Hamlets Revenge Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Revenge of Hamlet Hamlet’s sixth soliloquy is full of irony, philosophy, and with the familiar subject of revenge. It reflects themes of the entire play, and it helped further my understanding of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Hamlet. The main character, in his second-to-last monologue reflects Claudius’ regret which is an obstacle to revenge. This barrier creates frustration for Hamlet, but also is a reason for further procrastination, which is usually Hamlet’s way out of a situation. The subject of the soliloquy is essentially that if Claudius is killed by Hamlet while praying, he will go to heaven. This situation is ironic because of Claudius’ secret inability to pray, and the irony is unknowingly reflected throughout Hamlet’s viewpoint of the situation. Hamlet’s philosophy is educated, but very ironic, as are many of the words and images that Hamlet uses. The characteristics of this soliloquy, the subject, irony, Hamlet’s procrastination and his philosophy are true reflections of the entire play, and that is why my understanding of the play developed and improved by examining the sixth soliloquy. The subject of Hamlet’s sixth aside is very similar to his other six because of his inability to act upon his conviction. Hamlet is told to avenge his father’s unnatural murder knowing fully that this is his duty.â€Å" †Revenge tragedy has long been recognized, on the one hand, for the speed with which it becomes virtually synonymous with stage misogyny and, on the other, for its generic and sometimes profound investment in recognizably Renaissance process of mourning- revenge, after all, is the private response to socially unaccommodated grief- but typically mourning and misogyny have been considered in isolation from one another, in separate studies and only insofar as the duplicate Renaissance habits of thought articulated elsewhere in medical or philosophical discourse.†(Mullaney) However, throughout the play we discover his soft heart and often his inability to act. By this he is betraying his father’s command. This betrayal is more than evident in this soliloquy. His mind is tainted by the thought that if he were to avenge while Claudius is â€Å"praying†, Claudius would go to heaven. Essentially in this soliloquy, William Shakespeare reveals the moral problems associated with committing revenge in a corrupt world. Again, Hamlet finds a way to excuse himself fro... ... not to be’ speech. Each of the characteristics of Hamlet’s sixth soliloquy reflected the principle elements of Hamlet and because of that my understanding of the play improved. I was pushed to read more closely into the play and in doing so found many similarities between this particular speech and the thoughts and actions of Hamlet. My understanding of Shakespeare’s individual craft was also improved. Many characteristics of his writings shone through in Hamlet, particularly his creativity and questioning philosophies, his use of the procrastinating lead character, and his interesting use of irony. The basic principles of Hamlet were also revealed in the sixth soliloquy. The nature of revenge in a corrupt world and my understanding of these were improved through closer examination of the play. Works Cited DiYanni, Robert. â€Å"Literature: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark/ William Shakespeare.† 5th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2002. Gottschalk, Paul. â€Å"Shakespeare Quarterly: Hamlet and the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scanning of Revenge.† Vol. 24 No. 2. p.155-170 Mullaney, Steven. â€Å"Shakespeare Quarterly: Mourning an   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Misogyny.† Vol. 45. No. 2.(Summer, 1994) p. 139-164

Midsummer Night’s Dream Essay

Referring to at least two extracts in detail, explain why A Midsummer Night’s Dream is still popular, 400 years after it was written. Comment on a production you have seen, or consider how you would like to produce the play. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is set in Athens in Greece. It is a journey into a mid-night forest, where fairies put spells on people. The story begins with Hippolyta and Theseus (Duke of Athens), getting married and the events that surround it. There are a group of workers who have decided to put on a play for the wedding. â€Å"Here is a scroll of every man’s name wish, is thought fit, through all Athens, to play in our interlude before the Duke and the Duchess on his wedding-day at night. † In the play, a carpenter, called Peter Quince, gives this speech. He is informing the workers about the play, they will be putting on. â€Å"The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe. † Bottom agrees with Peter Quince, that Pyramus and Thisbe is a great play to be putting on. Another main part of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is the quarrelling that has been going on between Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of the fairies. They are arguing about a little Indian boy, who Titania has looked after, since he was a baby. Oberon wants the boy to be his henchman, but Titania totally disagrees. â€Å"Give me that boy and I will go with thee,† says Oberon. â€Å"Not for thy fairy kingdom. Fairies, away! We shall chide downright, if I longer stay. † By this comment, Titania has made it clear, that, there is no chance of her giving the boy to Oberon. Titania also says, she is going to go, otherwise things will become violent and out of control. In Athens there was a law, that stated daughters had to, marry, whoever their father wanted. Otherwise there were serious consequences, if the daughter refused. The father could have his daughter put to death. This was the exact situation for a young lady named Hermia. Hermia was in love with a young Athenian called Lysander, he was also besotted with her. But her father Egeus had chosen another young Athenian called Demetrius, (who was from a very noble family) to marry his daughter, Hermia. Hermia’s best friend, Helena was frantically in love with Demetrius, however, he did not have a care in the world for her. Egeus had gone to the Athenian court, to plead with Theseus (the Duke of Athens) to do something about Hermia. Theseus could only give Hermia, four days to agree to marry Demetrius; otherwise she would be put to death. â€Å"For you, fair Hermia, look you arm yourself, to fit your father’s will; or else the law of Athens yields you up to death, or to a vow of single life. † Hermia was in a huge dilemma, what was she going to do? Oberon decides to take the Indian boy off Titania. He told Puck, his attendant, to put a love juice on Titania’s eyes, while she was asleep. So that when Titania woke up, she would fall deeply in love with, the first thing that she sees, whether it is an animal or human. Oberon has seen Helena and Demetrius arguing in the forest. Oberon informs Puck to put, the love juice on Demetrius’ eyes, so he falls in love with Helena. But Puck accidentally, puts the love juice on Lysander’s eyes, so Lysander ends up falling out of love with Hermia and in love with Helena. â€Å"What has thou done? Thou hast mistaken quite and laid the love-juice on some true-love’s sight. † Puck had put the love juice in Lysander’s eyes but he was already in love with Hermia. The language and poetry used, is so effective, you can easily picture it in your mind. English has changed in the last four hundred years, so some little grammatical words are no longer used and there are also words for things, which are not used anymore. ‘Girdle means belt, vestal is a girl who is a virgin and a votaress means to a worshiper. ‘ These words no longer exist. ‘Ere meaning before and hither meaning here,’ are both little grammatical words, which are not used anymore. The second person singular, ‘thou, thee, thy, thyself,’ are not used in English. Although used in modern French and German. Pronunciation has also changed a great deal, instead of taking the first letter of a word and replacing it with an apostrophe. The third letter is taken out instead. ‘It is – tis’ – nowadays ‘it is – becomes it’s. ‘ Shakespeare’s language has a big impact, on his plays because the English now is very different. These are words in his plays, which mean something, totally different in modern English. ‘Civil – smooth, rude – rough, bolt – arrow, maiden – virginal. ‘ These words are called ‘false friends’, because we think we know them, but we do not. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the poetry is immense; you are able to imagine things, which cannot be seen. Oberon and Bottom’s poetry sticks out, because it is of high quality. In Shakespeare’s plays, there are many complex lines. The poetry’s quality has strength, to entertain and engage the audience. ‘The raging rocks, and shivering shocks, shall break the locks, of prison gates; and Phibbus’ car, shall shine from far, and make and mar, the foolish fates. ‘ This bit of the play was spoken by Bottom, it is almost like a limerick but it is a bit longer. The rhythm makes it gripping, ‘rocks, shocks, locks, car, far, mar. ‘ Rhythmic poems are good to listen to, as they are fairly easy to understand. Oberon’s poetry is more descriptive and the poetry is rhythmic. ‘My gentle Puck, come hither. Thou rememberest since once I sat upon a promontory, and heard a mermaid on a dolphin’s back, uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath, that the rude sea grew civil at her song and certain scars shot madly from their spheres, to hear the sea-maid’s music,’ Oberon’s poem was relaxing, because you could just close your eyes and imagine it. He creates a picture that can only be seen in your mind. Oberon gets love across by pictures, ‘loosed his love-shaft, Cupid’s fiery shaft, now purple with love’s wound. ‘ Cupid has let his arrow go and it has hit them right in the heart. On stage, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is really effective, especially when there are squabbles between characters. When Bottom wanted to play everybody’s part, it was as if he was a little spoilt child, who wanted everything. Theatre can do things that a film cannot; a film cannot interact with you. The actors on stage can really express their feelings and emotions. Like love, anger or sorrow. ‘O spite! O hell! I see you are all bent, to set against me for your merriment. ‘ Helena is very furious because she feels that; Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius, are trying to make a fool of her, and laugh about her behind her back. When Helena says â€Å"O spite! O hell! † I think it is really effective because when you are reading the play, you can really feel her anger. It would be quite hard to make the fairies look small and real on stage. I saw a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on video. I did not enjoy watching it because the play was too modern. The fairies were just like other actors; they were life size and just acted normal. The actors and actresses wore modern day clothes, like plain dresses, casual trousers and plain T-shirts. The film is based on a little boy’s dream. To get into the play you have to realise that fairies only exist if you believe in them. In Shakespeare’s theatre four hundred years ago, there were not women performers. Young boys used to play women’s parts because their voices had not yet broken, which meant they were quite high pitched. The theatre was almost like an arena. Most people stood up and watched the play, but there were seats in the balcony, for the richer people. The audience’s were usually, socially mixed. This meant that, Shakespeare’s plays had to appeal to lots of different people, whether they were illiterate, poor, rich or literate. This helped Shakespeare’s plays, to still be famous today because they are multi-faceted. The play has many archaic words, because the English language has changed, a great deal in the last, four hundred years. ‘Dulcet-sweet, votaress-virgin, and sirran – to address a boy or man servant or child. ‘The theme of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a love story, with lots of comedy. After all the downsides, there is a happy ending. But life is not always like that. Hermia gets to marry Lysander and Demetrius marries Helena. In real life in Athens 400 years ago, I doubt it would be a happy ending for someone in Hermia’s situation. The fairies put a spell on the lovers and Titania to sort the misunderstandings out, which the love potion caused. Oberon and Titania have both made up with each other, and as king and queen of the fairies they bless the house together.

The Hidden Meaning of The Nuns Priests Tale Essay

The Hidden Meaning of The Nuns Priests Tale It has been suggested that a Chaucer tale exploits the nature of its genre but also draws attention to the ideological biases and exclusions inherent in the genre2. In my opinion The Nuns Priests Tale is a wonderful example of Chaucer testing the bounds of his chosen genre - in this case the beast fable. What is a beast fable? Obviously a tale about animals, but one where animals are used as embodiments or caricatures of human virtues, vices, prudences, and follies ... and the other typical qualities of mankind. They are generally brief cautionary anecdotes that use the obvious resemblances between man and animals to point a moral or push a proverb home entertainingly3.†¦show more content†¦Beast fables offer the most closed system of stereotypes available to a storyteller.4 But stereotypes, by their nature, are biased, exclusive, overblown representations of humanity - perhaps not useful for gaining a better understanding of a working system of morality. Certainly once Chaucer has introduced a level of non-stereotypical complexity to the tale, one simple, obvious moral is no longer possible, which raises a significant doubt about how useful it is to try and make moral points through such tales. Life is, after all, never one dimensional. It is for this reason that I think Chaucer is drawing attention to two types of biases and exclusions in The Nuns Priests Tale. He examines those within popular medieval traditions through the introduction of sub-genres which conflict with the apparent simplicity of the tale. By doing this he also exposes those of the beast fable form, which are largely made apparent through the multiplicity of (often conflicting) morals that the introduction of the sub-genres create. In this essay I will explore how these two ideas intersect. The Sub-genres: Popular Medieval Traditions It has been suggested that the Nuns Priests Tale does not so much make true and solemn assertions about life as it tests truths and solemnities5. In my opinion there are three main sub-genres that Chaucer tests in the tale. The Romance, with its emphasis on nobility andShow MoreRelatedConflict In Anglo-Saxon And Medieval Literature1476 Words   |  6 Pagesboth Anglo-Saxon and Medieval literature reflect the culture of the people and the time they are living in. Both of their literature heavily reflects the culture of knighthood and courtly love in the stories: â€Å"The Wanderer,† â€Å"Beowulf,† â€Å"The Nun’s Priest’s Tale,† â€Å"Sir Orfeo,† and â€Å"Lanval.† Conflict in these stories is not only used to provide reference of the culture but as well to drive the plot, provide tension and excitement, and to develop the characters in the story. Such conflicts found in the