Hamlet

Major Characters: 

Hamlet: The main character of the play and the prince of Denmark. His father died and he is the heir to the throne however his uncle rules as king until Hamlet is "fit" even though he is around thirty. His uncle also married his mother with is considered to be incest because when two people get married they become "one" so The King technically married his sister.

Claudius: He is portrayed as a bad/evil character in the play, Hamlets uncle and The King of Denmark. He murdered old Hamlet by pouring poison in his ear.

Polonius: The father of Ophelia and Leartes, The Kings right hand man. He is very smart and is scheming through the entire play. Hamlet eventually kills him because he thought it was Claudius hiding behind a curtain instead of Polonius.

Ophelia: Hamlet is in love her, she is a character that is made out to be naive in the play however she can be quite clever and witty as well. She goes crazy from Hamlet's insanity and her father dying at the same time.  She commits suicide by drowning herself.

Leartes: He is Ophelia's brother and Polonius' son. He is a foil to Hamlet and battles him in the end of the play trying to kill Hamlet.

Gertrude: Hamlet's mother. After her husband old Hamlet died she got married to Claudius. She dies from drinking from a poison cup.

Horatio: He is Hamlet's trusted friend throughout the play, he is the only character that survives in the end and never gets wrapped up in the death that seems to follow Denmark. He helps Hamlet make important decisions.

The Ghost: Supposedly old Hamlet coming back as a ghost to tell Hamlet about how he got murdered to tell Hamlet to avenge him. This is where one of the major questions in the play starts on whether it is right for Hamlet to kill Claudius because Claudius killed his father. 

Motifs:

• Incest
• Identity
• Providence
• Revenge
• Control
• Religion
• Duality (Natural vs. Unnatural, identity vs. public appearance, father & son, light vs. day, pure vs. impure)
• Death
• Surveillance
• Ears & hearing
• Synecdoche
• Fortune/luck
• Lack of trust
• Mystery of death- afterlife
• Putting on persons- inner vs. outer self
• Lies
• Madness
  
  
  
  
  Theme:  Shakespeare’s Hamlet cautions that self doubt paired with moral corruption can lead to the subversion of providence.
  
  
  
  
  Explanation of the Theme:  In the play Hamlet is constantly struggling with self doubt, he can't decide what is right and what is wrong. That leads to nearly all the conflict because he doubts himself on whether he will make the right decision, to usurp God's power and kill Claudius to avenge his father or to go against his father and let God punish Claudius. He is also being moral corrupted by what is "rotten in Denmark" and his fathers ghost telling him to take revenge. These two major factors leave to the destruction of Hamlet himself and almost everyone around him.
  
  
  Symbols: 
  
  
  Holding Yoricks scull: Hamlet is staring at death itself and realizes that it is part of God's power and nature itself, it is not his decision and should not be feared either.
  
  
  The Poison: A symbol of lies and corruption
  
  
  The Flowers: Ophelia is using them to help her communicate through her insanity
  
  
  Hamlet: There is some evidence that he is a Christ figure in the play
  
  
  Author's Style and Narrative Voice: Shakespeare is writing not only to create a wonderful piece of literature but also to please the people. The common motif of usurping power could be pointed towards Queen Elizabeth and the motif of incest to the people. Hamlet is loaded with Imagery and allusions as well as figurative language. Shakespeare also ads in some parts of the play for comic relief so there is not tragedy upon tragedy that would make it almost comical. 
  
  
  Quotes:
  
  
  "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
  
  
  This is very important to the play because it goes along with the central conflict. This line is spoken by Horatio (the most trusted character and most reliable) because he can see that the ghost is not a good thing. The ghost shows that through Claudius's crime there is now almost a curse placed on Denmark. 
  
  
  "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below;
  Words without thoughts never to heaven go."
   
  This is said by Claudius when he is praying and Hamlet was about to kill him but didn't. It could either mean that Claudius doesn't truly mean what he is praying it just trying to put on a show or that God will not forgive him for killing old Hamlet so he will not hear his prayers anyway. 
   
  Setting: It is set in Denmark in Elsinore. It is a large castle where Hamlet is forced to stay instead of returning to college. Set in the 13th Century.
  
  
  Plot:  (From the Review)
  • Act 1
  • Scene 1
  • Horatio is told that the Ghost of the old king of Denmark, Hamlet, has been seen
  • Horatio sees the Ghost and attempts to talk to it, but it does not answer Horatio.
  • King Hamlet led a conquest against old Fortinbras
  • Scene 2
  • Claudius is introduced and makes a speech about his marriage and how young Fortinbras demands the lands taken by King Hamlet. Claudius sends ambassadors to stop an attack.
  • Laertes is given leave to go to France, with permission of Polonius.
  • Hamlet is introduced and is mourning his father, Claudius and Gertrude tell him to get over his father’s death.
  • Hamlet is not given permission to leave and go back to Wittenberg.
  • Hamlet is forced to stay in Denmark. He is upset about his mother’s marriage to his uncle. (Took place “within a month”)
  • Horatio and friends tell Hamlet about the Ghost and he agrees to join them.
  • Scene 3/4/5
  • Laertes (leaving for France) warns Ophelia not to fall for Hamlet and not to trust him.
  • Polonius says the same thing and orders her not to see Hamlet.
  • Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus are visited by the Ghost.
  • The Ghost wants to only speak to Hamlet.
  • The Ghost tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius. The Ghost tells Hamlet to avenge his murder.
  • Hamlet makes his friends swear to secrecy.
  • Act 2
  • Scene 1
  • Polonius does not trust Laertes in France and sends someone there.
  • Ophelia was visited by Hamlet, who seemed crazy.
  • Polonius thinks that Hamlet is crazy because Ophelia will not see him.
  • Scene 2
  • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent to spy on Hamlet by Gertrude and Claudius.
  • Polonius tells Claudius that Hamlet is crazy with love for Ophelia. They go to spy on Hamlet.
  • Hamlet knows that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are spying for Claudius.
  • Hamlet decides to prove his uncle’s guilt by staging a play, The Murder of Gonzago.
  • Act 3
  • Scene 1-To Be or Not To Be
  • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern cannot find why Hamlet is mad.
  • Polonius makes Ophelia to find out about Hamlet’s madness and goes to spy with Claudius.
  • Hamlet sees Ophelia and is nice, but then he changes his attitude.
  • Hamlet says he never loved her.
  • After Hamlet leaves Claudius does not think that love is the cause of his madness. He decides to send Hamlet to England.
  • Polonius says not to and wait until Gertrude talks to him.
  • Scene 2
  • The play occurs. Hamlet and Horatio watch for a reaction from Claudius.
  • The Player King is killed by having poison poured in his ear.
  • Claudius gets upset and leaves.
  • Hamlet is asked to go see Gertrude.
  • Scene 3
  • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are ordered to take Hamlet to England.
  • Polonius plans to spy on Hamlet and Gertrude.
  • Claudius starts to pray and Hamlet wants to kill him there, but cannot because then Claudius would go to Heaven.
  • Scene 4
  • Polonius hides behind a tapestry in Gertrude’s room.
  • Hamlet enters and scares Gertrude, who calls for help. Polonius then calls for help.
  • Hamlet, thinking that Polonius is Claudius, stabs the tapestry.
  • Hamlet is then upset at Gertrude for marrying Claudius, when the Ghost appears and he is the only one to see. Gertrude thinks he is mad.
  • The Ghost reminds Hamlet to avenge King Hamlet’s death.
  • Act 4
  • Gertrude tells Claudius that Polonius is dead. Claudius sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find Hamlet, and the body.
  • Hamlet does not say where he put the body.
  • Claudius orders Hamlet to leave immediately for England. Claudius tells the audience he plans to have Hamlet killed in England.
  • Hamlet sees Fortinbras and his army.

  • Act 5
  • Scene 1
  • Two clowns (gravediggers) dig up poor Yorick’s bones to make room for Ophelia.
  • Scene 2
  • Hamlet has his “fall of the sparrow” speech.
  • He then duels with Laertes, is mortally wounded, kills Claudius, then relinquishes his control to Fortinbras
   
   
  Tone: The tone is very dark and sometimes depressing. There is the motif of death and corruption through the whole play so other than the comic relief the tone is pretty dismal.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Our Class #5

Yay!! More Hamlet! Can you smell the sarcasm? Most likely not because this is a blog post but I am getting a little bit tired of so much discussion. I understand why we are talking about it so much and it is helpful in the long run it just gets boring after a while. We created a theme statement in class and wrapped up some of the last pieces in the play. Everything makes more sense to me now in the play and I think we have thoroughly discussed everything.

The cumulative review was an interesting experience, I did like it in some aspects and didn't others. I did like how the students created it, I thought that was a cool idea. That way the students wouldn't just be handed a review that the teacher spent a lot of time making and not use it because that's not how they study, this way we could add quizzes and hands on things too. I didn't like how long we had to work on it. I found myself just staring at it because I couldn't think of anything to add. Even the first day, first hour was pretty thorough, so that was kind of frustrating. I just felt like I never knew what to add that would help anyone. There is also that we don't know what is on the test so when we were condensing the review it was hard to know what we needed to know.

My life, well overall its a mess. With that said I really enjoy AP Lit as a whole. I find a lot of connections from the plays we have read so far and the vocab we have gone over, even in pop culture and stuff that isn't very sophisticated I still find connections. So I think that is pretty cool. With so little school days and material there isn't really any other connections in the past couple weeks. Yay AP Team!

Open Prompts Part 2

2009, Form B. Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political oe social issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore this issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

 In Veronica Roth's Divergent there is an underlying issue of both political and social issues. In the book the main character tries escape the government and hopes to cure the city of all of its inhumane practices. The author uses techniques such as mood, details, and empathy to highlight the issues of society in the novel and set up the central conflict. 

The mood in the novel is dismal but exhilarating at the same time because the character has to constantly fight with her own identity against the government of her city. The main character Tris is a "Divergent", they are people that the government cannot control because something is different in the divergent's mind. This is a problem for Tris through the entire book because she can never escape them, the government is constantly watching her and waiting for the right time to execute her if she is not careful and is exposed. Roth creates a mood of suspense and danger but also dismal as Tris could die at any moment, this heightens the impact of the governments threat. 

The author uses details to make the reader connect with the main character and sympathize her even know she is a "divergent" and the government is after her. Tobias is Tris' boyfriend and is also a divergent, this makes the reader hate the government even more in the book because now there are two people in danger. There are also details that bring out the problems in society and not just with the government in the city, Roth ads in a boy named Peter who tires to kill Tris just to save his own skin. This is showing that there are deeper problems than just the government, there are also huge problems in society itself. 

Tris is the main character so of course the reader will feel empathetic for her at some degree. However Roth creates empathy in the novel not only to bring an attachment to the main character but to also allow the reader to see the real problems in the city and see the true horrific things Tris has to live through. Tris' parents can't ever see her again, her brother has turned behind enemy lines, and her boyfriend is being hunted just like she is. Roth sets up the story so you have empathy for the character and despise the government, she used empathy to show how messed up society really is and that is what makes these conflicts more real. The conflicts in the story jump out at one from the page because of how the author and the book as a whole makes one want to fight for Tris. 

The authors literary techniques used in the novel makes the conflict between Tris and the government/overall society much more intense. It makes one feel the suspense and want to keep reading  while adding details that make the reader connect with the characters.  The author adds empathy in the novel to make the government seem like an even bigger monster. Roth is very successful in creating the central conflict so it's so strong that the meaning of the book is clear. Even if it's one or two against the world, there is always hope. Even if it is fighting something like the government, it's more important to fight for whats right. Roth is suggesting the meaning of the novel by using these techniques to make the political and social problems stand out to the reader. 


I was not aware when I was writing this, or was too tired, that Divergent is a young adult book. Will not happen again.

Our Class #4

WOW. That was a lot of Hamlet in the last couple weeks. All the movies were very interesting in their own way and definitely gave different perspectives on the play. I didn't however like one version over the other, I think they all had their own strengths and weaknesses. And to be honest after watching like five different versions in a row I was a little exaughsted of Hamlet overall,  all the movies just combined in my mind as one giant weird movie.

The one that I really didn't like was the more modern one, the one that was set in the 1900's but still had the original words. It didn't make any sense to me, if you have very old English words than don't pair them with a modern setting. Nobody talks like that today! So that made me quite angry because I think it mocks Hamlet's story and makes it seem like a joke to me. I am sure that is not what the director of the movie was going for but for me personally, I didn't get it.

I liked watching the different versions as a whole because we got to see what choices the filmmakers made in each one and how it had an effect on the overall story. Maybe not five of them because now I can't remember which one is which and like I said before they have all melded together. As a whole however it was a very good idea to compare the movies. Some of the decisions we saw in the movies I still haven't even decided myself, for example if Gertrude knew that the wine was poisoned before she drank it. In the actual words of the play you could argue both ways that she is oblivious or she knew and was trying to sacrifice herself for Hamlet. When I read it I think that she did have some inclination that something was going on with the wine but like I said I really don't know which is the right answer if there even is a right answer.

Another thing that I thought was interesting about the directors choices was how Claudius was portrayed. When I initially read Hamlet I found Claudius as an evil character, killing old Hamlet seems like an unforgivable action, but than some of the movies got me thinking. The fact that old Hamlet was portrayed as a ghost in this eerie and almost devilish way made me think maybe old Hamlet wasn't so good than, maybe he has some secrets that we didn't know about. Also some of the movies Claudius really didn't seem all that bad and Hamlet seemed the one that was being unreasonable, Patrick Stewart for example did not seem like an evil Claudius too me and I was almost sad when he died. I also could have been unconsciously bias from some of the other things Patrick Stewart has starred in. 

Aside from the rambling about some of the smaller parts in Hamlet I am really excited to finish it up. We have been have discussions for a while and I want to move on to motifs and theme statements so I understand the play to my full capabilities. I am also excited to start reading Gildenstern and Rozencratz Are Dead because I skimmed some of it and it looks really funny and modern like the American Dream was.

 How this all connects to my life. Well it really does! I was kind of surprised because all we have been doing is Hamlet and I didn't think I would see a whole bunch of references already.  I find myself in class like making Hamlet jokes and nobody gets them, it's kind of sad really. Like I will be sitting in class and say "thou lay my head upon your lap" and nobody understands what I'm talking about, it of course has a context. I don't just go screaming that through the hallways or anything. So overall I am glad we read Hamlet, it is a classic piece and I'm glad I can understand references on TV and when people mention quotes from the play.