Blog #20: Summary of "Hamlet"

Hamlet: Summary

Author: William Shakespeare

Setting: Mostly set in and around the castle of Elsinore in Denmark. Some scenes include the queen's bedroom, the common area, outside the castle (grave, dock). Although it seems very obscure as to where most of the scenes are occurring.

Plot: After the mysterious death of Old King Hamlet, his son Hamlet comes back to Denmark to mourn the death of his father and see the marriage of his mother to his uncle. In the first scene the guards are set to prove to Horatio that there is a ghost haunting the castle. Once Horatio arrives, the ghost appears but does not speak or make any contact. Horatio and the guards then decide to tell Hamlet to come see the ghost since they believe that it could be his father. Once Hamlet returns to Denmark it clear that his is still mourning the death of his father and disgusted at the idea of his mom marrying his uncle. At the same time Laertes is preparing to leave Denmark for France and instructs Ophelia (who is romantically involved with Hamlet) to be careful with him and not to trust him. Polonius gives Laertes some (good?) fatherly advice and sends Laertes on his way. Polonius then goes back to Ophelia and begins to plot how to get Ophelia and Hamlet married. Later on, Hamlet goes out to see the ghost. Once there the ghost instructs him to follow and they talk. The ghost (who is old King Hamlet) tells Hamlet that it was Cladius that poisoned him and that Hamlet must take revenge on him. Once the ghost leaves Hamlet decides that he is going to fake madness and that Horatio should not tell anyone of his plan. Not sure whether or not to believe the ghost Hamlet takes advantages of some traveling actors and plots to have them recreate the incident with the King and Queen watching to see their reaction to the actions. With Hamlet increased madness becoming a concern, Cladius plots on how and why this is the case. Polonius believes it is due to his love for Ophelia, the Queen because of his lost father, and many more ideas. Cladius brings back Rosencratz and Guildenstern to get to the bottom of his madness. When this doesn't work Ophelia is used to see if she is the root of his madness. Coming to now conclusion as to why Hamlet is mad, all of the characters head to the play and witness the murder of Old Hamlet acted out. Cladius, in rage, storms out and Hamlet has determined that he is guilty. The rest of the play focuses on Hamlet fighting within himself about how/if he should kill Cladius and Cladius plotting to take out Hamlet. In a conversation with his mom Hamlet mistakes Polonius for Cladius and kills him. This seemingly causes Ophelia to go crazy since she has lost her father, Hamlet, and her brother is away. Hearing this Laertes comes back and is set to seek revenge on who ever killed his father. This set the scene for the last act of the play. After Ophelia drowns (suicide?), Laertes is ready to make Hamlet pay for his actions. He and Cladius hatch a plan to kill him in a fencing match. Once Hamlet agrees to fight, Laertes and Hamlet meet in the castle to duel. With the sword unbuttoned and laced with poison and poison wine as a back-up the stage is set for Hamlet to die. After winning the first 2 rounds, Hamlet is clipped with Laertes poisoned sword, which he then drops. Hamlet hits Laertes with the poisoned sword, condemning them both to death. Gertrude drinks the poison wine and dies. As she is dying Laertes tells the truth and Hamlet kills the King. Once Laertes dies, Hamlet dies shortly after in the arms of Horatio. Fortinbras comes just in time to claim the throne.

Significant Characters:

-Hamlet- Main character of the play, fakes madness in order to seek revenge, questions whether or not life is worth it, possibly loves Ophelia, idolizes father, indecisive, has several different personalities, struggles with the loss of his father, finds Elsinore to be poison, can be compared to Jesus Christ.

-Horatio- moral compass of the play, Hamlet's right hand man, pure, untouched my Elsinore's poison, wants the best for everyone, wants to kill himself with Hamlet, audiences believes it is Horatio says it.

-Ophelia- In love with Hamlet, possibly pregnant, unsure whether see is pure and innocent or deceiving and cunning, commits suicide after loss of father, goes crazy or maybe fakes the madness, used as a ploy for Polonius wanting the throne.

-Laertes- Leaves at the beginning of the play, comes back after father is killed and sister goes crazy, wants revenge with Cladius, comes to regret his decision, seems like a relatively level-headed person (in comparison).

-Cladius- Kills his brother in order to get the throne and his wife, enjoys the pleasures of being king that gets ruined when Hamlet comes back, wants to get rid of Hamlet but doesn't know how, infatuated with Gertrude, comparison to a serpent (devil reference).

-Gertrude- Wife of Old Hamlet and Cladius, Hamlet's mom, idealistic, doesn't see the wrong in Elsinore, possible kills herself at the end, possibly regrets her actions toward the end of this play, maybe tries to right the wrong with her son.

-Old Hamlet- Killed by Cladius, comes back as a ghost to have Hamlet get revenge, loved by his people, envied by his brother, idealized by his son.

-Polonius- Wants the throne, exploits his daughter to get what he wants, killed in the middle of one of his plans, his death is a spark in the plan for the final scene.

Narrative Voice: None, this is a play

Author's Style: Heavy use of figurative language, details, diction, and syntax. Syntax was used to show the difference in tone between speakers. More formal is shown through iambic pentameter and heroic couplets, while less formal is shown through long and lengthy prose. Long and lengthy prose are sections that usually contain majority details and set up most of the background story. Other techniques include similes, metaphors, enjambment, end-stopped lines, diacope, parallelism, and symbolism. Since this a play, no specific point of view is created. The tone is created through the syntax along with the diction used to create the scene for the reader. Symbolism and motifs are also very important to Shakespeare's style. Each are used to create a sense of ambiguity and leaves room for multiple interpretations of the text. One motif commonly found is the question of if we are all just puppets in God's play or if we actually have the ability to control our destiny. 

Quotes:

-Quote 1- "To be or not to be, that is the question" This quote essentially sums up the theme of this play. Hear Hamlet is questioning whether or not living is actually worth is. This line shows Hamlet's true feelings and shapes his actions throughout the rest of the play. Before now Hamlet had timidly figuring out what to do but after this Hamlet realizes that he needs to make a move and prove that he can make his life worth it and control his own fate. After battling internally, the audience is finally shown how Hamlet is truly feeling.
-Quote 2- "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" This quote at the beginning of the play sets the stage and scenary for the play. Knowing that something is wrong with Denmark, the audience is left to find out what exactly is wrong and how exactly it can be fixed. In the end we learn that everyone must die in order for Denmark to be free. This quote foreshadows that evil that is Denmark and the actions that the characters take to "fix" it.

Themes: One theme found in this play is the idea that our fate may either predetermined and that we are all just players in God's game or that we have control over what happens in our lives.

Support of Theme: Support of this theme is found in many different ways. Especially through the character of Hamlet. He frequently himself questions whether or not he should do anything because of God's plan. In Hamlet's "to be or not to be" speech Hamlet questions the point of our being if we don't have any say in what we do. This idea is further elaborated right before the end fight scene. The fight itself is a symbol of the theme in that although Hamlet did not plan to kill Cladius at the time his fate was sealed and both were killed. This end scene shows how the first part of the theme is right, that fate can't be controlled and how the fate of Elsinore did not lie in the hands of any single character to change their fate.

Blog #19: Open Prompt 1 Revision

Prompt: 1974. Choose a work of literature written before 1900. Write an essay in which you present arguments for and against the work's relevance for a person in 1974. Your own position should emerge in the course of your essay. You may refer to works of literature written after 1900 for the purpose of contrast or comparison.

In every English class taken, it seems as if majority of the focus is on pieces of work that seem ancient to us. Readings from the 1500's to Shakespeare to the 1800's, the difficulty of the language seems to lead readers to the question, "Why do I have to read this?". The point of reading literature such as Pride and Prejudice seems to get past most of the readers. Work after the 1900s is familiar to us, having lived through and kept good record of it. However, pieces before then are able to take us back and give readers a glimpse into life of the time that may not be as familiar to the reader. By reading pieces of literature written before the 1900s, modern day readers are provided a historical context through the descriptions of beliefs and customs of the time in a way that cannot be done through reading modern day literature. 

     Written by Jane Austen in the 1800's, Pride and Prejudice is still commonly read today. Austen's satire provides the reader with a look into the lives of families that lived during the 19th century. The focus on marriage and courtship shows the reader the importance of marriage customs of the time and how they were not necessarily perfect. Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins marry without even knowing each other. Charlotte is getting old and needs to find a man sooner rather than later and Mr. Collins wants to inherit more wealth. This idea, a common practice of the time, is unusual to a modern day reader and is something that would not be found in any recent works. Through this relationship a reader is able to understand what a typical marriage of the time would look like. Austen offers a first hand account of what life was really like and how relationships were created and flourished. 

Throughout the story Austen also seems to undermine the marriage customs of her time and showcases a change that she quite possibly wanted to occur. Austen indirectly inserts her opinions into this novel through the relationship between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. Together because they are actually in love, defy the norm of the time and are together despite the huge difference between their social standings. Without reading this novel, modern readers would not understand Austen’s opinions of her cultures marriage beliefs and customs and her desire for them to change. 

     Whether is be from the 1000's to the 1800's, work before the 1900's still bears great importance on readers in our time. These works provide us with a look into the opinions of authors, historical reference, and a look into many different cultures that seem almost foreign to us. Without reading works such as Pride and Prejudice modern day readers would miss out on learning, not just what happens in the work, but about another culture as well. 

Blog #18: Response to Course Material 5

     Recently, we have been doing a ton of work with Hamlet. From reading it as a class to annotating to watching several versions of the movie I feel like I have had enough of Hamlet for the rest of my life. However, the more that I work with the text, the more I understand it. When annotating I was able to pick up many different things that I did not through the first read. Particularly, how different scenes can be read in different ways. For example, the end scene when Gertrude drank the wine, did she know that poison was in the cup or was she completely unaware? Also, in the scene where Cladius is praying, did he know that Hamlet was there about to kill him? I thought that these questions could be answered when watching the movies, but sometimes it just made it even more unclear. In the three versions each director made decisions that could change the interpretation of the play. This made it even more unclear to me since each was different. In the first two versions that we watched Gertrude had no clue about the poison but in the last one she did. 

     We also have been doing a few forums. One in particular I found very interesting, this was involving Ophelia. While reading the text I was unsure what he intentions were. I was torn between her being sweet and crazy or being manipulative and calculating. In this forum we were given the opportunity to explore more with her character. First, the poem we read depicted Ophelia as innocent and naive. But as I read the poem, and re-read the scenes mostly concerning Ophelia, I found myself differing from the viewpoint of the poem. Throughout the play, I believe that Ophelia did everything for a reason and was not as innocent as most may think. Especially in the "flower" scene, although she seemed crazy, each flower was given for a reason, not by chance. This made me believe that she is truly manipulative and more like her father.

     Lastly, we got our chapter 4/5 essays back. I did not do as well as I had expected and that was a wake-up call for the AP exam. I now know that I need to clearly read the directions, since that was mostly were I was lacking in my essay. But I was happy to learn, that I was able to answer the prompt using a true tone rather than describing the mood of the piece.