Last Hamlet Post

                Hamlet has to be the only Shakespeare play that I have actually enjoyed reading. Unlike his other plays, I was actually able to follow along and understand what was happening, when usually I would have been lost. As Mrs. Watkins said “Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be performed not read.” Watching the movie while we read, allowed us to visualize the play in the way it was meant to be seen. This along with discussing what we watched helped a lot. It personally helped me to appreciate the story instead of spending hours carelessly reading words I couldn’t comprehend.

     In the movie, I liked the characters, but I felt as though Hamlet was a little too emotional. Even in his soliloquies, he seemed to over dramatize everything and would talk so fast that sometimes you couldn’t even tell what he was talking about. I don’t know if that was Kenneth Branagh’s interpretation of Hamlet or if he just really got into his acting. Either way, it kind of annoyed me and had me laughing when he was trying to give a serious speech. However, I did like this interpretation of the play.
     The story had twists that surprised me and kept me interested. The best scene was definitely the fencing match where everyone died. Throughout the whole movie, I couldn’t stand Claudius and couldn’t wait for Hamlet to finally kill him. I was really mad at the scene when Hamlet could have killed Claudius but he didn’t. From the beginning I couldn’t stand Claudius and for Hamlet to let him live drove me crazy. Not only did he allow his father’s murderer to live, but also doomed himself (along with everyone else). The only good thing that came from the waiting to kill Claudius is the death of Polonius, who was clueless and almost as bad as Claudius.
     After watching Hamlet, I definitely appreciate Shakespeare’s ability to capture human characteristics. Though the characters of his play are placed in situations which we cannot relate to, they are given qualities that relate them to people in our lives. Through most of his plays I’ve read the story just wanting to get it over with, but in this story I can actually this. Overall, I liked Hamlet both the book and movie.

Act 3 Question: The Role of Parents in Hamlet

     The parents play an important role in Hamlet. Throughout the play, the parents are seen as irresponsible and reckless, while the children, Hamlet, Ophelia, and Laertes, are the ones who suffer from these actions. The children are badly influenced by their parents and this affects the whole play. The children are dependent on their parents, corruption is damaging to the children. Without the parents, none of the characters of the play would suffer or have their downfalls.
   
     Hamlet suffers because Claudius (his uncle/stepfather) killed his father and his mother Gertrude married Claudius. This not only confused Hamlet, but threw him into a depression and madness from which he never fully recovered. His mother was selfish and made a decision which affected her whole family. She hadn’t even discussed the issue with Hamlet. Even after the fact, when she thinks Hamlet is going mad, she doesn’t confront him. She and Claudius send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find out what is wrong. Her lack of care and concern for Hamlet leaves him to fight his depression by himself.

     Ophelia suffers because of Polonius, her father, not trusting her. Because of this she is heartbroken and lonely as well as hated by Hamlet. Polonius had no reason to stop Ophelia from seeing Hamlet, but Ophelia, being the responsible and obedient person she is, listens. The worst part is, after Polonius did this, he asks her to get back together with Hamlet. Ophelia later goes into madness over the fact that Hamlet hates her and she ends up committing suicide. Because of her father’s actions, she died.

     Laertes suffers because he is lied to by his father. Polonius congratulates his son for going to France to study and tells him how much he trusts him. However, he then sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes. Polonius had no faith in his son and was only worried about his own reputation. When Polonius dies, Laertes wants revenge on Hamlet, thinking his father was an innocent man and not knowing him for who he truly was.

     Overall, the parents are irresponsible and cause the suffering and horrible things that happen in the play. In turn their children are the ones who are directly affected. The actions of the parents shape the future events of the play. The parents influence their children for the worse and ultimately lead to their downfalls.

Hamlet Act 2 post

     Act 2 scene ii, Hamlet’s feelings towards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern change. At first, Hamlet is excited and overjoyed to meet up with two of his childhood friends. “My excellent good friends! How dost thou, Guildenstern? Ah, Rosencrantz! Good lads, how do ye both?” After Hamlet sees the ghost, he trusts few people and is excited to see his old pals who he believed were loyal. The sight of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern will gives him some enjoyment in these stressful times.
     However as they begin their conversation, Hamlet discovers the true reason for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern coming to see him. His once friends have betrayed him and have lost all trust Hamlet might have had in them. Hamlet feels as if he is being used. “Nay, then, I have an eye of you.--If you love me, hold not off.” He now watches his so-called friends carefully in case they are hiding anything else from him. He knows that if he didn’t confront them about being sent, they would have never told him. They attempted to sell him out.

     Hamlet no longer considers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as his friends, although he doesn’t let them know that. He now sees them as a way to feed Claudius with false information. Hamlet is smarter than them and confuses them with his language. As far as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are concerned nothing has changed, but it is all part of Hamlet’s plan.

Hamlet Act 1 Post

It was a joyous celebration that warm summer’s night. It was not only the annual anniversary of the day King Hamlet defeated King Fortinbras and won a bundle of new land for Denmark, but also young Hamlet’s birthday. The castle was illuminated and filled with life as it became the center of a party so grand that it seemed all of Denmark was in attendance. King Hamlet told his son that there would be many pretty women there and pointed some of them out to him. However when the party began, there was only one woman who caught young Hamlet’s eyes, a girl by the name of Ophelia.

Walking confidently towards her, he began a conversation. He told her how beautiful she was and how she stood apart from all the others at the party. They continued to talk for what seemed like a decade. They decided to go for a walk around the castle. As they were leaving, young Hamlet looked back to see the party still full of life. He also noticed King Hamlet joyously dancing with his mother Gertrude, although her mind seemed in a different place.

They walked around the castle and they were beginning to feel a connection between one another. They had truly fallen in love. They walked out onto the balcony and looked out at the stars with the sounds of the party faintly in the background. They shared a kiss and gazed in awe into the night sky.

Chapter 8 Themes

We see all of our themes in this chapter. The American Dream and the relationships between most of the characters falls apart. "I have an idea that Gatsby himself didn't believe it would come (Daisy's phone call) and perhaps he no longer cared. If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a price for living too long with a single dream" (page 169)  "We talked like that for a while and then abruptly we weren't talking any longer. I don't know which of us hung up with a sharp click but I know I didn't care." (page 163) Nick and Jordan, Gatsby and Daisy, and of course George and Myrtle's American Dreams had completely ended.
We also see appearance vs. reality in this chapter. First of all in the begining of the story, Nick tells us " In consequencce I'm inclined to reserve all judgements..." (page 5) However he after telling Gatsby "You're worth the whole damn bunch put together." He says "It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I dissaproved of him from beginning to end." (page 162) He tells us he never judges people but contradicts himself by saying this. Also it appears to George that whoever drove the yellow car that killed Myrtle was the one who had the affair with her. Because this is how it appears George goes out and shoots Gatsby then himself.  

Chapter 7 Locations

In this chapter, we see all of our major places, West Egg, East Egg, Valley of Ashes, and New York City.

West Egg-

• We learn that Gatsby has stopped throwing parties. He has also fired all of his servants and replaced them with others. Gatsby says this is because "I wanted somebody who wouldn't gossip. Daisy comes over quite often-in the afternoons." (page 119)
• This shows that Gatsby only threw the parties to get daisy's attention and now that she visits he doesn't need them anymore. He also doesn't want the risk of rumors from his servants to ruin his appearance to Daisy.

East Egg-

• We first go to East Egg on page 121 when Nick and Gatsby go to have lunch with Tom, Daisy, and Jordan. Gatsby and Daisy share a kiss while tom is on the phone in another room and Gatsby meets Daisy's daughter, whom he didn't believe existed. When Tom comes back, Daisy mentions going to New York and Gatsby basically flirt in front of him. Getting jealous and Tom interrupts and says "All right, ...I'm perfectly willing to go to town. Come on-we're all going to town." (page 125)
• Tom suggests that Daisy and he take Gatsby's car and Gatsby take his car. However Daisy decides to go with Gatsby and Tom will take Nick and Jordan.
• We return to East Egg at the end of the chapter. Gatsby is hiding in a bush to make sure Tom won't hurt Daisy over what happened in the Valley of Ashes while Nick waits for a taxi. "I want to wait here till Daisy goes to bed. Good night. old sport." (page 153)

Valley of Ashes-

• Tom stops in the Valley of Ashes to get more gas for Gatsby's yellow car. While there he sees George who looks very sickly because he found out his wife has had an affair but doesn't know with whom. From a window Myrtle looks at Tom and looks at Jordan with disgust assuming shes Tom's wife. After getting gas Tom speeds up to catch up to Gatsby and Daisy.
• We return to the Valley of Ashes to learn that Myrtle is dead. She assumed that Tom was still in the yellow car and ran towards it. However they hit her and she dies they then speed away. We later learn from Gatsby that Daisy was driving but that he will take the blame.

New York City-

• After arriving, they all go to the Plaza Hotel where the conflict between Gatsby and Tom gets worse. After much arguing, Gatsby tells Tom that Daisy never loved him. Then she admits this to Tom. However she does say she once loved him. "'Even alone I can't say I never loved Tom."' (page 140) Tom then tells them he's been doing research on Gatsby and that he is a bootlegger. He then tells Gatsby to bring Daisy home. "'Go on. He won't annoy you. I think he realizes that his presumptuous little flirtation is over.'" (page 142)

And that pretty much sums up the location in chapter 7. Let me know what you think and if I missed anything.

Chapter 5 Colors

In this chapter we see the colors white and yellow describing Gatsby and his possessions. "An hour later the front door opened nervously and Gatsby in a white flannel suit, silver shirt and gold colored tie hurried in." (page 89) "...the pale gold odor of kiss-me-at-the-gate" (page 96) (kiss-me-at-the-gate is a type of flower) "...the dresser was garnished with a toilet set of pure dull gold." (page 97) These colors are used to show his wealth and Gatsby uses them to impress Daisy. I also found out that yellow(gold) can represent relief from nervousness, which would make sense because Gatsby is terrified when Daisy first comes. The famous green light makes another appearance in this chapter."'You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.'" (page 98) The green light represented his lust and want for Daisy and it was the closest he could get to her. However now thta she was here it had lost its meaning. "Daisy put her arm through his abruptly but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occured to him that that the collosal significance of that light had now vanished forever.""Now it was agin a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one." (page 98) That's all the color I found in this chapter, so let me know what you think. Oh and Merry Christmas.