Soliloquy Analysis:
Throughout his soliloquy, Hamlet uses a lot of imagery to describe death. For example, in lines 61-63 he says, "and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to." He also goes on to then describe death as "the undiscovered country" (3.1.79.) Hamlet mainly uses Logos as his appeal in his soliloquy, "who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death" (3.1.77-79). We don't see him use the other appeals as much and when he uses the logos, he is questioning why we suffer the pain of life when we could just avoid it all. Hamlet also compares sleep to death by saying "To die, to sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come." (3.1.65-67) Being dead and sleeping are the same thing to him but questions what you dream about when you are dead. The primary metaphors he uses are death and sleep. "To die, to sleep, no more" (3.1.61-62), and comparing life to a sea, "to take arms against a sea of troubles" (3.1.60). Hamlet then comes to the conclusion that thinking about death too much makes humans weak because they would rather suffer the pain of life on earth than to face the unknown of death.
Acting Analysis:
Kenneth Branagh: The use of sound, camera angles, and setting convey the crazy and deranged state of mind that Hamlet is suffering in. The first sounds that the audience hears in this scene is Hamlet's voice. The creates a kind of eerie and mysterious mood because Hamlet is talking to his reflection; this shows how isolated he feels. Since there are no other sounds, the audience then sees that the character is completely alone to his thoughts which then creates a sense of isolation. After this first part of the scene passes, the music starts to play. The music fits the eerie tone because you don't really know what is going on in the music. This music playing while Hamlet discussing death just adds onto the eerie mood that the viewers see in this scene. The over the shoulder camera angle in this scene creates a feeling of insanity and isolation for the audience because the camera is focused on Hamlet's reflection to make Hamlet literally talk to himself and himself only. The camera starts out further out so the audience can see Hamlet's full body in the mirror, then it zooms in until all the audience can only see is from his shoulders up to the top of his head. Doing this shows the viewers how isolated Hamlet is and to get a closer view of his emotions on his face. In the reflection of the mirror, you can see that Hamlet is in front of a mirror in a big, empty room. This highlights how isolated Hamlet feels; he is alone in a giant castle. Being in front of a mirror shows the distrust that is in Denmark and around him in his peers. He can only trust himself with his thoughts, no one else.
Laurence Oliver: The camera angles in this version are what stand out from the rest. The setting and the diegetic sound helped portray the feeling of being alone with his thoughts. one of the earlier camera angles in this scene is a close up on the back of Hamlet's head. This is a very unique camera angle that is not found in very many films. The director chose to do this to send the audience into his mind. The setting of being by the sea has a big impact. Not only does it emphasize how lonely and insignificant Hamlet feels because the sea is so vast and never ending, but it also shows the line between life and death. If he was in the water, he would probably drown after becoming exhausted from trying to stay alive, but on the shore, he is alive but close to death. This really helps the audience member understand his emotions. The diegetic sound of the waves crashing are subtle and seemingly obvious, but the director could have easily just had Hamlet's voice be the only thing the audience heard. Having the ocean waves helps capture everything that Hamlet is experiencing. Overall, the director for this version wanted the audience to experience everything that was going on in Hamlet's head.
Mel Gibson: This adaptation focuses mostly on setting, sound, and lighting to convey Hamlet's indecision between life and death. The setting is portraying not only what Hamlet is thinking about, but also foreshadowing the massive amount of death that will take place later in the play since he is in a catacomb under the castle. The lighting in this scene is very different from the rest of the versions. Very dark lighting was used with some key light hitting Hamlet's face. This emphasizes the juxtaposition of life and death by using dark and light as contrasts. The only thing that the audience hears in this scene is Hamlet's voice and his footsteps. This simplicity in the sound captures how alone Hamlet feels. It also shows how distrustful he is. The only time he ever shows his true emotions is when he is completely alone.
Hamlet Character Post #2
"Now, what are we gonna do about Rachel? I say we go 'full-force swat team' and break up Caitlyn and Tony." In Revenge of The Bridesmaids, two women, Abbigail and Parker, try to sabotage their former friend's wedding by becoming her bridesmaids. Their motive is revenge, since the bride, Caitlyn, stole their other friend's boyfriend. This relates to Hamlet in multiple ways for example, neither characters in Hamlet nor this film are okay with who someone close to them is getting married to. Although Hamlet's mother marrying Hamlet's uncle has bothered Hamlet quite a lot, we see later on that that is not the true reasoning behind his craziness however, everyone believes that it is because of that and the fact that Hamlet's father died. "What it should be, More than his father’s death, that thus hath put him" (2.2.7-8). Hamlet's reasoning behind going "crazy" is a lot more complex than what others around him are seeing. This similar situation is also happening in the movie, Revenge of The Bridesmaids. Throughout the film, the audience believes that the main characters are plotting their revenge because their former friend stole their other friend's boyfriend however, as you watch the film you realize that there has been a hatred against this "friend" of there's since they were children and her stealing their friend's boyfriend is just one of the small reasons for getting revenge against her since she did so many things to them throughout the years. Friends plotting against friends is also seen in Act II of Hamlet. Cladius is trying to figure out why Hamlet is acting so strange and to do this, he gets some of Hamlet's old friends to spy on him. "And since so neighbored to his youth and 'havior, That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court Some little time so by your companies To draw him on to pleasures and to gather, So much as from occasion you may glean, Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus that, opened, lies within our remedy." (2.2.8-14) Another thing both sets of characters share in the film and the play is acting. In the film, the two main characters, Abbigail and Parker are acting like they are Caitlyn's friends in order to ruin her wedding and get their revenge. In the play, Hamlet himself is acting like he is crazy so he doesn't appear a threat to his father's murderer, "I will be brief: your noble son is mad. Mad call I it, for, to define true madness, What is ’t but to be nothing else but mad?" (2.2.92-96) Hamlet has even taken it to the extent of professing his love to Ophelia so he appears even crazier, "Mad for thy love? My lord, I do not know. But truly, I do fear it." (2.1.86-87) One last thing the film and the play both share in common is spying. Throughout the film, Abbigail and Parker spied on their "friend" Caitlyn in order to find things of hers to ruin so she would have a horrible wedding and they could get their revenge on her. In the play, Cladius has many different people spying on other people, countries etc. Towards the beginning of scene 2 you see why Cladius has so many spies and how they basically help save his life, "Upon our first, he sent out to suppress His nephew’s levies, which to him appeared To be a preparation 'gainst the Polack, But, better looked into, he truly found It was against your highness." (2.2.61-65)
At such a time I’ll loose my daughter to him.
(to CLAUDIUS) Be you and I behind an arras then,
Mark the encounter. If he love her not
And be not from his reason fall'n thereon,
Let me be no assistant for a state
But keep a farm and carters. (2.2.154-159)
Polonius' plan to figure out if Hamlet is truly crazy or not.
"Now, what are we gonna do about Rachel? I say we go 'full-force swat team' and break up Caitlyn and Tony." Abbigail and Parker's plan to get revenge on Caitlyn.
Hamlet Character Post #1
I still cannot believe that that just happened. I witnessed my very own mother wed to my uncle, her dead husbands brother. The people are questioning my actions and expect me to just move on when it's only been a few months since the death of my father, "How is it that the clouds still hang on you?" (1.2.66) Even my own mother has already gotten over the sudden death of my father. She is already telling me to "cast thy nighted colour off." (1.2.) Is no one even questioning what happened to him? How can Claudius just stand there and act like he's mourning the death of my father, his brother, "o bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom, to be contracted in one brow of woe" (1.2.3-4). The second my father died, he grabbed the opportunity and stole everything that was his. Am I the only one who can see past his facade? My good friend Horatio is the only person I can trust and rely on since he led me to the ghost of my dead father, "In the dead vast and middle of the night, Been thus encounter'd. A figure like your father, Armed at point exactly, cap-a-pe, Appears before them, and with solemn march Goes slow and stately by them: thrice he walk'd By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes" (1.2). After interacting with the ghost of my father the other night, I now realize what I must do. My uncle murdered my father and it is my duty to avenge his death, "So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word; It is 'Adieu, adieu! remember me.' I have sworn 't." (1.2.)
Blog Post #12: Hamlet Character Selection Justification
I have chosen to blog as Hamlet himself. Hamlet's perspective of the play is very interesting. He is bitter and cynical and asks a lot of questions. Blogging from his point of view makes the readers question a lot of things they never considered before. Hamlet also kind of resembles the modern day teenager by being young and in love so it'll be entertaining to see the modern versions of things from his point of view like how he feels towards his uncle and his mother.
Blog Post #9: Creative Presentation
Life of Pi
Prompt: 2013. A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, recounts the psychological or moral development of its protagonist from youth to maturity, when this character recognizes his or her place in the world. Select a single pivotal moment in the psychological or moral development of the protagonist of a bildungsroman. Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how that single moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.
Thesis: In Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Pi, a boy stuck at sea, goes to an island that thrives by day and destroys by night. This island symbolizes Pi’s coming of age by his realization that he turned animalistic and needs to return to reality.
Essence: Morality often lingers in the decisions we make and alter one’s life path.
Summary of text: An anonymous figure explained that he had traveled from Canada to America--we soon found out this anonymous character is Pi Patel. He explains how he earned his nickname and tells his story of his childhood in Pondicherry, India. Pi’s parents decision to move to Canada was motivated by political strife in India and they set sail in a cargo ship along with many zoo animals as his father was a zoo owner. During their voyage there is a shipwreck and Pi, a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker are all but left of the shipwreck. They are now all fighting for survival.
Our board game represents the different choices of morality through one’s life that can have an affect on our journey and where it takes us. Life of Pi is about how Pi must use his different personalities in order to face different kinds of situations during this coming of age story. If he is not able to use his “tiger” like personality or his courageous side during the perilous parts of his journey then he will not be able to continue onwards in his path. Martel states on page 164, “It’s the plain truth: without Richard Parker, I wouldn't be alive today to tell you my story.” Without the courageous side of his persona, Pi would not have been able to survive. He also states, “Then Richard Parker, companion of my torment, awful, fierce thing that kept me alive, moved forward and disappeared forever from my life” (285). Richard Parker did not just help Pi survive, he helped him move onward with his journey.
Throughout our game there are two paths, one for Pi and one for Richard Parker. The path you take depends on how you answer certain morality questions. If your answers proves that you are brave, courageous, and self-preserving, then you will continue on the path of Richard Parker. If your answers prove that you are not as self-preserving, then you will continue on the path of Pi. Throughout the game, both of these paths cross which shows the Pi’s inner conflict between himself and Richard Parker. Such as when the blind Frenchman attacks Pi and Richard Parker saves Pi, Pi states,“This was the terrible cost of Richard Parker. He gave me a life, my own, but at the expense of taking one” (255). Richard Parker helped save Pi however, there was always a cost to saving Pi’s life at every situation they encountered.
Throughout the story, Pi is struggling with balancing his evil/courageous side with his weak/cowardly side--it is a constant mental struggle. Pi tried to incorporate both sides into his life by “training” Richard Parker. “I trained him to jump through a hoop I made with thin branches” (274). Pi uses this training as a metaphor to show that he is starting to train his animalistic and self-preservation persona and to control this side so that he does not lose the human aspect of himself. When Pi and Richard Parker finally land on shore, Richard Parker runs away without turning back. Pi tries his hardest to incorporate Richard Parker into his persona while they are on the boat, in the end, however, they end up going their own separate ways and will never meet again, showing that Pi has returned to his moral and human self.
At the end of the story, the reader can choose to keep faith in Pi and in the story with the animals or choose to believe in the more realistic story with humans. When Pi tells the Japanese investigators the human side of the story, they exclaim “which means he’s the tiger!” (311). At this point, the reader finally realizes the extended metaphor and can visualize the two sides of Pi: is human side and animalistic side.
Throughout the board-game, the different morality and self-preservation issues are what decides how much each character moves forward/backward. The goal of the game is to be the first to reach the island at the end. Based on how you answer the morality questions, that decides which path you will take; Richard Parker’s or Pi’s, self-preservation or morality.
Different Morality Issues
1) You and your friend are stranded on an island. Unfortunately, you are both fatally ill. It just so happens that you have an antibiotic that can cure your illness. Sadly enough, there is just enough antibiotic to save only one person. How could you and your friend choose which one of you will take the antibiotic? Do you think that either person who takes it will, or should, feel guilty for the other person dying, although if neither of you take it, you will both die?
a. take the antibiotic and live
b. give your friend the antibiotic and die
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
2) You are a Judge presiding over the trial of an alleged bank robber, who you know is innocent. However, something terrible in your life has happened: The enemies of the robber have kidnapped your 9-year-old daughter and have held her hostage. You don’t know where she is. The police have tried to locate her to no avail. The kidnappers have left you an anonymous note saying that if you convict the robber, they will set your daughter free. You fear the kidnappers could be abusing or even torturing your child. What would you do?
a. convict the robber and save your daughter
b. leave the robber innocent and lose your daughter
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
3) You are a paramedic and you have been called to help a young boy who was in a car accident. On the way to the emergency, you get in an accident with your elderly uncle, who you know and love dearly. He is knocked out, but you are able to determine that he is probably not terribly injured and is likely to survive without immediate medical attention. However, if you stop to help your uncle, or even call backup, you know for sure that the boy will die. The only way you can save the boy is if you drive away immediately. Would you:
a. Stop for your uncle or
b. Leave and help the boy.
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Pi. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
4) You are speeding in your car on a one-way street, through very thick woods with a mad gunman chasing you and shooting at you from behind. Up ahead, you see a pedestrian crossing the street. You figure you have enough time to stop to let him cross, but with the thick woods, you cannot drive around him. Would you:
a. Stop to let the pedestrian cross, even though you are being shot at or
b. Hit the pedestrian and continue speeding away from the gunman.
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Pi. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
5) You are stranded with thirty people on a lifeboat that is intended to hold only seven. No one can paddle this heavy boat and it is definitely going to sink, drowning everyone inside it. It occurs to you that you can save some of the people in the lifeboat by throwing all but the strongest rowers overboard. Would you:
a. Throw some people overboard and save some people
b. Let everyone drown
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
6) You are an inmate, imprisoned in a concentration camp. A guard tells you that you must choose one of your two children for him to take to the gas chamber. If you choose neither, he will take them both. What would you do?
If you chose neither, continue towards the path of Pi. If you chose one of your two children, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
7) A trolley is going down a hill and is going to hit two workers if it continues to roll down that path. If you jump in front of it, the trolley can be stopped and you would die but the workers wouldn't. Would you:
a. Jump in front of the trolley and save two lives
b. Save yourself and let two people die
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
8) You didn’t do homework so you could either copy off of your friends homework and receive full points or turn it in a day late for half credit.
If you chose to copy off of your friends homework, continue on towards the path of Pi. If you chose to turn in your homework a day late, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
9) You’re walking along the road one day. You see a wallet left on the ground filled with multiple credit cards and several hundred dollar bills. Clearly, the owner of this wallet is wealthy, and you on the other hand are barely affording food. Would you:
a. Steal some of the cash/all of the cash
b. Return the wallet to its rightful owner without taking anything from it
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Pi. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
10) The Box: your child has some expensive illness and a man comes to you offering you a million dollars. The only condition is that someone you don’t know will die if you accept the million dollars. Would you:
a. Take the money and let one random person die
b. Turn away from the money and let the random person live
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
12) If you cross a bridge then the entire city would blow up but you would save yourself and all of your loved ones. Would you:
a. Cross and bridge and save yourself and your loved ones but kill and entire city
b. Don’t cross the bridge and possibly save yourself and the entire city
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
13) It’s your best friend’s birthday. She got you a pretty expensive gift for your birthday and you feel the need to return the favor. Unfortunately, you have grown up poor and don’t have a lot of money and have been around a lot of crime, so it wouldn't be news to your mother if you stole something. Would you:
a. Steal something nice for your best friend
b. Get her a cheap, ugly present that you know she’ll hate
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Pi. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
14) You have been saving up for a bag that you have wanted for a very long time and right before you buy it, someone else buys the last one. You follow them home and find out where they live and decide you’re going to go back at night and steal it but leave the money for the bag. Would you:
a. Steal the bag but leave the money for the bag in its place
b. Just keep waiting for another bag
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
15) You are a world renowned surgeon that is about to perform an operation on the President in the upcoming weeks. You come home one day to find your children and husband bound and gagged. They tell you if--during the surgery--you kill the president, your kids will live; however if you fail to do so they will kill your family. Would you:
a. Kill the president and save your family
b. Save the president and let your family die
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
16) You are walking around town and you spot the wife of a good friend of yours. You are about to go up to her to say hi and then you spot a man. It’s not her husband; however, she is being extremely affectionate towards the man and kisses him multiple times. Would you:
a. Tell the wifes husband that she has been cheating on him
b. Stay quiet
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
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