To be or Not to be Notes

“To be, or not to be: that is the question”

what is it that I’m being; is it truthful to be who I am

to act or not to act → to avenge my father’s death and change as a person as a result or to keep still and stay with the flow

“...slings and arrows…”

unbearable things he [Hamlet] has to deal with, or stand up and say to

“...to die, to sleep…”

not face it

“...’tis a consummation...”

ending; consider it attractive for a moment

“...ay, there’s the rub…”

dilemma, problem; envision good life

“yes. it’s attractive, but I don’t really know….”

“...the oppressor’s wrong...”

Claudius

“...the proud man’s contumely...”

Polonius; contumely → rude speech

“...pangs of despised love...”

love offered that’s despised

“...insolence of office…”

arrogance with a side of not so nice words

“...patient merit of the unworthy takes…”

dealing with these people requires lots of insults

“...bodkin…” → dagger

“I just want to kill myself” [in a joking matter; think modern, angsty teenager on the verge of a meltdown as he/she goes through the college application process]

“...to grunt and sweat under a weary life...the undiscovered country….”

should I shift gear or should I stay with the thorn stuck on my side?

“...thus conscience thus make cowards of us all…”

murder is justified BUT it’s still murder and our conscience reminds us of that → GUILT

(which is a good way to control people)

“...currents turn awry…”

juxtaposition on that end couplet → makes it more realistic, different when being observed

First Staple Center Game

Hamlet: Act II Scene I & II

• Lord Polonius tells Reynaldo to spy on Laertes:
• “tell the people that Laertes talks, fights, drinks...also tell the people that you know him a little bit, but don’t overdo it” [rough interpretation]
• Foreshadowing → “By indirections find directions out” [Lord Polonius]
• Polonius assumes that Hamlet is lovesick for Ophelia

• King Claudius tells Rosencrantz and Goldenstein:
• spy on Hamlet because they are closer to Hamlet’s age than he is
• Voltimand: allusion to the bigger problem
• Norway wants to ask (Denmark) for passage through in order to get to Poland

“...brevity is the soul of wit...” //Lord Polonius

“...method in the madness...” //Lord Polonius

“...to me it is a prison...” //Hamlet

“...for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so…” //Hamlet

Hamlet: Act I Scene IV/V

[Hamlet] - rough interpretations

• → yes, it’s a custom but they should respect the old King and not celebrate it (his death)
• the drinking and partying makes us look bad; the other nations think us drunkards
• [Claudius] should be taking this seriously and should be mourning

“King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me!” - Hamlet

• Hamlet recognizes the ghost as his father; gives credibility to the ghost
• Remember: ghost is an omen (reinforces it) → unfinished business; shows something wrong with the balance of the kingdom

• Horatio and Marcellus warns Hamlet that the Ghost will trick him into doing something terrible

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” - Marcellus

• moral and political corruption → foul play; Claudius’s misguidance as king

• Hamlet’s father (ghost) is in purgatory going to hell
• readers find out that he was murdered → king was sleeping in the garden when Claudius pours poison (snake venom) into his ear causing his blood to clot
• [rough interpretation]  Gertrude was seduced by Claudius even before the murder occurred
• giving over to lust
• (to Hamlet) “let God judge her and let her guilt consume her [Gertrude]”
• don’t let emotions rule you (act of revenge) → do it for your country and of your birth

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Hamlet: Act I Scene III

Laertes and Ophelia are siblings → Polonius is their father

• Laertes warns Ophelia of Hamlet
• “...the trifling of his favor...”  
• → Laertes calls Hamlet young, mentioning how his emotion towards her are brief and trivial; something that won’t last long as he grows older and gains more responsibilities
• “His greatness weighted, his will is not his own//For he himself is subject to his birth”
• he warns that Hamlet can’t own up to his emotions → he is birthed into a life that requires him to put aside his own wants and needs for the obligations he has to complete
• he tells Ophelia to think about her honor/status → falling for his seduction and opening her legs to him would result in controversy
• “keep you in the rear of your affection”
• Crudely translated to: “Dude, Ophelia. Control your emotions!”
• Ophelia tells Laertes that she’ll keep his warnings in mind → but to also practice what he preaches

• Polonius enters the scene
• talks to Laertes → gives him last minute advice
• he shifts gear and questions Ophelia about the talk she had with her brother
• Ophelia tells her father about Hamlet’s show of affection → he belittles her; essentially calls her stupid for falling for his “show of love” and warns her to keep out of Hamlet’s affections  

Literary Fiction and Empathy

"Maybe popular fiction is a way of dealing more with one's own self, maybe with one's own wants, desires, needs."

 "...there is no single, overarching authorial voice...each character presents a different version of reality, and they aren't necessarily reliable..."

Literary fiction can be an essential resource in understanding other literary works. It helps the readers imagine the world they are put into; the readers are given a visual to the work they're shoved to. By use of literary fiction, the reader gets propelled into the world of the character they are trying to analyze. It ultimately gives them a better sense of understanding the feelings, thoughts, ideas, and wants to character evokes. The reader is given a silver lining, a connection, to the character thus resulting in a better understanding of the work.

In Hamlet, the reader gets to feel the emotional turmoil that Shakespeare evokes out of the characters. We are thrust into Prince Hamlet's world, the pain, anger, and disgust he feels towards his own family. This show of emotions allow us to connect more with the story, and to Hamlet himself. As a teenager myself, I see myself in his shoes. The betrayal I would feel if my own mother did something as heinous as Queen Gertrude did, I'd see myself acting like Hamlet.