This a blog for Mr. James Cook's eleventh grade honors English class at Gloucester (MA) High School. Remember what Northrup Frye writes in _Fearful Symmetry_, "No one can begin to think straight unless [she or] he has a passionate desire to think and an intense joy in thinking."

Monday, March 29, 2010

Hamlet Work

Now that you've finished reading the play here's the work that we need to complete.

1. Comic strip directions: Create a sixteen (or more) panel comic strip depicting the story of Hamlet from 3.3 (Claudius praying/not praying) to the end. Remember that the comics will be evaluated for their clarity, care, accuracy, and completeness. Don't leave out the subplots. You will hand in your comic strip on Friday, April 2.

2. Motif directions: In the comment box below write an open response explaining the significance of the motif in the play overall with particular attention to the second half of the play. Make sure you analyze at least three direct quotations in your response.

At the end of your open response type up all the references to the motif that you found from 3.3 to the end: write down the speaker, act, scene, and line (for example Polonius 2.1.97) for each reference to the motif.

This is due by class time on Monday, April 5. (Will you stay up to watch the Sox and Yankees Sunday night?)

3. "Ophelia Speaks" directions:

Role: Ophelia

Audience: Readers and viewers of Hamlet who want to understand Ophelia more deeply.

Format: 1. a soliloquy

2. 14+ lines*

3. The lines conclude with a rhyming couple in iambic pentameter. (*The other 12 lines may be in prose or in iambic pentameter (blank verse).

4. State where in the play you would insert the lines. (Would you create a 4.8? Would you place them somewhere in 4.4 or 4.6? Be precise: act, scene, line. She could even, I suppose, return as a ghost; or a letter she has written or a diary she has kept could be found. Be thoughtful and creative.)

5. Refer to song lyrics (from 4.4 and 4.6) and/or flower imagery (from 4.6).

Topic: What Ophelia is thinking and feeling at the moment in the play into which you decide to insert her soliloquy?


We will share these in class on Friday, April 2 then you will hand them in.

4. More SAT vocabulary.
Go here for the new words. Follow the study card/sheet directions:
For each word make a study card or sheet. Include the word in the middle in the top left place a definition, in the top right write a synonym (a word that means nearly the same thing), in the bottom left write (or draw) an example or write sentence with context clues, and in the bottom right write an antonym (a word that is the opposite of the word. (Not all words have antonyms.)
I'll check your study cards/sheets and we'll take another quiz on Monday, April 5.

42 comments:

Anonymous said...
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nicole said...
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nicole said...

The motifs, I and eye, played a significant role in the second half of the play, Hamlet. The overall plot of Hamlet is because of Claudius killing Hamlet’s father. Hamlet actually sees the ghost of his father after he didn’t believe it when Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Barnard said it. He only believed it because he saw it with his very own eyes. Hamlet actually brings something similar to this up to his mother when he is yelling at her. He says, “Here is your husband, like a mildewed ear/Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes? /Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed/And batten on this moor? Ha! Have you eyes?” (3.4.74-77) Hamlet says this because he is asking her how can she be so blind to Claduis? He doesn’t know how she cannot realize who Claudius is and what he has done to her husband before. This is important because he is telling her to look at her husband now and realize what he has done and what she is doing. Gertrude takes offense and says, “O Hamlet, speak no more!/Thou turn’st my eyes unto my very soul” (3.4.99-100). This explains that she is looking into her soul and is embarrassed as of what she has done and how she has acted. After this, the ghost comes back but only Hamlet can see it and Gertrude wonders why he is talking and staring into space. “That you do bend your eye on vacancy/And with th’ incorporal air do hold discourse?/Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep” (3.4.134-136). She is asking why he stares into the empty and air and talks to nobody. This motif is very important in the play because your eyes give off your thoughts and how you are feeling. Throughout the play, eyes are brought up a lot and have to do with one’s self.

(Hamlet 3.4.75) (Queen 3.4.100) (Queen 3.4.75) (King 4.3.5) (Fortinbras 4.4.6)
(King 4.5.175) (Laertes 4.5.170)

JCC3867 said...

Men and manliness

Hamlet 3.4.180
Hamlet 4.4.61
King 4.7.34

Hamlet is constantly through out the play questioning himself on his man hood, because of Claudius, Hamlet tortures himself whether or not he is a man. He can’t fin the nerves to kill him he is driving himself crazy and thoughts of man and manhood are constantly being used in the tragedy. Whether Claudius is praying or doing any other activity Hamlet finds an excuse to not kill Claudius, and because of these reasonable excuses hamlet thinks that he isn’t a man. It also doesn’t help his pride when his own Uncle/father pretty much tells him point blank that he lacks manhood. It’s the motif of men and manliness that shapes Hamlet to what he really is. Its one other conflict that Shakespeare gave Hamlet to juggle amongst everything else he is battling.

JCC3867 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

When Claudius talks of his evil deed of killing his brother he talks of honesty and dishonesty. This can be seen when he says this,” In his true nature; and we ourselves compell'd,Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,To give in evidence. What then? what rests?Try what repentance can: what can it not?Yet what can it when one can not repent?O wretched state! O bosom black as death!O limed soul, that, struggling to be free,Art more engaged! Help, angels! Make assay!
Bow, stubborn knees; and, heart with strings of steel,Be soft as sinews of the newborn babe!
All may be well.”(Claudius 3.3.66-75) Claudius is saying that he can never be his true self because no one knows of his sin so he could never be truthful. His life to him is basically a lie, because he got to where he is today be deceiving people. Claudius in this play is the physical version of lies and deception. This is important to the play because if Claudius was truthful there would be no play. By Claudius admitting his lies it also makes more depth into the play. With his lies coming out it allows the reader to know that he is the main liar in the play and that the play are based on his lies. This is central to the main plot because Hamlet spends the whole play trying to prove that Claudius is a liar.
The digging of Ophelia’s grave brings up the question of honesty and dishonesty. This is seen clearly when Other says, “Will you ha' the truth on't? If this had not been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o' Christian burial.”(Other 5.1.24-26.) This questions the honesty of the nobility in Denmark. It also begins to question Ophelia’s honesty. This is central because Ophelia not being honest causes many problems in the story. It causes readers to question if Ophelia caused more problems that she should not have a Christian burial. It also makes readers question Hamlet’s honesty and that the quote is talking of Hamlet’s intentions of killing Claudius. This makes readers think of Hamlet because many consider Ophelia to be a foil of Hamlet. With Other saying this it makes us think that Hamlet is trying to bury his honesty with Ophelia’s body and by doing this he will be able to kill Claudius. Dishonesty shows in this because they are burying Ophelia as a good Christian woman even though she committed suicide which is against their religion therefore making it dishonest.
Hamlet talks of Claudius and how his appearance and what he will make him look away is not the true nature of him. Readers can see this when he says, “Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in you; though, I know, to divide him inventorially would dizzy the arithmetic of memory, and yet but yaw neither, in respect of his quick sail. But, in the verity of extolment, I take him to be a soul of great article; and his infusion of such dearth and rareness, as, to make true diction of him, his semblable is his mirror; and who else would trace him, his umbrage, nothing more.” (Hamlet. 5.2.125-133.) Hamlet is saying that he will not only bring out the truth in Claudius and also make his true self and deceptive self look like a fool. Hamlet is saying that he is truthful and by being truthful and crafty he will make Claudius look like a deceptive fool. Hamlet is saying that Claudius is being truthful when he says that Claudius is being truthful when he says Laertes is the better fighter. However Hamlet is able to be deceptively truthful and will make Laertes and Claudius look like a fool. This is central to the plot because when Hamlet exposes Claudius true plan then he will finally show that he has been honest the whole time while Claudius has been dishonest the whole time. With the lies out of the way Hamlet would be able to kill Claudius therefore carrying out his goal of the whole play.

Unknown said...

The time for death approaches I face it
Head held high and knees not bowing for my Hamlet
Has left thee and with sweet misery that surrounds
Me like the sweet scent of flowers but
Do I have regrets? Aye, I wish to feel my
Sweet Hamlet rest next to me with our hearts beating
In perfect harmony our lives would be blessed and Laertes
My brother, hast protected me and now I leave you
To your own sweet misery. I Know you will try
And kill my Hamlet. Out of revenge father
Is gone now. You do not need to take revenge.
Your life will end. So now I say adieu
To you and this cruel world but wait the light
Becomes ever darker, to die is to welcome eternal night

This would be placed in act four scene seven when Ophelia stands over the river right before she commits suicide. Ophelia is feeling hurt with the loss of her father and with the fact that her beloved Hamlet killed her father. She just wants all the pain to stop and she believes the only way out of her agony is death.

Unknown said...

Tom Martin

Food & Appetite:

Throughout all of Hamlet, the motifs food and appetite have played a great role in detailing a main theme of the play. Food and appetite show how much the greed, power, and wealth of certain characters portrays their actions and behavior. For instance, in Act 3 Scene 4, Hamlet speaks to his mother after The Mousetrap “Assume a virtue, if you have it not. That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat, Of habits devil, is angel yet in this, That to the use of actions fair and good He likewise gives a frock or livery, That aptly is put on.” Here Hamlet is stating how much he is disgusted by his mother’s incestuous behavior, and that she should at least act like she has an ounce of virtue and is not consumed by monstrous habits that eat away at sense. Food and appetite act here as metaphors, that the greed and devouring of any particular object of affection blocks all common sense and human morals. Another side of how food and appetite are essential motifs to Hamlet is portrayed during Act 3 Scene 2, where Hamlet states “ Excellent, i' faith; of the chameleon's dish: I eat the air, promise-crammed: you cannot feed capons so.” When Hamlet replies with this to Claudius asking him how he is, we can see how this is not just an act of sarcasm. One would think that here Hamlet is just going mad and exclaiming eccentricities. But really Hamlet is poking fun of Claudius, how his greed and lies has filled Hamlet up of just air and broken promises, and that Hamlet and Claudius are both like chameleons, facades that can adjust to their environment when means allow, different lies for different people and places to get what they want. This quote is also similar to two from Act 4 Scene 3. “Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service, two dishes, but to one table. That's the end. 4.3.23-28” and “A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and cat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. 4.3.30-31” are both spoken by Hamlet. In both of these quotes, Hamlet states how a fat king and a lean beggar are interchangeable, that we as humans fatten ourselves up from animals that have fattened themselves up, but in the end we were all composed of nothing but worms, for in the circle of life there is always one that eats the worm. Therefore our need for consumption is something we all act in, and thus a king is no better than a peasant based on what he eats. For so much of a king’s wealth is determined by his feasts. Basically, it’s not only Claudius’s actions that relate him to a worm, for even though he is king, he is always relatable to the peasant. Wealth and greed, derivations of gluttony, mean nothing. One last quote shows just how much hunger to get what one wants plays in our desires ,“ 'Swounds, show me what thou'lt do:Woo't weep? woo't fight? woo't fast? woo't tear thyself? Woo't drink up eisel? eat a crocodile? –Hamlet 5.1.275-277” Hamlet yells this at Laertes, who is enraged at Hamlet for his actions which have led to Ophelia’s death. Hamlet is not afraid of Laertes so he asks just what Laertes plans to do to gain revenge. He asks if he will fast, drink vinegar, or eat a crocodile. All 3 of these actions will not aid Laertes in gaining revenge, therefore he asks them to egg him on. Hamlet sees greed and the struggle for power all around him.

Unknown said...

Many characters in Hamlet crave revenge and do whatever it takes to gain it, even if it means sacrificing themselves, which Laertes understood was a possibility for him. Through all of Hamlet, food and appetite have played a major role in portraying this core theme of revenge and the greed that goes with it. A hunger for power has taken over Claudius’s mind. He devours anything that will aid him in destroying Hamlet, even stating that if Hamlet dies, “The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath; 5.2. 263-267”. The motifs of food and appetite have also made Hamlet go mad. For Hamlet also craves something, he has an appetite for revenge. And especially throughout the last half of the play, Hamlet seeks to achieve it also by consuming every attribute that will aid him in doing this, mostly attributes of knowledge of Claudius’s intentions and how Hamlet can defeat him. Food and appetite have been an important motif throughout Hamlet as we can see through the actions, behavior, and statements of the characters that have qualities of greed, gluttony, wealth, and hunger.

Unknown said...

Player Queen 3.2.206-207
Guildenstern and Hamlet 3.2.289-291
Hamlet 3.4.172-180
Hamlet 3.2.90-91
Hamlet 3.2.370-375
Hamlet 3.2.52-55
Hamlet 4.3.30-31
Hamlet 4.3.23-28
Hamlet 4.4.34-37
King 4.1.13-24
King 4.7.172-176
Queen 4.7.196-198
Hamlet 5.1.275-277
King 5.2. 263-267

Unknown said...

Ophelia Speaks Soliloquy:
My love cannot see my face through the lot.
He is broken, he is mad, whatever you will.
It does not change the truth.
He has said his will, to not take my hand
Therefore I am nothing more
Than a dormant bud among the blossoms.
And Hamlet may take his words back, whichever way
Wish I were a forget-me-not.
But alas, there is no sense in that dream.
So I stand over here, the tide rolling forth.
And as I drop the last of the petals into the sea,
I see my image there, it draws me near
Forgive my parting in this way, not my usual conduct
But among his choices, I am not blooming, but plucked.

This soliloquy would be Ophelia’s words, spoken through a suicide note she has left behind where she has drowned. Queen Gertrude would read it aloud to Laertes in In Act 4 Scene 7 Lines 200-213. It would describe how she realizes that Hamlet truly no longer loves her, and without his loving embrace, she feels she is worth nothing in this world, that she is not special, “a dormant bud among the blossoms”. Therefore Ophelia believes that the only way out of her misery is to drown herself, surrounded by rose petals she has thrown into the water, so that she can still feel beautiful.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Mac Hutchinson
ghosts and spirits

The ghost and spirits are significant in the play as they have helped Prince Hamlet in a encouraging way. The ghost reminds Hamlet when he is arguing with his mother to not scold his mother, for she will find out the truth, and suffer enough personally. The ghost is so important because it helps Hamlet better understand his own situations and reminds Hamlet to stay focused on his task at hand. The ghost says, “Do not forget. This visitation/ Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose./ But look, amazement on thy mother sits./ O, step between her and her fighting soul./ conceit in weakest bodies strongest works./ Speak to her Hamlet.” (3.4.126-131) The ghost of King Hamlet is speaking to Hamlet who begins to rant to his mother about how she has dishonored his father and he starts to try to make Gertrude feel guilty for marrying Claudius so quickly after her first husbands death. I think this quote is significant because it appears that Hamlet always needs a reminder to watch his temper so he does not get too carried away and do something he regrets to his mother. In this quote, Shakespeare reveals that King Hamlet’s Ghost is watching Prince Hamlet’s and making sure that he is doing the right thing and if he knows Hamlet is doing the wrong thing, he quickly appears to keep him on track. This is followed by the queen asking, “To whom do you speak this?” Hamlet replies, “Do you see nothing there?” Then the queen replies, “Nothing at all; yet all that is I see.” (3.4.149-152) This is the conversation between the Queen Gertrude and Prince Hamlet where the ghost of King Hamlet had just appeared to remind his son not to scold his mother. This is significant because it becomes obvious that the ghost was made to aid only Hamlet, as Hamlet realizes that he is the only one who can communicate with the ghost. When Gertrude says, “To whom do you speak this?” she is suggesting that she can see nothing or nothing exists. She tells Hamlet that if there was something their she would have definitely see it. Shakespeare is using the ghosts existence to show that the society believes that Hamlet is crazy. It is significant because by using the ghost Shakespeare reveals the strong bond between Gertrude and Hamlet. He shows it by using the ghost to make Gertrude think Hamlet has gone mad and then have her still try to support Hamlet and figure out what could be done to help him. Shakespeare goes even farther into the existence of the spirit when Hamlet says, “Save me and hover o’er me with your wings,/ You heavenly guards!—What would your gracious/ figure?” then Gertrude says, “Alas, he’s mad.” (3.4.118-121) At this point the ghost has just arrived and Hamlet was saying something before this and got cut off by the presence of King Hamlet’s ghost. It’s significant because this could support the fact that Hamlet is imagining the spirit altogether because Hamlet was so suddenly distracted by the spirit. Shakespeare might be trying to reveal that Hamlet’s mind is not right and that he is always looking for signs of the spirit’s existence. 



3.4.141-148

3.4.150-156

GO REDSOX!

Anonymous said...

MacHutchinson

Ophelia’s soliloquy would be placed in 4.7 in the very moment before her life is taken away. The torment over her love and hate conflicts her every emotion and she can not deal with life. She feels the death of her own life is more easier to deal with than the deaths of her loved ones. I used word play of the same lines and words Shakespeare used in his famous “To be, or not to be: that is the question:” because I feel both situations call for the same words to express both characters disgust with the people around them and how to handle the situation.

To live, or not to live, that is the question?
For neither life or death can it be,
It is me that must seek greater fortune,
Not able to oppose thee
For I to wish. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to live: ay, there’s the rub;
For in the sleep of death what life may come
To grunt and sweat under this hopeless life,
But that the joy of something after death,
Those ills present rather go away to have
Others that know not of to be present?
Thus conscience does make of us all brave;
And thus a great resolution
It is I who must take actions,
I must not live but die to be
Be all my actions remember’d.

Ethan said...

Ethan Bergeron
Corruption and Virtue
"O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven. it hath the primal eldest curse upon't, a brother's murder."{3.3 40-43} Here right in the beginning of the second half of the play Claudius confesses to his sins to himself and feels wronged by it. Non the less he knowingly sends Hamlet to his death in England. "The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England, For like the hectic in my blood he rages, And though must cure me. Till I know tis done, However my haps, my joys were never begun."{4.4 74-77} does Claudius really confess his sins and does he really feel sorry that he killed his brother. The fact that he is now seeking to kill his bother's son does not seem to help advocate his case. Hamlet's pursuit for justice and to wash away the corruption seems to be a contradictory one later on in the book as he insults his mother strictly against his deceased father's orders. "Such an act, that blurs the grace and blush of modest, Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose From the fair forehead of an innocent love. And sets a blister there, makes marriage vows As false dicers' oathes." {3.4 49-54}

zack m said...

Youth and age is reoccurring motif in Hamlet. Youth so far has represented immaturity and age has shown manliness experience and knowledge. In act four scene five Laertes is furious about his fathers death and Ophelia enters. (4.5.183-184) “O heavens! is't possible, a young maid's wits Should be as mortal as an old man's life?” Laertes is obviously greatly affected by her fathers death. Laertes wonders if it is possible for a young women's mind to dissipate as fast as an old mans life. A young persons mind should be preserved as long as possible. Preservation of youth seems to be the main idea about the young in Hamlet. An old man does not have long to live. Ophelia seems to be bordering insanity. Her mental state should be young and fresh but is obviously not.

In act four scene seven King Claudius is conversing with Laertes. (4.7.88-91) “A very riband in the cap of youth, Yet needful too; for youth no less becomes The light and careless livery that it wears Than settled age his sables and his weeds.” Claudius is stating that the careless clothing of the youth suit themselves just as much as serious clothing of the older. Claudius thinks that careless cloths fit careless people. Claudius thinks that the youth are inexperienced and carefree. Older people are more serious. Claudius does not respect the youth and he thinks that their foolish clothes just adds to their foolish attitudes.

During act five scene one the Grave digger is singing while digging a grave as Hamlet enters. (5.1.63-66,73-76) “ In youth, when I did love, did love, Methought it was very sweet, To contract, O, the time, for, ah, my behove, O, methought, there was nothing meet.....But age, with his stealing steps, Hath claw'd me in his clutch, And hath shipped me intil the land,As if I had never been such.” Hamlet overhears and is kind of upset by this. The Grave digger is singing about how in his youth he fell in love but as he has grown age has taken that away from him. The Gravedigger has seen love but says he has grown out of it as if love is a foolish thing for young ones. In Hamlet elders seem to view all youth as immature but seem to have hope that they will grow out of their ways.

Youth and age in Hamlet are seen as drastic differences. The elders see the youth as reckless and immature.



Laertes {4.5.183-184}
King Claudius {4.7.88-91}
Gravedigger {5.1.63-66,73-76}

Moriah said...

Throughout the second half of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, there are again multiple references to the motif; flora and flowers. In the play many times in the second half flora is used to describe, or take the place of certain qualities. In Act IV it says, (4.5.199-209) “There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember: and there is pansies. that's for thoughts…There’s fennel for you, and columbines. There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me; we may call it herb of grace o’Sundays. You must wear your rue with a difference. There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died. They say he made a good end.” Here Ophelia is speaking. In the side notes of the book, it says that rosemary is used to distribute real or imaginary flowers. Then is goes on to saying that fennel is a symbol of flattery and deceit. Here Ophelia could be describing Hamlet for in the first place he flattered her but in the end she felt as if he deceived her and all they had together was a lie. Rue is described as being a symbol of sorrow and repentance which in turn could symbolize the sorrow she is feeling. Two more types of flowers are used; daises and violets. Daises symbolize dissembling and violets faithfulness. Another quote in Act IV is said by Queen Gertrude. “There is a willow grows aslant a brook, That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream; There with fantastic garlands did she come Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them: There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke; When down her weedy trophies and herself Fell in the weeping brook.” (4.7.190-200) At this point in the play, Ophelia has just died from drowning. Here Gertrude is talking about Ophelia for it mentions, “when down her weedy trophies and herself fell in the weeping brook.” At final quote in Hamlet that uses flora to describe something else is spoken again by the Queen. She is speaking to Hamlet and Laertes about Ophelia. It says, “Sweets to the sweet: farewell! [Scattering flowers] I hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife; I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, And not have strew'd thy grave.” Sweets to the sweet refer to sweet flowers to the sweet maiden, as Gertrude is scattering flowers on Ophelia’s grave. Throughout the second half, the majority of flora and flowers used to describe something often refers to Ophelia. Overall, Ophelia represents the only sweet thing or thing of beauty in Hamlet and using flowers for her to speak of and to describe her as is very appropriate.

Queen: (3.4.101)
Hamlet: (3.4.189)
Ophelia: (4.5.36)
King: (4.5.90)
Laertes: (4.5.181)
Ophelia: (4.5.199-201)
Ophelia: (4.5.204-210)
Queen: (4.7.190-200)
Queen: (5.1.254-257)

Moriah said...

This burden I carry is oft’ too strong
My heart is heavy with tears.
My dear Hamlet;
How cans’t thou to way’ with me?
So quick and sudden an act.
Proclaimed your love once strong
Now lacking the fire that once burned.
My emotions faded, my body weakened.

Sweet was the memories, the moments,
Sweeter than a lover’s love.
Sweeter than honey,
But thou hast turned it bitter.

Our love once like a rose
First bloomed in the Spring.
But now winter comest,
And the shadows of darkness cover.

My beloved Hamlet,
I see now that thou hast
Lost his life
And now I must leave this earth.
Although it seems my heart has gone a stray
Alas’ my love for you has not gone ‘way.

The section in the play where I would place this would right before Ophelia commits suicide by falling into the brook and drowning. Her soliloquy would be formatted into a letter she leaves behind in Hamlets bed chambers acting like a final farewell to him. Though it seems to her and she thinks Hamlet doesn’t love her anymore, she is expressing her love to him and how although many things have happened that has kept them apart, she still loves him and wanted him to know this in her final words.

Jeremiah said...

Manliness is one of the central points in Hamlet. In all of Hamlets soliloquies he addresses his manliness because he cannot kill his uncle. The idea of Hamlet being a man or his manliness is throughout the entire story because he is always questioning his manhood in one form or another.
The majority of the characters in the story are men (this may be because there were only males to act out the characters?), and the women are all in minor roles. The culture of the time period during Hamlet was also paternalistic. Women also were not treated with as much respect during the time of Hamlet. All of these things make Hamlet centered around men. Because men are the main characters the way of life for men is analyzed the most. For Hamlet the part of his life that is one of the most analyzed is his manliness. He sees the characters around him such as Fortinbras and even his uncle Claudius and he sees that they can do things that show their manliness. Hamlet feels as though he has never done anything to show this, and he makes note of this in his soliloquies. After 3.3 we see Hamlet clearly becoming more insane. He does things rashly and he has no control. We see this clearly at the end of act 3 when Hamlet kills Polonius because he thinks he is the king. He would not have killed anyone at the beginning of the book. It appears as if the question of whether he is a man or not has been eating away at him and it, along with other things, has caused him to become insane. The idea of being a man or manliness has a very large impact Hamlet as a character. Hamlet’s time is paternalistic so he may feel as though he is obligated to act manly, and be a man enough to kill Claudius.
Even at the end of the play when most of the characters have died, a man is left to take the throne. Women are ostracized and the men are the most powerful and important at this point in European culture. At the very structure of this play it is partly centered around manliness and men.
4.7 34
4.4 58
2.2 214

Chase said...

Ophelia Speaks

To do or not to do, that is the question.
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to acquiesce
As all instruction paternal has shown,
Or nobler to defy authority,
And by opposing be ended. Alas,
How I rue my February of birth!
How that third day of it hath cursed my flesh!
Oh to dissolve, as only water can
Wash the dirt from my too too filthy skin.
As water may make filth clean, bonded
It may feed the tree, who needs both but wants only one.
And so doth the flower, as flood do come,
The choice is that; to see or not to see.
In water comes mud, and so doth comes me.

I would place this soliloquy in Act 4 scene 7. Gertrude will be telling he story second hand, and will report she said this after she fell into the water, while she was floating around.

Emily C said...

There is not a point in the play where the theme “action and inaction” is irrelevant. The whole play revolves around the theme because every character is either taking action or not taking action. The best example of this is the soliloquy in act 4 scene 4 by Hamlet. Following the themes of his past soliloquies, Hamlet talks about his inability to take action against his uncle/father, Claudius. Much like his soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 2 where Hamlet witnesses the actor’s passion, Hamlet comes across Fortinbras, who is on his way to attack Poland. Hamlet has a lot of respect for Fortinbras because he has the courage to take action with no particular motive. “Witness this army of such mass and charge Led by a delicate and tender prince, Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd Makes mouths at the invisible event.” (4.4.50-53). Hamlet seems to be going back and fourth in the action/inaction spectrum. He goes from not being able to kill Claudius while on his knees praying, to making a very rash act and killing Polonius, and then back to not being able to kill the king. It is only when Hamlet know that it is his last chance to kill Claudius that he finally sticks it to him. In the final scene, while in a fencing match against Laertes, Hamlet gets cut with a poisonous blade. Hamlet knows that he is about to die. That is when he finally kills Claudius, and not only once with the poisonous dagger, but again with the poisoned wine. “Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, Drink off this potion. Is thy union here? Follow my mother.” (5.2.356-358).

Another one of the many debates in Hamlet is the debate about whether Ophelia letting herself drown was considered taking action and committing suicide, or just inaction. “Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke; When down her weedy trophies and herself Fell in the weeping brook.”(4.7.198-200). It is very important to the story whether you perceive it as suicide or doing nothing. Either way, you can draw conclusions that she was very depressed with the murder of her father by the man she loved.

Hamlt: 3.3.77-83
Polonius: 3.4.30
Hamlet: 3.4.146
Hamlet: 4.4.50-53
Queen: 4.7.198-200
Hamlet: 5.2.356-358
All of Act 5 Scene 2

Unknown said...

The motif of water became more prevalent in the second half of the play. Ophelia and Hamlet both have strong connections to water, but Ophelia’s connection appears to be the strongest. Water is often used to describe the qualities of people in relation to it. The place where water appears the most in the play is during Gertrude’s recount of Ophelia’s death in Act four, scene seven. Her death is very closely related to liquid because she allowed herself to drown. This is very fitting for Ophelia because of her similarities to the properties of liquids. Water takes the shape of its container which is similar to Ophelia because she allows herself to be shaped by the people around her. She goes against her instincts when Polonius tells her not to see Hamlet anymore. She also spies on Hamlet because she has been instructed to do so. “And mermaid-like awhile they bore her up,” (4.7.201). This shows Ophelia as a mermaid in the water as she drowns. By describing her this way, Shakespeare brings about the idea that this is where she is most comfortable, a mermaid in the water, and that this path she chose was the most fitting to her. Water is often viewed in literature as a cleanser. It both literally cleans people and objects, as well as showing the figurative cleanliness of a person’s soul. “Pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay, To muddy death.” (4.7.107-8). This brings up the idea that by committing suicide, Ophelia is no longer clean. Laertes, after hearing the story of his sister’s death says, “Too much water haste thou, poor Ophelia, And therefore I forbid my tears.” (4.7.211-12). He says that there is too much water involved with Ophelia and her death, so crying for her would only do her a disservice. Laertes is deeply upset by his sister’s death. He has recently lost a father, and now Ophelia has allowed herself to drown. He is full of grief and does not how to feel after his sister’s passing. So he thinks that saving her from more water would better honor her. Because of her similarities to water, Ophelia’s death is very fitting for her, but was an untimely end to her life.

Evan said...

Fortune and Fate are words that have a great deal of meaning to them and especially to Hamlet as seeing how he perceives his fortune as ill-fated. These motifs are always ever present when hamlet is looking at his life.

Fortune is a whore she's always likely to screw you. As said in hamlet "2.2.235-236" "O, most true; she is a strumpet. Hamlet says referring to fortune. " That was a likely peception of fortune in shakespeares time. This is shown again in the scene, "2.2 493-497"Out, out, thou strumpet, Fortune! All you gods,
In general synod take away her power; Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel, And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven, As low as to the fiends!"

To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?"3.1.55-59" Hamlet speaks of how afflicted one may become by fortune.

"Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special
providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be
now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The
readiness is all. Since no man of aught he leaves knows what is't to leave betimes, let be.5.2.219-224" Hamlet accepts his own fate even when horatio tells him to call the fencing match off. Hamlet talks as if he knows he will die. Hamlet beleives that everything is part of a plan and it is important to be ready. Instead of "taking arms" he concludes with "Let be", which still leaves us with that all important question to ask ourselves. What do we do when we are in the face of adversity?

Emily C said...

Even the songs I sing and the flowers I pick
cannot begin to describe my pain.
I bear no remorse for what I shall do
when such events have been thrown at me.
My heart has been broken by my beloved Hamlet,
and my dear father murdered in a rash, careless act.
There is no other option in my mind
than the move I shall soon make.
A final act that is supported by
my less than ideal existence.
I feel I have nothing to lose,
but a far-away brother.
That is not reason enough for me to keep
this body alive that bears a withering soul.
So now I breath for the last time
and become one with the water.

I would have Ohpelia say this as she is floating in the water, right before she drowns. In the play it would probably have to be retold by Gertrude.

Evan said...

Ode to thee my dear, in the eyes of all your sanity transcends my love. If only too I could be one with the gentle pristine flow of life. What is life without trouble and what is trouble without life to afflict? Why must there be outrageous circumstances that stem the tide of men's minds. Nature is the only real beauty where everything happens in cycles almost like the tides coming in and out. O how nice it would be to die and be one with nature, body back in the soil and soot that men blacken with their malignant ways. My dear someday not far away from here i swear i'll see you. The past would receed and you and I would be as one. We would make the sirens cry, they would always envy you and I. Oh how they envy you and I.

This would be placed in chapter 7 right before she drowns.

gil 16 said...

Gilbert Brown


The motifs playing and acting had a significant part in the second half of the play. Many characters in the play like to fool around and play with words in a clever manner to either; make fun of someone, or sound smart. One character who plays with words to try and sound smart is the gravedigger. When Hamlet asked whose grave he was digging he replied, tis mine; “…Whose grave’s this, sirrah? Mine, sir. I think it be thine indeed, for thou liest in ‘t. You lie out on’t, sir, and therefore ‘tis not yours. For my part, I do not lie in ‘t, yet it is mine.” The gravedigger is playing around with him by saying it is mine because I dig it but it is not mine to actually lie in. Hamlet is not stupid and he is just trying to figure out whose grave is being dug but the gravedigger tries to be cunning with a play on identities. Another form of trickery or acting in the play is when Claudius feels that Hamlet has gone too far with Polonius murder. Claudius can’t kill him because that would anger the common folk so he sends him to England. “Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety (which we do tender, as we dearly grieve for that which thou hast done) must send thee hence (with fiery quickness.) Therefore prepare thyself. The bark is ready, and the wind at help, Th’ associates tend, and everything is bent for England.” Claudius throughout the whole play acts to deceive everyone around him and now he is acting, like sending Hamlet to England would be merciful but in reality he is sending Hamlet to his death because Guildenstern and Rosencrantz have a sealed letter that order him to be put to death. But the most clever and coy actor of them all is Hamlet. Everyone is already convinced that he is crazy but he has fooled them previously in the play by acting mad, so they don’t really pay attention to his antics. Like when he says to Claudius “Not where he eats, but where he is eaten…In heaven. Send thither to see. If your messenger find him not there, seek him I’ th’ other place yourself. But if, indeed, you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby.” Hamlet says he is at supper and that means he is not eating but instead Polonius is being eaten by worms, and that the king could send a messenger to find Polonius in heaven of seek him in hell himself. He basically is telling the king that he will join Polonius soon but they all think he’s a lunatic and try to dispose of him to England.


(4.3.22 Hamlet to king)
(5.1.121 Gravedigger to Hamlet)
(4.3.44-51 King to Hamlet)
(4.5.122 Laertes to king/Queen)
(5.2.33-41 Hamlet to Horatio)

gil 16 said...

Gilbert Brown

I stand here with love awaiting my fate
Remembering the sweet embrace that haunts me
Our love was yet an un-blooming flower
Awaiting the cruel sun to open its petals
But my sun is gone eclipsed by your insanity

My betrayal stings like thorns to your heart
And ripped to shreds my conscious mind
Regret poisons the seedling of love that grows
For now my punishment lies within my hands
Passion and love are intertwined and lost to fate
The damages of treachery are endless and causes this river,
Of blood
A tragedy unfolds before thy blinded eye
And now tis time for farewell, I kneel in prayer
Repenting my sins awaiting my judgment
And my beloved dear.


This would take place in act 4 scene 7 before line 185 because the Queen enters the room and announces Ophelia’s death on line 187. This would occur as Ophelia is looking into the river and thinking back on all her times with Hamlet. I think this best depicts what is running through her head and all the emotions that she has had to keep concealed inside the whole play.

stephk5336 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
EmilyP said...

In the second half of “Hamlet” the motif of women and womanliness is related to inaction, and obeying. Earlier in the play it was also used to compare women to sex, and fulfilling men’s desires, but in the second half it’s focused on a women’s passive response. This quote shows the relation to a women only being worth her virginity, “The chariest maid is prodigal enough, If she unmask her beauty to the moon: Virtue itself scapes not calumnious strokes:” Ophelia has been told by both her brother and father to avoid sleeping with Hamlet and her brother also compared her virginity to a treasure, when Ophelia is mourning over her father’s death she says “Let in the maid, that out a maid Never departed more.” This quote shows that Ophelia and Hamlet probably slept together already and that Ophelia has lost her treasure. After this point in the play Ophelia falls into a stream, and seems to let herself die. Instead of killing herself and taking action she fell into the water and just let herself sink, this is how Shakespeare shows the inaction of women to respond to trauma. Even after she sinks, she goes down into the mud and becomes unpurified because she could not float in the pure water forever, “Pulled the wretch from melodious lay To muddy death”. Also in many instances in the play a women either Gertrude or Ophelia says “I will obey” showing the willingness of women to obey the men. Hamlet says “I will obey” at one time in the play, but Shakespeare could be comparing Hamlets inability to act with a woman’s inability to act by comparing him with that motif. In the second half of the play Shakespeare also highlights a woman’s inability to act for herself through Ophelia using song lyrics to express her feelings after her father’s death. Men in the story such as Hamlet were given a soliloquy to express feelings; they could find words for themselves. On the other side Gertrude and Ophelia get few talking lines, and when Ophelia is in distress about her father dying she uses song lyrics, she can’t even find words for herself. Last the motif of women seems to be connected with the use of beauty such as flowers, to relieve the horrors of things such as death. After Ophelia is singing her song lyrics Laertes realizes she cannot take the full problems with her father’s death, and she thinks about beautiful things such as flowers to not deal with it.
3.4 4.4 4.7 5.2

stephk5336 said...

Sleep and Dreams:
Dreaming was rarely mentioned in the second half of the book, however sleeping was mentioned quite often. Sleep is often referred to as something unknown and brought up when death is mentioned. Hamlet refers to sleeping when he is speaking about murdering his uncle. He sees his uncle praying and does not want to murder him because then he will go to heaven. He says, “Up, sword and know thou a more horrid hent. When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed.” (Hamlet 3.3.94) Death is once again brought up in this passage with sleep involved. Hamlet wants to kill his uncle while he is sleeping. This is the same way his father was murdered. Sleep is also shown as causing people to be unprepared. Queen Gertrude says to Hamlet, “Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep and, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm, your bedded hair, like life in excrements, starts up, and stands on end. (Queen Gertrude 3.4.137) Gertrude thinks Hamlet is crazy and is unprepared for things that are coming his way. Sleeping is brought up again referring to being unknown and misunderstood. Hamlet says, “I am glad of it: a knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear.” (Hamlet 4.2.23) He is saying that clever words are never understood by fools. Sleep is seen as a strange thing and no one knows what happens when you sleep and what dreams may come. When Hamlet uses the word sleep it seems to be connected to death and the afterlife that he is very unsure of. Hamlet talks about death as just being a long, deep sleep that will put an end to all of the things he has had to go through. Sleeping brings peace and separation from the rest of the world for some time. Hamlet is unsure of what comes after death, just like when you sleep you never know what dreams may come. Hamlet does not know if there is a heaven and he is afraid of where he will go once his life ends. He cannot be sure what will come when his life is over. Sleep and dreams are difficult to explain and are often mentioned in Hamlet.

(Hamlet 4.4.37)
(Claudius 4.7.32)
(Hamlet 5.2.5)

Grant W. said...

Grant Weaver
4/4/10
E Block

OPHELIA SPEAKS:

Oh how must thy suffer in silence,
A flower wilting in the noon sun.
Father gone, killed by my love no longer.
No way to say just how I feel, left only to thyself,
Singing songs, whilst I longs for the compassion of another.
Father, o’ father I loved you so much,
Despite your over protection of me.
I am so lonely,
The last flower facing winter a’ coming,
Doomed to fall to the harsh winds,
Of a world cruel and dark.
Oh how I wish it was spring again,
A garden full of flowers.
What shall I do,
This oppression can not stay bottled up longer,
Action I must take!

This soliloquy would be placed at the end of Act four scene five (pg. 219). Ophelia would be responding to the death of her father, and her need to show no emotion. This also would foreshadow her death.


ACTION & INACTION:

Action and Inaction are two very important themes throughout the play, but truly start to evolve in the second half. Despite the fact that there is only one direct reference to the words action and inaction, there are many scenarios where action and inaction have a major affect on the outcome of the play.
The direct quote referencing action is as follows: “That to the use of actions fair and good” (3.4.184). By saying this Hamlet is conveying that the action of killing Polonious, although may seem bad at first, is actually virtuous. This is the last time that Hamlet or the other characters mention Action or Inaction, but it soon the question of these motifs is brought up.
In scene 4.3 Claudius is presented with the question of weather or no to take action against Hamlet for killing Polonius and for setting up ‘the mousetrap’. Claudius does decide to take action by sending Hamlet, accompanied by Rosencrance and Guildenstern, to England where he is to be killed. “this sudden sending him away” (4.3.8) is when the King decides to take action and deal with the issue of Hamlet. This could not have been easy for him, but at least he takes action when he needs to, unlike Hamlet, who takes half of a play to decide that he must do something.
Hamlet though, deciding to take action agrees to a duel with Laretes, as seen in 5.1 and 5.2. This duel is very symbolic of everything Hamlet lives for. He is fighting for his dead lover, his dead father, and for his soon to be dead mother. While fighting Hamlet’s mother drinks from a cup, poisoned, intended for Hamlet. When the King admits this Hamlet attacks him killing him too. This is the summation of everything Hamlet has struggled with, and he finally can die.
Thus we can see Action and Inaction are two very important motifs, not just in the second half of the play but in its affect on the reader overall. Without the constant debate over weather action must be taken Hamlet would not be remembered as one of Shakespear’s greatest works.

Grant W. said...

Grant Weaver
4/4/10
E Block

OPHELIA SPEAKS:

Oh how must thy suffer in silence,
A flower wilting in the noon sun.
Father gone, killed by my love no longer.
No way to say just how I feel, left only to thyself,
Singing songs, whilst I longs for the compassion of another.
Father, o’ father I loved you so much,
Despite your over protection of me.
I am so lonely,
The last flower facing winter a’ coming,
Doomed to fall to the harsh winds,
Of a world cruel and dark.
Oh how I wish it was spring again,
A garden full of flowers.
What shall I do,
This oppression can not stay bottled up longer,
Action I must take!

This soliloquy would be placed at the end of Act four scene five (pg. 219). Ophelia would be responding to the death of her father, and her need to show no emotion. This also would foreshadow her death.


ACTION & INACTION:

Action and Inaction are two very important themes throughout the play, but truly start to evolve in the second half. Despite the fact that there is only one direct reference to the words action and inaction, there are many scenarios where action and inaction have a major affect on the outcome of the play.
The direct quote referencing action is as follows: “That to the use of actions fair and good” (3.4.184). By saying this Hamlet is conveying that the action of killing Polonious, although may seem bad at first, is actually virtuous. This is the last time that Hamlet or the other characters mention Action or Inaction, but it soon the question of these motifs is brought up.
In scene 4.3 Claudius is presented with the question of weather or no to take action against Hamlet for killing Polonius and for setting up ‘the mousetrap’. Claudius does decide to take action by sending Hamlet, accompanied by Rosencrance and Guildenstern, to England where he is to be killed. “this sudden sending him away” (4.3.8) is when the King decides to take action and deal with the issue of Hamlet. This could not have been easy for him, but at least he takes action when he needs to, unlike Hamlet, who takes half of a play to decide that he must do something.
Hamlet though, deciding to take action agrees to a duel with Laretes, as seen in 5.1 and 5.2. This duel is very symbolic of everything Hamlet lives for. He is fighting for his dead lover, his dead father, and for his soon to be dead mother. While fighting Hamlet’s mother drinks from a cup, poisoned, intended for Hamlet. When the King admits this Hamlet attacks him killing him too. This is the summation of everything Hamlet has struggled with, and he finally can die.
Thus we can see Action and Inaction are two very important motifs, not just in the second half of the play but in its affect on the reader overall. Without the constant debate over weather action must be taken Hamlet would not be remembered as one of Shakespear’s greatest works.

zack m said...

To live or to love that is the question
How hath this come upon me
My soul be just as alive as an aged man
The very youth of me hath vanished
And age has crept up
Ruined my very sanity

Farewell for I am gone
I cannot bear the burden that has come
Oh how hath this become
But this deed must be done
I and water will be one

I know I am not what I was to be
But you must know that what I do is right

I would place this as a letter Ophelia would write as she was about to commit suicide in the river. The soliloquy would be in a letter and be seen after her death

hannah said...

Hannah Cain


I am now gone and I don't mind
Do you know if I jumped or if I fell?
It does not matter because now I am at rest.
How I wish things were different, but do not
misunderstand me. If my dear father and brother accepted
My love for Hamlet; I wish they had.
Things could be different. Life could be happy; pleasant.
Hadn’t they had evil thoughts handsome Hamlet and I
Could have been happy and well, very happy, very alive.
Now father is gone, you will be soon; so long.
Silly misjudgment of my sweet Hamlet by you,
By father. No more heart ache it’s over
Think about me to be at rest up above.
I’ll think of you as the brother I love.



This would be placed in act five scene two. And is a dairy entry of Ophelia's and is to be read by Laertes before his battle with Hamlet.

hannah said...

The motif of woman and womanliness plays an important role int he play Hamlet. As already previously blogged about it plays a vital role in the first half of the play because Hamlet deals with his mother's moral weakness and the love he has for Ophelia. In the second half of the play womanliness is focused on Ophelia and the Queen again. The Queen demonstrates her loyalty to Claudius when she reveals to him that Hamlet has killed Polonius. This also shows that she has no respect for her own son. Secondly in the second half of the play Ophelia is told to stay away from Hamlet by both her father Polonius and her brother Laertes. She has no say over them and obeys their oders showing that men have the upper hand on woman at the point intime that the play took place. Lastly woman at this time in age are not allowed or expecte to take revenge. For example, Ophelia knwos that Hamlet has killed her father but unlike Laertes is not eager to take revenge, proving that it is unlady like to do so.

Kayla B. said...

Throughout Hamlet, the motif of words and language are very significant in the relation to the character of Hamlet. The depressive nature of Hamlet can be seen through his word choice. The things Hamlet says and the way he uses language show how he resents his mother (and all women) also his word choice shows his sarcastic nature. “That I can keep your counsel and not mine own. Besides to be demanded of a sponge, what replication should be made by the son of the king?” (Hamlet: 4:2:12) Hamlet uses clever sayings to get his point across, such as referring to Rosencrantz as a “sponge”. “We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves” (Hamlet: 4:3:25) Hamlet uses this analogy to demean the King by disregarding hierarchy and comparing him to a beggar.”He keeps them like (an ape) an apple in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed, then to be swallowed.” (Hamlet: 4:2:17) Hamlet uses many puns (such as when talking to Rosencrantz) to demean people and make them feel stupid in a sense. He uses this type of language to make himself feel better. Words and language are very important throughout this play because it sets the whole feel for the play.
Hamlet: 4:2:12
Hamlet: 4:3:25
Hamlet: 4:2:17
Hamlet: 5:2:171
5:1:78

Unknown said...

Too much have I suffered of late
There is nothing but hurt surrounding me
The tragic death of my father
My brother far away in a foreign land
I have betrayed my love
And now he has left me
I am truly alone mourning misfortunes
And the loss of everyone I love
This life holds nothing for me now
Even the flowers I pick have lost their beauty in my hands
With nothing more to lose
The water will wipe clean my suffering
From this life I have nothing left to gain
The time has come that I will end my pain

I would put this in act 4 scene 7 before Ophelia commits suicide. It describes how she feels about losing everyone important in her life and feeling that the only thing left to do is die. She just wants to get away from the pain in her life.

EmilyP said...

Like a flower wilted in the sun:
My heart melts in pain, once love now unsure.
Did he love me, or just want me in bed?
Maybe it’s true as Laertes said.
For if he loved me once as he had told;
I think he would not have killed my kin.
I'm drowning in emotion now;
how it quiets me, stifling restricting.
Like a wallflower I sit, and obey.
Nothing else to do but tell Laertes
He will act: I’m only a messenger.
What he does to Hamlet, I cannot guess,
But why care for him, no reason at all.
I thought he loved me so, but I was wrong.
My trust in him was in vain,
now my father he has slain.

I would place this soliloquy after Ophelia sings, she would walk off alone into a garden and observe a flower, possibly even water one. This would be ironic because water represents passivity that keeps Ophelia from acting because she is a woman. Also her being a woman leads her to sugarcoat death with beauty such as flowers.

Chase said...

Animals: mousetrap forward

Animals bare an important role in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. In one quote from Hamlet, he uses animals as a tool to convey an idea. This passage is 5.1.311, where Hamlet again goes off on his mother for trying to control him. The quote is “Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew and the dog will have his day.” This is basically telling his mother, no matter how much I love you, you can’t control me. Thus, we see the way Shakespeare uses animals as a device that act purely on instinct. Hamlet has always made distinctions between man and animals, and this is just another driving force behind that. Another way Shakespeare uses animals as tools to drag others down to the levels of animals. He does such thing at 4.3.30 when referring to how Polonius may be feasted on by a beggar. He says that even a king can go through the bowels of a beggar, essentially with death as the ultimate equalizer. He shows this graphic metaphor of a beggar consuming a king by using animals to make a realistic connection. In this way Shakespeare is able to make the true but disturbing imagery possible. The quote literally reads: “A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king and eat of the fish that hath fed of the that worm.” A final use of animals is again when Shakespeare uses animals to demean man. Hamlet argues in 4.4.37 that to do nothing but eat and sleep makes man nothing but a beast. This is contradictory on some levels to Hamlet’s previous assertions, in which he says that man’s blessing is his ability to comprehend. It is also a paradox because he feels beasts do not have the ability to comprehend, but his problem is all he is doing is eating and sleeping because he can comprehend. These paradoxical assertions are commonplace throughout Hamlet’s soliloquies. His quote reads: “What is a man if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.” And then he goes on to mention his inaction is due perhaps to a “bestial oblivion…”

stephk5336 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
stephk5336 said...

Ophelia Soliloquy:

Did I deserve this, to be loved
And then so quickly
Have it taken away
Like a flower I felt alive
But not I am dead, no longer beautiful
Almost as if I am a dandelion
Once seen as beautiful, but discovered
To be a weed
No longer innocent
Full of hurt and despair
What has become of my life
Once so wonderful and perfect
Has now become a mess
Loaded with the weeds of the world
Wash away all of my sinning
I will go back to the very beginning

I would put this soliloquy right before Ophelia is about to drown. This would be in act 4 scene 7. The reader never knows what Ophelia is thinking before her life ends and this would give them an insight. Ophelia is hurt because of Hamlet and is in a great deal of pain. It is unclear whether Ophelia killed herself or just drowned, but either way Ophelia was very hurt and confused at the time.

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