Green+Eggs+and+Hamlet

= On Ignorance =     //How can our perception of reality change reality?// The easy answer is: it can't. No matter how prestigious the school your degree in Philosophy came from or how tweedy your tweed jacket is, one plus one will always equal two, a Phosphorus atom will always have fifteen protons in its nucleus, and I will always be able to set objects on fire with my mind. No amount of wishful thinking will ever change what // actually // happened, but they way people remember things and how society accepts them has always been subject to interpretation, manipulation and outright lies. This applies to history, politics, and almost every other venue through which a story is told. However, this blog is specifically about Shakespeare's //Hamlet//, and how it relates to the question that was posed (and italicized for your reading enjoyment) at the beginning of this blog.

Before we begin, allow me to introduce some terminology that I will be using for the rest of this blog. One of the things that must be acknowledged if I am to ever answer this question for you is that your average person is, in comparison to other invertebrates, exceptionally stupid and easily influenced by outside forces. Because of this (and for the sake of brevity), I will henceforth be referring to the human race as the BSM (which stands for "Barely Sentient Morons"). The outside forces that sway the general understanding of the BSM will be referred to as "Ideological Forces", as they have the power to change the way a person views the world in the blink of an eye. Be sure to read this paragraph over a few times so that you can fully understand and appreciate the content of this blog.

One of the most potent Ideological Forces at work on the BSM is something called "ignorance". Despite the negative connotation that it has accrued, Ignorance is simply the state of not knowing something, and can greatly influence the way one looks at a particular situation. For instance, the character Elizabeth from Jane Austen's //Pride and Prejudice// is for the majority of the book entirely disgusted with the character of Mr. Darcy, and spurns his proposals of marriage on those grounds. However, this attitude is based on her ignorance of the fact that Mr. Darcy is actually very, very wealthy. Once she visits Darcy's estate, Pemberly, her ignorance of this fact is resolved and she immediately (and without any hint of superficiality) reconciles with Darcy and gets married. As we see, she was under the influence of a potent Ideological Force.

Hamlet is also influenced by this force at the very beginning of Shakespeare's masterpiece, when he (through soliloquy) laments his mother's marriage to his uncle so soon after his father's untimely death : media type="youtube" key="OCBVmiVkzTM?version=3" height="315" width="420"

//"By what it fed on, and yet, within a month— // //Let me not think on ’t. Frailty, thy name is woman!— // //A little month, or ere those shoes were old // //With which she followed my poor father’s body, // //Like Niobe, all tears. Why she, even she— // //O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason // //Would have mourned longer!—married with my uncle, // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My father’s brother, but no more like my father // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Than I to Hercules. Within a month, // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Had left the flushing in her gallèd eyes, // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">She married. O most wicked speed, to post // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is not nor it cannot come to good, // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue." //

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<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ignorant of Claudius's murder of his father, Hamlet blames his mother for his woes and questions her (admittedly poor) discretion in marrying her late husband's brother a month after his passing. However, when the ghost of his father informs him of his murder, Hamlet's animosity extends to Claudius, and he vows (again, through soliloquy) to avenge his father's death: <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">media type="youtube" key="6RXrFhlxPdk?version=3" height="360" width="480" <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">

//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"O villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain! // <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My tables!—Meet it is I set it down // <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain. // <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At least I’m sure it may be so in Denmark. (writes) // <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word." // <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is an excellent example of Hamlet's opinions and intentions being swayed by our first Ideological Force, Ignorance. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Grande',Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">

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