Megan+Morrell

=media type="youtube" key="txqiwrbYGrs" height="315" width="420"= = = = = = = = = = = =**THE TOTALLY IRRATIONAL ENDING TO A TOTALLY IRRATIONAL PLAY**=

As much as I have defended Hamlet and even Laertes for not being insane... ALL of that is thrown out the window at the end of Hamlet.EVERRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEE DDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!

I don't know how more irrational we could get and one of the definitions from my last blog was **Insanity:** Extreme foolishness or irrationality. They have left their kingdom with absolutely no rule or heir to their thrown. Our essential question asks where we do we draw the line between insanity and sanity... Well the line has completely disappeared at this point. Insanity is the only conclusion.

This quote really doesn't have much to do with being insane or not except for the fact that being in love can turn someone insane in many ways. I just enjoyed this quote for the fact that many brothers love their sisters more than they can explain and usually are extremely protective of their little sisters in guarding them from another man. In this case Ophelia's death drives both Laertes and Hamlet insane towards each other and towards the other situations that they must avenge.
 * Hamlet: I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers **
 * Could not, with all their quantity of love, **
 * Make up my sum. **

= = = = =Technical Definition= According to the brilliant Webster, let's see the technical definition to insanity. = **Insanity:** = So let's see here in regards to our essential question.... Hamlet: A man only trying to keep his head above water and figure out what is the best thing to do for him and the ones he loves King : Killed his brother and then married his brother's wife... let's say **extreme foolishness or irrational** Queen : A woman who is also confused but I would definitely split her between being insane and sane. She married her husband's brother and in some versions even acts romantically with Hamlet.
 * || # The state of being seriously mentally ill; madness.
 * 1) Extreme foolishness or irrationality. ||   ||

Then there is the thoughts that EVERYONE in Hamlet is crazy all in result from the death of their leader, Hamlet's father, the REAL king.




 * If Hamlet is crazy or insane at all it comes from the root of everyone else's insanity.**

"So I a noble father lost and a sister driven to desperate tems but my revenge will come" This quote is said be Laertes. He is the only other character I'm hesitant to immediately put in the insane category. After the death of his own father he finds himself in a similar position as Hamlet. Laertes lost his father because his sister's lover accidentally killed him, and now all he wants to do is avenge his father while trying to keep everyone else happy. (Just like Hamlet and his father and his family) He finds himself in a stick situation because Ophelia is in love with Hamlet, but regardless Laertes thinks killing Hamlet is the best option. I would call neither one of them insane.

What are everyone's thoughts on the king? I'm actually really curious. Excuse the language... but in my opinion I think he's an ass who is a coward. Any other thoughts? = = =A Second Eye Only Supports The First:= Period 3 Essential Question: Where do we draw the line between sanity and insanity? To what extent can we trust the insane? If anyone were to report seeing a ghost with out anyone else siting it or any evidence in support they would definitely qualify for the insane category. It reminds me of the story "Boy who Cried Wolf". = = If Hamlet didn't have the support from Horatio and Marcellus that they as well had seen his father's ghost I would have indeed titled Hamlet as insane. In Hamlet's case seeing his father's ghost asking for vengeance could be compared to the Bible in the way that the Bible says to "Honor your father". The Bible just delivers this message through writing and prayer where in Hamlet's case is done through a seen spirit.

I honestly just feel bad for Hamlet. There is more and more being put on him that would I would never imagine if they occurred in my family. Examples: My mother marrying my uncle, My boyfriend's (or in Hamlet's case girlfriend's) family hating me, and then on top of everything my father ghost is appearing to me and my guards asking for vengeance. **I think Hamlet is in need of a little bit of a stress reliever!** = **(I personally like the "Talk to yourself" one.)** = = =

**When the ghost addresses Hamlet and says:**
I am thy father's spirit,

Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night,

Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature

Are burnt and purged away.

== **Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night** - reminds me 3 Ghosts of Christmas Past. No one thought Scrooge was insane when he said he was visited by three ghosts. They just thought a miracle had happened in his change of perspective and attitude. Did that change override the fact that it took 3 ghosts to make that happen? Then this leads me to think that in the contemporary film is the reason that Hamlet creates a film and shows it to everyone primarily to expose his uncle for killing his father? Is that the justification Hamlet needs in order to tell people he saw his father's ghost? Or to even prove his point? == == **Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature-** Who in the hell kills their brother for a higher standard of living, steals his brother's wife, and acts like nothing happened? Karma kills. In the contemporary film the climax in the movie comes when Hamlet triggers a reaction out of his uncle which also informs him that Hamlet knows everything. It instills fear in his uncle. ==


 * Would you guys agree that the line of insanity could be drawn at when all morals get defeated just to achieve a municipal purpose? (killing your brother) That is an act of insanity more than anything in my opinion. In that case as well We can not trust the insane for the reason we have no idea what kind of act they could commit next.**

= =

=**Shakespeare: A whole new dialect**= Understanding Shakespearean Language is a difficult task for many. It contains words, phrases, and clauses that are no longer used in today's "dumbed" down society. If the language is read correctly, and by read correctly I mean the words pronounced adequately and pauses inserted where needed, it's truly beautiful writing and much easier to comprehend and appreciate. The other works of Shakespeare I've read during past English classes have been hard to follow and understand because the different levels of reading styles of my fellow students. I would be the one that started to find different translations to modernized language so I could understand the writing. So for those of us who have really no clue what Shakespeare is trying to express..... O good old translation media type="youtube" key="t0CqUTmwKiM" width="425" height="350"

Then... WEIRD... my friend Jacqueline has a talent with the language. She has acted in several plays and her interpretation just comes naturally to her. I would sit and listen to her and help her memorize her lines and by doing so, by listening and observing her techniques on deliverance and how to get the lines engrained in her head I started to connect how to read Shakespeare and understand it. His writing makes me speechless at times.... (Something extremely hard to do), but understanding his writing definitely takes work and isn't something most of us put the effort into doing. I didn't, and now that I have... I love it.

The first part of Hamlet we can already tell that this play is going to be extremely MESSED UP. I'm intrigued to find out what has made Hamlet who he is? And where the corruption in his family has come from. I'm having a hard time connecting with my period's question. I think the first two scenes in Act 1 show that Hamlet, the king, queen, and the weird obsession the queen has over Hamlet truly shows just how corrupt and insane their entire family is. It's hard writing this blog now that I've seen the movie, and I know exactly what's coming because I want to make references to so much more. But seeing that our essential question deals with insanity vs. sanity and how much we can trust it...Every blog I'm going to post insane moments on all character's parts and if it is something that can be judged for trust I will also post that as well.

**Megan's guide to insane moments in Shakespeare's work of Hamlet:**
Signs of insanity in first two scenes and in versions we have seen:
 * INSANE MOMENT 1**: In Kenneth Branaugh's version Hamlet, his mother, and his uncle have an extremely deep and heart felt conversation in front of the entire kingdom.
 * INSANE MOMENT 2:** Guards seeing a ghost that Hamlet later sees... If more than one person saw the ghost to begin with: Trust it
 * INSANE MOMENT 3:** In Mel Gibson's version- The strange affection between Hamlet's mother and him- Family is corrupt: Trust

At this point I don't know if it's necessarily a question on Hamlet's insanity or if it's more of a question of who else in this work of literature is insane and to what extent? And how are the insanities of each person affecting the others?


 * STAY TUNED FOR MORE INSANITY MOMENTS IN MY NEXT BLOG!**