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.