Friday, January 30, 2009

Self-evaluation

I feel that I deserve an A grade, because I have worked hard and also I have tried to expand my horizons by doing something new. I wanted to learn to do a blog to find out what it meant. Also I fulfilled all of the requirements. I have decorated my blog, I have written all six journal entries and also I have done all of the eight quotes that we were supposed to do.

“Sweets to the sweet.”

This was said by Gertrude at Ophelia’s funeral. What she meant by it was that good things should happen to good people, this is how she felt toward Ophelia. She felt that she was dealt a bad situation even though she was such a sweet girl. This is a nice idea that good things happen to good people but sadly it is not always true. Ophelia is one of Shakespeare’s most tragic characters; because she dies and really she did nothing wrong the whole play, except maybe lie to Hamlet (see the Ophelia and Hamlet love post for more on that). This is such a sweet and yet sad quote, because of the nice idea behind it, but the sadness is where the quote is placed in the play.

“Thus conscience does make cowards of us all…”

This quote comes in the play, in the middle of the to be or not to be speech. This is said at the part where he is thinking about what may come after death. He says that the conscience makes cowards of us all because we think about what may happen because of our actions, in this case that we are scared to face what may come after death because all man is scared of the unknown. We would rather suffer in what we know that to brave the unknown with the chance that is might get better because with the same chance that it might get better it might get worse. Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.

“To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms..."

This is the most famous part of Hamlet; it is the part that everyone hears when they think of Hamlet, that and a skull. Why they think of this little speech that Hamlet gives and a skull is beyond me. The skull is part of the "poor Yoric I knew him well" scene, but whatever. This is the part where Hamlet is contemplating death and suicide. To be or not to be, to live or not to live. The next part is about whether it is better to endure life and the every day shocks of life. Then he starts to think about what might come after death. To sleep, perchance to dream theirs the rub. This is where it is better to endure the known or to brave the unknown, to travel to that distant land from whence no traveler has ever returned.

“To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man pick’d out of ten thousand.”

This is defiantly my favorite quote from the entire play. I like it because I think that it is a true statement that I would like to try to be the one man, the extraordinary person. I think that if everyone were to try to be the extraordinary person that this world could be such a great place, a place that would be amazing to live in. Hamlet is an amazing play because of the way that hamlet truly looks at the habits and quirks of the human race. He is just very frank of when he talks about any problem.

“The time is out of joint. O cursed spite that ever I was born to set it right!”

This is an interesting quote because I am sure that everyone has those days when they just feel like nothing is going right. This makes Hamlet seem more like a normal human, someone that an audience can relate with. It shows how Hamlet truly felt the weight of the problem that had been placed upon his shoulders by his father when he told Hamlet about his uncle’s deceit. I know that everyone can relate to this, feeling that you have just taken on too much all together or at the same time. That is why I feel that this is one of the more interesting quotes.

“To thine own self be true and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

This is great advice to any one. I can think of so many people who talk about their friends who when they start to hang out with a different group of friends then they act different. This quote shows how when you are yourself then you can’t disappoint anyone when you are his or her friend because you are a constant friend who will act one way with someone and act a different way with someone else. I think that this is one of Polonius’ more profound lines that have shown how it can be applied to anyone at anytime. It was meaningful to Shakespeare at his time and now to others and me now.

“Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice.”

What Polonius means when he says is that you should listen to everyone but not to give everyone your opinion. It’s like they say how communication is a two way process and that first you have to listen to understand the other person. God gave us two ears and one mouth, possibly this shows us the ratio that we should stand by. I think that this is an interesting thing that we should stand by. We are always complaining about how people are not good with talking to. This is because when two people are talking no one is getting any thing, some one has to be the one who will be patent and listen.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

"Neither a lender or borrower be for loan oft loses both itself and friend."

Polonius said this quote while he was giving Leartes advice before he went to England. This shows how he cares about his son. What he means is that you shouldn’t be a lender or a person who borrows. Because when you loan or borrow then you end up hating each other because one always needs to collect the loan and the other always need to pay it back. This drives a wedge between their friendships and so they both suffer and then the loan is lost or just carried out for very extended periods of time. This quote definitely applies to the world to day because look at every one who is in a bad loan and getting for closed. For loan oft loses both itself and friend.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Gertrude and the Drink

Claudius is condemned when he lets Gertrude drink from the poisoned cup. This is one of the reasons that the people watching the play feel more for Hamlet because Claudius could have easily stopped his wife from drinking from the cup. Claudius was so scared of everyone finding out that he was a treacherous, murderous, scumbag that he let her drink and when she started to feel the effects from the poison and fell he tried again to cover it up he just said that she swooned to see Hamlet and Laertes bleed. This is the act that seals Claudius’ death warrant because once Hamlet found out who killed her with this treachery he fulfilled his father’s wish and took revenge.

Hamlet a murderer or a righteous killer

There are many ways of looking at this argument if you look at numbers Hamlet kills far more people than Claudius does. You would think that this makes him a villain but because we feel for the situation that Hamlet was put in we feel that it was ok that he killed more we feel that it is all justified. Personally I think that Hamlet was put in situations that he killed people. He didn’t know that to stab Laertes would kill him. The king had sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to make sure that he made it to England where he would be killed he just got out of the situation. The only killing that I feel was unnecessary was when he killed Polonius.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Hamlet's True Love for Ophelia

I know that many people think in the 'get thee to a nunnery' scene Hamlet is being horribly and abominably rude. I do not feel so. Because as Hamlet lounges at Ophelia's feet he tells her the same thing just in a softer way and tells her to 'marry no man and to not be a breeder of sinners' because all men are liars. When it is put in this light some of the things that he said to her don't seem to be so harsh. Also at the time of the shouting scene Hamlet feels that Ophelia is involved in the conspiracy to spy on him, which she is just not to her knowledge. At the time Ophelia did lie to Hamlet and tell him that her father was at home, whether she knew she was lying or not is debatable, but Hamlet took this as an offence, and we get the whole yelling match.

Friday, January 23, 2009

" Goodnight Sweet Prince, and flights of angles sing thee to thy rest." Horatio's loyalty

Horatio's loyalty to Hamlet is one of the best lessons that we can learn from. He was a loyal friend through thick and thin, sanity and madness. He was always there for Hamlet. He is Shakespeare’s version of the best friend. While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the examples of turn coat friends that will follow you only when it suits them best or when they can get something out of it. Loyalty is a big part of Hamlet, Hamlet is mad at his mother because he feels that she wasn’t loyal to his dead father. Well lets face it Hamlet is mad at every one because he feels that they are not loyal to him or in some kind of plot against him, and to be honest most of the time he is right.

Hamlet’s Sanity: not there

Hamlet is a hard character to tell what he is truly thinking though out the play because he is trying to mislead the king and the rest of the court. I believe that he starts out acting insane but that the acting started to turn real and that there are parts of the play where I truly do question Hamlet's sanity. One of the major parts where he gives into his madness and grief is in the queen's chambers. He doesn't think what he is doing through and acts very impulsively. Then at the end when he thinks that he sees his father I am not so sure that that wasn't just a figment of Hamlets’ imagination. I believe that the original apparition was real and that the king truly did kill Hamlet’s father but then Hamlet goes and takes it to a whole new level and goes mad. I’m kookoo for coco puffs kookoo.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Hamlet a tragety that stands through time

Hamlet is a play written to make the mind of men think. This was a play written not only for entertainment but also as food for the thought. This play addresses conflicts that have remained the same for hundreds and hundreds of years. It addresses the idea of revenge and whether it is a right and just thing, the idea of love and the lack thereof. This play teaches all of us lessons on life, we can learn from the mistakes that the characters make to improve our lives. One of the greatest speeches "to be or not to be" the speech where Hamlet contemplates suicide. This is relevant for all people at every point in history. This tragedy a great way to depict the sadness (or madness) that comes from the loss of a loved one. This is a play that focuses on the deaths of the main characters all because of one death that puts all others on eager.