Pg. 833 : Question #3

The motif of appearance versus reality emerges numerous times throughout Hamlet and contributes greatly to the meaning of the play. Hamlet himself is one of the finest examples of the motif. He appears to be have lost his mind and gone mad off the wall but in reality he is just using that as a cover so he can pursue revenge for his father. Hamlet uses his appearance to disguise reality.

Pg. 833 : Question #7

One of the largest conflicts in the play would have to be the one Hamlet harbors which is between his head and his heart. His heart tells him to listen to the ghost and get revenge for his father by killing Claudius. But at the same time his head gathers his better judgment and makes him doubt whether the ghost is telling him the truth and also makes him consider how grand the idea of killing someone is. This creates an internal conflict within Hamlet and it's the reason behind why he puts off actually going through with the revenge for so long.

Pg. 832 : Question #9

I chose the soliloquy from Act I Scene II Lines 129-159 because I feel that the diction, figurative language, and imagery used in this monologue work perfectly to illuminate Hamlet's meaning and purpose. In this soliloquy, Hamlet emotes and uses words that don't actually exist such as "Fie on't! ah fie!" to express his anguish and confusion and his need to exert and vent even if what comes out of his mouth has no meaning. Also, Hamlet repeats a lot of ideas to express the obsession he has with his own thoughts and the fact that he can not move on from them. Hamlet's soliloquy is very emotional, and due to the fact that it is so overly packed with feelings, some of his inner thoughts come out incoherently and so when he says them out loud they are just a hodgepodge of random phrases and sentences. And so, with all this confusion, Hamlet interrupts himself and his thoughts many times throughout the monologue which leads him to having an even more un-cohesive thought process. Thus, this monologue of Hamlet's is not a speech and definitely not an address to someone, it is him venting his thoughts and feelings to himself and so it serves as a window straight into his mind and soul.

Pg. 830 : Question #14

Hamlet says, "When, then, 'tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." What Hamlet means by this is that ever since his father died and everything changed in Denmark he feels like it has become a prison and he no longer loves it as a home. I do agree with Hamlet because not only did he have to deal with the death of his father but he had to watch his uncle become king and see his mother marry his uncle, so it makes sense that Denmark is no longer a desirable residence for Hamlet.
Hamlet then says, "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw." With this quote Hamlet is hinting to his friends that he is only partly mad and he is mostly acting.

Pg. 830 : Question #7

Hamlet tells his companions that he is likely to put on an "antic disposition" because he plans to start acting mad (in the crazy sense, not angry.) His behavior is partly a natural reaction to his anger and grief but mostly a deliberate strategy because he plans to use it as a distraction while he figures out if the ghost was telling him the truth about Claudius, and if it was then he would need to figure out how he would go about gaining revenge for his father. 

Pg. 830 : Question #4

Both Laertes's and Polonius's objections to Ophelia's relationship with Hamlet are based upon Hamlet himself. He is the proper heir to the throne and so they question whether his feelings are real and if his intentions are honorable. They are both looking out for Ophelia and don't want her to be stuck in a relationship/marriage where she is miserable and doesn't have true love. When Laertes's talks to Ophelia he seems to be giving her brotherly advice, unlike Polonius who seems to be commanding her with the expectations of her compliance. Thus, i would say Laertes argument is more persuasive and fair. But it is clear that both of them plan on trying to control her. Both Laertes and Polonius view Ophelia and women in general as subordinate beings and they feel entitled to have control and power over them. Class or station function in their arguments because although both Laertes and Polonius themselves are of a higher class, they argue that Hamlet's status is what makes him possibly untrustworthy.

Expressions of Love

In his play Hamlet, Shakespeare uses different styles of speech to express the different situations of each of his characters. The way each character expresses their emotions come across in very different ways, especially when it comes to love. Hamlet and the ghost of his father are both situated under very contrasting circumstances and this leads them to expressing their love in different ways. Thus, the circumstances of a character are reflected in their style of speech. Hamlet's father, who is deceased, comes back as a ghost and whenever he appears he is in a rush because he can only be seen before sunrise, so his speeches are very long but fast paced like rampages. Hamlet, on the other hand, is very intelligent, emotional, and straight forward so he speaks very thoughtfully but with no order or clarity. So when these two characters meet there is an overwhelming amount of love expressed between the two but in completely varying ways due to their different patters of speech. Shakespeare's characters express their emotions in distinct ways because of their different circumstances that affect their styles of speech.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

 Lines 73-74

"I should have been a pair of ragged claws

Scuttling across the floors of silent seas."

The narrator is basically saying that he wishes he would have been born a crab rather than a human. He feels he hasn't accomplished anything in his life and he has found no sense of moving forward. If he was a crab then life would be much easier and simpler and that is what he is trying to express in those lines. Which is quite sad that someone would wish they basically hadn't been born because they feel so useless and miserable with their life, which is how the narrator feels.

Fleeting Time

The essence that time is fleeting is what drives the motivation of the narrator in "To His Coy Mistress." This feeling that although time is never-ending and ever-continuing in nature; for humans, time is more of a countdown clock of what is left, and every minute and every hour that goes by is one less that we now have. And then when you make it to the end, many will realize that it is not how many years of life you had that matters, it is how your life was spent in those years. So the narrator wants to enjoy his life by seizing the moment and living each day of his life to the fullest. But unfortunately for him his "Mistress" wants someone who will prove to her that their love is forever before she fully gives herself away.The narrator knows though that this is not possible, as he could never have enough time to prove that to her and life is too short to spend on something that might prove to just have been time wasted in the end. And there isn't enough time to let any go to waste, because time wasted is time lost, and it cannot be gained back. Time is precious, time is fleeting.  

To His Coy Mistress

Lines 7-10 
"I would Love you ten years before the Flood, 
And you should, if you please, refuse 
Till the conversion of the Jews."


The narrator of this poem is very concerned with time. He loves the mistress *now* and he wants to make love to her *now*. He says "I would Love you ten years before the Flood" and "Till the conversion of the Jews" (which is an allusion and hyperbole) to show that if he could love her forever he would but that is not the case. Time is moving along and although he is waiting for her, he doesn't want to have to wait much longer. The narrator espouses the idea of "carpe diem" but his coy mistress doesn't seem to care, how sad!