In the comment box below do the following by class time on Wednesday, November 28.
Write your first name and last initial.
Write down your motif (or thread).
Write down the act, scene, line of each place you notice your motif in acts 3-5. (This is a new part of the assignment.)
Write down a quotation that develops your motif. (Include act, scene, and line.)
Write an explanation of what the quotation means (in context) and how the quotation develops the motif.
Write down another quotation that develops your motif. (Include act, scene, and line.)
Write an explanation of what the quotation means (in context) and how the quotation develops the motif.
Write down a third quotation that develops your motif. (Include act, scene, and line.)
Write an explanation of what the quotation means (in context) and how the quotation develops the motif.
Write down a fourth quotation that develops your motif. (Include act, scene, and line.)
Write an explanation of what the quotation means (in context) and how the quotation develops the motif.
Write down a fifth quotation that develops your motif. (Include act, scene, and line.)
Write an explanation of what the quotation means (in context) and how the quotation develops the motif.
Then explain the development and significance of the motif in play overall. Use quotations and other details to support your explanation.(These were often underdeveloped in the act 1-2 responses.)
Here you'll find searchable text. (Click on the act then search for words related to your motif.)
Arly M.
ReplyDeleteSleep and Dreams
3.1.68-76
3.2.234
3.2.248-252
3.2.280-287
3.2.298-304
3.3.94-95
4.2.23
4.4.35-37
4.4.62
5.2.5
5.2.397-398
Act 3 Scene 1 lines 68-76
Hamlet:
“To die, to sleep—
No more---and by sleep to say we end
The heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to—tis’ a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep---
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dream may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.”
Hamlet delivers his “to be, or not to be” soliloquy in this scene, where the questioning of death is carefully being explored. He introduces the conflict that people have experienced before, the question whether to withstand all forms of misdeeds and troubles or to stop it all from controlling their lives. Moreover, he continues and compares sleeping to dying, considering in his perspective sleeping is dying. Thus, when someone is sleeping he or she is also dreaming. When someone sleeps, they probably hope to escape all their troubles in order to forget everything and never want to wake up, which is why Hamlet compares sleep to death. Death also pertains to that form of evading as well since death ends all that inevitable pain that Hamlet presumes to be inherited by his family. However, once a person is dead, they may be dreaming, yet what is that dream? The dream of death is unknown. People endure all their difficulties due to the logical fact that there is no factual evidence stating the dream of death. The unawareness obliges individuals to continue on with everything. In Hamlet’s case, he does not wish to die because in reality no one is conscious of what may be awaiting for them on the other side.
The quotation develops the motif by connecting death and sleep together. Not to mention, people are aware of what dreams are but not the dream of death. Hence, once more sleep is being referred to as a form of weakness since the dream of death is something that people are not completely aware of.
Act 3 Scene 2 lines 248-252
Player King;
“‘Tis deeply sworn. Sweet, leave me here awhile.
My spirits grow dull, and fain I would beguile
The tedious day with sleep.
{Sleeps}
Player Queen: Sleep rock thy brain.
And never come mischance between us twain.”
The Player King and the Player Queen say good night to each other. The Player Queen encourages the Player King to go to sleep and overlook all the troubles that are taking place in Denmark at least during his sleep. King Hamlet additionally hopes to rest his mind from everything situating as well because he has his mind very fuddled. The motif is being developed because sleep is the way people escape all their troubles. It is to forget and sleep away all the troubles, hoping not to wake up ever again. The Player Queen ends by stating, “Sleep rock thy brain. And never come mischance between us twain,” ironically meaning that nothing will separate the Player King or the Player Queen apart. Indeed, it is ironic because immediately after the Player Queen exits, King Hamlet is murdered. In addition, it is also very ironic because Hamlet had previously referred sleeping as dying. Since King Hamlet desired to sleep and escape his troubles, he as a matter a fact did forget all his troubles because as a result Claudius murdered him.
Act 3 Scene 2 lines 280-287
DeleteLucianus:
“Thoughts black, hands apt, drugs fit, and time agreeing,
Confederate season, else no creature seeing,
Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds collected,
With Hecate’s ban thrice blasted, thrice infected,
Thy natural magic and dire property
On wholesome life usurp immediately.”
{Pours the poison in his ears}
The “Mousetrap’s” goal was to reveal the murder of King Hamlet to Claudius in an obscure approach. Hamlet aimed to reenact a play that would relate to the sneaky murder Claudius performed to kill his own brother, King Hamlet. The “Mousetrap” was intended to compel Claudius to flinch is some form in order to expose his guilt. As previously indicated sleep is a form of weakness, which is how the reference was evidently developed. Thus, when King Hamlet was sleeping very calmly, while simultaneously dreaming, his mind was clearly at rest. Furthermore, that allowed Claudius to perform this mischievous scheme.
Act 4 Scene 4 lines 35-37
Hamlet:
“How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.”
Hamlet now refers sleeping as a form of indolence since a man cannot just sleep and eat all his life. The quotation is developed in that way, where sleep is signified as something low like a type of flaw. It expresses a form of disadvantage considering Hamlet declares that it is “A beast, more.” Therefore, sleeping and eating is just being referred to nothing more than a beast since a beast does not reason nor avenge with knowledge. Hamlet believes that all he has done is sleep and eat, yet lacks any progress for vengeance against Claudius. A human has to reason with comprehension and intelligence because that is what a human is, an individual who thinks with their brain. Moreover, that is why Hamlet considers an individual, who simply eats and sleeps as a beast and nothing more.
Act 5 Scene 2 lines 397-398
Horatio:
“Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee thy rest.”
From the beginning, Hamlet perceived sleeping as a form of rest, a way to escape everything. Although, Horatio in this line expresses sleeping as resting, rather than using the more explicit term sleeping. Regardless, of the text difference the meaning is still delivered the same. Hamlet is dying and Horatio desires for him to rest now and forget everything because resting will set Hamlet’s mind in a state of repose, which is how the quotation is being developed. In fact, Horatio even says, “Good night, sweet prince,” as if saying sweet dreams Lord Hamlet. Horatio further on continues to tell Hamlet that the angels will calm his soul and bring him to sleep or in other words to death.
The development and significance of the motif fully took place in Hamlet’s “to be, or not to be” soliloquy. For one thing, both sleep and dreams are being explicitly questioned and explored. As the play continues, this exploration expands because sleeping is dreaming and dreaming is like dying. Although, dying may lead to dreaming, but the dream of death is unknown to humankind. Sleeping is a form of weakness and it is where Claudius murdered King Hamlet, which was the major conflict of the entire play. Furthermore, Hamlet’s own life ended with what Horatio told him, which was the thought that his mind would finally be at rest, as if he were dreaming in his sleep, but in actuality, he was going to have the unknown dream of death. Sleeping is a form of human sanctuary, where the mind is asleep and is not deliberating and thinking about their troubles. The motif connects to other parts as well. Most importantly to the mind in general, Hamlet himself considered it earlier in the play that thinking too much can lead to greater problems. A general realization is that thinking too much can also lead to a lack of sleep, hence the mind is merely awake because it is thinking too much about the troubles that are taking place. As a result, sleeping is still the way humans escape their thoughts and it is the mind’s state of repose, it is where the mind is calm, which is why many people desire to sleep a lot because they do not wish to return to reality, where troubles are always arising.
DeleteKelly F.
ReplyDeleteWater and other fluids
Places my motif was found: (III,i,71), (III,i,146), (III,i,67), (III,iii,50), (III,iv,95), (IV,iv,69), (IV,v,45), (IV,v,80), (IV,vii,190-208), (IV,vii,155-178), (V,i,13-19), (V,ii,319)
“The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?” (III,i,145-147)
This quotation is spoken in Act 3, Scene 1 during Hamlet’s “To be or not to be...” soliloquy. At this point in his speech, Hamlet is questioning whether you should deal with and face what could be a painful life, or if you should refuse it, by killing yourself.
My motif of water and other fluids is introduced when Hamlet says “sea of troubles”. He is using the sea as a metaphor to compare Hamlets sufferings to an endless sea.
This quotation also has some irony intertwined within it. When looking at what he is saying: “fight against the sea of troubles”, the reader may realize that this is sort of ironic. You cannot possibly/physically fight a sea, because it is not fightbale. Using this phrase may be hinting to the reader that he would not be able to defeat these troubles/sufferings.
“How stand I then,... My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!” (IV, iv, 59-69)
Spoken by Hamlet in his Act 4 Scene 4 soliloquy, Hamlet is saying that he watches twenty thousand men march towards their death for a little bit of fame and an illusion, fighting for such a small piece of land that would barely be big enough to bury them. At the end, he says that either his thoughts will be violent, or they are worthless. This passage is important in relation to the rest of the book because from this moment on, he will think about avenging his father and shedding Claudius’s blood.
The image of blood in this passage is very apparent. Like usual, the motif of water and other fluids is being associated with death and violence. Until the very end of the play, the symbol of blood seems more as a reference to King Hamlet’s death, like we see here. Such as earlier in the text, in Act 3 Scene 2, when Hamlet is speaking of his intentions to act upon some things that he has hesitated over for too long, he says that it is at late hours that he can do terrible things—like drinking the blood of one just killed—that the world may disapprove. (“Now could I drink hot blood, And do such bitter business as the day Would quake to look on. (III.ii.371-375)) Here, blood is used in relation to death again, referring to killing Claudius and King Hamlet’s murder. In the Act 4 soliloquy, blood is also used as a symbol of death.
“There is a willow... To muddy death.” (IV,vii,190-208)
This part of Hamlet is a very important point in the play. This quotation is spoken by Queen Gertrude, when she is telling Laertes and King Claudius of Ophelia’s death. She reports that Ophelia was mad with grief, and had drowned in the river. Right after hearing this news, Laertes fled the room, leaving Claudius and Gertrude to worry that this news may bring back his rage.
Shakespeare’s use of water imagery in this quotation is very important. The image of Ophelia drowning, amid flowers that have been associated with her throughout the entire play, is a very tragic, but haunting image. The reader never gets rid of this image in their head. It seems to follow them throughout the rest of the play. The water seems to symbolize the place where human emotions drift away, into an endless place. Here, water is associated with death and drowning, which is an image and connection that the reader will not forget.
“Give me leave. Here lies the water; good: here stands the man; good; if the man go to this water, and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes,--mark you that; but if the water come to him and drown him, he drowns not himself: argal, he that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life.” (V,i,13-19)
ReplyDeleteWhen the gravedigger speaks this to the other gravedigger, it is just before Hamlet finds out that Ophelia has died, and that he has stumbled upon her funeral. What the gravedigger is saying is that if a person goes into the water and drowns himself, whether he want to or not, he will go down, and die. But, if he does not purposely drown, he is not guilty of his own death and does not shorten his own life.
This quotation uses water as an image of death, similar to the quotation about Ophelia’s death by water. They are debating on whether Ophelia should be buried in a churchyard or not, since her death looks like suicide. The water is what the Gravedigger uses to explain the difference between suicide and death. He says that if you bring the water upon yourself, then it is suicide. Whereas if the water kills you by accident, it is not considered suicide, and considered an accident. Again, we see the motif of water being used to represent death.
“It is the poisoned cup. It’s too late.” (V,ii,319)
The idea of poison is brought up numerous times in the play, and in particular, in final scene of Hamlet. Here, in line 319, this quotation is spoken by King Claudius as an aside. It is spoken just after Gertrude drinks the poisoned cup, which will kill her.
Opens with poison and closes with poison.
By this time in the book, it is pretty apparent that the motif of water and other fluids is a symbol of death or tragedy. We have already seen poison (an ‘other fluid’) as a method of death, in the beginning of Hamlet. Claudius, King Hamlet’s jealous brother, pours poison into the King’s ear, killing him, making Claudius king himself. Now, at the end of the book, poison is important once again because it is what kills Gertrude, Hamlet, Laertes, and Claudius. The association of water and other fluids (including poison) is very important in Hamlet and is often viewed as a parallel to death.
The motif of water and other fluids is very important in Hamlet. At first, I was not happy that this was my assigned motif, because it seemed like it would be difficult to find corresponding passages in Hamlet, but soon after, I realized how this motif really is developed throughout the play. One of the first places that we see it, is in Act 1, when we hear of how Claudius killed King Hamlet. He poured poison in his ear; poison being a part of my motif. This initially connects poison to death/violence, and in particular, King Hamlet’s death. Poison is often relevant when Hamlet thinks about his revenge on Claudius. Eventually, poison is what causes the death of Gertrude, Hamlet, Claudius, and Laertes. The use of irony is also seen when viewing poison in Hamlet. Claudius uses poison to kill King Hamlet, and later, the same poison kills many more people, including Claudius himself and his wife. Poison is what starts the story, and it is also what concludes it.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that falls under the category of water and other fluids is blood. Again, this is relating my motif to death. Blood is not only a symbol of death, but it is greatly related to King Hamlet’s death. In Act 3 Scene 2, Hamlet says “Now could I drink hot blood, And do such bitter business as the day Would quake to look on. (III.ii.371-375)”. Here, blood is used in relation to death again, referring to killing Claudius and to King Hamlet’s murder. When blood appears in later parts of the text as well, the reader associates the image of blood with King Hamlet’s death.
One more thing that made the motif of water and other fluids relate very much to death, is involving Ophelia. In Act 4, Scene 7, we find out that Ophelia has died by means of water. She drowned in a river. This is one of the most apparent places that water comes up, because the image of Ophelia drowning in water, surrounded by her flowers stays with, and almost haunts the reader. So when reading the play Hamlet, it is clear that water is an image used that is meant to relate fluids to death.
Kacie Q.
ReplyDeletePlaying and Acting
Act 3:
3.2.30-37
3.2. 69-80
3.2.104-110
3.2.393-402
4.4.46-65
4.7.122-124
5.1.290-295
5.2.33-41
3.2.104-110: “[Hamlet to Polonius] My lord, you played once I' the' university, you say?/ Polonius: That I did, my lord, and was accounted a/ good actor./ Hamlet: What did you enact?/ Polonius: I did enact Julius Caesar. I was killed I' th' Capitol. Brutus killed me.”
Although I didn't realize it at first, I noticed as I went back over this scene that this quote seems to be foreshadowing Polonius's death later in the act. At this point, Hamlet, Polonius, the Queen, the King, and Ophelia are all waiting for the play to begin, and Hamlet has conversations with the other characters. At first, I believed that this line was just a random, insignificant detail, maybe to give Polonius a more fleshed-out personality and background. Later on, though, when I read about Polonius death, I was reminded of this part. I had originally written it down in my notes merely because it mentioned acting in it, but I never thought that it would have such a significance within the whole of the book. It doesn't foreshadow an insignificant part of the play, either. Polonius's death created a domino effect for tragedy, and it seems like Shakespeare is hinting this to us at this point. Caesar was killed by someone who he had not thought to look out for. The same happened to Polonius, with Hamlet representing Brutus.
4.4.46-65
“Witness this army of such mass and charge /Led by a delicate and tender prince,/ Whose spirit with divine ambition puffed/ Makes
mouths at the invisible event, /Exposing what is mortal and unsure/ To all that fortune, death, and danger dare,/ Even for an eggshell.
Rightly to be great/ Is not to stir without great argument,/ But greatly to find quarrel in a straw/ When honor’s at the stake. How stand I then,/ That have a father killed, a mother stained,/ Excitements of my reason and my blood, / And let all sleep—while, to my shame, I see. / The imminent death of twenty thousand men,/ That for a fantasy and trick of fame/ Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot/ Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,/ Which is not tomb enough and continent/ To hide the slain? Oh, from this time forth,/ My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!”
At this time in the play, Hamlet is reflecting on his own attitude and actions in comparison to Prince Fotinbras's. At first, it seems that Hamlet looks down upon Fotinbras, calling him “delicate” and “puffed,” as if Fotinbras is much weaker than he. As he talks, however, he slowly seems to dislike Fotinbras less and less, to the point where, at the end, it appears that Hamlet even admires Fotinbras and aspires to act like him. The line “How stand I then,/ That have a father killed, a mother stained,” seems to be a turning point for this quote. Because, before, Hamlet had been focusing solely on Fotinbras and his flaws, but Hamlet then realizes that he's just as bad as Fotinbras, for reacting in the exact opposite manner. While Fotinbras is basically going on a killing rampage, starting wars left and right, Hamlet is much more cautious in seeking his revenge (which probably is a good thing, even if he didn't see it like that). He had to double-check multiple times to be sure of Claudius's guilt. Even when he had the proof he wanted, still he was hesitant to kill his uncle. This soliloquy reminded me of the 2.2 solioquy, where Hamlet is comparing himself to one of the players, who is able to portray emotions that he doesn't necessary feel. Hamlet seems to envy the Player for this. In the same way, Hamlet seems to be jealous of Fotinbras by the end of this speech. The fact that there is such a close connection between Fotinbras and the Player reveals a lot about Hamlet's mindset. It makes me believe that Hamlet looks at others around him as no more than actors in a play. Future events, like when Hamlet seems to have little guilt about killing Polonius, strengthen my theory.
3.2. 69-80
Delete“One scene of it comes near the circumstance/ Which I have told thee of my father’s death./ I prithee, when thou sees that act afoot,/ Even with the very comment of thy soul/ Observe mine uncle. If his occulted guilt/ Do not itself unkennel in one speech,/ It is a damnèd ghost that we have seen,/ And my imaginations are as foul/ As Vulcan’s stithy. Give him heedful note./ For I mine eyes will rivet to his face,/ And after we will both our judgments join/ In censure of his seeming.”
The play being performed during Hamlet involves many different aspects of my motifs, acting and playing. There is the obvious connection, of the Players performing, or “acting and playing,” but there's much more to it as well. There's also the fact that Hamlet and Horatio will be observing the King, to see whether or not he is able to act composed during the course of the play, during which the Players will enact a scene similar to the murder of King Hamlet. If he was able to be composed during it, Hamlet would be able to conclude one of two things: either that Claudius did not, in fact, kill his father, or that he was just that good of an actor to be able to hide his true emotions and guilt. If Claudius reacted in a strange way, which was ultimately the case, Hamlet could conclude that his uncle was his father's murderer. This scene is also very important to the plot of Hamlet. Without the play, Claudius would not have reacted to it. If Claudius didn't react to it, Hamlet wouldn't have concluded that he was the murderer. If Hamlet didn't conclude this, then he wouldn't have sought out to avenge his father's murder, and ultimately kill Polonius, due to the fact that he'd wrongly guessed that Polonius was his uncle hiding behind the curtain. The rest of the play likely wouldn't have been as tragic. This part in the play contains many different aspects, making it a vital scene in Hamlet. It reveals much about the characters, mostly Claudius, answers questions that readers have, and moves the plot forward.
5.2.33-41
Delete“Being thus benetted round with villainies—/ Ere I could make a prologue to my brains,/ They had begun the play—I sat me down,/ Devised a new commission, wrote it fair./ I once did hold it, as our statists do,/ A baseness to write fair, and labored much/ How to forget that learning, but, sir, now/ It did me yeoman’s service. Wilt thou know/ Th' effect of what I wrote?”
The fact that the word “play” showed up in this passage made me mark it for one of my motifs, but, on a second look, I realize now how much this passage—and the fact that he chose that particular word—reveals about Hamlet's character. In the beginning of the play, it is clear that Hamlet was good friends with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. When he found out that they betrayed him, however, he puts all past friendships aside, and seems to have no scruples about sending them to their deaths. In fact, he almost seems proud of this. It seemed to me that he was bragging to Horatio at this point. Like the murder of Polonius, this part made me think that Hamlet looked at the other characters as little else than actors, merely playing a part. He never seems to have any guilt about his hand in these people's deaths, not until he finds out that Ophelia has died, anyway. It makes me realize just how detached Hamlet has become from the rest of the world. It seems to me that these people that he's known for his whole life no longer seem “real” to him, as if he's dehumanizing them in his mind. The fact that he uses the word “play” in the line “They had begun the play,” also caught my attention. The scheme of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern seems to have little effect on him on an emotional level. He doesn't talk about how he felt when he realized that they were going to have a hand in his death. Instead, he focuses just on what he did afterward. This level of detachment reminds me of a spectator of a play, who, although they're watching the performers, a part of them always knows that it's not real, and so they aren't as emotionally connected as they would be otherwise.
4.7.122-124
“Laertes, was your father dear to you?/ Or are you like the painting of a sorrow,/ A face without a heart?”
These lines echo much of the rest of the play. One of the major conflicts in Hamlet is whether or not people are expressing their true emotions, of if their outward appearance is a lie. As far as I can remember, this is the first time that one of the characters actually directly asked the other person about their doubt. For the most part, these doubts are expressed in either soliloquy or asides. Maybe it's because of its connection to Hamlet's 2.2 soliloquy, where he compares himself to one of the Players, that I immediately connected these three lines to an actor. It seems to me that almost every character in the play, in one way or another, behaved like an actor at some point. For various reasons, the characters stifled their true emotions. At this point in the play, Claudius actually calls Laertes out on this, even though he himself is guilty of the very thing he is accusing. Claudius would never have been such a threat if he wasn't such a good actor. If he wasn't able to disguise his feelings about killing his brother, people likely would not accept him as King. It seems to me that Claudius is attempting to connect with Laertes at this point, because he suspects that Laertes is just as much as a dishonest actor as he himself is.
Katie M.
ReplyDeleteGhosts and Spirits
3.2.59-63
3.2.85-89
3.2.312-313
3.2.61-63
3.2.249-250
3.2.339-340
3.3.15-16
3.4.136-139
4.4.52-56
5.2.104-106
5.2.390-391
Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 59-63
“Nay, do not think I flatter;
For what advancement may I hope from thee,
That no revenue hast but thy good spirits
To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be flatter'd?"
When you think of a spirit, what comes first to mind might be some form of a ghost. In this quote Hamlet describes the good in Horatio by complimenting him saying he is combined of good spirit. Why must the poor be so far above those who are rich, is what Hamlet is asking. The answer is the good inside them. Hamlet sees the good inside Horatio and uses that to his advantage. He has Horatio help him put on a play to draw in the idea that Claudius committed the murder of King Hamlet. Shakespeare uses a different view of the word “spirit” to connect with the actual spirit that put the cause of death in Hamlet’s head.
Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 85-89
“If his occulted guilt
Do not itself unkennel in one speech,
It is a damned ghost that we have seen,
And my imaginations are as foul
As Vulcan's stithy.”
At this point in the play Hamlet is giving a soliloquy. He is contemplating on whether or not the mind game he is about to perform will work or not. The question is, “Will Claudius feel the guilt and come forward, or just sit there and act like nothing is wrong?” At a particular part in the performance Hamlet believes the truth will be revealed. If Claudius does not show a reaction whatsoever, the ghost is just a made of part of Hamlet’s imagination. He comes to this conclusion in the sense of why would a ghost actually show up and give Hamlet false information. The ghost would just be a part of hell that Hamlet should have never even thought about. If there is a reaction the ghost is actually real, and there is a big issue to deal with.
Act 3 Scene 3 Lines 12-16
“The single and peculiar life is bound
With all the strength and armour of the mind
To keep itself from noyance; but much more
That spirit upon whose weal depends and rests
The lives of many.”
Guildenstern and Rosencrantz agree to help King Claudius protect everyone else from being affected by the madness that has overcome Hamlet. Rosencrantz believes that the spirit of the King lives on. When he was alive everyone followed him and was affected by him in one way or another. He thinks that since the king has died, and his son is now falling apart now everyone else will continue on with that pattern. The King never did anything by himself, in his view, but with everyone else.
Act 3 Scene 4 Lines 136-139
“Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep;
And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm,
Your bedded hairs, like life in excrements,
Start up and stand on end.”
Hamlet has just been visited by the ghost of his father once again. This time Hamlet was the only one that was able to see him. During their little encounter, the Queen is right their next to Hamlet with the thought in her head that he is talking to himself. As she describes what she just witnessed and Hamlet’s reaction she adds that the spirit he withholds was being drawn out little by little. It was as if the real Hamlet was not there for that duration of time. He was experiencing a moment that his mother would and could never understand. The situation made her feel like something deeper was going on, since Hamlet was giving out the characteristic of madness.
Act 5 Scene 2 Lines 390-393
ReplyDelete”The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit.
I cannot live to hear the news from England,
But I do prophesy the election lights
On Fortinbras.”
The moment is ending. Hamlet is dying as he speaks and complains how his spirit is diminishing away. The poison took over him, and he failed. Hamlet in a way failed his father, because he never truly got revenge on Claudius and made him suffer the way he was supposed to. Everyone basically dies, and that really does not solve anything. That only avoids the conflict and the actual truth everyone was trying to dig deeper into. As he dies he admits he couldn't take it anymore, and the throne goes to Fortinbras.
As the play went on, my motif developed in so many ways possible. First Shakespeare was using the topic of ghosts and spirits in the way everyone thinks naturally. Then he started to go on a deeper level, where you had to explore the actual meaning that was hidden just under a few words and phrases. The use of spirit as an actual characteristic developed imagery and setting in a whole new perspective. As the play went on you started to see “spirit” used in a whole different sense. The spirit was also referred to as the madness. King Hamlet left being his worth and power, which apparently still attracts the souls of others. Whatever King Hamlet did, others would follow. That is what Rosencrantz believed. The spirit of the King lived on and others still wanted to be under his rule, and wanted him to be still alive, like Hamlet. Hamlet was so distraught he was going “mad” and they were afraid that would start happening to everyone else. The spirit is also referred to the person inside Hamlet. That is what his mother sees when she looks at him. The ghost comes around again for another visit and distracts Hamlet. Gertrude notices a difference and comments on his complexity, and what is so different about him now. The ghost is not in the whole entire play, but its “spirit” travels in and out every scene. The ghost first makes its appearance and starts a whole lot of drama between everyone, and turns Hamlet against the ones he loves. The ghost sets thoughts and questions inside Hamlet’s head that causes him to go somewhat crazy. Then the affect draws into everyone else and causes a big scene. The ghost just makes his way around pulling everything apart to find out the truth in the end, no matter the outcome.
Alan D
ReplyDeleteCorruption and Honesty
3.1.56-63 "O, tis' too true...Let's withdraw my lord."
3.1. 141-142 "Where is your father/ At home, my lord"
3.2.145-156 actor playing the play
3.2.287-290 "He poisons him... Gonzago's wife"
3.3.40-75 "O, my offense... newborn babe"
3.3. 102-103 " My words... to heaven go"
3.4. 9-10 "I'll warrant you... him coming"
3.4.29-30 "How now a rat...O, I am slain"
4.2.27-31 "The body is with the King... and all after."
4.3.67-77 "And England...were ne'er begin"
4.7. 159-184 "I will do 't... venomed stuck"
5.2.118-124 "Nay my good lord...gentlemen would see"
5.2.283 "this is too heavy. Let me see another."
5.2.308 "give him the cup"
5.2.344-351 "It is here... King is to blame"
Ophelia says in 3.1. 141-142 "Where is your father/ At home, my lord" saying even though she knows her father and the King are hiding listening in on the two. This is significant because this means that the King does starts to suspect that Hamlet is plotting against him and that Hamlet isn't mad but just angry about the murder. This is corrupt because the King and Polonius are using Ophelia and her feelings toward Hamlet to hurt Hamlet and spy on him.
King Claudius says in 3.3. 102-103 " My words fly up, my thoughts remain below/ Words without thoughts never to heaven go" This means that he was unable to pray. This meant that Hamlet could have killed the King then and there and would have saved everyone a lot of time. This is honesty where the King has come out and confessed to the crime, but it also shows that the King does feel regret and guilt about the murder because he feels like he doesn't deserve forgiveness.
3.4.29-30 "How now a rat...O, I am slain" Polonius is killed here and is the reasoning where Ophelia goes mad and commits suicide, where Laertes gets his reasoning for wanting Hamlet dead. This delves into the thoughts of Hamlets insanity, his anger and that he is a dishero. This is corruption again because Polonius is spying on Hamlet yet again. This also shows how the anger in Hamlet has corrupted him.
4.2.27-31 "The body is with the King... and all after." is Hamlets lines where he says that the King is to blame for the death of Polonius and that the guilt will hang over the King. He also tells Rosencrantz that he will always be looking for the body. This is the corruption of Hamlet and his anger taking over him. This also shows that Hamlet is thinking that if he does this he might be hurting the King.
5.2.344-351 "It is here... King is to blame" was said by Laertes at the moment of his death explaining to Hamlet what was happening. This gives Hamlet the chance to lash out at the King before Hamlet dies. This is truth because at the moment of his death Laertes opens up to Hamlet as if it was a change in heart and explains it and gives Hamlet the motivation to kill the King.
Throughout the play there has been corruption and honesty partly because the play was based off the corruption of the uncle and Hamlet finding out the truth. The plays go from the King and Polonius trying to deceive Hamlet to Hamlet trying to deceive the King and the King is trying to deceive Hamlet. The truth is found through the ghost the play, Hamlet and the King once in a while and by a few other characters once in a while. There is so much corruption that the truth can be lost by the characters and the readers.
Sydney I.
ReplyDeleteWoman and Womanliness
(3.1.140) (3.1.147-152) (3.2.174-175) (3.2.254-255) (3.4.12-13) (3.4.78) (4.4.60-63) (4.5.55-60) (4.5.63-72) (5.1.255-257)
“Frailty thy name is woman!” (1.2.150)
This is when the reader first fully realizes how Hamlet feels toward women, and begin to realize how Hamlet is taking the actions of his mother and applying it to all women without any rationing. Because she was so important to him, he can’t believe how far she’s fallen, and it broke his heart to realize that someone as “perfect” as his own mother could be so unloving and cruel about the death of her former husband, with whom she had a child. It brings out what a woman is supposed to be; pure, chaste, and motherly, but Hamlet believes that they are the opposite; immoral and corrupt.
(1.3.40-48)
Here Laertes is stressing to Ophelia the importance of keeping her virginity, and how not to fall in love with Hamlet, because he doesn’t really love her. He’s just a lustful teenager. Ophelia takes this to heart, though she does respond with “Do not, as some ungracious pastors do…” etc, basically saying, don’t tell me all this when you’re just going to go and sleep around in France. Here the double standard is revealed, especially as Polonius explains to Laertes what he is and isn’t allowed to do. Now the reader is able to realize that women are expected to act a certain way, and when they don’t it’s taken much more seriously than a man. In the first quote Hamlet isn’t angry about Claudius marrying Gertrude, but Gertrude marrying Claudius.
“O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power/So to seduce!- won to his shameful lust/The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen” (1.5.15-53)
Here I got the feeling that King Hamlet was making an allusion to the devil tempting Eve. She seemed so virtuous, and yet some convincing and conniving was able to push her over and hurt all of humanity. Gertrude hurt Hamlet to the point where he can no longer see women as moral, and the former king is mourning for someone he thought loved him.
“Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven/And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge/To prick and sting her.”(1.5.93-92)
King Hamlet here is saying that Gertrude does feel bad about what she did. So bad in fact that nothing Hamlet can do will make her feel any worse than how she already makes herself feel. This shows that King Hamlet hasn’t lost all faith in women like his son has, and that he still believes they have a heart that can be hurt.
“I shall obey you.” (3.1.41)
Firstly, Ophelia also says this to Polonius. But this is Gertrude speaking to Claudius after he tells her that they are going to spy on Hamlet and to stay out of it. This is more of a personal one for me, since I’m not entirely sure if this can be considered one, but hear me out. Gertrude is Hamlet’s mother, and as such she should want to protect him at all costs. Though she is worried for his mental health, I feel as though she should have tried to defend Hamlet and his right to privacy first. As a mother, understanding and care for your child is your responsibility, and she doesn’t seem to be doing that.
HannahEllis
ReplyDeleteCorruption and Honesty
3.1.28-29
3.1.35-40
3.1.127-129
3.2.84-85
3.2.87-90
3.2.378-379
3.3.42, 3.3.81-83
3.4.11
3.4.32
“No, not I. I never gave you aught.” (3.1.105)
“I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity of love Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?” (5.1.285-287)
The first quote is Hamlet telling Ophelia that he never gave her any memories of his love and that he never really loved her. While the second is after she has died and Laertes is blaming Hamlet for her death. This shows dishonesty because Hamlet was either lying to Ophelia or to Laertes, which shows that he is not very trustworthy. Hamlet says what he believes he should at the time no matter who it is to or the amount of truth behind it. He didn’t care that he was crushing Ophelia when he said he never loved her. Hamlet also didn’t care about telling Laertes he loved Ophelia strongly, even though he broke her heart and told her he didn’t. That is corruption of the mind, because he doesn’t even seem to notice he is doing it, or if he does he just doesn’t care.
“I’ll warrant you. Fear me not withdraw, I hear him coming.” (3.4.9-10)
Gertrude is telling Polonius to hide, because Hamlet is going to her chambers and she doesn’t want Hamlet to know that Polonius was there. Gertrude cares not of her son, but more of her husband. She doesn’t care that she is leading him into a trap and letting someone spy on their private conversation. Gertrude is corrupted in the aspect that she doesn’t feel bad about tricking her only child. She didn’t realize on her own about Hamlet’s madness and try to correct it, she does whatever Claudius tells her to. The Queen is being a very mad mother making her seem very corrupt.
“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.” (4.3.43-51)
DeleteClaudius is lying to Hamlet by telling him that he must go to England for diplomatic reasons. He actually was sending Hamlet to his death, by sending a letter with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern telling the King of England to kill Hamlet straight away. Claudius has no morals whatsoever, so he has no problem lying to Hamlet about what is going on and sending his wife’s son to his death. Just like Gertrude, Claudius has no objections to lying to somebody he is supposed to be taking care of. He also has no problem sending his nephew-son to be murdered.
“But my revenge will come.” (4.7.31)
Laertes is going to help the King kill Hamlet, even though he had just recently wanted to kill the King for what had happened to his family. Laertes doesn’t care who he kills he just wants to get revenge and will kill anyone that he can find a way to blame. He is corrupt because he isn’t actually doing what he wants, he was corrupted by the King into doing the King’s biddings. Claudius didn’t want to have to be the one to kill Hamlet, so has persuaded Laertes, who is seeking revenge, that Hamlet is the one he must kill to get his revenge.
“He should those bearers put to sudden death, Not shriving time allowed.” (5.2.51-52)
Hamlet stole the letter that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were given that told the King of England to kill Hamlet. Hamlet forged another note from the King that said not to kill Hamlet, but to kill the messengers that had brought the letter. Hamlet is killing people he was once friends with, even though they were bringing him to his death it is still corruption. Also Hamlet was just trying to preserve his life, so to stay alive he had to have the messengers killed. No matter the reasoning Hamlet had it is still considered corruption for him to have his childhood friends killed.
Corruption and honesty is a central motif of Hamlet. Most of the book is about people sneaking around trying to kill each other and trying to trick each other into doing things. Both of these things are forms of corruption. In act two Ophelia tells her father right away when Hamlet enters her room and exactly what happened. This is one of the very few acts of honesty throughout the play. Horatio while not corrupt is not completely honest either. He doesn’t plot or kill or even trick anyone, he just knows Hamlet’s plans and helps him through them. Even though he doesn’t outright do anything corrupt he also doesn’t try to stop his friends obvious corruption. Even Reynaldo, who was the only character that only showed up once in the play, was corrupt. He was paid to spy on Laertes and didn’t seem to have a problem with doing it. Everyone else with as main role in the play either spies, or lies, or kills. Corruption and honesty is such an important motif in Hamlet, because it affects every person in the play, and all of the main characters display it in one way or another. Even the minor characters are pulled into the plots and are affected by corruption or honesty, most likely corruption. The players were dragged into one of Hamlet’s schemes to trick the King and find out the truth. This intricate web of corruption and lies was made because of one man’s jealousy and his own corruption. None of this would have happened if Claudius hadn’t kill the old King, so one act of corruption led to many, many more. This motif of corruption and honesty is one of the most prominent things in the whole play and it affects every character involved.
Carren J.
ReplyDeleteMy motif- Water and other Fluids
3.2.46, 3.2.374, 3.3.43-53, 3.4.30-34, 3.4.100, 3.4.142, 4.1.17, 4.3.17, 4.3.70, 4.4.60, 4.6.110, 4.5.124-126, 4.7.44, 4.7.202, 4.7.206, 4.8.151-161, 4.8.193-197, 4.8.200-207, 5.1.13-17, 5.1.276, 5.2.242, 5.2.89
3.4.30-34 –“ Queen -O, what a rash and bloody deed is this! Hamlet- A bloody deed. Almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry with his brother”
Hamlet has killed Polonius who was hiding behind the tapestry, because he thought Polonius was Claudius. This is where the reader is introduced to another side of Hamlet. He is shown acting without thinking.
Here blood represents an extreme action, and this is where Hamlet says that killing Polonius is almost as extreme and bad, as the marriage of his mother to his uncle and the murder of his father by his uncle. Basically saying his actions are not as bad when compared to what Gertrude and Claudius have done. Also the blood also brings the idea of death.
4.5.123.126- Laertes- “That drop of blood that's calm proclaims me bastard;
Cries cuckold to my father; brands the harlot(125) Even here, between the chaste unsmirched brows Of my true mother.”
Laertes says this when he get back after he receives new about his father’s death. He is angry and Gertrude asks him to be calm but he says that he has no reason to be calm and that the blood that is in control is full of rage.
Here the motif of fluid is presented as a driving force for action. The anger in the blood of characters causes action. It interesting that both Laertes and Hamlet are both acting to revenge for their own (their fathers). In this case, blood connects Laertes and Hamlet and shows their similarities. In addition, Claudius he was filled with greed in his system and he decided to choose power over blood.
4.8.151-161- Laretes-I will do't! And for that purpose I'll anoint my sword. I bought an unction of a mountebank, So mortal that but dip a knife in it,(155) Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare, Collected from all simples that have virtue Under the moon, can save the thing from death
This is but scratch'd withal. I'll touch my point With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly,(160)
It may be death.
This said by Leartes as he plans with Claudius how they are going to kill Hamlet. Laertes says that he will poison his sword, so that when he touches hamlet slightly it will kill him as it will contaminate the blood.
Here, blood is shown as a delicate thing, that when it gets contaminated it no longer functions well. Poison is introduced again as a weapon of death and violence. We were first introduced to poison as a weapon in Act 1 when Claudius used it to kill King Hamlet when he poured it in his ear. The interesting thing about poison in Hamlet is that it basically starts everything and ends everything. It is clever how Shakespeare chose to use poison.
4.8.193-197- “Gertrude- As one incapable of her own distress, Or like a creature native and indued Unto that element; but long it could not be(195)Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay To muddy death.”
ReplyDeleteThis is said by Gertrude when she comes to report Ophelia’s death. She says that Ophelia was filled up with water and the water brought pulled her to her death. Gertrude also says that the weight of the water on her clothes contributed to her drowning.
In this section, water is presented as a deadly weapon, and it leaves the reader haunted, as it is a powerful scene. Water is another element in this play that contributes to the deaths that happen but it is not as powerful as poison as it caused more deaths.
4.8.200-207- Laertes- Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, And therefore I forbid my tears; but yet It is our trick; nature her custom holds, Let shame say what it will. When these are gone, The woman will be out. Adieu, my lord.(205) I have a speech of fire, that fain would blaze
But that this folly drowns it.
Laertes says this after he receives news about his sister’s death. He says that he will not shed tears for Ophelia, because she has already had too much water. He also adds that the tears will show his soft side will be seen and show that he is weak.
Tears hear represent sorrow and pain. Throughout Hamlet each character deals with sadness. In addition to showing pain, tears represent how women are viewed. In the previous acts Hamlet sees women as not as important as he is or other men. And here Laertes is implying that he does not want to be seen as weak, as women are weak and they are the ones allowed to be seen shading tears.
Importance- throughout Hamlet, the motif of water and other fluids is important in that it shows different things. Water represents death; as it kills Ophelia, tears represent sadness and sorrow; Hamlet compares the tears by Niobe and the tears from Gertrude and says that it is sad that a non-living thing can shade more tears than her. In this scene especially, tears is used to aslo bring a comparison to the state of things and how they should be (how Gertrude is not showing any sadness yet she should). Blood represent anger and rage, which is shared by Hamlet, Fortinbras and Laertes. It is interesting how blood draws a line between the youth and the older generation. The young very much respect their blood that they are willing to put their life on the line to revenge while the older generation, like to play it safe and have no respect for blood, in Claudius case for example, he killed his own brother. Poison, is the fluid that plays the biggest role in this play as it is the cause of all the problems but it also becomes the solution to all the problems that had existed. It causes problems in the way that it is the weapon that allowed Claudius to kill King Hamlet, which led Hamlet to be angry and want revenge. In the process of getting revenge, he kills Polonius which brings Laertes’ anger on the table. Laertes then buys poison which he puts on his sword and uses to kill Hamlet and also himself but indirectly. In the plan to get rid of Hamlet, Claudius had prepared a cup of poison for Hamlet in case, Lartes failed, but then Gertrude drinks it and she dies, and upon the discovery about Claudius being behind all this, Hamlet kills him and then he also dies. It is interesting how poison links all the characters together and also how it basically end the problems and the pain of the characters.
Corinne D.
ReplyDeleteMadness and Normalcy
3.1
7-11
177-181
3.4
157-159
160-168
208-209
4.1
7-12
25-28
35
4.5
91-93
180-187
192-193
198
202-203
5.1
152-160
288
302
5.2
244-253
“Ecstasy?/ My pulse as yours doth temperately keep time/ and makes as healthful music. It is not madness/ that I have uttered. Bring me to the test,/ and I the matter will reword, which madness/ would gambol from. Mother, for love of grace,/ lay not that flattering unaction to your soul/ that not your trespass but my madness speaks.” 3.4.160-168
Here Hamlet really nails the purpose people have in labeling him as “mad.” While in the beginning of the story it was actually one of the first people to say that he was mad, he has, at this point, realized the dangers in putting a label on himself. He had hoped that, by being crazy, he might distance others and keep them in the dark. However, this “craziness” also gave people an excellent reason to not trust his judgement. Now that he finds himself in a situation where he is trying to talk sense into his mother, he realizes that she is using his own weapon against him. She is able to avoid the guilt she is feeling due to Hamlet's words by telling herself that his words are meaningless, seeing as they are coming from a “mad” man. Hamlet delves into her mind, eradicating any barriers that might be keeping the queen from feeling completely for her betrayal and disloyalty. Hamlet realized at this moment that he needs to stop using this guise. He can no longer hide from his trues self, his true purpose, or his true intentions. Now Hamlet needs his words to have power, he needs people to believe him, so he must cast off his facade.
“Poor Ophelia/ divided from her judgement,/ without the which we are picture or mere beasts.” 4.5.91-93
ReplyDeleteI think this quote can be applied in two ways. The first would be in context to the act. During this scene, Ophelia has seemingly gone mad with grief following the death of her father. The king is lamenting Ophelia's transformation from a beautiful woman to a person at their wits' end, or at least he is trying to make things look that way. It seems as though the king has a habit of trying to discredit those who put his reputation in jeopardy by calling them mad. First there's Hamlet, seeking revenge for his father's death, and now Ophelia after the same thing. There is definitely a strategy that the king is applying here. Maybe Claudius is worried that Ophelia, being so close with Hamlet, may be privy to some bits of information that Claudius would prefer to keep in the dark. Even though it is true that he did not himself slay Laertes, perhaps he figured he should label her as mad early on, just to be safe. After all, he didn't know what her next words were going to be. Also, he may have also realized that, while not directly guilty, it was his actions that created the situation in which Polonius was killed, which may have also given him reason to worry. One can assume from previous acts that ophelia is by no means a stupid girl, and I'm sure the king was aware of this as well. He couldn't risk the chance of Ophelia sniffing out his trail, so he called her mad, compared her to a beast, said she was only a picture of herself. This was to ensure that, if the next words out of Ophelia's mouth happened to allude to Claudius's guilt, no one would take her seriously, for who would trust her words? Now, looking at this quote the second way, in context to the entire play, one can see how Shakespeare has developed the wicked, plotting character of Claudius. Hence this quote is not only important to plot, but character development as well. Before, we knew the king was evil, but there wasn't much given to clue the reader in on his intelligence. Now we see that the king is himself quite a master mind, able to contort the views of others for his own exploitation.
“By heaven, thy madness shall be paid with weight/ till our scale turn the beam! O rose of May,/ Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!/ O heavens, is't possible a young maid's wits/ should be as mortal as an old man's life?/ Nature is fine in love, and, where 'tis fine,/ it sends some precious instance of itself/ after the thing it loves.” 4.5.180-187
This is where the idea of madness in the play starts to take on a new light. Rather than being used as a facade or a label, Laertes talks about true madness, the kind that comes with too much distress and sorrow. This is one of the first times in the play that “madness” is spoken of in such a pure light. It always seems to be viewed as evil or fake or dangerous. With Ophelia, it is rather beautiful. As Laertes said in lines 211-212, “Thoughts and afflictions, passion, hell itself/ she turns to favor and to prettiness.” There is a certain purity that Ophelia brings to this play. Neve does she put up pretenses or act cruel. She feels so truly and so deeply. The imager that goes along wit this quote is very beautiful. To imagine one's mind traveling with a deceased loved one is, in a way, actually sort of comforting. It's almost as if her actual conscious has been freed and allowed to follow her beloved father, and only her shell is left, sparing her mind earthly suffering. However, as many of us know, that's not how things actually work in the real world and, despite its contradictions with reality at some points, I'm pretty sure the Shakespearean world works much in the same way. It is for this reason Laertes swears vengeance on the person who caused his sister's suffering.
“A document in madness: thoughts and remembrance fitted.” 4.5.192-193
ReplyDeleteIn this quote Laertes description of Ophelia's madness if very similar to the way Claudius described Hamlet's insanity in 3.1.177-179, “Nor what he spake, though it lacked form a little,/ was not like madness. There's something in his soul/ O'er which his melancholy sits on brood.” In both scenes, both cases of madness are described as having something besides your average loss of wit behind them. It is alluded to in many other parts of the play that there is a certain method to Hamlet's madness. His mind is still sharp, just simply hard to follow. Ophelia is illustrated very much in the same way, although perhaps in a more innocent light. Hamlet if a schemer, Ophelia is more thoughtful. Either way though, it is suggested in this scene that Ophelia has not lost her cleverness completely, but rather her still acute thoughts are simply coming out rather translated into madness, so that one only catches her meaning if one pays close attention. Laertes's words can also be taken more generally, though, as well. It's almost as if this “madness” is a language, and, if so , that means that others can communicate is the same way, an hence also hide their keenness with bouts of insanity. It seems as though, in two lines, Laertes was able to describe the very essence of the type of madness in this play. It's not so much a loss of mind, but a loss of control, a loss of hope.
“This nothing's more than matter.” 4.5.198
This quote is very closely connected to the previous one. As aforementioned, madness doesn't necessary;y mean a lack of wit. With this new excerpt, we take that statement a bit farther, making it so that madness not only doesn't mean lack of wit, but, in some cases, may actually have more meaning to it than sanity. As is often with Shakespeare, I see two different way one can read this quote. The first is that, in madness, one actually becomes more sane. That there actually might be a certain clarity that comes with delusion, and the rest of us are simply unable to see the sense in it, with everyone else being sane and all. The other angle of this quote is that, even if the meaning is unintentional, madness can have a greater effect in making a point than sanity. Had Ophelia simply claimed to be grieving, her performance would have been much less moving. Rather, Shakespeare chose to show how traumatized she was by making her go insane. This technique is much more powerful, not only within the play in making Laertes, the Queen, and the King feel/ respond to her, but also for the audience watching the play. Her desperate situation causes the audience to feel for her. It creates a deeper character. We've talked a lot about choices while reading Hamlet, and I think the decision to allow Ophelia to go mad was one of the most important decisions Shakespeare made in the play. We're given so little information about her as it is, that it is only in her madness that we really start to learn about her character. Once again, clarity in madness. So, nothing really is more the matter, and in speaking nonsense, Ophelia was able to finally tell a bit of her story.
“What I have done/ that might your nature, honor, and exception, roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness. Was't Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet./ If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away,/ and when he's not himself does wrong Laertes,/ then Hamlet does it not; Hamlet denies it./ Who does it then? His madness. If't be so,/ Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged;/ his madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.”
ReplyDeleteI feel that this passage is the first time that Hamlet legitimately admits that his madness is a tangible thing. But one issue I have with this is that it contradicts so many other parts of the play. In the previous acts we are lead to believe that Hamlet's madness is a strategy, a defense mechanism of some sort, a plan. And suddenly here, he pulls that rug right from underneath the reader's feet. Which why I am left to wonder if there are several different types of madness in this play. I believe that many of the obvious displays of insanity on Hamlet's part were fronts, meant to trick and mock and disarm. However, I think there's another aspect to Hamlet, one that we mare familiar with, but not by the name of madness. Although the beginning of the play may seem like ages ago, one still must remember the crux of Hamlet's problems: his father's murder. And while the density of the play may have dulled the pain and shock for the reader, the loss is still prevalent in Hamlet's life. His father was a mentor to him, and Hamlet obviously admired him very much. To have such figure taken away, and in cold-blooded murder, is a tragic experience. It's not really something that one can describe, so Hamlet calls it madness. Because although he may still have his wits, he is indeed not the same Hamlet as before the night his father's ghost delivered that fateful message. Since then, he has lost a bit of judgement, a bit of rational. His views of the world changed, which changed him. By the end of the play he indeed wasn't the same Hamlet as he was a few months, a few weeks, prior. I think this is what Hamlet was trying to tell Laertes, when he says it was his madness that killed Polonius. This Hamlet that was created is a whole other person, simply sharing the same body as the old Hamlet. It Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, the Elizabethan way. There was a part of him that was created from the trauma, and it had the power to take over. Not necessarily the madness that we think of when we hear the word, but madness never the less.
Madness was an interesting motif to track throughout this play, and a slightly difficult one as well. The word madness itself was a task. It's a very ambiguous word, which left a lot up to interpretation. During the beginning I kept trying to fit all the references to madness under one category, but then I realized that that simply wasn't going to work. The word is so shifty that is needs to defined in a way that allows it to move around. As the play neared its end, even more interpretations of madness arose. I found that, while certain types of madness did develop overtime, madness also simply showed up around every corner wearing a different disguise. An example of madness developing was Hamlet's “fake” madness, if you will. Hamlet starts out labeling himself as crazy, using his feigned lack of sanity draw suspicion away from himself as he plotted his revenge on Claudius. However, as the play carried on, Hamlet began to realizes the flaws in his plan. Although he was able to keep Claudius ignorant to his true intelligence, he also created a lack of credibility for himself. When he goes to his mother, he realizes that she is able to brush of his words by telling herself that they are the words of a lunatic. He is angered by the lack of affect his words have on people, and decides to cast off his facade in order to be able to be truly heard. This “fake” madness is somewhat of a double-edged sword. Although Hamlet undoubtedly played a large role in creating such a reputation for himself, King Claudius also had a hand in things. During the beginning of the play I though that Claudius was either a) honestly concerned for Hamlet's sanity or b) at least fully convinced that Hamlet was indeed mad. Having finished the play now, though, I realize that there was more craft to Claudius than may first meet the eye. Claudius uses this “fake” madness as a strategy to discredit those who might speak out against him. He does the same with Ophelia in 4.5. It's a strategy of his, and a good one at that, for what better way to weaken you enemies than to make it so that other's won't believe a word they say? Another type of madness that was brought up in this play was madness from grief, which Ophelia so visibly suffered. Her delirium had a definite purity to it, in that it had no goal, no point, but was simply a result of anguish. While Hamlet did indeed suffer from this type of madness too, he still had a morbid goal to go with it. Ophelia's was free of demerit.
ReplyDeleteThe last aspect I would like to touch upon is the madness that Hamlet begs forgiveness for during act 5. He claims that it was not he, but madness that wronged Laertes, which also wronged himself. I question whether or not Madness is the correct word to describe what Hamlet is saying here, but I understand it as Hamlet saying that the Hamlet he and Laertes know is not the same Hamlet that he is now. A part of Hamlet changed over the course of this play, and who could blame him? His whole life is a tragedy, and I would challenge anyone to go through what he did and come out unchanged. Hamlet realizes the change he has undergone, and recognizes that his new perspective of the world has altered him. There is still pieces of the old Hamlet, but there are new pieces, too, and he doesn't quit understand those parts of himself, and hence nor does he have control over them. It this that Hamlet begs forgiveness for, and it's this type of madness that I believe is the true center of the play. At the beginning of this book we were asked to consider how people respond to tragedy and come to terms with the fact that they live in a flawed world. Hamlet is the answer to that question: we don'r respond, we change. Whether it's for better or for worse, we all know that when we realized how imperfect the world was, we were a different person. For many of us there may be a specific moment that sticks out, for many others it's hard to remember that time of innocence. Either way, though, when we deal with trauma, it changes us. We gain traits and lose some, it a cycle that will keep turning throughout our lives, the only thing left for us to do is decide what those changes will be.
ReplyDeleteChristina S.
ReplyDeleteWords and Speaking
My motif appears in 3.2.1, 3.2.429, 3.3.102, 4.7.141, 5.1.12, and 5.1.133.
3.2.1
Hamlet: Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue.
In this section, Hamlet is instructing the players on how to act in his play, “The Mousetrap.” He tells them how to say their lines and which hand motions to use. These lines reveal even more about Hamlet’s character. He is very interested in theater, and this gives insight as to why he’s so good with words. This makes the reader wonder what happened to him. He has been depressed and full of angst throughout the entire play, but when he’s with the players, his happiness comes back. Granted, “The Mousetrap” is a deceitful way of discovering his uncle’s guilt, but it’s still great to see Hamlet in his element. The way that he directs everything happening backstage contrasts with the fact that he keeps delaying Claudius’ murder. Hamlet is completely capable with taking charge of a situation, but not when it comes to murder. This sheds a new light on his character.
3.2.429
Hamlet: I will speak daggers to her, but use none.
In this part of the play, Hamlet is informed by Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Polonius that his mother is extremely upset and would like to speak with him. Hamlet is still angry with her for marrying Claudius, and decides to tell her how he feels. This quote reveals a lot about how he treats, or would like to treat, both Gertrude and Claudius. The reader is very much aware of the fact that Hamlet wants to murder Claudius. According to Hamlet, Gertrude is a sinner. He detests her actions, but would never physically harm her. This shows that despite everything that has happened, he still places his mother on a pedestal and seeks her approval.
3.3.102
Claudius: My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.
Words without thoughts never to Heaven go.
Claudius feels very guilty about killing his brother in this scene, and asks for God’s forgiveness. He tries to pray, but finds that he is unable to do so. He wants a clear conscience, but he also doesn’t want to give up Gertrude or the throne. Here Shakespeare explores when words are meaningful and when they aren’t. It is widely understood that words can be powerful, but in this scene Claudius doesn’t feel as though his words will reach Heaven. He’s unable to devote himself completely to the task of seeking forgiveness because there is a part of him that knows he doesn’t deserve it. He’s still focused on Earthly matters, and therefore he can’t put enough effort into praying. Words are only meaningful if we believe in them wholeheartedly.
4.7.141
Claudius: What would you undertake
To show yourself indeed your father’s son
More than in words?
Claudius is trying to get Laertes to help him kill Hamlet in this section. Laertes’ father, Polonius, was murdered by Hamlet. Claudius essentially tells Laertes that unless he takes some sort of action, he cannot truly be considered Polonius’ son. Laertes and Hamlet are compared and contrasted in this part of the play. Both of them are trying to avenge their fathers’ deaths, but they’re using different methods. Thus far, Hamlet has been playing with Claudius’ mind by using nothing but words. Laertes is taking a much more direct approach. Claudius is denouncing the importance of words, saying that only action can accurately convey one’s feelings. This coincides with the motifs of truth-telling and appearances vs. reality. Claudius implies that words can be deceitful. Laertes can say he loved his father, but that won’t mean anything until he attempts to avenge his death. Actions will always tell the truth.
5.1.133
DeleteHamlet: What man dost thou dig it for?
Gravedigger: For no man, sir.
Hamlet: What woman then?
Gravedigger: For none, neither.
Hamlet: Who is to be buried in ‘t?
Gravedigger: One that was a woman, sir, but, rest
Her soul, she’s dead.
Hamlet and Horatio come across a gravedigger and ask him some questions. The characterization of this man is very indirect. Shakespeare uses the gravedigger’s speech to portray him as simple-minded and not very bright. Hamlet asked who was being buried in the grave. It’s a rather simple question to answer, but the gravedigger said it was neither a man nor a woman. It was a woman, but she died. Earlier in the scene, the gravedigger is talking to an associate of his. He uses the phrases “se offendendo” and “argal,” which he mistakes for “se defendendo” and “ergo.” The gravedigger is a great example of how characters can be defined just by their speech.
Words and speaking has been an interesting motif to observe. It’s a broad topic, and therefore it often intertwines with other motifs. Because of this, I have been able to learn about many of the other motifs as well as my own. Throughout the duration of the play, Shakespeare’s methods have changed. In the first two acts, I mainly observed puns and other wordplay. These were used to give characters more depth, and for Shakespeare to insert his own interests and issues. As the play grew more serious, puns became harder to find. The motif focused more on the gaps between words and action, and saying something and meaning something. In doing this, though, Shakespeare was able to add even more depth to the characters. Words and speaking matter because we still have these kinds of problems today. We need to figure out if people will stay true to their word, or if they’re just telling you what you want to hear, or if their actions speak louder. This motif was present throughout the entire play, because Shakespeare was constantly making choices about which words to use when.
Yazmeen S.
ReplyDeleteMen & Manliness
3.1.149-151
3.2.70-73
3.2.132-133
3.2.139-141
3.3.44-46
3.4.71-73
3.4.233-235
4.3.2
4.3.30-32
4.7.195-196
5.1.16-19
5.2.437-439
“Or if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them.” 3.1.149-151
In this quotation Hamlet is talking to Ophelia about marriage and the type of man she should marry. He is telling her that if she is to get married than she must marry a fool. Hamlet says that she mut marry a fool because a fool will not see that he is being made into a monster by his wife. In other words Hamlet is saying that Ophelia is going to make her husband seem like a bad man so he should be a fool so he does not figure out that she is doing it. This is important to the text because Ophelia did what Hamlet is talking about to him. she made everyone believe that he had gone mad and he figured out that she played a part in people questioning him about his madness. This quote relates to men and manliness because Hamlet is describing the type of man that Ophelia needs in her life. She needs a man that is a fool.
“Then there's hope a great man's memory may outlive his life half a year.” 3.2.139-141
In this quote Hamlet is discussing his father and his death with Ophelia. He keeps saying things about how the death was only hours or weeks before when it had really been four months. He then tries to defend himself by talking about how a man’s legacy may last up to six months after their death. His father was a great man so therefore his legacy must live on, according to Hamlet. This quote was a way for Hamlet to try and seem less mad by adding reason behind his crazy talk. In this quote the thread men and manliness is displayed in that they are talking about man and his legacy. Also they are talking about how the better the man the longer and stronger his memory will live on.
“When in one line two crafts directly meet. This man shall set me packing: I'll lug the guts into the neighbour room.” 3.4.233-235
This quote is taken from right after Hamlet killed Polonius by accident thinking it was Claudius. He is talking about killing two birds with one stone. Also he is talking about how since he killed Polonius instead of Claudius he will now be forced, by Claudius, to leave and go to England. Hamlet is also talking about how he needs to drag Polonius’s dead body to one of the nearby rooms to dispose of it. This quote relates to the motif, men and manliness, in many ways. The first way is very general in how they talk about people by referring the them as “this man”. Instead of using names they replace the names with the word man. Another way that my motif works in is through how Hamlet is talking about moving Polonius’s body. It involves manliness to not only be able to physically move the dead body, but also to handle the fact that it’s a dead body that you’re dealing with.
“A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.” 4.3.30-32
ReplyDeleteIn this quote Hamlet is talking about a cycle that takes place that makes it so no matter who you are you are affected by the king, and the kingdom itself as well. Hamlet is also trying to indirectly tell Claudius what he knows and what he plans on having happen. Everything Hamlet says to Claudius is puzzle like, so he can never fully understand the points he is trying to get across. This quote relates to men and manliness in that man is the cause of many things, such as news traveling and deaths occurring. This quote could also possibly be implying that because Claudius killed Hamlet’s father, Hamlet must now kill Claudius.
“Here stands the man—good. If the man go to this water and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes. Mark you that.” 5.1.16-19
This quote takes place in a conversation about Ophelia’s death. They are talking about what it would mean if she purposely drowned herself versus if she accidentally drowned. The clowns are also discussing how there are religious laws that go against you if you end your life on purpose rather than find yourself dead. This quote relates to the motif men and manliness because it is talking about how a man should act, which would not be ending his own life. If a man keeps himself alive than he is a good man, but if he ends his life on purpose, not out of self defense, than he will suffer religious consequences and may not be buried the way he would most likely want to be.
Overall in the play the motif men and manliness was pretty well developed. Everyone often referred to men and how they should act and what they should be doing. Many standards were set throughout the play for man. Also manliness was often brought up between different characters, often in battle. If you did not fight the way your opponent wanted you to, then you were not manly enough. Another way that men and manliness was developed throughout the play was with characteristics. Often characters talked about the qualities of men and things they had and things they lacked. Lastly, men and manliness may have been the cause of all the deaths at the end of the play. Everyone was murdered while trying to prove their manliness and that they were the man they were supposed to be. Everyone was trying to prove themselves which ended up bringing almost everyone to their end towards the end of the play. In the end if the characters were not trying to prove their manliness and that they were true men than the play would go nowhere. The desire that the characters had to be manly and prove themselves was what led to all of the action in the play.
Kirsten S.
ReplyDeleteGhosts and Spirits
III.1.87-90
III.ii.59-63
III.ii.85-89
III.ii.312-313
III.ii.249-250
III.ii.339-340
III.iii.15-16
III.iv.136-139
III.iv.154-156
IV.iv.52-56
V.ii.104-106
V.ii.390-391
III.iv.154-156
“Why, look you there, look how it steals away!/ My father, in his habit as he lived!/ /Look where he goes even now out at the portal!”
Hamlet is in mid conversation with his mother, when the ghost of his dead father appears to him. Hamlet is appearing seemingly mad to Gertrude, for she cannot see or hear the ghost of her dead husband. This is suspicious, for is Shakespeare hinting that the ghost is only but a figment of Hamlet's imagination? Is this playing in with Hamlet's weary mental state? Possibly. For why would the ghost just appear to him now, when previously it appeared to the guards as well? This quote not only relates the the motif, ghosts and spirits, but overall to the progression of Hamlet's deterioration as a person.
III.ii.85-89
“If his occulted guilt/ Do not itself unkennel in one speech,/ It is a damnèd ghost that we have seen,/ And my imaginations are as foul/ As Vulcan's stithy.”
Hamlet has now finished instructing the players on what to act and is talking to Horatio. He is hoping to gain confidence in Horatio on whether his plan will work. Will Claudius flinch, is what the ghost saying to him true? If not, he knows for certain he is mad. The ghost of his father is just in his imagination. Once again, this plays with the idea of Hamlet and his mental state, and how it connects with his father's death. He dealt with the trauma of his death in an odd way, seeing ghosts. Which in fact will be a downward spiral to his own death.
III.1.87-90
ReplyDelete“...The undiscovered country from whose bourn/ No traveler returns, puzzles the will/ And makes us rather bear those ills we have/ Than fly to others that we know not of?”
The motif is state indirectly in this specific quote from the “To be or not to be” speech. Hamlet is trying to deal with the idea of life and how hard it is, and the unknown that death is. We know from a previous scene that Hamlet's father came back as a ghost to talk to Hamlet, and he basically says he would be punished for telling anyone alive what the afterlife is like. In this particular quote, Hamlet is returning to that and struggling over it. No one returns from death, and nothing is known about it. The ghost certainly isn't helping, and the only reason he is here is to help plot someone else's death. Is it worth it? Would Hamlet return as a ghost? Or would Hamlet's spirit in the afterlife, crave life again, hating death?
III.iv.136-139
“Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep,/ And, as the sleeping soldiers in th' alarm, / your bedded hair, like life in excrements,/ Start up and stand an end.”
The Queen is responding to what she thinks is Hamlet talking to himself, because she doesn't see or know about the ghost. Hamlet displays madness in her eyes, for she is blind to his imaginary friend/foe/father. She is worried about his health. She uses the imagery of “bedded hair” sticking up all over the place to describe his crazy look. This contributes to the constant visitations of the ghost to Hamlet, and how his family and friends show worry for his behavior because of it.
IV.iv.52-56
“Whose spirit with divine ambition puffed/ Makes mouths at the invisible event,/ Exposing what is mortal and unsure/ To all that fortune, death, and danger dare,/ Even for an eggshell.”
In this soliloquy given by Hamlet, is talking about Fortinbras at his particular time, referencing the battle he is leading. His spirit, nothing to do with ghosts, is strong, with much ambition for battle. He has no true reason to be at battle, “invisible event,” yet he is confident enough to do so. Hamlet has reason to kill Claudius, but his spirit, his will, isn't strong enough.
The motif, ghosts and spirits, has a double meaning. One meaning being the physical aspect of it; King Hamlet's ghost. The second meaning being the mental state; Hamlet's belief in himself to accomplish things. The beginning of the play focused mainly on the physical aspect, for Hamlet was constantly being haunted by the ghost, and he liked it. He made his focus in life be that ghost and to fulfill whatever he was told to. This continued well on through the play, but fizzled out once Hamlet began to struggle with himself emotionally. He envied others who could do things he couldn't. His morale was low, his spirit was weakened by this, as well as the ghost hammering ideas and motives into his mind. The motif turned into something unexpected, something that can be relatable to everyone. It focused on spirit and mind, and connected those thoroughly. Lack in spirit often contributed to Hamlet's madness. The ghost became a symbol for what Hamlet's madness could escalate to, almost like an evil inner conscious.
Hope W.
ReplyDeleteDeath/afterlife
1. 3.1.72 “To die, to sleep-to-sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,” This quotation can be found in Hamlet’s to be or not to be soliloquy, where he is thinking about life and death and the meaning of it all. Specifically in this quotation Hamlet is thinking of what peace would come from death but then realizes the flaw to this, the dreams that could possibly disturb him in his “sleep” making death not as peaceful as he had just hoped it would be. This quotation deepens the audiences view of Hamlet’s self-worth, he seems to completely disregard what his own life and how it would affect everyone around him he continues to be selfish about his life, complaining and not being able accept what has happened and what is to come this is true throughout the book.
2. 3.3.42 “A brother’s murder. Pray can I not.” This quotation echo’s the entire motive for the play King Hamlet’s murder, by his own brother. Claudius realizes what he has actually done in killing his own brother, and that he in good conscience cannot simply pray away this sin. The realization by Claudius that murdering his brother affected other people and not just him. Hamlet suffers greatly from the loss of his father, and his grieving process may include seeking revenge for King Hamlet’s murder. This quotation serves as a turning point for the play, Claudius receives the guilt he has suppressed from killing his own brother and now faces the consequences of not only his actions but the potential actions of Hamlet, as he now knows of how the death actually happened.
3. 4.5.84 “first her father slain; next, your son gone,” The King is conversing with Gertrude about Ophelia’s state of mind (in the presence of Ophelia). The king is troubled by the way that Ophelia is dealing with the death of her father, singing and making little sense, and then on top of that the plot to kill Hamlet her lover. The king seems genuinely worried about Ophelia’s mental status, yet he still references his plot to kill her boyfriend and his stepson/nephew in front of he AND his mother. This choice made by Shakespeare puzzles me, what is he trying to get at? Is he trying to reveal that even with Ophelia’s current state of mind Hamlet must be executed at all costs even hers and his wife’s? this just goes to show just how cold hearted he can be, even after acknowledging how Ophelia responds to the death of loved ones he will continue to hurt her by killing yet another of her loved ones.
4. 4.7.166 “I’ll touch my point with this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly, it may be death.” Laertes speaks to Claudius about the details of the new plot to kill Hamlet, as the first did not succeed. This quotation continues the thought of how cold blooded the characters in the play can be when it comes to death and revenge. Laertes wishes nothing but Hamlet’s death, as he believes that the death of the responsible party in his father’s murder is much greater/important than the o so fragile feelings of his younger Sister Ophelia who, if Hamlet may come to death will truly go over the edge with no hopes of return. Throughout the book people tend to think of Ophelia last or as a lesser party even though the decisions being made for her, especially in terms of death will affect her the greatest of all.
5. 5.2.360 “it is a poison tempered by himself. Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet. Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee, nor thine on me.” In Laertes last breaths he pleads to Hamlet for forgiveness for killing Hamlet but asks in return for Hamlet to do the same in terms of both his and his father’s deaths. The quotation shows that Laertes is only willing to take back in a sense his revenge on his father’s death if it means that he will not be going to hell for it. Even in his last moments Laertes acts selfishly vying for any forgiveness he can get to repent his sin (killing the dying Hamlet). Death breaks people down and in this case Laertes reveals his true self in his last moments to all that came to watch the match. Although throughout the book he has been able to conceal his selfishness from the people of Denmark but not the audience who knew all along just how selfish Laertes could be.
ReplyDelete6. Throughout the play death plays a huge role in driving nearly everyone in the play in some way shape or form. The Play starts out with the audience being informed of King Hamlet’s demise and reappearance as a ghost. This ghost of King Hamlet is the driving factor behind all of Hamlet’s actions for the rest of the play, as proven 1.5.89 “let not the royal bed if Denmark be a couch for luxury and incest.” Although this quote does not directly reference death it shows that the ghost wants Hamlet to seek revenge on his death, and Hamlet obeys. As the play progresses more and more actions of not only Hamlet’s but also others reveal more and more about death and its effects on their own lives and even the kingdom as a whole. After the “Murder of Gonzaga’s” play, it seems that everything has to do with death, and revenge on someone else’s death which just raises alarm on all fronts and no one feels safe, and no one is really. Claudius and Laertes want to kill Hamlet, each for different reasons. Laertes his father and Claudius his own protection. Hamlet continues to plan his revenge for his father’s death on Claudius but if his mother dies he would not care as much as he does not think highly of her. Through all of this drama that takes center stage(so to speak) Ophelia is left unattended to, and as a result also dies, but no one seems to really responded to her death as they did for Polonius’s and King Hamlet’s. Death is the driving for of the play and as the play goes on that fact becomes more and more evident and present, clear for the audience to see.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJames K.
ReplyDeleteResponse to Authority
3.1.41-47
3.1.113-116
3.2.54-57
3.2.405-415
4.1.34-38
3.1.41-47
“ I shall obey you. And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish that your good beauties be the happy cause of Hamlets wildness. So shall I hope your virtues will bring him to his wonted ways again to both your honors.”
This quotation shows how both Ophelia and Gertrude, the two major female roles respond to authority. They both have a very willing response to authority. However in cases such as when Polonius forbade Ophelia from seeing Hamlet see put up resistance however being a women she had to do it in a very different way. She tried to appeal to her fathers sense of logic and trust but Polonius loves control, as is latter demonstrated for him wanting Ophelia to be the cause of Hamlets madness, and wanted his word to be law. In the end the women have to respond to the men as docile and obedient.
3.1.113-116
“Ha, ha, are you honest? My lord? Are you fair? What means your lordship?”
What I take from this passage is how the common people respond to Hamlets madness. While Ophelia is an extraordinary character and is far for common her response to his madness is what I imagine a commoner would think of Hamlet and how they would respond to his unusual behavior. My theory can be supported by the similar attitude that was displayed by the actor when they were dealing with Hamlet. Hamlets title demands him a certain amount of respect and all the people are very cautious about how the confront him. They are respectful calling him lord and trying to relate to what Hamlet is saying. It is this analysis of his character that Hamlet wants to prevent. Hamlet wants to be a mystery and people treat him a figure of authority but one to be careful with.
3.2.54-57
“What ho, Horatio! Here sweet lord, at your service. Horatio, thou art e en as just a man as e er my conversation coped withal”
In this passage the relationship between Horatio and Hamlet is further elaborated. In the earlier Acts I found that Horatio looked at Hamlet as a friend and fellow scholar first and a prince second. I still believe this relationship to be true but I believe that Horatio has more respect for Hamlet as a ruler than was elaborated in the earlier scenes. Horatio is in turn more willing to assist Hamlet “his lord” altering his response to authority.
3.2.405-415
Delete“Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a camel? By th’ Mass, and ‘tis like a camel indeed. Me thinks it is a weasel. It is backed like a weasel. Or like a whale. Very like a whale. Then I will come to my mother by and by. [Aside] They fool me to top of my bent. –I will come by and by.”
This quotation shows one of Hamlets relationship with Polonius and how little respect for authority he has for the kings advisor. Hamlet loves messing with Polonius because of Polonius nosey nature. Polonius is always trying to get into other peoples heads and this is exactly what Hamlet is trying to avoid. Hamlets witty and “mad” responses are a defense mechanism that Hamlet uses to keep his thoughts and plans controlled and private.
4.1.34-38
“Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Friends both, go join you with some further aid. Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain, and from his mother’s closet hath he dragged him. Go seek him out, speak fair, and bring the body into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern exit”
This is just one of the many passages that portrays Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as obedient husk who cannot think for themselves. In this scene especially it is clear that their purpose is to serve and to worship their superiors. Their response to authority is the most submissive controlled and constant that I am unsure if they are even human.
Josh D.
ReplyDelete3.2 line 69-75
4.4 line 55
5.1 line 220
5.2 line 11-12
5.2 line 315
5.2 line 413
Act 3 scene 2 lines 69-75
“ /For thou hast been/ As one in suffering all that suffer nothing/A man that fortune’s buffets and rewards/ Hast ta’en with equal thanks; and blessed are those/ Whose blood and judgment are so well/ commended/ That they are note a pipe for fortune’s finger/ To sound what stop she please”
In this quotation hamlet is parsing Horatio for how he handles all the things that fate throws at him. H commends him for being grateful for life regardless whether it hurts or helps him. Hamlet says that it is special when a person’s blood (quality of birth) and judgment (personal beliefs) combine so that they can be the master of their own fate and not be controlled by fortune. Hamlet is flattering Horatio in this scene because he wants Horatio to observe his uncle during the “mouse trap play”. Hamlet is being very cautious in this scene he is insuring that his “mouse trap” works and that it is not relying solely on his opinion of his uncle’s actions.
This quotation furthers the motif of Fortune and fate by introducing the idea that fortune is not totally binding. Hamlet says in this quotation that in very special cases man can rise above his fate through strength of his convictions and shape his own fortunes. Hamlet is admiring something that he can never be in this quotation like he does in many other instances in the play, unlike Horatio hamlet is ruled by his fate.
Act 4 Scene 4 lines 49-56
“Examples gross as earth exhort me:/ witness this army of such mass and charge, / led by a delicate and tender prince, / whose spirit with divine ambition puffed/ makes mouths at invisible event, / exposing what is mortal and unsure/ to that entire fortune, death, and danger dare, / even for an eggshell.”
Hamlet is admiring young Fortinbras and his army for their courage in the face of death in this quotation. Hamlet admires Fortinbras’s acceptance of fate and fortune and whatever they may bring. This quotation brings up the idea of the uncertainty of fortune, but how being overly cautious with the results fortune (as hamlet has been up to this point) can get in the way of living life. This quote implies
that it is sometimes better to through caution to the wind and accepts whatever consequences fortune throws your way, as the old adage goes “fortune favors the bold”.
ReplyDeleteThis quotation furthers the motif of fortune by making fortune a force that opposes the goals of mortals. Up to this point fortune has be referred to ambiguously (being called neither good nor bad) but here it is clearly being portrayed as negative. By hamlet comparing his fate to Fortinbras Shakespeare is hinting that hamlets and Fortinbras fates are intertwined in this instance the motif of fortune and fate is furthered by the idea that fates are connected.
Act 5 scene 2 lines 11-12
“There’s divinity that shapes our ends/ rough-hew them how we will-”
Hamlet is preparing for his vengeance he knows about the kings plan to kill him and is preparing to turn the plan on Claudius. Hamlet is reflecting one last time upon fate; he reasons that some divine power must shape man’s fortune because no matter how man struggles he can never seem to escape his fate. Hamlet has come to accept that he must kill Claudius and that he has no choice in the matter he is being driven by divine providence.
This furthers the motif by adding that facet that god could be the one controlling fortune. This idea of god controlling fate is a theme prevalent in Greek tragedy which connects with hamlets comparisons between himself, King Hamlet, and Claudius to Greek hero’s and gods.
Act 5 scene 2 lines 314
“The queen carouses to thy fortune, hamlet”
In this quotation queen Gertrude is toasting hamlets good fortune in his duel with Laertes. The cup that the queen toasts with is hamlets own cup which is unbeknownst to her filled with poison. This seen is very ironic because the queen is toasting good fortune while having the bad fortune of choosing a cup filled with poison. It’s made even more ironic by the scene that followed where hamlet has the bad fortune of being stabbed by a poison blade.
In this quotation fortune is used as mockery, it shows how lite people understand about fortune. The queen believes that her problems are over, that fortune has finally smiled upon her. Hamlet has returned no longer mad, he and Laertes seem to have made up, and Claudius and hamlet seem friendly. Then us when she believes that all is well, all hell breaks loose and she an all her loved ones die. This quotation and subsequent scene express the undeterminable nature of fortune and fate.
Act 5 scene 2 lines 431-433
ReplyDelete“For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune. /I have some rights of memory in this kingdom, / which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.”
In this quotation Fortinbras has come to the throne room of Denmark and discovers the scene of death and chaos left in the wake of hamlet, Laertes, and Claudius as they died. Fortinbras is told by Horatio that it was hamlets last will that Fortinbras take the throne of Denmark. Fortinbras seizes his good fortune begrudgingly because he is saddened by hamlets death. Fortinbras has accepted his fortune but he chooses not to be happy about it. This reveals man’s only really choice in regard to fortune which is: how do you react to it. Fate can’t be changed too many things are out of our control but our reactions to the tragedy and triumphs fortune brings those we can control.
This quotation is significant to the motif in that it brings it full circle. Fortinbras accepts that he is controlled by fate, wither fate is a separate entity or a force of nature controlled by God. He also recognizes that he does have a choice and that the choice he has is how he reacts to fate.
The motif of fate is deeply connected to the plot of Hamlet and to the significance of the play. From the onset of the play fate is used to describe the state of Denmark the soldiers of Denmark fear that it may suffer the same fate as Rome because the conditions in the country are compliable to those in Rome at Caesars death. Then later in the paly hamlet is confronted by his father’s ghost and he revels that he was killed by hamlets uncle, initially it seems that hamlet is choosing his own fate by committing himself to avenging his father. This idea of self-determination is powerful but is refuted as the play progresses. This idea of determining ones fate continues in to act tree were hamlet says “ blessed are those whose blood and judgment are so well commended/ that they are not pipe fore fortune’s finger “hamlet limits the men who can determine their own fate to men of good judgment and character. As the play continues hamlet and other characters come to relies that divine powers are controlling their fate in act 5 scene 2 line 11 he states “ there’s a divinity that shapes our end” this important to the play because hamlet is prompted to all his action’s in the play by his father’s ghost who is literally divine intervention. As the play continues one last part is added to the fortune motif. Fortinbras choices to accept his fortune at the conclusion of the play but, he make the choice to be sad about the means by which his fate came about. There is the key to fate and fortune in the play and in life, fate is something that can’t really be controlled but what can be is your reaction to it.
Nicole B.
ReplyDeleteMotif: Flora and Fauna
1. My motif is located here!
3.1.75 3.4.172 5.1.250
3.2.99 3.4.212 5.1.292
3.2.213 3.4.216 5.1.304
3.2.261 3.4.226 5.1.311
3.2.278 4.3.25 5.2.25
3.2.287 4.3.30 5.2.99
3.2.297 4.5.34 5.2.234
3.2.372 4.5.43 5.2.336
3.2.407-413 4.5.199-209 5.2.348
3.4.29 5.1.222 4.7.190-208
2. Quotation Analysis
Quote 1: "He poisons him i' th' garden for his estate." 3.2.287
In "The Mousetrap", the King is poisoned while sleeping in his garden. Throughout "Hamlet", we see that Hamlet reveres his father; his father is perfect and can do no wrong; "So excellent a king, that was to this/Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother..." (1.2.143-144) his father was superior to all; he was a saint. No wrong could ever even touch King Hamlet. However, in this garden situation the King had let his guard down and was vulnerable to attack and like a delicate flower he could easily be destroyed. He was like a beautiful flower: such a great man, but still easily and readily targeted. Shakespeare doubles the amount of vulnerability and saintliness about the King by placing him in his garden. It intensified the reaction towards Claudius' sin of killing him; to kill a saint in front of all of his stainless subjects. He is not only a defenseless flower, but also surrounded by other delicate flowers. He was in a heavenly place and had no reason to want protection. Who could harm him, when none of his subjects were hateful? We can infer that everyone loved him and would listen to any command he had. Of course, what we all like to forget is that a garden is full with two different plants and two different animals. There are the delicate beautiful flowers that everyone loves and wants to take care of, and then there is also the weeds; the cunning ones who are solely out for their own survival. Then there is the pretty birds that tweet beautiful songs, but also the snakes and rodents who attempt to destroy the beautiful flowers. Just like the real world. As naive children, we are oblivious to the real and cruel world around us. The murder of Hamlet's father was a rude awakening for Hamlet.
This quote also begins to really define that the differences in flora and fauna distinctly represent good and bad, delicate and tough.
Quote 2: "Repent what's past, avoid what is to come,/And do not spread the compost on the weeds/to make them ranker..." 3.4.171-173
Hamlet is begging the Queen to repent her sins and denounce her marriage with Claudius. End it now, for if she stays with him and ignores the blatant facts then she is only adding to the problem. She is feeding the problem, as well as Claudius' ego. As long as the Queen is fooled, Claudius is safe, for nobody was closer to King Hamlet than her.
Compost is a compilation of rotten food and other waste products; the gross and rotten parts of life. The Queen, by staying with Claudius, is adding more rotten and unwanted ideas and parts to the problem, or, the weeds. All problems are uncontrollable; like weeds they are meant to expand. But, also like weeds, their growth can be stopped if one chooses to fight such growth.
You would hardly use compost in a dainty flower garden, it is meant for tougher substances. But Gertrude is spreading the compost in old King Hamlet's garden; around his subjects and through his kingdom, and letting the weeds grow up and choke back unshakeable supporters of King Hamlet, namely young Hamlet. By staying with Claudius, Gertrude is spurring gossip about the morality of this marriage. Gossip will fuel any problem.
Hamlet is also hinting to his mother that Claudius is out to kill him by saying that if you do not avoid what is to come the problem will get "ranker": worse, gross, dark. and that if his reign continues Denmark will be killed.
(Sorry that the locations of motifs got all messed up, it was in 3 columns!)
DeleteQuote 3: "There's letters sealed; my two schoolfellows,/Whom I will trust as I will adders fanged,/They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way/And marshal me to knavery..." 3.4.225-228
Hamlet knows that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been ordered to accompany Hamlet to England, and to lead him to act foolishly. How ironic! Hamlet is the fool, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are artful and clever? Here we see Shakespeare characterizing snakes and reptilians as tricky, cold, and evil. Throughout the play they are painted as representations of present and approaching evil. You need to be careful around serpents: are they poisonous or just appearing to be threatening? Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have already admitted to Hamlet their true intentions, and so they are equivalent to that of an adder with visible fangs. Their immediate threats to Hamlet are blatant and obvious, but can be avoided.
Quote 4: "A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm." 4.4.30--33
Hamlet is saying not just "everyone is equal in the end", but everyone becomes as low as everyone else in the end. We see countless times throughout the play that Hamlet has given up on the nature of this world; countless times he laments on corruption infiltrating the world. Even when he refers to his specific problem regarding Claudius; "Repent what's past, avoid what is to come,/And do not spread the compost on the weeds/to make them ranker..." (3.4.171-173) this quote could be applied to the world as a whole. Naturally, if the world is just holding in an increasing amount of corruption, nobody is a saint and we are all low and undeserving.
A worm is probably the lowest of all living creatures to be. Now, for it to be rough to your attention that you are eventually taken from this world by worms, that;s a bit degrading. Hamlet mentions it to shake Claudius confidence and to also tell him that someday he, Hamlet, will conquer Claudius. Someday Hamlet will eat Claudius and will be making decisions over Claudius' life. It is kind of like Hamlet's dream-one that is somewhat strange or sickening to others.
What is really interesting about this scene is that when arguing with Claudius, who in Hamlet's mind is slime although he is technically Hamlet's superior, Hamlet says that a King is nothing more than a beggar's food. However, in Act 5, scene 1 Hamlet is truly offended by the gravedigger's performance; "'tis e'en so. The hand of little employment hath the daintier sense." (5.1.69) when arguing with those of a lesser class than he, Hamlet adamantly believes that the rich are right and are the only sensitive and intelligent ones. So, what is Hamlet's real view? Does he argue with Claudius just for the sake of disagreeing with him? Or is this just a usual argument style for Shakespeare's time period; does he assume a pretentious air when he can, with those of a lesser class than he, but he feels the sting of this air when he is with people above him?
Quote 5: "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that's for thoughts." 4.5.199-201
DeleteHow fitting for Ophelia, the delicate flower in need of a lot of protection, is now trying to express her emotions by using flowers. With the rosemary she wants everyone to remember her father, remember him in great memory. This plant could also have several other meanings. Ophelia could have been talking to Gertrude, reminding her never to forget his first husband. And, in remembering perhaps Gertrude might further analyze recent events and realize who Claudius really was. Ophelia could have also being talking to everyone, the audience and the characters, telling them to always remember what they have seen here; the problem, the scandals, the gossip, corruption and depression.
The pansies correlate with remembering, for they run hand in hand within your brain. to remember is to think, to think you must remember. They also carry a double meaning. The first of which being that you must continue to develop strong thoughts, whether it occurs when you are thinking about the incident covered in this play, or not. Ophelia definitely knows more than she is blatantly saying about Claudius' evil actions. A pansy can also be slang for 'fool'; people are fools for thinking too much. It is foolish to think too much, it could hurt you.
The Flora and Fauna motif can be divided into four sub-themes; delicate flowers representing goodness and the fragile woman, snakes and other reptilians representing present evil and future evil creeping forward, weeds representing tough and evil control, and birds representing a height above this world; "There is special providence in/the fall of a sparrow." (5.2.219-220) meaning Hamlet will get somewhere if he lands on this dirty ground and takes a stab at what he has planned. Only through fate is a bird brought down.
If one simply looks at the four sub-themes of Hamlet, they could gain a good understanding of the text. Flora and fauna is so prevalent everywhere in the text that it is a simple yet comprehensive view of "Hamlet".
Flora and fauna may seem like a boring or easy motif at first, but in all actuality it is a vital part to the story of "Hamlet". The comparisons and metaphors referencing tangible objects are half of the meanings in these quotes. Flora and fauna is all about the symbolism, and you can find many of the other motifs located through Flora and fauna. My first three selected quotes touch on corruption- from the corruption in the King's garden, and the corruption caused by not halting growing weeds, as well the plain and simple corruption in people he used to call his friends.
O, Seiken
ReplyDeleteAppearance and Truth
3.1. 174~75 3.2. 34~37, 378~79 3.3. 50~53, 77~79 3.4. 142~53
4.2. 15~21 4.3. 5~7, 26~27 4.5. 11~17, 48~49
5.1. 9~13, 220~23, 275~77 5.2. 250~51
“Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, / Might stop a hole to keep the wind away. / O, that that earth which kept the world in awe / Should patch a wall t’ expel the winter’s flaw!” -5.1.20~
The gravedigger gives a skull for Ham to see. He makes allusions to prominent figures of history and a jester. Here Ham is awed by what people become after death. Though he can’t judge anything from the appearance of a skull, the reality is that it used to be someone important. this is similar to what he was saying about Polonius being supped upon- how a king and a beggar are the same thing to a maggot that only wants to eat. And what good is a skull if only to patch up some windows. Ham here is feeling the fear of death that he hasn’t considered in the to be or not speech.
“Lord, we know what we are / but know not what we may be.” -4.5.48~
This is one of Ophelia’s rambles so it’ll be rough explaining it. She tells us the meaning can be derived from her song about a maiden tricked by some guy. The maiden from the song knew what she wanted, but was impatient and lost everything. The quote is lamenting the inconceivability of the future. Though the maiden may have appeared to have everything in place, and indeed the chances of her losing were slim but by luck, the impossible occurred. This also applies to Ham, who in delaying his slaughter of Claudius could not foresee the death of the Queen, which he was warned by the Ghost to prevent.
“I took thee for thy better. Take thy fortune. / thou found’st to be too busy is some danger.” -3.4.39~
Apparently Ham liked Polonius a little bit. Even after all he said about him. That could be the duplicity we were looking for all on its own but let it be. Ham kills Polonius and we’re all satisfied but this quote does more than that. It hints the possibility of there being extra unseen social dynamics that are not so obvious as they appear. This gets old but this reminded me yet again of RG for Ham said the same about them, and it is interesting that they were both (Polo and RG) in the scene where Ham compares them to recorder players. Ham was betrayed by RG who used to be his allies. Illusion is a prevalent theme in Hamlet and this is only one example.
“Ay, sir; that soaks up the King's countenance, / his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the / King best service in the end. He keeps them, like an / ape, in the corner of his jaw; first mouth'd, / to be last swallowed. When he needs what you have / glean'd, it is but squeezing you and, sponge, you / shall be dry again.” -4.2.15~
ReplyDeleteEven though RG think they are the King’s favorites, to the king, they are nothing more than pawns to advance his schemes. Even from Polonius’s death, we can see no other expression from the King than him imping about what a burden Ham is and how they should get rid of him as soon as possible. People as low as Polonius, who spy on people and eavesdrop on their conversations are not easy to come by and in that he grieves. RG are mistaken when they think they are the King’s personal sponge. They are actually his apple, to be flushed down the bowl after they’re depleted of further use. This is like Ophelia’s situation in that she believed herself betrayed of promises unkempt by Ham.
“And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts; / Which, as her winks and nods and gestures yield them, / Indeed would make one think there might be thought, / Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily.” -4.5.12~
The messenger here remarks how the words of the mad are sometimes more insightful than blabber of the plain. To the mediocre listener her words may appear empty, but if one were to delve into its depth, they would find it to be complex and revealing. Her songs, for example may (or may not) be her own story. But in every case it is equally possible she has no idea what she utters, because at any rate does not speak logic. Therefore it is up to the listener to determine how far she speaks from the truth, and whether to perceive her words as wisdom or folly. And accordingly, it’s alike for Ham to the King for you often see him and others exclaiming “Alas, alas!” or “Heavens forbid!” which clearly indicates their inability to distinguish him to be humorous or indecorous.
Appearance and reality was a confusing motif because it was unclear if it was literal appearance or metaphorical or whatever, and there were times when some quotes were later found to be that of others with different motifs. In the beginning it was centered on the ghost being a phantom or devil and all but it gradually came to be focused more on duplicity and stratagem. Take Ham’s madness for example. Here’s an instance where Ham endeavors to deceive everyone by feigning to be insane. In other words, he appears to be mad, when really he has a plan he’s acting on. So it does get tricky. For guidance, I relied on the question and like ‘what appears to be real but may not be.’
Olivia P.
ReplyDeleteMan and Manliness
3.1.79
3.2.56
3.2.140
3.2.227
3.3.45
3.4.234
4.3.2
4.3.30
4.3.60
4.4.30
5.1.16
5.1.168
5.2.152
5.2.237
“So long? Nay then, let the devil wear black, /for I’ll have a suit of sables. O heavens! Die two/ months ago and not forgotten yet? Then there’s/ hope a great man’s memory may outlive his life half/ a year. But, by 'r Lady, he must build churches then, /or else shall he suffer not thinking on, with the/ hobby-horse, whose epitaph is “For, oh, for, oh,/ the hobby-horse is forgot.” 3.2.136-144
This quote takes place in the middle of a conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia, talking about how cheerful Queen Gertrude is, when his father Hamlet has only been dead for four months. Hamlet questions his mother’s happiness, when his wonderful father has just passed away, and it seems as if King Hamlet never existed. This quote develops the motif, because throughout the play, Hamlet always refers to his father as being “the man” and always trying to live up to his father’s value. King Hamlet is the ideal “man” the people of Denmark once looked up to, and that is why Hamlet is so shaken up that Gertrude and others could get over him so quickly.
“And, like a man to double business bound,/I stand in pause where I shall first begin,
/And both neglect. What if this cursèd hand/Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood?” 3.3.45
This part of the play is when Claudius has just ordered that he will be sending Hamlet off to England, Polonius exits the room, and Claudius has a conversation with himself; filled with guilt. In Claudius conversation, Claudius questions if there is enough rain in heaven to wash away his brother’s blood off his hands. He wants to pray but he cannot, acting as a man with two opposite things to do at once. This quote helps develop the motif, because while King Hamlet was what a true man should’ve looked like; Claudius is secretly what a true man should not look like. Claudius does not come close to claiming the “ideal man” title, and that is what separates the two brothers’ and he knows it. Just as Hamlet can’t live up to his father’s existence, neither can King Claudius. And that is also some of the guilt Claudius takes on. He knows that he has done such a tragic thing to a man, who did a much better job at being king then he has. That is why he wishes to pray, and ask for forgiveness, but knows he can’t and hasn’t the slightest clue which prayer would accept his forgiveness.
“My mother. Father and mother is man and wife, /man and wife is one flesh, and so, my mother./—Come, for England!” 4.3.60
This part of Hamlet is in a discussion between Hamlet and Claudius. Hamlet was just informed that Claudius is sending Hamlet off to England, and it is then that Hamlet begins to mind-boggle Claudius. This quote develops the motif of manliness, due in part that Hamlet shows his coward side when dealing with his emotions and not taking on the role of being a man. That is why, as a way of dealing with the paint that he suffers with, Hamlet decides to mess with people’s heads, and use complex language, and pretend all of these tragedies have made him crazy. Not living up to the “ideal man” standards, in which his father King Hamlet set an example of.
“Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats/Will not debate the question of this straw./This is th' impostume of much wealth and peace,/That inward breaks and shows no cause without/Why the man dies.—I humbly thank you, sir.” 4.4.30
ReplyDeleteThis quote takes place in a conversation between Hamlet and the Captain of Fortinbras Army. The two question as to why Fortinbras wants to travel through Denmark to get to Poland, just to fight over a patch of land? It is then that Hamlet speaks to himself about his thoughts on the situation. In the quote, Hamlet somewhat uses the comparison of a problem building inside a person causing him to die, to himself with the current problems he is facing. This quote helps develop the motif, because throughout the play Hamlet is constantly bottling up the emotions of his father’s death, his mother’s remarriage, and his non-ability to see Ophelia. At times Hamlet wishes to seek revenge upon Claudius for being the reason of his father’s death, and mother’s remarriage, but he doesn’t. He fears that Claudius will go to heaven, with happiness and forgiveness, while his dad miserably walks the earth searching for a way to escape. Hamlet doesn’t have the ability to express his sadness, and problems so instead he takes it out of the people of Denmark, in pretending that he is crazy. Making the people think that all these tragedies, have made him go mad.
“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.” 5.2.233-238
Hamlet has just been asked to duel Laertes in a fencing match, and Hamlet shares with Horatio that he has a funny feeling about this match. It is then that Horatio tells Hamlet that if his instincts are telling him not to go along with the match, then he shouldn’t. He should trust what his instincts are telling him, and decline the invite. But of course stubborn Hamlet comes up with a witty response which in a crazy tangled way, tells Horatio to just let everything be. This quote develops the motif, because the characters have a way of forcing things upon themselves, and for once Hamlet is just asking for life to play out itself. Hamlet has had thoughts of ending Claudius’ life, Claudius sent Hamlet off to England, Ophelia may or may not have willing drowned, and Laertes wants to take Hamlet’s life from him, but at this stage of the play, Hamlet has come to peace with his conscience. He tells Horatio, “God controls everything. Everything will work out as it is destined.” (sparknotes.com) And that shows Hamlet of becoming a true man, and finally coming at peace with himself. Living up to what his father King Hamlet would’ve done, and growing up out from the boy that he once was.
Diana D.
ReplyDeleteWomen and Womanliness
(3.1.121-125)
(3.1.146-152)
(3.1.154-162)
(3.2.199-131)
(3.2.253-255)
(3.2.269-275)
(3.2.425-432)
(3.4.91-98)
(4.5.53-60)
(4.5.73-76)
(4.5.178-187)
(4.5.211-212)
(5.1.248-252)
(3.1.131-141)“Get thee to a nunnery! Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my
mother had not borne me. I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious; with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in. What should such fellows as I do, crawling between earth and heaven? We are arrant knaves all; believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery.”
In this quote, Hamlet tells Ophelia that she should be sent to a nunnery rather than marry. While “nunnery” can be used to mean “convent”, during the time of Shakespeare it was also slang for “brothel”. The use of the word nunnery goes back to the two ways woman are viewed in this play. In Hamlet, women are either viewed as saintly figures or evil temptresses. Looking back at this quote, I realized that it actually referenced a part of the “To be or not to be” soliloquy. Hamlet states that women are “breeders of sinners” and that even his mother did not escape this fate. This idea of inheriting problems is repeated from the line “thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir” (3.1.70-71). Not only does Hamlet’s venting to Ophelia demonstrate the belief that women are the cause of all problems, but also that women are used as essentially emotional punching bags.
(3.4.126-131) “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.”
In this scene we see the sudden reappearance of the Ghost, who warns Hamlet that he should not take out his anger on his mother. Well, at least not in a physical manner, the name of frailty is woman after all. What the Ghost says is connected to the idea that women are naturally weaker then men and as such must be protected. Though this idea is somewhat combated by the phrase “Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works.” This hints that while women are physically weak, they have rampant minds. Though the fact that Gertrude must be protected from this by a man somewhat diminishes this sentiment. This notion of women needed protection even transcends Hamlet’s desire to avenge his father’s death, as he refuses to physically harm his mother no matter how angry he is at her. The only thing that actually seems to hold him back is tradition, not his personal beliefs. This version of the ghost is actually Hamlet’s mind trying in a last ditch effort to calm him down.
(4.5.63-71) “Indeed, la, without an oath, I'll make an end on 't: by Gis and by Saint Charity, alack, and fie for shame, young men will do 't if they come to 't; by Cock, they are to blame. Quoth she ‘Before you tumbled me, you promis'd me to wed.’ He answers: ‘So would I 'a done, by yonder sun, an thou hadst not come to my bed.’”
DeleteThe song Ophelia sings goes back to the relationship between gender roles and sexuality. Women are expected to be chaste and virtuous as opposed to men who are expected to be indulgent and impure. This song highlights how important it was for women to be virgins when they were married and how this concern with one’s chastity was only a woman’s issue. One of the main issues of the women of the play is that their characters are practically driven by their sexualities, or how Hamlet perceives their sexualities. Anything that deviates from the rigid mold of the proper sexuality of the time has automatically been somehow connected to marriage. As such, this shows that the only really hope for a woman was marriage, something that Ophelia has lost hope of. Through her song, Ophelia laments the loss of the only future she was trained for.
(4.7.211-217) “Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, and therefore I forbid my tears. But yet it is our trick; nature her custom holds, let shame say what it will. When these are gone, the woman will be out. Adieu, my lord. I have a speech o’ fire, that fain would blaze, but that this folly drowns it.”
Here we are shown the parallels between weakness, being emotional, and being feminine. Laertes says that he forbids himself to cry because Ophelia had “Too much water” already. This link between water and tears also symbolizes that Ophelia was very feminine, as Laertes then goes on the say that expressing one’s sorrow is effeminate. Claudius expressed this earlier, when he scolded Hamlet for his “unmanly grief” (1.2.98). Though unlike Claudius, Laertes says that grieving is a part of human nature, as unmanly as it may be. This creates the idea that even though men are capable as the same emotional range women have they, doing so would make them weak and womanly. It also creates the rather disturbing idea that human nature is something to be considered a weakness. Going back to Ophelia, by saying she is full of water; Laertes is saying Ophelia is full of femininity and womanliness. By saying she is full of femininity and womanliness, Laertes is saying that Ophelia is full of weakness. This quote acts as a connection between Ophelia’s and Laertes’s state of mind. By saying that their minds were full of the same emotion, Laertes expresses some fear that he may end up like Ophelia.
(5.1.199-202) “Now get you to my lady’s chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come. Make her laugh at that.”
The quote relates to the idea that woman are deceitful, and even echoes 3.1 where he chastises Ophelia for wearing deceitful “paintings” (3.1.154). This idea of women being deceitful to others has now evolved into this idea that women are even lying to themselves. Ironically as Hamlet is going on about how he wants to Ophelia to accept death, her funeral is taking place. Hamlet is actually encouraging Ophelia to express her emotions more and being more “feminine”. At this point Hamlet has realized the dilemma women face, they have concrete standards that they must follow while men are given much more leeway. This concrete standard goes back to the idea of women not being allowed to express their sexuality. By indulging his more “unmanly” side, Hamlet has realized that being forced to keep your emotions pent up is not a gendered problem.
In Hamlet, every woman is the weaker counterpart of a man. No exceptions. Though seeing as there are only two women in the entire play, the statement is not as impressive. Both Claudius and Gertrude are shunned by Hamlet because of their incestuous relationship and both share the belief that Hamlet needs to move on with his life. Upon further inspection, one notices that Ophelia and Hamlet both have similar problems and ways of acting. Laertes is given privileges by their “fathers” they are denied, their madness was spurred by the deaths of their fathers, both discretely mock Claudius to his face, etc. Hamlet and Ophelia represent the choices of “to be or not to be” speech, respectively. This idea of action vs. inaction between the two genders is also echoed in Hamlet’s plan for Claudius and Gertrude. Hamlet plans to avenge his father solely through Claudius’s death, leaving Gertrude alone for the most part besides the scolding. Going with the idea of men taking actions and women remaining idle, the main idea of this motif it that man are strong and powerful while women are fragile and weak. As Hamlet said “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (1.2.150) Being weaker then men, both women die before their male counterparts. The women die without really doing much; their deaths only seem to be used as plot devices to get men to react. The play also explores the differences between how women are expected to act and how they are treated if they do not live up to these expectations. We see through Polonius’s and Laertes’s talk with Ophelia that women are expected to be chaste and pure while men have a freer range of actions. Women who do not meet these expectations, like Ophelia and Gertrude, will be shunned. An impure woman is considered to be disgraceful to not only her, but to the men in her life as well, hence Polonius’s fear of Ophelia “tendering him a fool”.
DeleteEmily M.
ReplyDeleteResponses to Authority
Appears in: 3.2.55, 3.2.116, 3.2.413, 3.3.9-10, 3.4.23-25, 3.4.116-117, 4.3.54, 4.5.125, 4.7.67-68, 5.2.107, 5.2.318
1.
3.2.116 Hamlet: “Nay good mother. Here’s a metal more attractive” in this part of the play the people who are watching the mousetrap play are getting ready, and taking seats. Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude wants Hamlet to sit next to her, and this quote is Hamlet’s response to her authority. By him saying no to her, and being disobedient, which was not seen up until now, it shows how little he respects his mother, and how angry he still is with her. By using the word “metal” I think it meant that Hamlet sees women as cold, hard beings, and that no matter what, any woman is heartless and can be as heartless as his own mother. After seeing the word “metal” it is easy to see that Hamlet not only has no respect for his mother, but that he also still thinks of her as this horrible, heartless person. This quote develops the motif of responses to authority in a different light. Before this quote all of the responses to authority were obedient, but this is where things seem to turn, and respect is more pushed to back of the minds of the people responding to authority. It is shocking to see, and also surprising with the pattern that was being developed before act 3.
2.
3.2.413 Hamlet: “Then I will come to my mother by and by” at this part of the play Gertrude has sent Polonius to get Hamlet to come to her room, in order for Polonius to spy on Hamlet and his “madness”. Hamlet, unlike the last time he had to respond to his mother’s authority is now being obedient, and coming to her room, even though he previously states “methinks it is like a weasel”. This statement shows Hamlet’s suspicion as to why he should go to his mother’s room, but he continues on to say he will go. This response, being obedient, made me question if Hamlet knew what was going on or not. It confused me as to why Hamlet would not sit next to his mother during the play, but he would obey her now, and see her in private. Maybe he is embarrassed to be seen around his mother, because he, himself, thinks so lowly of her, and he thinks that is how everybody should look at his mother. The quote, while it is confusing helped to develop the motif of responses to authority, in that it shows obedience, like many other quotes of this motif, and makes the audience wonder as to “why would one be obedient to this authority“? The obedience is what always makes me wonder the reasoning behind it, and whether this response to authority will be obeyed or not.
3.
ReplyDelete3.3.9-10 Guildenstern: “We ourselves provide. Most holy and religious fear it is”. The responses to authority were very apparent and seemed very important all throughout act 3. At this part of the play Claudius is requesting that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spy on Hamlet, because he fears Hamlet is a threat to Denmark’s estate. Guildenstern, who is Hamlet’s childhood friend basically agrees to sell his own friend out, and also says he thinks it his religious duty to do so. It’s a religious duty to be deceiving? Guildenstern is obviously just trying to get on the king’s good side, and be a suck up, and I think that is why Guildenstern’s response to the king’s authority was way more than obedient than just a simple yes or no. Guildenstern can benefit more with the approval from the king than he could from Hamlet or anybody else, so by being obedient he is being selfish. He is trying to make himself look better by ratting out his friend. Why would he have any respect for Hamlet anyway, after all Hamlet is crazy? The quote develops the motif of not only responses to authority, but obedience, and reason as to why the characters in this play are obedient; because they are selfish, and also because their opinions of people change. Throughout the play Hamlet seems to lose more and more respect because of his lunacy. It helps to answer the question as to why would this character be obedient, and helps to see the corruptness that exists in this play.
4.
4.3.54 Hamlet: “Good”. In this scene the King has told Hamlet that he plans to send him to England and this is Hamlet’s response. It is a short line, especially for the witty Hamlet. It is sarcastic, and gets right to the point. By saying “Good.” Hamlet is basically telling Claudius he’d rather be there than in Denmark, and is also saying he is glad he won’t have to be around these people anymore. Hamlet didn’t want to go to England, and it is not like he had the hopes of going to England, so it is easy to see Hamlet’s sarcasm at this part of the play. It was an obedient yet rude response to authority. This quote develops the motif in the same way it did when Hamlet tells his mother he will not sit with her. It is different because it is obedient but it is showing an aspect of disrespectful-ness that Hamlet possesses through responding to authority.
5.
5.2.107 Osric: “I thank your lordship; it is very hot.” Hamlet is telling Osric to put his hat on, because it is cold. Osric responds to Hamlet’s authority by disobeying. Hamlet tries to persuade Osric to put his hat on, but Osric is persistent not to, and does not end up putting his hat on. This disobedience to a simple order shows how Hamlet’s madness has affected his authority. Since everybody thinks he is crazy, they don’t respect his authority, or commands, even somebody like Osric would not obey Lord Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. This quote conveys Hamlet’s lunacy and how people respond not only to authority, but to people who are thought to be crazy, they don’t respect them as much as a normal minded person. Maybe Hamlet had this sort of disrespect coming, because of how disrespectful he was being with his own responses to authority. Is this karma, and is this Hamlet getting a taste of his own medicine? Is that the purpose of the disobedience Osric displays at this part of the scene, or is it to show how people don’t respect people who are considered crazy? Maybe the purpose of this disobedience is to show both. This quote develops the motif because it gives us another reason for disobedience throughout the play, and also sees how people act towards authority when opinions about that person change.
The development of the motif; Responses to Authority showed great changes in its responses, and to the reasons for the responses. At first throughout acts 1 and 2 the responses were “I shall obey my lord” and “I shall do my best to obey you madam”. The responses showed respect to authority figures, and didn’t start any controversy. This all changes when act 3 took place, with Hamlet’s disobedience to his mother “Nay good mother, here’s a metal more attractive.” He says no to his mother, which took me by surprise since in act 1 scene 2 Hamlet showed great respect for his mother by saying “I shall do my best to obey madam.” And keep in mind this is before he finds out his father’s death is intentional. Maybe the fact he saw his father’s ghost changed Hamlets response from obeying to disobeying. The development of this motif, as you can see, shows the characters coming out of their shells, and helps to develop certain characteristics of those characters. Act 3 is where this motif pivots and turns from strictly obedient to disobedience, and disrespect. Throughout the rest of the play the motif still shows more disrespect than it does respect, it shows how irritated the characters are with each other. I think the significance of the development of this motif was to show how attitudes change with opinions towards people, and with unknowns that have been told. It shows how opinions can change, and shows how quickly an authority figure can become somebody who cannot be taken seriously. Overall it told a lot about society in its development which I think is what Shakespeare meant to portray.
ReplyDeleteAnna G.
ReplyDeleteAction/Inaction
3.1.64-98
3.2.2.287-290
3.3.30
3.4.28-29
4.1.30-33
4.2.11
4.3.1
4.4.59
5.2.352
5.2.376-377
Act III, Scene I, Line 65-68
“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. To die, to sleep--.”
This quote is from Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy. He is trying to decide whether or not he should do something about avenging his father and take action. His other option is to completely end his suffering and cowardliness, “No more—and by a sleep to say we end…” (Line 69) In this whole play, action/inaction connects with sleeping and dying. They are interrelated and create Hamlet’s mind process.
Act IV, Scene iv, Line 59-62
“How stand I, then, That have a father killed, a mother stained, Excitements of my reason and my blood, And let all sleep…”
Hamlet is constantly complaining about how he does not have the courage to do anything. It seems as though he always has a guilty conscience throughout the play. In this quote it shows that Hamlet literally did not and cannot take action even when all of these dramatic events are happening. There may be a deeper issue within Hamlet that restricts him from wanting or having the emotional energy to solve his problems.
Act IV, Scene v, Line 199-201
“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.”
This particular shows a different, more flamboyant side of the play during all of the chaos that takes place. Ophelia enjoys flowers and uses them to help her heal and attempt to cure other people, (emotionally). It is a different way of grieving than Hamlet’s method. Physical action is not what Ophelia tends to turn to. Her brother, Laretes, even notices her gentle behavior, “Thought and afflictions, passion, hell itself She turns to favor and to prettiness.” (line 211-212)
Act IV, Scene vii, Line 187-188
“One woe doth tread upon another’s heel, So fast they follow. Your sister’s drowned, Laretes.”
In this scene, the queen informs Laretes that his sister has just killed herself. She went to the brook and chose to take her own life. It was one of the larger actions that have been done in the play this far. No one expected that Ophelia would be the one to die. From the context, it seems as though Ophelia was driven mad and could not take everything that was going on in her life. Unlike Hamlet who cannot decide what he wants to do, she doesn’t give it a second thought and gets rid of her issues all at once.
Act V, Scene ii, Line 376-377
“As thou’rt a man, Give me the cup. Let go! By heaven, I’ll ha’t.”
Act five was probably one of the most important parts in the entire play. Besides everyone falling to their death, Hamlet makes the main, firmest decision of his life, and drinks the poison to kill him. Action is very apparent during this entire scene and each detail is important. Hamlet’s unnatural tone is like he is giving up on not wanting to take action. Before his death, Hamlet also kills Claudius by forcing the poison down his throat.
Overall, action/inaction is in every detail of Shakespeare’s lines. Hamlet’s entire mindset is based off of this motif. The main question running throughout the scenes is, should Hamlet do something, or sit back and not take action. This motif is vague and broad; it covers different aspects of grieving, avenging, dying, dreaming and so on. I would say it is a part of the backbone of the other themes, although everything threads together. All of Hamlet’s soliloquies are expressing whether or not Hamlet should do something about his problems at hand. They bounce back and forth from action to inaction.
Ivy G.
ReplyDeleteFlora and Fauna
3.1.85
3.1.90
3.1.108
3.1.149
3.1.157
3.1.166
3.2.17
3.2.64-66
3.2.99
3.2.112
3.2.137-138
3.2.147
3.2.147-148
3.2.213
3.2.227
3.2.261
3.2.266-267
3.2.278
3.2.283
3.2.297
3.2.301-304
3.2.310
3.2.371
3.2.406-412
3.3.72
3.3.103
3.4.29
3.4.47-48
3.4.51
3.4.74
3.4.103-106
3.4.118
3.4.172-173
3.4.205
3.4.212
3.4.216
3.4.226
4.2.17-18
4.2.30
4.3.23-26
4.3.30-32
4.3.49
4.4.69
4.4.62
4.4.56
4.5.36
4.5.93
4.5.168
4.5.181
4.5.191
4.5.200
4.5.204-209
4.7.91
4.7.98-99
4.7.190-202
5.1.11
5.1.87
5.1.90
5.1.166-118
5.1.250
5.1.254
5.1.283
5.1.293
5.1.304
5.1.311
5.2.25
5.2.95
5.2.99-100
5.2.174
5.2.199
5.2.233-234
5.2.336
1. In line 3.2.371, Hamlet says to Horatio, “Ay, sir, but “While the grass grows”- the proverb is something musty.” According to Mowat’s side notes, it is a partial proverb which reads “while the grass grows… the horse starves.” This quote promotes both the flora and the fauna motif in that it refers to Hamlet dealing with his grief alone and not divulging his secrets to his “friend”. Rosencrantz tells Hamlet “you bar the door upon your own liberty, if you deny your griefs to your friend”; meaning that Hamlet should tell his “friend”, Rosencrantz, about his grief and what his problems are. Hamlet rebuts by calling this proverb that links flora and fauna (grass and a horse) “musty”. The significance of this quote is that it shows Hamlet’s suspicion of Rosencrantz and his intentions with Hamlet. It also elaborates on Hamlet’s internal despair and decision to only trust himself, since so many others are proving to be untrustworthy.
2. Another quotation that expands the motif in the play can be found on lines 3.4.170-172, “Confess yourself to heaven, repent what's past, avoid what is to come, and do not spread the compost on the weeds to make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue…” Hamlet says this to his mother. He uses this imagery of fauna to get his point across which is to advise her not to be with Claudius (this advice reoccurs again in line 3.4.205). This quote is like saying “don’t feed the fire” and it expands Hamlets disgust with his mother but also his attempt to reason with her. In this quote he says she must confess her sins and quit adding problems to the already disastrous situation; to not add to the stench that is the “compost she spreads on the weeds”. The weeds would represent her “incestuous” actions with Claudius and the compost would be her continuing to be his wife and sleeping with him. The ghost advises Hamlet to speak with his mother and come between “her and her fighting soul”, so when Hamlet does talk to her he burns her self-esteem but tells her there is a chance for salvation if she confesses and stops “making the weeds ranker.” The passage further develops the motif by using weeds to describe unpleasant things, in this case the unification between Claudius and Gertrude.
3. A third quote that develops the flora and fauna motif is in line 4.3.30-32, “A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.” This is spoken by Hamlet in regards to where Polonius’ dead body is kept. It illustrates a cycle of life and death. This is an interesting and important quote because it downplays death in Hamlet’s opinion. This quote gives the audience another reason to believe Hamlet is crazy. It is not common that a person would speak of death like this especially if they were innocent (having never murdered) because they know to be respectful of dead people since it is not a light topic. Hamlet previously used fauna to describe the insignificance of Polonius’ death when he says “A certain convocation of politic worms are e’en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet…we fat ourselves for maggots.” Worms are at the bottom of the food chain, so for Hamlet to compare them to humans who are at the top of the food chain adds a demeaning layer to the intention of the text. This quote develops more questions as to whether or not Hamlet is truly insane and develops the tragedy that is the play (tragedy being death; dust to dust).
ReplyDelete4. In lines 4.5.204-209, Ophelia says to Laertes, “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. O, you must wear your rue with a difference! There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they wither’d all when my father died. They say he made a good end.” It is well known that Ophelia is often associated with flowers and for her to use this motif to describe her father’s death creates a tragic and mixed feeling for the audience. Ophelia deals with her loss and grief by singing and sometimes she seems to act a little loony like Hamlet. When Ophelia shifts her tone from “violence to kindness and beauty” (according to enotes) it suggests that her mind has become a bit scrambled. There is a contrast comparison between death and flowers. She talks about the many different flowers or “herbs of grace” that she can possess but that the violets have withered and gone like her father has died and gone. Shakespeare uses a play on words in this quote, when he uses “rue”. Rue is a type of plant with yellow flowers usually used in medicine, but the word can also mean sorrow, regret or repentance. The fauna motif is developed with the comparison between her sorrow and a flower used for medicine. Out of the other types of flowers she lists off, rue and violets have the most impact in this quote because they produce ties between characters.
5. A fifth quotation to further develop the flora fauna motif in the play is found in 5.2.233-235 where Hamlet says “There is 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…” Hamlet says this to Horatio before he has his duel with Laertes where four characters die. Initially, Horatio was trying to caution Hamlet and advise him into not fighting Laertes. Though, in this quote, Hamlet uses fauna to illustrate the concept that one should be ready for anything. This development adds a bit of foreshadowing to the play in regards to the many lives that are about to be lost; Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes and even Hamlet.
To explain the development and the significance of this motif in the play... The flora and fauna motif is used excessively in the play. The motif developed characters and helped the audience to understand what they were supposed to think of certain events. Whenever Hamlet called Claudius “bestial” or compared his bed to a pigsty (3.4.103-106) they audience would perceive him as a villainous character or “rat” (3.4.29). The motif also added another layer to the play that the audience could relate to. For example, most people love flowers and associate them with light and pure or innocent things, so when used on Ophelia, people would describe her as pure, innocent and sweet; “Sweets to the sweet” 5.1.254. A lot of images of this motif are intertwined throughout the play, where some themes stick with certain characters or ideas, like freedom to birds/flying, Ophelia to flowers, deceit to weeds, treachery to snakes, death/decay to worms. When Shakespeare incorporates fauna that entails animals of wild or gross nature, it creates a gross depiction of a character or expresses the hateful feelings one character has on another. The use of “rat” on Polonius and Gertrude’s use of “wag” rudely on Hamlet (as if an annoying repetitive action similar to what a dog would do) is another example. By using the flora and fauna motif, Shakespeare can develop in a clearer light what characters feel and evolve into.
ReplyDeleteLiz M.
ReplyDeleteMadness and Normalcy
3.1.1-4 *
3.1.176-184
3.2.116-144
3.3.1-2
3.4.118-121
3.4.157-159
4.1.7-12 *
4.1.25-29 *
4.5.176-187
4.5.204-210
5.1.67-72 *
5.2.248-258 *
“And can you by no drifts of conference / Get from him why he puts on this confusion, / Grating so harshly all his days of quiet / With turbulent and dangerous lunacy?” (3.1.1-4).
King Claudius is speaking with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about the infectious madness of Hamlet. Claudius is incredibly clear that this is not normal for Hamlet and is still questioning his spies. The lack of explanation is frustrating him, asking them how they could find absolutely nothing about the reason for Hamlets madness and his dangerous behavior. Claudius is very blunt about Hamlets lunacy and since he is Hamlets Uncle, it’s an easily drawn conclusion that he knew Hamlet before he reverted to his current state of depression. This being said, Claudius, Gertrude and Ophelia are some of the most affected by Hamlets behavior. Shakespeare uses Claudius as a conspicuous observer, informing the audience of just how concerning and abnormal Hamlets behavior is.
“Mad as the sea and wind when both contend / Which is the mightier. In his lawless fit, / Behind the arras hearing something stir, / Whips out his rapier, cries “A rat, a rat,” / And in this brainish apprehension kills / Then unseen good old man” (4.1.7-12).
Gertrude is another of Hamlets insanity observers only seeing it first hand in comparison to Claudius. After Hamlet met with his mother in her private closet and confronts her about his father’s death, she is offended, guilty and further convinced of his insanity. When Claudius questions Hamlet and hers impromptu meeting she relays what happened to him but didn’t feel the need to tell him about the apparent revelation of Claudius killing the late King Hamlet or Hamlets claim of seeing her late Husband’s ghost. However, she does inform him of Polonius’ murder at the hands of Hamlet. She notes that Hamlet was in a headstrong (“brainish”) state and prone to lawless fits. This excerpt on Hamlets insanity is especially potent for its strong imagery and the described upset nature of Gertrude. She compares Hamlets fit of madness as the winds and oceans rising up against each other, smashing one another in strong bursts of anger and strength. Then they are calm once again, but as the warnings grow stronger, the fight rises again, just as Hamlet does. Gertrude adds to the imagery of the madness motif and reinforces the idea that this is not normal for her or Hamlet.
“To draw apart the body he hath killed, / O’er whom his very madness, like some ore / Among a mineral of metals base, / Shows itself pure: he weeps for what is done” (4.1.25-29).
DeleteGertrude is still having her conversation with Claudius about what is to be done about Hamlets insanity. She bemoans the murder of Polonius at the hands of her son and tells Claudius that Hamlet is hiding the body right now. Once again she uses intoxicating imagery, describing her sons madness like gold, that when molten, separated itself from the base metals; bright and vibrant.
“Hamlet: Has this fellow no feeling of his business? He / sings in grave making.
Horatio: Custom hath made it in him a property of / Easiness.
Hamlet: ‘Tis e’en so. The hand of little employment / Hath the daintier sense” (5.1.67-72).
Hamlet is walking through the graveyard with Horatio and they come across a gravedigger, who had previously been speaking with another one of his co-workers about jests and singing. Hamlet finds his lack of tact appalling and says as much to Horatio. Horatio in turn points out that the gravedigger has been doing this for years, making it easier for him, as he’s used to it. Hamlet agrees and marks that little employment makes a much more sensitive person. The motif normalcy, or lack thereof, is strongly portrayed by Hamlet and the gravedigger and the comparison that can be made between Claudius and Hamlets relationship. Hamlet notices that it is rather abnormal for someone of such dreary work, like the gravediggers, to be singing and making jokes. Claudius notices that it is abnormal for someone like Hamlet, who has a loving mother, a significant other, and an incredibly good position in society to go insane as Hamlet did. But, when Hamlet notices such an abnormality, it is more appealing when coming from the anti-hero of the story. An insane young man, heartbroken by his father’s death, bent on revenge is more appealing to an audience than a creepy uncle marrying his brother’s widow. Normalcy and the lack of it in the play is quite in depth in this small example.
“Was’t Hamlet who wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet. / If Hamlet from himself be ta’en away, / And when he’s not himself does wrong Laertes, / Then Hamlet does it no; Hamlet denies it. / Who does it, then? His madness. If’t be so, / Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged; / His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy” (5.2.247-253).
Laertes is now confronting Hamlet about his madness, saying Hamlet has wronged him and he must pay. Hamlets tone appears to change in his conversation with Laertes, started to stop and start in short bursts while repeating and accentuating the word madness. Not only that but he talks of himself in the third person. Hamlet himself is accepting and advertising his insanity to those of the court, but at the same time making sure to note that it isn’t him who is doing these things, but the madness that rises up. Something very comparable to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Shakespeare has developed Hamlet as a very complex and interesting character but in this response, Hamlet simplifies himself and his emotions. It is not necessarily madness that has overtaken and overwhelmed Hamlets life, but a more complex reaction to his life twisting in on itself forsaking the normalcy his clung to.
I apologize for this being a day late, I mistook the amount of time I had available to finish it.
DeleteZachary Schultz
ReplyDeletePlaying and Acting
3.2.30-37
3.2. 69-80
3.2.104-110
3.2.393-402
3.2.406-412
4.4.46-65
4.7.122-124
5.1.77-188
5.1.120-295
5.2.105-114
5.2.239-336
"'Sblood,/ do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?” (3.2.399-400)
At this point, Hamlet is grilling Guildenstern, making a metaphor of himself with a pipe. He asks Guildenstern to play the pipe for him, the spy replying “I cannot” (3.2.382) and “I know no touch of it” (3.2.386) finally ending with, and setting off Hamlet, “I have not the skill.” (3.2.392) The reason this angers Hamlet is because throughout this entire part of the scene Hamlet is reflecting on how Guildenstern, as his spy (spying ON him, not FOR him), is playing him so easily yet he cannot play a simple child’s instrument. This quote advances the idea of playing and acting in the play by showing characters interacting with the motif. Hamlet is making connections between him and an inanimate object having the same action forced upon them while Guildenstern is the one who makes the action. This piece of “Hamlet” ties the motif of playing and acting into Hamlet’s wit and Claudius’ treachery and espionage through the dim-witted Guildenstern.
“Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in the /shape of a camel?/By th’ Mass, and ‘tis like a camel indeed./Methinks it is like a weasel./It is backed like a weasel./Or like a whale./Very like a whale.” (3.2.40-412)
This segment is a personal favorite. Hamlet plays with Polonius and his obliging attitude, laughing to himself as he watches the king’s advisor agreeing with a mad man over a shape-shifting cloud. By the end, the cloud was a camel that was “backed like a weasel…Or like a whale.” (3.2.409-411) This quote shows Hamlet’s wit yet again as well as the more playful side of the playing and acting motif.
“Thy loving father, Hamlet.” (4.4.59)
This line symbolizes the height of Claudius acting through lies and deception. To be able to call himself Hamlet’s loving father, words of emotional power, and have them be so truly empty yet convincing to the ear is true skill in playing. This is really the height of the segment where it appears that Claudius is sending Hamlet to England for his mental health when he is actually trying to send his nephew to his death. At this particular line, the goodbyes are being said and Hamlet has only addressed his mother and Claudius, in an attempt to evoke some emotion out of Hamlet, asks for a goodbye as well. Hamlet avoids this, not falling for anything. The scene adds to the motif by using the pattern to flesh out the character of the King.
“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.” (5.1.120-127)
Another comic moment in this great work of literature. The gravedigger toys with Hamlet through twisting words. Taking the intended “who is this grave for?” and turning it to “who made this grave?” which are two different ways to interpret Hamlet’s question. He continues to speak on this twist, saying that it does not belong to Hamlet because he stands outside it and though it is not dug for him it is his. It is all playing with words and tongue, enhancing the playful side of the motif.
“I’ll play this bout first. Set it by awhile./Come. Another hit. What say you?” (5.2.309-310)
DeleteThis is a piece of a scene that exemplifies yet another meaning of playing. This new meaning of playing is to fence in a match. I chose this quote specifically because it is the point before the eruption of action. This quote enhances the motif because it introduces another piece of the puzzle that is playing and acting.
Playing and acting has evolved through this half of the book. What started as a plot of antic disposition has spiraled outward to so much more. The concrete example of the play within the play was an obvious choice for this motif. Hamlet’s connections, “'Sblood,/ do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?” use playing as an action that breaks down firm lines like animate and inanimate. There are also examples of playing with words and the tongue such as Polonius and the cloud or the gravedigger and his grave. The action of playing is used to flesh out the slithering traitor within the King in the scene of goodbyes. And more than that, it references bouts of fencing, matches between two people called playing when it proves to be deadly. A slight irony can be found in that small fact. Playing and acting pokes out at many places in the tragedy, constantly evolving into different things every time.
I apologize for the lateness, I needed some help identifying examples of my motif. Thank you very much for the assistance Mr. Cook.
DeleteIII, i, 73
ReplyDeleteQuotation:
“To die, to sleep – To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give is pause.”
Explanation:
This section of the “To be…” speech is Hamlet going back in forth within his own mind. He thinks that sleeping or dreaming is the same as dying. Hamlet is also contemplating suicide in this section. The obstacle that he faces is the uncertainty of the afterlife. He’s wondering if the next world is the same as the current existence – is it like life? Is it like a nightmare, or is this life a nightmare, and death is more of a peaceful dream. The last bit suggests, that we have time to reflect. This entire section is about the motif of life and death, because it contemplates the reason and vagueness of both.
IV, iii, 37
Quotation:
“In heaven. Send thither to see. If your messenger find him not there, seek him i’ the’ other place yourself.”
Explanation:
In the passage, Hamlet is trying to avoid telling Claudius where Polonius’ body is. He says that he’s in heaven, and the king should send a messenger there; but if he does not find him, Claudius himself should look for him in hell – which is basically Hamlet telling Claudius to “go to hell”. The passage is pretty straightforward, because by telling the king to practically die and go to hell, it shows Hamlet’s mind working over the option of death, on many different levels.
IV, v, 207
Quotation:
“There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.”
Explanation:
This quote is Ophelia talking to Laertes. She’s talking about the different meaning of flowers. The first one she mentions in this line is daisy, which is for “dissembling” or unhappiness. Then she says that she would give violets (a symbol of faithfulness), but all of that sort of emotion disappeared when her father died. This section of the act is all about Ophelia singing about death and mourning over her father. She uses songs and flowers to express her different emotions about loss.
V, i, 9
Quotation:
“It must be (se offendendo;) it cannot be else. For here lies the point: if I drown myself wittingly, it argues an act, and an act hath three branches – it is to act, to do, to perform. (Argal,) she drowned herself wittingly.”
Explanation:
This is part of the opening of Act 5. It starts with a Gravedigger and Another, discussing the cause of Ophelia’s death. The Gravedigger is insisting that her death was “self defense” as in, she did it purposely. He thinks that an act has three parts, so to speak, – “to act, to do, to perform”. Which means that if one does something, they must think about doing it, so Ophelia thought about drowning, and acted upon the idea, which means the death must have been self-inflicted. This has to do with the life/death motif, because it argues the choice we make as humans to live or to die.
V, ii, 364
ReplyDeleteQuotation:
“Heaven make thee free of it. I follow thee. – I am dead, Horatio. – Wretched queen, adieu. – You that look pale and tremble at this chance, That are but mutes or audience to this act, Had I but time (as this fell sergeant, Death, Is strict in his arrest), O, I could tell you – But let it be. – Horatio, I am dead. Thou livest; report me and my cause aright To the unsatisfied.”
Explanation:
This section is one of the last pieces Hamlet says, before dying. He’s talking to Horatio, saying that his dying is now inevitable, and is to happen at any moment. He says a cold goodbye to his mother, and to all the people watching him die. Hamlet says that he doesn’t have much time, because “Death, Is strict” – the end for him is nearing quickly. After repeating that he’s dying to Horatio, he tells him to tell everyone the truth, and to set the story straight. These last words Hamlet says before dying are important, because he still wants everyone to realize the truth about Claudius.
Motif:
Within acts 3-5, there are a lot of casualties, and the weighing of options between life and death. What also seems to come into effect in the later acts, are the questions about the afterlife, which is very important to this sort of play, and to the motif of life and death, because it asks both the purpose of life and the uncertainty of death. The play revolves heavily on the descison between living and dying.
Cara O.
ReplyDeleteSleep and Dreams
Act 3, Scene 1, 68-77
Act 3, Scene 2, 248-250
Act 3, Scene 3, 94-95
Act 4, Scene 4, 35-37
Act 5, Scene 2, 396-397
Act 3, Scene 1, 68-77
“To die, to sleep- no more – and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to – ‘tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep- to sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub for in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause. There’s the respect that makes calamity of so long life.”
Sleep here is compared closely to death. Hamlet is in a deep state of sorrow that is border-line suicidal. In this soliloquy, he questions why people do not kill themselves more often when life is difficult. By comparing death to sleep, he concludes that people are hesitant because what happens after death is completely unknown. This afterlife is the dream of death. No one alive knows what it is like, and unfamiliarity can cause feelings of insecurity and fear. Sleep is related to vulnerability in Hamlet. King Hamlet was murdered while sleeping, and when one is asleep, they do not have control over any situation happening around them. This is similar to death, which in a way is close to a state of vulnerability because of the unknown afterlife.
Act 3, Scene 2, 248-250
“ ‘Tis deeply sworn. Sweet, leave me here awhile. My spirits grow dull, and fain I would beguile the tedious day with sleep.”
Here, Hamlet’s play is being performed, and the Player King is speaking to the Player Queen. Sleep is characterized in a more familiar way here. It is a good thing that helps one recover from stress, and replenishes ones energy when they are tired. This may have something to do with King Hamlet and his incident with Claudius. King Hamlet saw sleep as pleasant and slept every day in his orchard. It was a way to escape the problems that he faced during the day. Hamlet made this connection in his previous soliloquy. Sleep is one way to escape life’s issues, and so isn’t death.
Act 3, Scene 3, 94-95
“When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed.”
Hamlet is spying on Claudius who is attempting to pray. Hamlet wishes to murder Claudius right then and there, but figures it is best to wait and do it when Claudius is doing something immoral. Sleep is once again characterized as a state of weakness and vulnerability, this time brought on by alcohol. When someone passes out because they’ve consumed too much alcohol, it is almost impossible to wake them up. They are at the mercy of those around them and their environment. Here, sleep is not a positive thing, but something that Hamlet sees as wrong. One could compare drunken sleeping to murder. A person escapes the daily struggle at the hands of another force, alcohol. It is notable that this “murder” is related to Claudius, who murdered Hamlet’s father.
Act 4, Scene 4, 35-37
Delete“What is a man in his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.”
Hamlet, in this soliloquy, is once again beating himself up for not killing Claudius. His hesitation is due to the fact that he is spending a lot of time puzzling over his situation, and this is causing him to fear it. He questions why humans must think, but decides thought is mandatory because it is what separates man from beast. Hamlet presents sleep as an ordinary occurrence that any organism is capable of. Sleep is not something that takes talent or effort. Hamlet acknowledges that his situation is difficult because he thinks, but also realizes that thought is a wonderful gift that makes humans special. Sleep is not necessarily a good thing according to this soliloquy. It is something of little significance. This perspective on sleep is what the majority of people see it as, until they consider Hamlet’s point of view (sleep = death). Therefore, sleep is not necessarily what it seems to be at face value. This intertwines with another motif, appearance vs. reality.
Act 5, Scene 2, 396-397
“Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Hamlet has just died and Horatio is taking a moment to say goodbye and honor his friend. Sleep is immediately connected to death here. Hamlet has finally escaped all his troubles and worries by dying, or in other words, sleeping permanently. Horatio says “good night” as if Hamlet is only going to bed for the night. Death is always associated with the words “rest in peace”, because death is really only a species of sleep. This connection is emphasized numerous times throughout the play, and is important to the play’s meaning.
In Hamlet, sleep and dreams are often related to death and whatever comes after it. The purpose of this motif was to create this strong connection between sleep and death. This was done by presenting them both as states of vulnerability, ways to escape troubles, or seeing them as analogies. Murder, suicide, and death play an enormous role in Hamlet, mostly because it is a tragedy. The fact that Hamlet suggests death may only be a type of sleep makes the reader ponder whether Hamlet is correct, or if Shakespeare was attempting to answer the question of death. Sleep and death are times of weakness and vulnerability, and ways to escape the struggles of life, and these are connections that are strengthened and emphasized by Shakespeare in Hamlet.