Saturday, May 5, 2012

Hamlet blog by Michael Trammell


Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is a tragic tale of vengeance and madness. The play is focused of the events that followed the death of the former king of Denmark, Hamlet’s father. Act I of Hamlet is  more or less setting up the play and its future events. At the end of Act I, Scene 5 after being given a task by the spirit of the dead king, Hamlet now knows that it was his uncle to blame for his father’s death. From this point on Hamlet plots against his uncle to avenge his fathers murder. As we reader further into the play, Hamlet’s state of mind becomes poisoned with thoughts of revenge. Hamlet’s actions effected not only him, but the people he cared about.Madness, both real and fake lye in the heart of this play. Hamlet's mood throughout the play has made a debate between him faking the madness, or was he truly mad. This is truly seen as an answer that can never be figured out. But the difficult structure of Hamlet's mental state and his unusual attitude seems to speak for the play itself. His state of mind and mood effect the atmosphere of the play and every character in it. But is he truly mad, or is it all and act that he cleverly played on everyone.











11 comments:

  1. Whether or not Hamlet is insane or sane is up for debate. Personally, I believe Hamlet is sane. I think he is an extremely clever person and very realistic in nature. I think if it came down to insanity there is a lot more characters that would fit the part, but not Hamlet.

    Michael Garcia

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  2. i agree, hamelet wanted vengence for himself. He couldnt or didnt know how to set him self from reality as our professor said the other day, but also deep down inside he lost it after his mothers death and wanted his uncle dead.

    yvette ortiz

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  3. I also agree to the fact that he is sane and carries out an act to get vengeance for his fathers murder.

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  4. i do to agree he is insane and clever at the same time

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  5. I agree as well, his mental state began to deteriorate at a rapid rate after he began to see his father's ghost. Here's a young guy with everything not only normal, but extraordinary in the sense he has everything he could ever want or need. But then his father dies, his uncle is the culpret, his mother just marries anyone who asks her apparently, and then his girlfriend randomly stops talking to him. Not exactly the best breeding ground for a clear state of mind with rational decisions.

    Brian McNulty

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  6. This is why I enjoy these types of stories, there is so much to go on and debate. I believe that every one is correct in that Hamlet does have a constant desire for revenge that fuels his seemingly insane state of mind. I do believe that at some points he almost loses his way, but the backs himself up and puts himself back on the correct path as seen with his soliloquies; when he is sane, he is the most sane of all the characters in the story.

    Alex Stofferan

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  7. I would just like to say that Mel Gibson made a perfect image for Hamlet. Also, my personal opinion would be that Hamlet knew very well what he was doing but that during the point where he killed Polonius he got a bit carried away and at that point he relized there was no turning back and he HAD to go on with his plan. I wouldn't say he was insane, more like he couldn't control his actions very well.

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  8. I agree with Micheal. I think King Claudis and Queen Gertrude are more likely to be insane than Hamlet. The only part where Hamlet actually looks insane is in the movie where he is insulting his mother just after stabbing Polonius. Other than that single time, his actions can pass as just acting.

    Gilberto Flores

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  9. Hamlet was most likely just a clever man with an insane brain. He thought of workarounds and the plan to reveal if Claudius actually killed his father by himself and they all worked. Unfortunately, he might be labeled insane because of how his brain works and how he talks about suicide and other dark, depressing things in his soliloquies.
    Although if we were to rate people on how insane they act, Hamlet would have to be the highest throughout most of the play only because he opens up so much more than the other characters. Ophelia takes the cake right before she dies, though.

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  10. I believe Hamlet was truly troubled. I don't believe Gertrude or the king were insane! He was power hungry and she needed to provide for her family. She was not the ruler of Denmark. Once the king died that was it for her. Unless Hamlet took up the thrown, which in my opinion should've happened anyway, she would have no where to go. Think about it. What has she done in life? Has she farmed? Has she spun wool into thread? Nope. She's been a queen. A do nothi g sit on your bottom queen. What could she do now but marry again? She was a smart woman for her time. Now women go out and get jobs to provide for themselves. Then that wasn't as much an option. I don't ink they were as much insane as they did what was necessary to accomplish what was needed.

    Cassidy S.

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  11. I agree with the whole debate of Hamlet actually being insane. I think anyone would do the somewhat of the same thing whether they had heard of how a loved one passed by an actual person or in a dream. Hamlet is smart though in using all of his resources to gauge reactions from his uncle. Actions do speak louder than words....

    Gilbert Rangel

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