Blog Assignment: Page 832 #9

Hamlet's soliloquy, in Act 3, Scene 1, Lines 56-90, starting with "To be, or not to be: that is the question;....." proves to be a climatic moment, and one of Shakespeares and Hamlets most famous scenes, through the use of vivid imagery and diction to bring the whole meaning and emotion of what Hamlet is proclaiming into full perspective for the reader.  Hamlet is questioning his very existence and his incentive to live.  Immediately Hamlet vivid comparisons and diction show the severity to which he has become invested in his revenge.  His diction is able to show us his complete feeling of what he believes has happened to the court.  In the beginning, Hamlets talks about death and smoothly speaks line to line speaking of dreams and escaping and we start to feel death as a very ideal way for Hamlet to escape and a serious possibility in his eyes.  Then he describes  his reality and the treachery that the court has become a part of.  Hamlet begins to use very aggressive words.  This switch in his pattern of speak goes along with the complexity and twisted morals of the court to articulate his true misery and dispare in living.

Blog Assignment: Page 830 #7, 14

#7- Hamlet tells Horatio, Marcellus, and the Ghost that after this encounter he likely to out on an antic disposition so they are aware of his plan and asks them not to draw attention, that they know.  His reaction and amount of anger grief he has and his want for revenge is a natural reaction yet his meticulous plan to put on an act of delirium to deceive the public is a bit extreme and can be considered a deliberate strategy.

#14- When Hamlet says, "Why, then, 'tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Hamlet feels he is under constant surveillance and even suspects Guildenstern and Rosencrantz of being sent to watch, which turns out to be true.  He is saying that Denmark for them is not a prison for them because they do not question the authority and its rule, but he is questioning and thinking about what really happened concerning his father and thus he is in a way imprisoned there.  Later on he says, "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know hawk from handsaw" in a kind of admittance way, that he is not necessarily really mad but, actually acting when the time calls for it.

All Bark, No Bite: King Claudius

Shakespeares Hamlet, set in Denmark, tells the story of Prince Hamlet journey to revenge against the newly appointed King, Uncle Claudius, after Claudius has killed his brother and Hamlets father, King Hamlet.  Even before it has been proven that Claudius has killed King Hamlet,  the reader is given clues, through speech patterns and the choice of words Claudius uses, that there is something eating away at him. Claudius even though he puts off a strong and forceful attitude, if really payed attention to, is a manipulative, but insecure-worried man.  Right from the moment we meet Claudius, his casual demeanor, lack of affection and sensitivity towards his brothers death, and quick change of topics from his brother to his new wife, his brothers old wife Gertrude, during his address to the court, proves something fishy.  A deep insite is given to the reader from Claudius speech patterns, showing his true thoughts and feelings, rather than simple text that could be a lie to show underneath Claudius's forceful exterior lies a murder and a false King that does not have the real power and true confidence to rule.

Prufrock

The lines "And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions," put together exactly the dominant feeling and attitude of T.S. Eliots poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.  From start to finish the character Prufrock in the poem constantly blurts out different ideas and emotions and seems to modify them each time as he continues.  This indecision seems to revolve around the character who constantly questions his actions and thoughts.    Prufrocks strong juxtapositions in his thought and its irregularity serve as a way to go beyond regular dialect and present a much deeper level of insight into his emotions and his inner workings.

Mini Essay: To His Coy Mistress

Andrew Marvells poem To His Coy Mistress bases itself on the idea or carpe diem, the idea of seizing the day.  This idea is expressed through vivid language and imagery Marvell uses throughout his poem to help the reader, rather than simply reading over the black and white print, become immersed in the poem.  Each metaphor or allusion giving an example for the reader to relate to the love and beauty he is describing.
Marvell takes his writing to another level by also incorporating his speed of sentences into what they are describing.  An example of this is comparing the lines "My vegetable love should grow, Vaster than empires, and more slow" were each word has a much slower feel to help articulate the complexity and large size of his love to "And your quaint honour turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust." where much shorter and direct words show the heavy passion and emotion.  Marvell use of multiple levels of communication help what would normally fly right over the readers head to really speak out and catch attention.

To His Coy Mistress

While Marvell uses many stylistic tools throughout his poem, the lines that spoke most to me were, "My vegetable love should grow; Vaster than empires, and more slow" Using this delayed sense of rhyme Marvell helps this line really communicate with what it is trying to do and what it really means to the reader. As someone goes over this line, time seems to literally slow down and emulate what he is describing in the poem giving emphasis to what Marvell actually writes. His allusion of love as vegetable helps the reader to visualize this love he speaks of, to show the growing nature of his love and while it may be slow, it is still growing, more complex and deeper as time flys by.