Please choose two questions from ACT I to respond to in at least a 150 word post. Please state the scene and the question. (ex. ACT I Scene 2 - What problems does Claudius address in this passage?) Be sure you provide textual evidence to support your claims. You must respond to two of your peers as well. Due by midnight, Sunday 12/11/16
13 Comments
Jordan Zeigler
12/11/2016 07:11:43 pm
Act 1, Scene 3:
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Jenny Smith
12/11/2016 09:18:24 pm
I agree with you on your first question. I noticed all of those reasons in the text. You mentioned it is just like Romeo and Juliet, that Shakespeare points out the power of foolishness passion; this seems to be a reoccurring theme to Shakespeare. The effects of distorting love and allowing it to be foolishly passionate is seen in Midsummer night's dream and Macbeth.
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Kenya Jones
12/12/2016 06:13:46 am
In this scene when Laertes is giving all this advice to Ophelia, I was intrigued by what Ophelia first responds to her brother. She tells Laertes, on lines 45-50, "But, my good brother, do not, as some ungracious pastors do, show me the steep and thorny way to heaven whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine, himself the primrose path of dalliance treads and recks not his own rede." In this excerpt, Ophelia basically tells her brother to make sure he's practicing what he's preaching. This made me curious as to if Laertes has some background that we are going to be shown some time throughout the play.
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Holmes
12/15/2016 07:04:02 pm
A very good point. This aspect always makes me think of the legitimacy of Laertes comments to his sister. As later in the play will prove, I also doubt his accuracy.
Holmes
12/15/2016 07:05:28 pm
Well said. What do you make of Laertes and his accuracy, sincerity, and place?
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Jenny Smith
12/11/2016 09:06:52 pm
Act 1, Scene 2: What actual facts do we learn from Hamlet's first soliloquy?
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Kenya Jones
12/12/2016 06:04:46 am
I thought this section was particularly amusing considering we learned in "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" that Polonius is the "worst offender in the distortion of complex truth", and we learned of his "fatuous complacency in his own powers of analysis."
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Holmes
12/15/2016 06:17:42 pm
With regard to your first post, what does Hamlet refer to when he is discussing "...his canon 'gainst self-slaughter!" What does this tell us about his mental state?
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Jordan Zeigler
12/15/2016 07:37:47 pm
Responding to your 2nd question, I personally love hearing Polonius speak. Polonius contradicts his own advice, and always talks with so much tautology and contradiction to make for some entertaining dialogue. If "brevity is the soul of wit," then Polonius certainly falls short, and it gives the play some much-needed comic relief.
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Kenya Jones
12/11/2016 10:12:32 pm
Act I, Scene 2: How are we informed of the elder Hamlet’s death? Why must we learn this information early?
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Holmes
12/15/2016 06:10:47 pm
Actually, by saying "Long live the King" Barnado is averring his allegiance to the current King of Denmark. This line does not confirm that King Hamlet is dead. Otherwise, your remarks are fine and supported.
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Jordan Zeigler
12/15/2016 07:44:55 pm
Responding to your 1st question, the background on King Hamlet's death not only fills the audience in on events happening to Hamlet, but it also outlays all the politics and complications of the plot. All the talk of Denmark gaining land in war from Norway, Fortinbras the second plotting to invade Denmark to reclaim the land, Claudius's inheritance of the throne, and so on all set up the complicated politics that Shakespeare uses to point out the political and thus human corruption of Denmark. Some exposition is certainly necessary not to just introduce the plot, but also the themes and atmosphere–murdered kings and ghosts certainly create a spooky mood, and the mood does not get much happier throughout the tragedy.
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Jenny Smith
12/15/2016 07:56:42 pm
I like the points you made about the ghost of Hamlet and why we the readers needed to understand this information. I also like what you said about most women in this play being easily influenced by the man and following them. This seems that it could be a reoccurring them and could be one of the possible reasons why there's something up in Denmark.
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