Max+Malinowski

She went to BHS. media type="youtube" key="Qhm7-LEBznk" height="315" width="420"

The video response is even better... media type="youtube" key="alkX2l92eRg" height="315" width="420"

Hamlet Blog #4 2/19/12 2b 0r kn0t 2b + teh ded k1ng'z sp33ch = z0mg!!!1!11!!!one!

Ghost: I am thy father’s spirit, Doomed for a certain term to walk the night And for the day confined to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid To tell the secrets of my prison house, I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, Thy knotted and combinèd locks to part And each particular hair to stand on end, Like quills upon the fearful porpentine. But this eternal blazon must not be To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list! If thou didst ever thy dear father love—

So, the main thing to take away from this is that the ghost says he's in purgatory, and that it sucks a lot. We analyzed Hamlet's speech in class, so I won't repeat here. But in it, he said his main concern for not killing himself is that there is a large uncertainty of what comes after death. He said that it could be far worse than his current life, or it could be bliss, but that not knowing which keeps every man from committing suicide. However, I don't see how he can be so sure. His father's ghost already told him that life after death is horrible, and i don't think an encounter with your deceased father would be something you'd forget easily. How did he overlook this? Or is it just a discrepancy that Shakespeare accidentally made? Thoughts please :)

Hamlet Blog #3 2/6/2012 Hamlet: Your perceptions consuming you.

Act 2 Scene 2 Hamlet: ...But my uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived. Guildenstern: In what, my dear lord? Hamlet:I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.

Hamlet's last line concerns me. He claims that he is only mad some of the time, but it is still an acknowledgement that he is mad. I wonder how much of a grasp he has on his sanity after acting crazy. A famous psychologist once said, "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." An example is what happened to Heath Ledger. It is speculated that he became so engrossed in playing The Joker perfectly that the character took over him, and his psychological battle is what caused him to accidentally overdose on prescription drugs. In Hamlet's case, an argument could be made that by constantly acting crazy, craziness is becoming his norm, and he now has to act to be considered normal.

Finally, if you are told something long enough (or tell yourself something long enough), you start to believe it's true. This new perception becomes your reality. It's like a POW being told nothing other than that his country has abandoned him. Sooner or later, he'll start to believe it, and will eventually give up the information the people holding him captive want. Same goes for a lot of bullying cases. If someone tells you you're worthless every day, you eventually start to believe it.

It's a grimmer topic, but what do you think? Please cite any kind of evidence for, or against, my claim.

Hamlet Blog #2 2/5/2012 Hamlet: Judging Madness

Act 1 Scene 4 Horatio: He waxes desperate with imagination. Marcellus: Let’s follow. 'Tis not fit thus to obey him. Horatio: Have after. To what issue will this come? Marcellus: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Horatio: Heaven will direct it. Marcellus: Nay, let’s follow him.

Essential Question: Who has the right to judge madness?

No Fear Shakespeare's interpretation of the first line of this quote is that Horatio is saying that Hamlet's imagination is making him crazy. Given the context of the situation, I cannot see how Horatio can claim this, given that all of them have just seen Hamlet Sr.'s ghost. I believe he was referring to Hamlet following the Ghost, but even still, where does his authority to judge on this situation come from? I think this quote would lead to the conclusion that someone's opinion is where they seek their authority to judge whether something is mad or not. Horatio is probably too scared to follow the ghost, and therefor claims that Hamlet is mad to do so. If just opinion leads to determining madness, no one has the right to judge madness, because opinions by definition lack a factual basis.

Hamlet Blog #1 1/29/2012 Hamlet: Elizabethan England's Jersey Shore

O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn’d longer,—married with mine uncle, My father’s brother; but no more like my father Than I to Hercules: within a month; Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, She married:— O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!

Is it really that outrageous of a claim? The above passage talks of incestuous love, just one facet of all the drama within Hamlet. After reading olny the first two scenes, there's already a murder, a ghost, a son promising revenge, the former king's brother marrying the queen and assuming the throne, etc. If we take a look at the first couple of episodes of Jersey Shore, we'll find just as much drama. Snooki probably smacked Sammi. Vinnie and The Situation probably got in a bro fight because Mike hooked up with Vinnie's gal. Ronnie and Sammi are fighting. Again. Some "Grenades" do some stuff. GTL. Etc.The two seem very parallel to me in terms of how over the top dramatic they are.

I think that much drama is a bit crazy, and not something I could see actually happening, but that's just my opinion. Our class' essential question is "Who has the right to judge madness?". I must concede I that I don't have any authority to let me claim Jersey Shore and Hamlet are "madness", and I would love to hear some other opinions. Is Hamlet a concentrated dose of drama, much like J Shore, or a work of literary merit?

I <3 Phat L3wtz.

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