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2the9s help me!




Due by Wednesday, March 5. No exceptions. Due in section.

2 - 3 pages.

Assignment:

Look at one speech in Hamlet. Explain what it says. Explain what it has to do with the Scene it is in, with the Act it is in, with the character whi says it, with those who hear it, with your understanding and relationship to the action as an audience. (Note: you obviously cannot do ALL of this in 2 pages, but choose lines small enough, and important enough, that you can tangle with these issues.)

HAMLET
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

Hmmm, that's a tough one.

2the9s said:

He wants to bang her, Fred Durst like, but feels quilty about his lust.

Wonderful. Thanks for your input, gooey

Hamlet really is a shocker of a name... it's like another name for piglet or something...

Bone Up!

Actually, he's considering a pre-emptive strike against Claudius!

Natsume said:

The fun thing is that it's true.

See, one of my questions is is Hamlet trying to decide whether to kill Cladius or himself?

Natsume said:

Both?

Shit.

Natsume said:

Claudius, I think, although he's imagining his own inaction as akin to death too.

But he says this in a way where it may seem that he's morbidly fascinated with his own death, because he's been pretending to be mad all along.

Maybe you should focus on these lines:




He's frustrated by the inability for any legal authority to come to his aid. He wonders about the effectiveness of human justice, but can't bring himself to fully believe in divine justice or an afterlife either. He's basically fucked.

From some website:



A "fardel" is a burden.

Anda bare bodkin is an unsheathed dagger. (From Bevington )

2the9s to the rescue!

Diva said:

Don't forget google!



Thanks 9s!

Natsume said:

Indeed!

Natsume said:

That's all me babe! Except for the Quietus thing. And the fardel thing...and the bodkin thing.

Hmmm...nevermind...

I'm concentrating on Hamlet's obsession with the uncertainity of life after death, which I believe to be the main reason he didn't kill himself earlier.

Humans are naturally afraid of death because of the uncertainty that comes after it.

Plus it plays in perfectly with my next paper... tying this into my analysis of a Rilke poem.

Natsume said:

What Rilke poem? I love Rilke.

"As Once the Winged Energy of Delight..."

2the9s said:

"Washing the Corpse." Last week I wrote an 8 page paper on the poem. Loads of fun.

Natsume said:

I just read it (Thank you Google ).

My that's grim.

2the9s said:

Isn't it though?

It was great fun.

Natsume said:

I didn't have to take any English classes in college (for one reason or another, they gave me an exemption from the English composition requirement that applies to most or all undergrad degree programs), but I had some assignments like this in other classes. What I learned was that different professors and departments had different expectations.

For example, in the Philosophy (my minor) Department, I could probably write two or three pages of just about anything in response to a question like that, and most of the professors would give me an "A," provided that what I wrote sounded intelligent and responsive to the question. I'd even get high grades in Philosophy when I felt that I didn't fully understand the material that was the subject of my paper/essay/assignment!

On the other hand, in the Political Science (my major) Department, the professors were, on the whole, stricter when it came to grading. Sometimes I think they had a "right" answer in mind when they were grading, which was not the case in the Philosophy Department (putting aside my class in symbolic logic).

If I could do it all over again, I would be a Philosophy major.

Look at one speech in Hamlet. Explain what it says. Explain what it has to do with the Scene it is in, with the Act it is in, with the character whi says it, with those who hear it, with your understanding and relationship to the action as an audience. (Note: you obviously cannot do ALL of this in 2 pages, but choose lines small enough, and important enough, that you can tangle with these issues.)

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end

Hamlet is a character of noble birth that has found himself
in the posission of wondering "whut the fuck am i doing here" which is a question that we all have had in our lives
at one time or another. But when he says " to be or not to be" he is fighting with his reasons for living, feeling that no-one has actually felt love or the pain of love
quite the way he is feeling it then. ie. "you don't understand whut it is to be me... in love"
however having a noble upbringing is also forcing him to think of how his actions will be preceived, "should i go with my heart and do that which is easy (die), or take the high road (live) and live the rest of my days in abject misery knowing whut i know at this time.

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

Again he tells you that you cannot hope to feel his pain as he does, yet he is now in the wonderment of whut death
would be, yet he stays away from his religious side and
thinks of only the nicer aspect of the unknown by thinking of it only as sleep, but then too thinking "whut if it's not that good, whut if there are no dreams, better yet
whut if the dreams are haunting???"

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.


OK NOW I SEE WHY I QUIT SCHOOL!!!
DO YOUR OWN DAMN HOMEWORK

00769BAD said:

POOK said:

What a good idea. Throw in that line about Fred Durst and I'll be set!

00769BAD said:

Natsume said:

I'm not 2the9s, but let me give you some "lawyerly" answers that might shortcut this assignment.



Objection. The document speaks for itself.



Objection. Compound question. Furthermore, the witness has no firsthand knowledge of the creation of this document, and the questions call for speculation on the part of the witness.

There, you're done.

My TA would shit herself if I turned that in.



Hmmm, maybe I should try it...