Johann+Simpson

This is the fabled "The Page"

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=//**"El Fin"**// 2/20/12= Wow, what a shocker. Shakespeare chooses to shake things up by making all the characters die at the end of the book, at least all of the important characters. I have never seen an ending so tragic and full of death in one of Shakespeare's plays: //Romeo and Juliet//, "cough cough." Okay, but in all seriousness, it does seem to me that the ending of //Hamlet// does have its differences when compared to //Romeo and Juliet.// The underlying cause of all of the deaths in //Hamlet// seems to be in the idea of revenge. The king is wanting Hamlet dead, and of course Laertes is just too happy to volunteer to help out, as he blames the death of his sister on Hamlet. It also appears that Hamlet might have bitter feelings towards Laertes, perhaps blaming him for the death of his ex girlfriend. Oh of course, there is Hamlet who is still trying to work up the nerve to extract his revenge on his uncle for killing his father. When all of this revenge is tied together, chaos is broken loose and individuals who are not even on the coveted "revenge list" are killed, such as Hamlet's mom. Based on all of this, I would say its safe to say that multiple accounts of revenge seeking never bring about 100% success. If you are planning on extracting your revenge on someone, I suggest you make sure that person isn't trying to extract his/her revenge on you, to give your self the best shot at success. ...Here is an example of a successful extraction of revenge. Clearly, this man knew he was the only one trying to extract revenge media type="custom" key="12561922" ...now if only Hamlet could have survived to have one last laugh at the expense of his dying uncle.

Act 5 scene 2- Hamlet: "Why, man, they did make love to this employment. They are not near my conscience. Their defeat Does by their own insinuation grow." In this quote, Hamlet is discussing his dislike of his friends Guildenstern and Rosencrantz. He is clearly angry that they came to see Hamlet out of the wishes of the king, and that they are acting according to the king's wishes in traveling with Hamlet to England. Hamlet does learn that the king wished for Hamlet to be killed in England, yet it seems that Guildenstern and Resencrantz were unaware of this truth. I believe that Hamlet's perception of reality is false and that he is too quick to jump to conclusions. This causes him to make rash decisions, which in this case is essentially telling the king of England to kill his two old friends. Here, Horatio seems to represent a voice of reason and perhaps a glimpse of true reality, yet Hamlet simply ignores him. This scene lends me to believe that Hamlet is indeed crazy, as he no longer cares about his friends, even though they obviously care about him enough to journey with him to England. Hamlet's quick trigger on becoming angry reminds me of Jeff in this video. Both Jeff and Hamlet seem a bit crazy, while Lebron James and Mike Underballs seem similar to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz in that they are just trying to help and do things right. media type="custom" key="12562102" "Numero Tres" 2/12/2012 Hamlet: "To be, or not to be: that is the question." The often repeated line that perhaps is more famous than the rest of the play "Hamlet." I have to say, when I heard or say these famous words, I could easily connect this phrase to Shakespeare, yet i had no idea that this line came from the play Hamlet. A line as famous and as frequently repeated absolutely comes with many different interpretations. What does this line really mean though? Well honestly before I read this scene I also had no idea. I thought that perhaps it was some kind of motivational line, like "to be successful, or not to be successful: that is the question." I couldn't help but picture Shakespeare as some kind of motivational speaker, inspiring crowds of people with this famous phrase. media type="custom" key="12450044" There were also many other interpretations that could make sense... But after coming across this phrase in the story, and being able to read this "inspirational" phrase in context, I now understand I was deceived. It became apparent to me that Hamlet was asking himself essentially whether or not he should kill himself, basically to live or not to live. Well this isn't really the motivational speech I was thinking of, but I guess it hard to be successful when you are dead right? Yet this false interpretation brings me to the question of how does my understanding of the truth change the story. Well in this instance, my perception of reality was obviously a bit off. With my perception, Hamlet might have been giving a motivational speech to Ophellia or something. Yet by learning the truth, it is now apparent to me that Hamlet was on the brink of suicide, and his upcoming conversation with his girlfriend certainly won't help matters. Knowing the truth about Hamlet's feelings makes this a much more interesting and drama filled story. Hamlet Blog Post #2 2/5/2012 So it has now become more evident to me that the ghost of Hamlet's father must be real, because Hamlet is the third person that has been able to identify the ghost. Obviously, the ghost adds to hype and meaning to the story when it tells Hamlet that he was murdered by his uncle in his sleep. What kind of power hungry animal must Hamlet's uncle be in order to feel the necessity to kill his own brother for power? Yet, it doesn't seem like Hamlet's father is such a great man either, as he calls upon Hamlet to avenge his death my murdering his uncle. To me, this just seems like a classic case of fighting fire with fire. The other interesting point of the ghost scene, is that Hamlet's dad never seems at all happy to see Hamlet again. It seems to me, based on Hamlet's high praise for his father, that the two of them had a strong relationship. Yet, Hamlet's father is only interested in trying to get Hamlet to avenge his death. I don't know the truth at this point, but perhaps this ghost isn't Hamlet's dad, but just some kind of figure resembling Hamlet's dad.

Hamlet says: "She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not or cannot come to good: But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue."

It is quite evident here that Hamlet disapproves of his mother and uncle's actions to get married. He points out that he believes that they got married to soon after the death of his father. Clearly, the audience believes Hamlet when he points out that this "cannot come to good." Yet, the line that I find interesting is that "I must hold my tongue." It seems that although Hamlet highly disapproves, his respect for his uncle is too much. I wonder if he would say the same thing after he learns that his uncle murdered his father. Hamlet seems very shy and he likes to keep his thoughts to himself. I wonder if his personality will conflict in his father's wish that Hamlet kill his uncle.

"The Beginning" 1/29/2012 A conflict of interests, that seems to be how this "intriguing" story takes place. For some, such as Hamlet, the death of the King has brought upon mourning and grief. Yet for others, Claudius, this death has only opened doors of new opportunity to become king and rule Denmark. Yet the actions of these people seem so absurd, that I would infer that every character in this story is crazy. Obviously, Claudius wants to become king, but why does he not let the death of his brother pass through, by allowing more time to pass before he marries his sister in law and take the throne. Then there is the topic of this ghost siting. Now when I picture a ghost I think of something like this.. media type="youtube" key="s7uoqmdUQFk" height="315" width="420" ...but obviously my view of a ghost in this situation is wrong, as Horatio instantly recognizes the ghost that appears to be Hamlet's father. This sighting of a ghost seems to only add to the assumption that all of the characters are crazy. Yet, I am still wanting to wait to see whether Hamlet can see the ghost as well, because if he can then it would seem that every person at this Denmark castle is going crazy, seeing that I am not a huge believer of ghosts. Then there is the topic of Hamlet's mom. Shakespeare seems to be simply using her as a puppet figure, as she instantly moves on from the death of her husband, and she allows herself to be used by her brother in law so that he can gain the crown. Now I can't say for certain, but I would've thought that Hamlet was next in line for the crown. It seems that Hamlet has got a lot of motivation against his uncle, as he steals his crown, marries his mother, and possibly killed his father, yet that is not certain yet.

**// Hamlet: //**** Act One, Scene One, Lines 1-11 (1.1.1-11) **

** Barnardo: Who's there? ** ** Francisco: Nay, answer me. Stand and unfold yourself. ** ** Barnardo: Long live the King! ** ** Francisco: Barnardo? ** ** Barnardo: He. ** ** Francisco: You come most carefully upon your hour. ** ** Barnardo: 'Tis now struck twelve. Get thee to bed, Francisco. ** ** Francisco: For this relief much thanks. 'Tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart. ** ** Barnardo: Have you had quiet guard? ** ** Francisco: Not a mouse stirring. ** ** Barnardo: Well, good night. **

The Humor of Shakespeare is clearly evident in these lines. It is customary for people to call out greetings to alert others which side they are on... media type="youtube" key="Nvyknw4VClE" height="315" width="560" ...in this situation, these greeting is long live the king by Bernardo to let Fransisco know that he is an ally. The irony in this phrase is that we latter learn that the king has actually just died. Also, Shakespeare seems to be poking fun at the fact that the new king that will take over, Claudias, will soon be killed by an ally, Hamlet. Also, Hamlet would be expected to be next in line to take over the thrown, and his death clearly complicates the issue of who is to rule Denmark now. Hamlet starts off with an exclamation for the success of the country, yet the events that take place in the book lead to Denmark's fall, as the ruler of Norway is able to come into Denmark and reclaim land that Denmark had conquered, as everyone is basically dead.