Lauren+Smith

=**3/28/12**= = = = = = = = = =**Hamlet 2/14/12**= Soo… what’s the deal here? In today’s reading we saw Hamlet act completely normal with the grave diggers even thought they pretty much told him he was crazy right to his face. Then, enter Laertes who is devastated at his sisters death (in kind of a weird possessive way) and Hamlet is all, well I love her waaaayyy more than you. At the end of the line he even says that he can be //crazier// than Laertes!**//“I’ll rant as well as thou//** ” What is going on?! At the beginning of this passage I was starting to think that maybe Hamlet was just acting crazy in front of his family because he was semi sane with the grave diggers. Of course he is going to be upset about Ophelia’s death, but instead of mourning her, he is just trying to one up her brother. Hamlet is more concerned with who can be the saddest than what they are actually sad about! This is definitely not an act. I will now officially state that Hamlet is crazy. So, connecting this to the essential question, we know that someone is crazy when he is jumping into a grave to strangle a dead girl’s brother and prove that he can be crazier than him. While this whole thing might have initially started as an act, Hamlet has officially gone mad and I think everyone in his family would agree. Fortunately, they wont have to put up with his crazy for too much longer since they are all going to kill each other in a couple of pages.
 * I wouldnt say that I am superstitious, but I'm a little stitious.**

' Swounds, show me what thou'lt do. Woo’t weep? Woo’t fight? Woo’t fast? Woo’t tear thyself? Woo’t drink up eisel, eat a crocodile? I’ll do ’t. Dost thou come here to whine, To outface me with leaping in her grave? Be buried quick with her?—and so will I. And if thou prate of mountains let them throw Millions of acres on us, till our ground, Singeing his pate against the burning zone, Make Ossa like a wart! Nay, an thou'lt mouth, I’ll rant as well as thou.

Here is Hamlet's rant. He says that he will be buried alive and even eat a crocodile for her woot woot! If this wasn't so creepy it would almost be romantic. Anyway, this passage just proves that Hamlet doesn't really care for Opheila. Instead, he just wants to turn her death into a competition. What a jerk.

=**Hamlet 2/6/12**= What a creep! It seems like Hamlet really has gone crazy. I mean, who just walks into a room, shakes their girlfriends arm around and then just stares at her? Creepy….. But! How do we know if this insanity is real? Ophelia doesn’t seem to know what to think about it. Polonius is convinced it is because Hamlet is heartbroken that Ophelia seems not to care about him anymore. He did pour out his heart for her in a letter after all. Personally, I think that he was just super freaked out about having seen his dead dad floating around and didn’t know what to do with himself. It is obvious that he is deeply in love with Ophelia and maybe he felt like she was the only one he could talk to. The he realized no one would believe about the ghost and that he probably shouldn’t say anything and it broke his heart he couldn’t share that with the woman he loves. This will ultimately make him even crazier because, as we know, it never works out to bottle up you feelings. However, reflecting on this more I am reminded of a yep, a Pride and Prejudice scene!!! At one point in the movie Mr. Darcy bursts into Elizabeth’s room (whom-who? Anyway, he is in love with her) He bursts in and just stares at her because he just needs to see her face. Maybe Hamlet is being like Mr. Darcy and he really isn’t crazy he just needs to calm himself down by gazing into the eyes of the woman he loves. What do you think? Is he heartbroken over Ophelia? Insane because he has seen a ghost? Or, is he pulling a Mr. Darcy and just needs some reassurance from the woman he loves?



At last, a little shaking of mine arm And thrice his head thus waving up and down, He raised a sigh so piteous and profound As it did seem to shatter all his bulk And end his being. That done, he lets me go, And, with his head over his shoulder turned, He seemed to find his way without his eyes, For out o' doors he went without their helps, And to the last bended their light on me. Bended their light on me-what a great line. This kind of sounds like Ophelia is comparing Hamlet’s eyes to the stars and that he his shining his gaze onto her. How romantic J This line really hints at Ophelia still being in love with Hamlet even though everyone is telling her to stay away from him. Too far fetched? = = =**Hamlet 2/2/12**= Poor Ophelia, will she ever find true love? Although the text (as far as we have read) never fully explains how close Hamlet and Ophelia actually are, by this passage we can conclude that they must be pretty close if both her father and creepy brother are telling her to stay away from him. This situation must be tough for Ophelia. On one hand you have your brother and father saying that the guy you love doesn’t actually love you and he is going to dump you any second. Also he can never be with you anyway because he is a prince. Then you have Hamlet who is professing his undying love for you not to mention you love him too, but in the back of your mind you are questioning everything he says to you because of what your dad said. This is a lot to consider! No wonder she goes insane in the end! To me this entire situation is insanity. Fitting, since the essential question deals with defining insanity. Funny how that works…. In this case insanity is defined as not being able to really believe anything all of the people you love are saying to you. How does she know that her father is just telling her to stay away from Hamlet not because he is going to dump her, but because he just doesn’t like him? How can she be sure that Hamlet actually loves her? This situation would be enough to make anyone go mad.

** OPHELIA ** I shall the effect of this good lesson keep As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother, Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven Whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads And recks not his own rede This is an interesting passage. This is after Laertes has just given her his huge speech about being um…. faithful? Well you know. Anyway, in this passage Ophelia promises she will, but tells him that he needs to heed his own advice. She tells him that he can’t frolic on the path of sin. What does this say about Laertes? Hmmm…..

= = =**Hamlet 1/27/12**= Although Mrs. Bear is thinking it, she doesn’t want to make anyone else feel bad by admitting that Period 5’s essential question is the best. Here it is- What is insanity and how do we know if it is real? Who has the right to judge madness? Keeping this question in mind, this weeks reading somewhat speaks to this. It is not often that three people see their dead king floating around the castle; unless they are on Ghost Hunters then they probably see it all the time. Anyway, how is it possible that three people see a ghost at the same time and can all positively identify it as the king? Does that mean that they are all a little insane to begin with or will this ghost sighting cause them to go a little insane? I don’t know I guess we will have to keep reading. It seems like Hamlet might have already been a little crazy to begin with or was it the sighting of his dead father asking him to seek his revenge that made him crazy? Is a person born insane or do the events in their life make them crazy or both? Ok sorry kind of getting off track here.



Stylistically interesting passage!

It faded on the crowing of the cock. Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long. And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad. The nights are wholesome. Then no planets strike, No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallowed and so gracious is that time. I really like this passage because it explains why the ghost disappeared when the rooster called. Marcellus says that the rooster calls all day long on Christmas to keep the evil spirits away. It is fitting then that when the rooster calls the ghost should disappear. This passage has good imagery and gives a lot of examples of the evil things that the rooster is supposedly protecting us from on Christmas. Also I think it is just a cool passage in general because it takes a couple tries to really get the hang of what he is saying unless you go on SparkNotes which is what I did………… Isn't this a creepy picture? Who rubs their face against a skull??? Maybe he really is insane...