Jasmine+Barrera

Funny Post: I'm pretty terrible at telling jokes, so I picked a clip from Harry Potter instead: media type="youtube" key="lrD3bR91VRU" height="315" width="560"

Blog #4: Believing Insanity 2/19/12 What is insanity? Who has the right to judge what is crazy or not?

We started with one insane person; Hamlet, a prince who pretends to be crazy and eventually seems to actually be crazy. And now we have Ophelia; a close friend to Hamlet, who does and believes as she's told (which may have led to her madness). Just like Hamlet, Ophelia was once 'normal'; normal meaning she spoke instead of sang, spoke softly instead of wildely, and didn't make crowns out of flowers. And just as Hamlet was quickly labeled insane, so was Ophelia:

Claudius For good Polonius' death; and we have done but greenly, In hugger-mugger to inter him: poor Ophelia Divided from herself and her fair judgment, Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts:

But I would argue that, in this case, insanity is believing in the lies told to you, and having to continuously change what you believe. Perhaps Ophelia started going crazy after she was cruelly told to go and be a nun by the man she thought cared for her. She had already given in to believing her father and brother, when they explained that Hamlet didn't love her. Now, with her father explaining that Hamlet could be crazy because she didn't love him, she's again told the opposite of what she 'believes', when Hamlet denies having had feelings towards her. Because she is so obedient to her father, and such a push over, Ophelia never really seemed to control her own thoughts. Maybe after her father's death, she realized that the person who had created most of her thoughts was now gone, and that she actually has had control of herself all along. How depressing and upsetting would that be, to wake up and realize that you've thought against your own will, and that you now are left with the mess that you didn't want in the first place? This realization could have inspired her suicide. Or this could totally be wrong. Maybe she's just really upset that Hamlet, the guy who totally insulted her and used her, killed her dad. Maybe she saw how right her dad was, and feels bad about caring for Hamlet. Perhaps this was all just too confusing and depressing for her and she figured suicide was the only way to escape it all. Interesting how Ophelia was once judging Hamlet's insanity, and now is given as much attention because of her own insanity. It seems that everyone is capable of juging insanity, and that everyone is capable of becoming insane. And insanity is as easy to infect us as believing a lie. media type="youtube" key="KafCj0iiQM0" height="315" width="560"

Blog #3: When a Lie Becomes the Truth 2/12/2012 What is insanity? Who has the right to judge what is crazy or not?

At this point, Hamlet has successfully convinced everyone that he is somewhat insane; but everyone thinks he is for different reasons. After storming in on Ophelia, half-dressed and acting very odd, Polonius is convinced that he's become crazy because Ophelia no longer "loves" him. Gertrude is still certain that Hamlet is upset with his father's death, and Claudius seems to think this as well, although he's not as convinced as Gertrude. They even send for some old school friends of Hamlet's to spy on him and see why he is acting crazy:

Act 2 Scene 2 Claudius: The need we have to use you did provoke Our hasty sending. Something have you heard Of Hamlet's transformation; so call it, Sith nor the exterior nor the inward man Resembles that it was. What it should be, More than his father's death, that thus hath put him So much from the understanding of himself, I cannot dream of...

I find it very interesting and pathetic that these people are so easily convinced that Hamlet is crazy, just because he is not acting "normal". Using their definition of insanity, I'd say that about 1/3 of the world, at least, is or has been insane; including myself. In a book, or play, it's hard to tell if someone is crazy or not, unless we're told they are or aren't. At what point does "acting insane" become "really insane"? When Hamlet is speaking with his mother and sees the ghost, why is it that only he can see the ghost? Could it just be that ghosts can decide who can see them? Or is Hamlet really crazy at this point? Because normally, his seeing a ghost would be part of his acting insane; but now he really does hear and see this ghost. We all judge insanity, and we all recognize that it's a "bad" thing. And because we are human and have the "talent" to judge, we all are subject to judgment by society. And if people start seeing things and thinking things that the majority of people do not see or think, those people are insane. Honestly, it doesn't seem like there's a reliable judgment of sanity, unless morals are obviously forgotten. But the basic and "unreliable" definition of insanity, that I think is fairly accurate to that of society, is when we really begin to believe our lies and begin living both reality and a "dream". media type="youtube" key="gtHk2WEuWaA" height="315" width="560"

Blog #2: Sharing Our Insanity 2/5/12 What is insanity? Who has the right to judge what is crazy or not?

In scenes 1.2 and 1.3, Hamlet and Ophelia's troubles are brought up for the first time. Hamlet gives a long and passionate soliloquy, filled with grief and disbelief concerning his mothers disloyal actions. So of course Hamlet is confused by her sudden love for his uncle, and is experiencing great pain inside from having to hold it all in: "But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue." Today we have psycologists who help with this problem, but perhaps Hamlet's lack of a second opinion or at least someone to share his thoughts with, could have led to his "insanity". But was he really insane to begin with? Horatio, Hamlet's trusted friend, told Hamlet about the ghost, so because of Horatio's credibility as a good friend, Hamlet as well as anyone else could believe in the sane image of the ghost. To be sure it was even his father's ghost, Hamlet questioned the guards about the appearence of the ghost, and even wished to see it himself:

If it assume my noble father's person,I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gapeAnd bid me hold my peace. I pray you all,If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight,Let it be tenable in your silence still;And whatsoever else shall hap to-night,Give it an understanding, but no tongue:I will requite your loves. So, fare you well:Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve,I'll visit you. > Our duty to your honour. **HAMLET** > Your loves, as mine to you: farewell.//Exeunt all but HAMLET// > My father's spirit in arms! all is not well; I doubt some foul play: would the night were come! Till then sit still, my soul: foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes.
 * HAMLET**
 * All**

Ophelia, as a women with a brother and father to keep her in her place, is already confined to a world of solitude and duty. Her relationship with Hamlet is disapproved by her family, who don't believe that Hamlet has marital and virtuous intentions. But then, her father eventually decides to use Ophelia's connection with Hamlet to try to bring him out of his insane state of mind. In class we read some papers about Ophelia and whether she was insane or not. So perhaps her family's lack of support and her lack of confidence made her insanity easy to believe, or easy to follow through with. Or perhaps like the papers suggested, she was merely trying to make a feminist statement, and killed herself to show she had some control over her life.

There's such a fine line between beliving and being sane and beliving and being insane. Hamlet believes the guards who believe and saw the ghost; so if others also believe something, it's considered to be sane and real. But poor Ophelia has no support or evidence of Hamlet's love for her, except from her own feelings (which her father dismisses as rediculous and temporary). Who could ever keep their sanity, if everyone around them deems them insane? Therefore, sanity can be determined by not only society, but by ourselves.

Blog #1: Desperate or Insane? 1/29/12

Insanity and doubt play key roles in each others' existence. Insanity is used as a characteristic and can be applied in two ways: 1) to describe people who act in inconvenient and illogical ways and 2) to describe sane people who doubt their sanity because of unnatural or abnormal experiences to the point of insanity. But doubt is the fear of insanity which can fuel the imagination of sane and desperate people to an uncontrollable flame of insanity. From the very beginning, the ghost of Hamlet's father seems to cruelly question the sanity of everyone in Denmark. The first scene introduces the effects of this "ghost" on the frightened guards, who fear their own insanity or the work of the devil enough to have found it necessary to have the doubtful Horatio witness the appearance of the "ghost." media type="youtube" key="U-NLnsq3P7Y" height="315" width="560" > What, has this thing appear'd again to-night? > I have seen nothing. > **MARCELLUS** > Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy, > And will not let belief take hold of him > Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us: > Therefore I have entreated him along > With us to watch the minutes of this night; > That if again this apparition come, > He may approve our eyes and speak to it. Tush, tush, 'twill not appear. > Sit down awhile; > And let us once again assail your ears, > That are so fortified against our story > What we have two nights seen.
 * MARCELLUS**
 * BERNARDO**
 * HORATIO**
 * BERNARDO**

> Well, sit we down, > And let us hear Bernardo speak of this.
 * HORATIO**

Obviously the guards were afraid of being condemned as crazy, even by themselves, and required Horatio to also experience the fear of possibly being insane. Horatio attempts to protect his sanity by disbelieving the extraordinary accounts of the guards; until he sees the ghost himself. Why else would they swear to keep the matter a secret, except to spare their name and status the title of insane?

So what is insanity? And who has the right to judge what is crazy or not? I think that people who are desperate enough to try being something they're not, or who cover their true selves to keep their status, are the crazy ones. Insanity simply means that you've gone too far; that you've been too afraid to see the truth and that you're beginning to believe the lie you created. And honestly, in a society that thrives on style, status, and wealth, insanity may be just as hard to detect as sanity.