Hanna+Kim

**This is funny, if you have some time to watch it:**

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Feb 18, 2012 11:57 AM
 * Hamlet: Post 4 **

**Everyone's dead. Well not quite everyone. Fortinbras has survived what was probably his easiest siege ever, and Horatio is still standing among the bodies of Hamlet, Claudius, Laertes, and Gertrude. It's a little hard for me to muster any sympathy for the dead, because I kind of feel like they all got what was coming to them. Laertes and Polonius schemed themselves to death, Claudius was a murderer, Gertrude married her husband's brother and then flaunted it, and Hamlet brooded and skulked and killed a few people along the way in the name of his father. The only person who probably didn't completely deserve death was Ophelia, but there's the typical tragic, pointless Shakespearian woman for you.** Way to go Fortinbras, you really worked hard to ascend that throne, didn't you?

**And now, at the end of this, we have to decide...Is hamlet totally crazy? I think I have almost completely flipped my opinion. By the end of this, I am not convinced of Hamlet's insanity. I now seem to think that he just had no idea how to handle this totally horrible turn of events in his life and had no way to cope. I think he was so angry that he decided to kill his uncle while still being sane. I think he just came across as insane because he was completely engrossed in his own thoughts all of the time, disconnected from the world.**

** Laertes:The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, ** ** Unbated and envenom'd: here I lie, ** ** Never to rise again: thy mother's poison'd: ** ** I can no more: the king, the king's to blame. **

** In these final lines of his life Laertes still does not want to admit to what he does. You'd think that in his last few words, he'd want to beg for forgiveness in any final way he can, but instead, he tries to blame the whole entire thing on the king. He obviously admits to knowing about the scheme, but in his last line, "the king, the king's to blame," he makes himself look more like the poor innocent soul involved in the king's nasty scheme. Instead, I think he inherited his father's ways and was the one who planted this initial nefarious idea in Claudius' mind. **

Feb 7, 2012 2:20 PM
 * Hamlet: Post 3 **

**This week, Hamlet crossed the line. At least, that's what everyone he interacts with in the play thinks. In their minds, Hamlet is thoroughly crazy. And now, Polonius has devised more and more schemes to try to figure him out. He's tried spies, spying himself, and using his daughter to try to get inside Hamlet's head. However, I don't think anyone will ever be able to truly figure out what's going on in Hamlet's mind. Does trying to outsmart Polonius and Claudius by acting crazy make Hamlet smart and sane, or ridiculously paranoid, and therefore crazy?**

**In one of his more insightful moments, Hamlet delivers his famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy, and it makes me wonder how any insane person could ever think up something so full of metaphors, imagery, and meaning. But at the same time, how would any sane person ever need that many words to articulate an idea that Mr. Chicken here sums up in a few lines:**

**One of the lines that I find particularly interesting in the soliloquy is the line "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all." Not only does it roll nicely off the tongue, with the alliteration of conscience and cowards, it is also an interesting idea. Hamlet is clearly referring to his faith and the sin that suicide would be, but I am almost perplexed by the idea that (removing the religious context) trying to do the right thing means being afraid to do what you want. That being said, I also think its notable that although Hamlet's decision is to not kill himself, this decision feels more like a postponement of a real decision, and he definitely does not fully support his own decision.**

**Does Hamlet's decision not to decide make him a ?**

**Hamlet: Post 2** Feb 5, 2012 9:45 AM


 * In class, we have viewed a variety of different interpretations of the ghost scene from Hamlet. I thought that the stage version we viewed was slightly ridiculous, with Hamlet Senior waving rags all over Hamlet Junior, who was curled in the fetal position on the ground. I didn't get it. In the other two versions, Hamlet seemed pretty willing to follow the ghost, suggesting to me that he was pretty trusting of his father's spirit. The two film versions had pretty similar staging, with the narrow corridors and dark atmosphere. Finally, viewing these ghost scenes made me think back to the ghost scene from the Hamlet version I viewed last weekend. In that scene, Hamlet's father looked nothing like a ghost, but instead like a fully tangible human in a long trench coat. He also had the ability to touch and push Hamlet, making me wonder why Hamlet would need to avenge his death, since he could just do it himself. I felt like this was one of the times this interpretation just didn't work. **


 * As far as insanity goes, I think Hamlet is now right on the line between sane and insane. I feel like anyone who would so easily follow their dead father's spirit has to be somewhat insane. However, he still seems to be somewhat sane, since he is able to put the pieces together as his father uses complex Shakespearian language to hint at who killed him. Hamlet is eager to avenge his father and seems at this point to be more noble than insane. **


 * If I had to guess, I would expect that as Hamlet goes crazy, he will begin to look and act less like the prince of Denmark, and more like Barty Crouch Jr, everyone's favorite crazy, tongue flicking Death Eater: **

**To me, the ghost's monologue was very interesting, thick, as usual, with metaphors and allusions.**

**"Now, Hamlet, hear:** **'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,**  **A serpent stung me; but know, thou noble youth,**  **The serpent that did sting thy father's life**  **Now wears his crown."**

**In this passage, my first impression is that Hamlet Sr. is suggesting how innocent and helpless he was at the time of his death, since he was just peacefully sleeping away in his orchard. The whole thing just seems so serene. I had a feeling that there was significance to calling his murderer a serpent, and by checking into it discovered that this whole passage is an allusion to the Book of Genesis. The serpent refers to the serpent who persuades Eve in the Garden of Eden, where the betrayal of humanity took place. This again ties back into Hamlet, because the story of Cain and Abel (the first fratricide) is also found in Genesis.** **Hamlet: Post 1 ** Jan. 29, 2012 3:15 PM
 * I found a rather helpful site that goes beyond just paraphrasing the lines, that actually helps neophytes like us understand what shakespeare is saying: [|Hamlet: A comprehensive Analysis] **


 * So far, we have read Act I, Scene I, with the most notable plot element being the apparition of Hamlet's dead father. Luckily for Hamlet, he is not the only one who has seen the ghost; because we have no reason not to trust Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo, we can be pretty sure that the ghost actually did appear, and Hamlet isn't crazy from the get-go. However, from what I know of the plot, and from viewing the contemporary 2000 version of the play, set in NYC, it's obvious that it isn't long before Hamlet does start to lose his mind. As for P.3's essential question: where do we draw the line between sanity and insanity?, this movie has Hamlet seeming pretty crazy from the beginning, as Ethan Hawke stalks around in a strange hat and yellow glasses, blurring the line about what actually sends him over the edge. **
 * In Act I Scene I, as the characters try to figure out what this ghost of Hamlet Sr. means, Horatio stands out to me as an immediate contrast to Hamlet, assessing the situation with logic and remaining level-headed, despite the absurd situation. Horatio says, "I might not this believe without the sensible and true avouch of mine own eyes." This logic and questioning of the appearance of the ghost is something that is rare in the play, as insanity envelopes both Hamlet and Ophelia, causing them to act hastily, leading to an unfortunate outcome. **
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