Hamlet Blog 2

Notorious woman of affairs...adventurous man of the world!
Deep their love, great the risk!

The film Notorious is a classic portrayal of espionage and all that comes with it. Alicia Huberman is a frivolous woman whose father was a convicted Nazi spy (he committed suicide in prison). She is hired by a government agent, T.R. Delvin, to infiltrate an organization of Nazis. Alicia and Delvin fall in love quickly and recklessly, and this complicates her mission. Alicia is ordered to seduce one of the Nazis, Sebastian, and she does a good job; he asks for her hand in marriage. Alicia accepts when Delvin does not object (which infuriates her). Even though she is now Sebastian's wife, she continues to spy on him. At Delvin's command, she steals Sebastian's key to his wine cellar. Delvin and Alicia investigate, and are caught immediately after discovering incriminating evidence. Sebastian plots to kill Alicia slowly by poisoning her coffee. Alicia eventually does fall ill, and Delvin rescues her at the end, proclaiming his love for her, and leaving Sebastian to face the consequences of his actions.

I am no stranger to espionage. Everyone here spies on everyone. Claudius, Polonius, and my own mother have gone to the ends of the earth to find out what is "wrong" with me. Polonius read my love letters to Ophelia; and as if that weren't awful enough, he then suggested to Claudius and my mother that they spy on me as I converse with Ophelia. "Be you and I behind an arras then..."(2.2.262), he said. His suggestions disgust me, but what truly enrages me is that Claudius and my mother agreed. I confused Polonius as I rambled on about goodness knows what in response to his questions. When asked if I knew him, I replied, "Excellent well; you are a fishmonger"(2.2.273). I will likely do this again in the future. Aside from my encounter with Polonius, I experienced more attempts at espionage when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern visited. I had known all along that my mother and Claudius had sent them, but I played along for a few minutes. I reminded them that "Denmark's a prison" (2.2.231) and the worst one at that. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern disagreed, however. Then, they proceeded to lie to me. I asked why they came to visit and Rosencrantz replied, "To visit you, my lord: no other occasion" (2.2.253). Of course, it was then that I revealed my knowledge of their intentions. I told them, "You were sent for; and there is a kind of confession in your looks which your modesties have not craft enough to color..."(2.2.259). Guildenstern replied with the truth: that they had been sent by my mother and Claudius. It was unfortunate how quickly they revealed their intentions, but I suppose I am grateful for their honesty. I am not, however, grateful for elders who do not trust me, and furthermore, have sent my own friends to spy on me. I am more convinced now than ever that nobody can be trusted.

In Notorious, there comes a point when Sebastian questions Alicia's love for him and for Devlin. When confronted, she says, "I've told you before, Mr. Devlin doesn't mean a thing to me." However, that is obviously not that case, as seen throughout the movie. This can be compared to Rosencrantz' blatant lie to Hamlet about why he and Guildenstern are visiting him. Rosencrantz says he is there simply "to visit you, my lord: no other occasion"(2.2.253). Hamlet knows this is a lie and quickly forces him to confess.

Another set of quotes that could be compared starts with an exchange between Alicia and Devlin:
"Alicia: What's this all about, huh? What's your angle?
Devlin: What angle?
Alicia: About last night.
Devlin: Just wanted to be friends.
Alicia: Friends, yeah. You could frame me, hmm?"

This shows that Alicia does not trust Devlin, just like Hamlet doesn't trust his mother and Claudius. Hamlet's distrust leads him to question Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's reason for visiting him, and he eventually says, "You were sent for"(2.2.259) and confirms his suspicions when Guildenstern admits that he and Rosencrantz were indeed sent by the king and queen. The difference between Notorious and Hamlet is that the espionage roles are switched. That is to say, there are only two spies infiltrating a large circle of people in Notorious, whereas in Hamlet, multiple people are spying on Hamlet (and eventually everyone spies on each other).