Intellectual Insight Into Shakespeare's "Hamlet" (1420 hits)
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Submitted by cock poop <cock.at.poop.com> (View user info) at 2003-09-05 15:32:20 EDT
One of the most quoted lines in Shakespeare's Hamlet asks whether it is better "to be or not to be." Yet, Hamlet's real quandary is not whether to live or die, but rather whether to do or not to do. His inability to act is directly related to his Christian beliefs and his intellect. He cannot act to end his earthly turmoil because of his own fear and his belief in the Church's teachings. He cannot act to end his uncle's poisonous effect on Denmark until his intellect allows him to reconcile appearance and reality. Hamlet is plagued by the need (or "cursed spite") to do something to avenge his father's death and "set [it] right," and this burden creates his conflict.
Hamlet is very cautious in doing anything because he is afraid of the possible religious repercussions of any extreme action. In Hamlet's time religion was taken very seriously and it was believed that every action on earth had an effect on the afterlife. Even Hamlet's grief over his father's death "shows a will most incorrect to heaven," according to Claudius. This constant reminder of how everything affects one's degree of religious purity is certainly the main reason that Hamlet is always questioning his conscience and making him unable to act. Before Hamlet sees the ghost he ponders suicide, but he moves away from this simple escape because "the Everlasting" denounces suicide. Nearly everyone would agree that Hamlet made the better decision in not taking his own life, but the fact that the only reason he gives for not killing himself is that it is not promoted by his religion. This shows that his decision making is highly influenced and is even dependent on his Christian beliefs. There is a noticeable decline in Hamlet's religious bias in his thoughts as the story progresses and this draws Hamlet closer to finally finding it in himself to avenge his father's death. This change in thought is noticeable when Hamlet ponders suicide again, asking "To be or not to be?" This time instead of believing that Christian values stop a man (particularly himself) from suicide, he says that "the dread of something after death" is what keeps a man from taking his own life. This fear of the unknown causes Hamlet to conclude that, "conscience does make cowards of us all." Hamlet is basically saying that thought can lead to fear which can lead to an inability to act. Even after Hamlet understands this relationship, he cannot make immediate use of it, because his Christian beliefs still linger in his mind. Rather than simply finding the courage in himself to simply kill Claudius, he waits until the time seems perfect, "When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out." His Christian beliefs have made him believe that the night would be a better time to commit a murder, simply because hellish activities are believed to occur at night alone. Hamlet would not need to kill Claudius during "the witching time of night" if he was not still struggling with his religious beliefs. Even when Hamlet does attempt to kill Claudius at this time, he stops himself because Claudius is praying and he does not want "to take him in the purging of his soul." This is a logical thing for Hamlet to do from a religious perspective, but Hamlet states that, "This physic but prolongs thy sickly days." This shows that Hamlet's beliefs in the Church's teachings are causing him to not act as he should to avenge the death of his father and are creating a terrible internal conflict in the mind of the young Prince.
The other internal conflict that Hamlet struggles with is the search to unite appearance and reality. Hamlet shows his need to unite appearance and reality early when he says to his mother, "'Seems,' madam? Nay, it is. I know not 'seems.'" Hamlet is basically saying that something which "seems" is only an appearance and something that "is" is a reality. He reinforces this idea by only having "that within which passes show," meaning that he is genuine in his grief and he does not attempt to "seem" one way or another. When Hamlet hears from the ghost what Claudius has done, Hamlet knows in reality that Claudius killed his father, but he is unable to connect the reality of his father's murder with the appearance. This appearance represents proof of Claudius' guilt beyond the words of the ghost. In order to connect the appearance with the reality in this situation, Hamlet uses the play. By witnessing the appearance of guilt in Claudius during the play, Hamlet is able to connect the appearance with the reality that he knew to be true all along. This is one level of Hamlet's struggle with reconciling appearance and reality. The next level of this struggle is one that Hamlet mainly battles internally. Hamlet is increasingly distraught by the fact that he has so many real problems but cannot even force an outward appearance of the emotion that one would expect from such problems. He is particularly upset that the player "could force his soul so to his own conceit" for no reason at all and Hamlet could not be nearly this dramatic even though he has reason to be. Hamlet knows only the reality of situations while the players know only the appearance, and in order for Hamlet to follow through with any action he must somehow connect his reality with this type of appearance, because this "appearance" is what will allow him to have the emotional fervor to actually act instead of merely sitting around thinking. Hamlet does not finally connect appearance and reality until close to the end of the play when he says that, "to be great / Is not to stir without great argument, / But greatly to find quarrel in a straw / When honor's at the stake." He sees all of the soldiers that will likely die, but who choose to fight anyway in order to preserve a false sense of honor. It is at this point that Hamlet finally sees that acting on killing Claudius is a matter of honor and that he cannot waste any more time pondering the situation. The fact that Hamlet's honor is now clearly involved is enough to make Hamlet emotionally charged with his previously unemotional task of avenging his father's death. He says that, "from this time forth / My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!" This statement shows that Hamlet is now completely focused on finishing his job and anything that does not relate to the task at hand does not help him in his greater purpose and is valueless. The involvement of Hamlet's honor with his task of killing Claudius is the point where he finally reconciles appearance and reality and ceases his internal struggle. It is at this point where Hamlet is finally freed from his inability to act and one almost seems to sense a new spark of life in him.
Hamlet is thoroughly plagued by the need to avenge his father's death and this burden creates the internal conflicts that he must face. Hamlet's internal conflicts are very similar to some of the major conflicts found in T.S. Eliot's poem, "The Hollow Men." The hollow men described in this poem are an emotionally devoid group of beings that attempt to get themselves out of their situation but are unable. Hamlet is also somewhat devoid of emotion for most of this play and he struggles to change that like the hollow men struggle to change their situation. The hollow men do such things as pray to a broken stone, which shows that their major flaw is that they are unable to match their affections to the objects of their affections. This is very similar to Hamlet's inability to connect appearance with reality. The final lines of "The Hollow Men" say that, "This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang, but a whimper," and this is indeed the way that the world ends for the hollow men who are unable to connect appearance and reality. Hamlet may have also died with a "whimper" if he had never been able to act. He would have probably been killed by Claudius in a clandestine manner. But Hamlet is different from the hollow men. He was finally able to match appearance and reality and instead of dying with a "whimper," he died very nobly, taking Claudius with him, ending his life with an honorable "bang."
User Reviews
Submitted by Semi_Random_Joe (user info) at 2003-09-05 23:18:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
The best take on Hamlet: http://uninteresting.myby.co.uk/noeffort/hamlet.htm
Submitted by virgil (user info) at 2003-09-05 23:03:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
unless of course you are in above said class and that had to be the intro
In which case it's not stolen, just very strangely out of place. (are you going to post ALL of your reports here?)
Submitted by virgil (user info) at 2003-09-05 22:55:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I found this on a cache of Google for Ms. Mary Vetter's English class:
Week of March 10: Requirements for theme and test.
One of the most quoted lines in Hamlet asks whether it is better "to be or not to be." Yet, Hamlet's real quandary is not whether to live or to die, but rather whether to do or not to do. His inability to act is directly related to his Christian beliefs and his intellect. He cannot act to end his earthly turmoil because of his own fear and his belief in the Church's teachings. He cannot act to end his uncle's poisonous effect on Denmark until his intellect allows him to reconcile appearance and reality. Hamlet is plagued by the need (or "cursed spite") to do something to avenge his father's death and "set [it] right," and this burden creates his conflict.
Focus not only on the soliloquies but also on the passages where Hamlet points out the contrast between his father and his uncle, and the scene where Hamlet chooses not to kill the King, and the scenes where he sees the Ghost.
This is the opening paragraph of a theme that you must turn in next Friday. This will replace the in class essay and also eliminate this kind of essay on your test next Wednesday. Also on Friday, we will have the test on synonyms from 10-12.
Submitted by atz (user info) at 2003-09-05 20:37:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
As you would say...
CockPoop
Submitted by acrog (user info) at 2003-09-05 17:20:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
" I didn't realize there was a stupidity pill, but it seems you already have a prescription"
man you were struggling for that one, huh?
As a paper for school, I thought it was well written. +2
As a post, It was kind of boring read -1
Overall seeing as how you DID write it, it's a HUGE improvement over the other trival stuff that you usually post.
Submitted by CockPoop (user info) at 2003-09-05 16:54:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by acrog (user info) at 2003-09-05 16:16:07 (#)
Ranking: -1
I find it very hard to believe that ShitDick wrote this, after reading every other piece of shit he's added to this site.
ShitDick,
If you DID write this, I'm sorry, and decent job. I would at least +1 it.
But I don't buy it, fucktard.
I wrote it. I didn't realize there was a stupidity pill, but it seems you already have a prescription.
Submitted by CockPoop (user info) at 2003-09-05 16:51:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by xLisaCatx (user info) at 2003-09-05 16:21:41 (#)
Ranking: 0
My take on Hamlet -- A lot of people died.
A good read, a better performance with Patrick Stewart, not good conversational material.
You want to prove something by posting intelligent, then take a stance on a controversial issue or go to town defacing Kant or any other 'well respected' philosopher. (or at least attack Razor's list of philosophers)
This was just boring and uninspirational. Everyone who has read Hamlet knows these things.
By the way, what grade did you receive for this?
Why would I deface Kant when I agree with him in most aspects? By the way, I got an A. This is actually a paper that I found on my computer from a few years ago.
Submitted by xLisaCatx (user info) at 2003-09-05 16:21:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
My take on Hamlet -- A lot of people died.
A good read, a better performance with Patrick Stewart, not good conversational material.
You want to prove something by posting intelligent, then take a stance on a controversial issue or go to town defacing Kant or any other 'well respected' philosopher. (or at least attack Razor's list of philosophers)
This was just boring and uninspirational. Everyone who has read Hamlet knows these things.
By the way, what grade did you receive for this?
Submitted by acrog (user info) at 2003-09-05 16:16:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
I find it very hard to believe that ShitDick wrote this, after reading every other piece of shit he's added to this site.
ShitDick,
If you DID write this, I'm sorry, and decent job. I would at least +1 it.
But I don't buy it, fucktard.
Submitted by Loren1 (user info) at 2003-09-05 16:14:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Handing in a book report on your summer reading assignment, dick shit?
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2003-09-05 16:08:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.
Submitted by Yes at 2003-09-05 16:05:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No, i liked it, I love shake-n-spear, have read Hamlet, like, 20 times throughout my life, and have gone cover to cover in my complete works of shake-n-spear twice... its just seamed a little dry, you seem sharp, and yeah... i ran out of things to say... that was strange, one second im thinking about your post and what I want to say and now.... nothing.... wow... um... i can't even bring it back on track.... oh well... um... take it easy...
Submitted by CockPoop (user info) at 2003-09-05 15:55:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by yes at 2003-09-05 15:48:55 (#)
Ranking: 1
good read, interesting, but... if i wanted to read something like this i could go back to school.
I guess I could always go back to posting off the cuff tales of constipation and hate lists. If that's what the people want...
Submitted by CockPoop (user info) at 2003-09-05 15:53:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
"Yes, Hamlet's biggest problem is that he can't take action, that he TALKS instead of DOING. However, that is not what this speech is about. Shakespeare says what he means, and means what he says. No creative interpretations are helpful.
"To be, or not to be" means just that----to continue to exist, or not to. He could have written "to do or not to do". BUT NO! This WHOLE speech is about whether or not Hamlet should committ suicide, despite the fact that the "almightly has fixed his cannon 'gainst self-slaughter". "
I mentioned the "to be or not to be" soliloquy in the first line as a form of introducing the material. The content itself is not an interpretation of this particular soliloquy, but of Hamlet's situation throughout the play.
Submitted by yes at 2003-09-05 15:48:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
good read, interesting, but... if i wanted to read something like this i could go back to school.
Submitted by itchy (user info) at 2003-09-05 15:43:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Ahhhh. This really makes me want to read Hamlet again.
Don't your posts usually suck though? Is that why you posted your English Lit 101 paper here?
Submitted by marc (user info) at 2003-09-05 15:42:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
i truly dislike you. and i know this has to be copied from elsewhere.
+2 for the read as i never seen this before
-2 because you copied it
-2 because it is you
Submitted by turveytopsy (user info) at 2003-09-05 15:42:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Oooh ... maca-ma-damia nuts.
-- Homer Simpson
Bart's Dog Gets an F
Submitted by SpikeGoddess (user info) at 2003-09-05 15:41:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Ok, I admire you for caring enough about Shakespeare to write that much about it, but at the same time, you're wrong. I'm giving you a +1 because people should think about Shakespeare more and maybe if they manage to get through this post which is long-winded enough to be Polonius on a rambling spree, then maybe they will.
Yes, Hamlet's biggest problem is that he can't take action, that he TALKS instead of DOING. However, that is not what this speech is about. Shakespeare says what he means, and means what he says. No creative interpretations are helpful.
"To be, or not to be" means just that----to continue to exist, or not to. He could have written "to do or not to do". BUT NO! This WHOLE speech is about whether or not Hamlet should committ suicide, despite the fact that the "almightly has fixed his cannon 'gainst self-slaughter".
I could go on. If you wanna fight, just let me know. :-) I love this shit.
SpikeGoddess
Submitted by CockPoop (user info) at 2003-09-05 15:39:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Give me 10 bucks then dickhead.
Submitted by seanfogy (user info) at 2003-09-05 15:38:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I got $10 that says this was copied from somewhere
Submitted by JMG114 (user info) at 2003-09-05 15:35:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
There's something to be said about reading intelligent discourse written by a fella named "Cock Poop."