Hannah+Elzinga

3/22/2012 media type="youtube" key="hajzDV8f0Bs" height="315" width="420" **HAMLET** by: William Shakespeare
 * FUNNY BLOG POST**

Blog post #4 February 20, 2012


 * This week, we have come across some of the most crucial scenes of Hamlet because well, everything falls apart. The first death that happened this week, was the death of Ophelia. It is questionable whether Ophelia's death was an accident or a suicide. What puzzled be about the death of Ophelia was that Hamlet did not find out about her death until he stumbled upon her funeral. Wouldn't somebody tell him that Ophelia died? Not even Queen Gertrude, who knew a suspicious amount of information about Ophelia's death bothered to tell Hamlet. Was everyone trying to keep Ophelia's death a secret because they were afraid that it would make Hamlet go even crazier?
 * Of course, in the very last scene of the play, everything works out perfectly so that just the right amount of confusion and anger results in the deaths of Queen Gertrude, Claudius, Hamlet, and Laertes and at the exact same time that Denmark is being invaded! Hamlet is a true Shakespearean tragedy.




 * By the end of this book, it is almost unreasonably to expect any of the characters to be completely sane. The insanity of Claudius, Laertes and Hamlet is visible when we see Claudius and Laertes's plan to kill Hamlet succeed but also completely backfire at the same time as well as taking many other victims. Of course is ironic to consider that maybe their insanity payed off in the end because who knows what the invaders would have done to them.

media type="youtube" key="EHUZ1_cxdyw" height="315" width="560"


 * **Horatio:** If your mind dislike anything, obey it. I will forestall their repair hither and say you are not fit. **Hamlet:** Not a whit. We defy augury. There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all. Since no man of aught he leaves knows, what is ’t to leave betimes? Let be.
 * In this scene, it is almost hard to determine if Hamlet is being rational or not. Is this his insane self or his sane self? In some ways, Hamlet makes very valid points, saying that everything happens for a reason and whatever happens was meant to happen, a reasonable argument I'm sure we've all made before. But at the same time, Hamlet is talking about his life, and a sword fight that he could easily get out of.

Blog post #3 February 9, 2012




 * At this point in the play, we see everyone's insanity blossom. We came across many major scenes this week including Hamlet's "To Be or Not To Be" speech, Hamlet and Claudius's famous soliloquies, Polonius's death, and the performance by the theater troupe. Hamlet definitely knows how to push Claudius's buttons in the staging of his play. Perhaps now Hamlet's insanity is contagious. I think that when Claudius performs his soliloquy it really gives us insight into the kind of person he is saying that he wants forgiveness but is not really sorry for what he did. Another part that I found interesting in the readings we did this week was when Hamlet is presented with the perfect opportunity to seek his revenge and yet he does nothing. Although the decision to not take action is based off of his religious beliefs, does this choice make Hamlet more or less insane? Finally, an event that was particularly interesting was when Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius. Does this make everyone think he is more insane or do people understand that it was truly an accident?


 * The part of our question that relates really well to this week's readings is: Where do we draw the line between sanity and insanity? Ophelia is a good character to apply this question to. Hamlet's insanity and Polonius's demands eventually drive Ophelia to go insane but is she already half way there?
 * Claudius seems to identify that there is more going on with Hamlet than him just being insane. Claudius seems to see Hamlet as fragile, sad and weak. In some ways this is true. How did Claudius draw the line between insanity and sanity and come to the conclusion that Hamlet is not actually insane based on his actions?

**Hamlet:** Ay, sir, that soaks up the king’s countenance, his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the king best service in the end. He keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed to be last swallowed. When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you and, sponge, you shall be dry again.
 * In this passage, Hamlet is talking to Rosencrantz. If you read this passage quickly and do not really consider it's meaning, Hamlet seems like he is talking gibberish and really is insane. However, if you look into the deeper meaning of the passage, it is obvious that, although harsh, what Hamlet says is actually very true and applicable to the situation. Hamlet's extended metaphor/simile serves the purpose of degrading the importance of the character Rosencrantz to that of a sponge, which almost seems like a legitimate comparison. Maybe there is a method to Hamlet's madness?

Blog post #2 February 3, 2012


 * The scenes that we read this week gave me a whole new perspective on the relationships between the characters. What caused Ophelia’s family, specifically Polonius and Laertes despise Hamlet so much? Is it simply because they feel Hamlet is going to use Ophelia and then leave her because he “can’t marry her”? Ophelia discusses her love for Hamlet with her brother, Laertes. Laertes basically insults his own sister saying that Hamlet is a man and will have responsibilities and his love for Ophelia will fade as he becomes more incorporated in the business of his family, basically saying that Ophelia is insignificant. Are they’re any hidden intentions behind Laertes’s and Polonius’s accusation of Hamlet’s love being short lived? Another interesting aspect of this scene is that Polonius gives Laertes a long list of advice for his trip while he bluntly accuses Ophelia of spending too much time with Hamlet, her boyfriend, and that she cannot see him anymore simply based on his assumption that Hamlet is going to use Ophelia.
 * The ghost scene also gave me insight into the relationship between Hamlet and his father. Hamlet and his father seem to have a very good relationship. It seems like they rely on each other like normal father and son, this is interesting when considering how astray the relationships between other characters in the play are. In some ways, the ghost tells Hamlet that everyone was corrupted after his death and it is Hamlet’s job to reverse the corruption and return things back to normal. But then again, the ghost also tells Hamlet to not “let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught”.

media type="youtube" key="sB2iHl01iB0" height="315" width="420" align="center"


 * Can we trust the insane? Hamlet hasn’t even gone completely insane yet and Polonius and Laertes don’t even trust him with the love of their daughter/sister. Polonius’s and Laertes’s accusation almost serves as a precursor for Hamlet and Ophelia’s insanity. Ophelia, thinking that Hamlet loves her, is told that in fact, his love is only temporary. Not only would this make Ophelia sad, it may also cause her to question her perception of people’s actions and may cause her to feel as if she is not loved at all: solid grounds for insanity. How do Polonius and Laertes know that Hamlet will leave Ophelia for sure? Their assumption causes Ophelia to disregard Hamlet, sending Hamlet into a whirlwind of emotions and greatly effecting his perception of how reliable his relationships with other people are.
 * When the king’s ghost visits Hamlet, the ghost persuades Hamlet to go with him to a more private location. Horatio and Marcellus beg Hamlet not to go with the mysterious ghost. However, Hamlet makes a comment that “I do not set my life in a pin’s fee” meaning that he does not value his life. Is this a sign that Hamlet is already going insane?

**Hamlet**: Why, what should be the fear? I do not set my life in a pin’s fee, and for my soul—what can it do to that, being a thing immortal as itself? It waves me forth again. I’ll follow it. > __ Blog post #1 January 29, 2012 __
 * I think this passage is significant because it may be a sign of Hamlet going insane. In this passage, Hamlet is talking Horatio and Marcellus as his father’s ghost attempts to lead Hamlet to a more private place to talk. Horatio and Marcellus try to convince Hamlet to not go with the ghost, afraid that the ghost has other intentions. This causes Hamlet to say that he does not value his life. Is this simply because his father died and his mother married his uncle two months afterwards? I also think it is interesting how Hamlet talks about his soul. It’s almost like Hamlet sees his soul as a hassle and wishes that the ghost would do something with it. He resents his soul being immortal. Because Hamlet has convinced himself he has literally nothing to lose, he goes with the ghost.



.
 * So far, based on what we have read in class, Hamlet seems like a very challenging read. I am glad we are struggling through this text as a class. Besides the difficult sentence structure and old English, the story of Hamlet is very intriguing. Shakespeare seems to take tragedy and drama to the extreme.
 * One scene that I found particularly interesting was Scene Two when Gertrude is talking with Hamlet about his grief of his father's death. I found this scene interesting because Hamlet's father had barely died, just two days before, and Gertrude, his widow, seems to express no emotions of grief herself. It is completely natural for Hamlet to be mourning his fathers death but for some reason Gertrude and Claudius find Hamlet's mourning unnecessary. At this point, I started to question the intentions and validity of Gertrude and Claudius. Gertrude in particular does not seem to care about her husband's death or the well being of Hamlet but instead seems completely infatuated with Claudius. She does not seem like a very reliable character because she shows no concern for her dead husband or mourning child

media type="youtube" key="0gai5nGBOvA" width="425" height="350" align="center"


 * My class chose the essential question: Where do we draw the line between sanity and insanity? To what extent can we trust the insane?
 * Although Hamlet has not 'decided to become insane' yet, we can already apply this question to the play. Are Gertrude and Claudius fully sane? Are they insane for completely disregarding the death of Hamlet Sr.? Act 1 Scene 2 caused me to question the sanity of Claudius and Gertrude. At this point, Hamlet seems completely sane, mourning for the death of his father, which is expected. I think it is safe to assume that there is some alterior motive behind Claudius (which we already know) simply by his actions towards Hamlet Sr.'s death and Hamlet Jr.'s mourning. Because of this, I do not trust Claudius at all. I see Gertrude as Claudius's pet in some way, so there is no reason not to trust her but at the same time she is not completely reliable. Gertrude's relationship with Hamlet is also questionable...

**Gertrude:** Good Hamlet. cast thy nighted color off, and let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do no forever with thy vailed lids seek for thy noble father in the dust. Thou know'st 'tis common. All that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity. **Hamlet**: Ay madam, it is common **Gertrude**: If it be, Why seems it so particular with thee?


 * This passage is interesting both in it's meaning and style. This is the point in the story when I started to question the reliability of Gertrude. She is telling Hamlet that is is curious for his to be mourning his father's death while she should be mourning her husband's death with him. Did Gertrude not consider Hamlet Sr. as someone she actually cared about?
 * The style of this passage is interesting as well. "Do no forever with they vailed lids seek for thy noble father in the dust." In this sentence, Gertrude is trying to simply tell Hamlet to not mourn for his father forever. However, this sentence is interesting because it adds imagery to this meaning.