Hamlet Alternate Setting

If I had to choose a setting for Hamlet other than thirteenth-century Denmark, I think I would choose modern times and have the plot unfold in an American professional baseball team rather than a European kingdom. Claudius would be the owner of the team who killed the previous owner, his brother and Hamlet's father. Hamlet would simply be the nephew of the owner of the team, and Polonius would be the coach of the team while his daughter Ophelia would be a fan. Laertes, Horatio, Marcellus, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern would be athletes on the team, and Fortinbras would be an owner of a rival team. Finally, Gertrude would be the wife of the owner Claudius.

 As for the translation of the themes, I think that the uncertainty of action and death can be expressed well in the alternate setting. First, uncertainty of action can be expressed by Hamlet who doubts what the ghost of his father says and calls his request into question. While he contemplates his actions in his various soliloquies, I picture him sitting in an empty stadium that slightly echoes the sound of his voice to assert that he is completely alone and can trust no one. Next, the uncertainty of death can be expressed through the team’s success or lack thereof; for example, losing a game can be equated to death in the original Hamlet. I imagine that most of the play would take place in the stadium, dugout, and offices that control the team’s finances and publicity.

In the fifth scene of the first act, Hamlet’s departed father visits him in ghost form to make a very pivotal request. To stage this scene in the alternate setting, I imagine Hamlet speaking to Horatio and Marcellus out on the field in the dark, and then the ghost appears wearing a baseball hat with the team emblem. Then, the ghost leads Hamlet into a darkened and damp dugout where he says, “Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand/Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched,/Cut off, even in the blossoms of my sin" (1.5.81-83) while Claudius laughs happily with Polonius and Gertrude out on the field. I think this alternate scene would equally embody the despair of betrayal, extremeness of the ghost’s request, and greatness of the moral weight placed on Hamlet.

To Be or Not to Be Video Interpretations

The two video interpretations that I chose of Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy contain similar aspects, but they also differ wildly in other regards. Both interpretations manage to imply the extreme solitude of Hamlet and his inability to trust anyone or anything. In the first video, Hamlet walks around a large, unoccupied room, and his footsteps sound loud and sharp to assert his loneliness. In the second video, Hamlet occupies a very dark and quiet space most likely to express the same idea that he is completely alone.

In addition to conveying extreme solitude, both videos also put emphasis on a specific passage of the soliloquy through the actors’ actions. Both actors draw swords when they say, “Who would fardels bear,/To grunt and sweat under a weary life,/But that the dread of something after death,/The undiscovered country from whose bourn/No traveler returns” (3.1.84-88). The action of drawing a sword highlights the tough decision that Hamlet faces because it makes clear the simplicity of suicide but also the argument against it, which is the uncertainty that death presents.

As for the wildly different aspects of the different interpretations, the two actors, though they both express pain, go about their expression of the emotion very differently. The actor of the first video gazes at a mirror and slowly walks toward it as the message of his soliloquy deepens; he conveys his internal distress by focusing on himself and speaking in a very somber and contemplative whisper. The audience can see his pain by recognizing the apparent inner turmoil that the actor so accurately portrays. In the second video, the actor looks directly at the camera and asserts his pain and confusion by making very twisted facial expressions and yelling his statements and questions at the audience.

The two actors also emphasize different things in their deliveries of the soliloquy.  The first actor emphasizes his introversion and the scholarly approach that he takes to weighing his options – dealing with the struggles that life presents or putting an end to everything through suicide. He accomplishes this emphasis through his staring at himself, walking toward himself, and speaking quietly. The second actor puts emphasis on the difficulty of the decision “to be or not to be” (3.1.64) through his emotional yelling and distorted expressions of pain.

Personally, I appreciate the first actor’s portrayal of the soliloquy more than the second because I believe that Shakespeare intended the delivery of the lines to be soft and introspective with much pain that isn’t yelled at but inferred by the audience. Both videos, however, manage to convey Hamlet’s solitude, pain, and confusion in one way or another, so they both meet the criteria of the soliloquy.

Short Works Essay Paragraph Revision

Original:
Initially in the work in the work, Marquez’s sympathetic tone depicts a gloomy environment and the seemingly considerate people who inhabit it to  to introduce an egocentric setting. In the very beginning of the story, the narrator states that, “the world [has] been sad since Tuesday. Sea and sky [are] a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach... have become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish" (Marquez 327). The degree of dreariness described in the depressing imagery of ash-gray sights and rotten smells invites readers to feel compassion for the characters in the work who must endure the dull environment. The tone calls for sympathy, and it prefaces the susceptibility of the people to obsess over and expect miracles that can potentially improve their lives. Next, when the main characters Pelayo and Elisenda discover the angel in their courtyard, “they [do] not have the heart to club him to death” (328), despite their neighbor’s in-put. The tone present when describing the couple’s decision not to kill the angel praises the characters as if sparing the lives of ethereal, godly figures is a commendable feat. This exaggeration of compassion suggests that the people in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” think highly of themselves for doing little and that they don’t typically practice empathy. The tone pities and praises the people in the short story, indicating their self-serving tendencies and prefacing their impractical expectations.

Revised:
Initially in the work, Marquez’s sympathetic tone depicts a gloomy environment and the seemingly considerate people who inhabit it to introduce an egocentric setting. In the beginning of the story, the narrator states that “the world [has] been sad since Tuesday. Sea and sky [are] a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach... have become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish" (Marquez 327). The degree of dreariness described in the depressing imagery of “ash-gray” sights and “rotten” smells invites readers to feel compassion for the characters who must endure the dull environment; the tone calls for sympathy when the characters actually deserve none, and it prefaces the susceptibility of the people to expect miracles that can potentially improve their lives. When Pelayo and Elisenda discover the angel in their courtyard, “they [do] not have the heart to club him to death” (328). The tone in this point of the story praises the characters as if sparing the life of an ethereal, godly figure conveys great benevolence; this exaggeration of compassion suggests that the people in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” think highly of themselves for doing little and don’t typically practice empathy. The tone pities and praises the people in the work, indicating their self-serving tendencies and prefacing their impractical expectations.

The Striking Aspects of Branagh's Portrayal of Hamlet

After watching Kenneth Branagh discuss his approach in portraying the fifth scene of the first act of Hamlet and then actually watching his portrayal, the aspects of the video that strike me the most include the lack of a role that Hamlet plays, the relationship between Hamlet and his late father, and the images of betrayal that Branagh decides to incorporate into the scene.

First, the camera never lingers on Hamlet, so it displays only seconds of his reaction to the ghost. However, we can see Hamlet in the video when he speaks; for example, when Hamlet says, "O, my prophetic soul! My uncle!" (1.5. 48) in response to his father revealing the identity of his murderer, we can see Hamlet's pain, confusion, and the realization of the confirmation of his suspicions regarding his uncle. I agree with Branagh that minimizing the role of Hamlet is the optimal way of conveying the scene because it allows audiences to interpret Hamlet's feelings more accurately than the actor can imply, and it draws attention away from Hamlet's pain to shine a spotlight on the ghost and the late King Hamlet's brutal and traitorous murder.

Next, in my opinion, the characters representing Hamlet and the ghost in the scene interact in a way that deserves attention. It is made clear from the beginning that their meeting is not a light-hearted reunion and that there will be no jubilant, slow-motion running into each other's arms. The late King Hamlet consistently looks down on Hamlet throughout the scene, especially when he commands, "Let not the royal bed of Denmark be/A couch for luxury and damnèd incest./But, howsomever thou pursues this act,/Taint not thy mind, nor let the soul contrive/Against thy mother aught" (1.5.89-93). In addition to looking down on Hamlet, the ghost makes obviously apparent and ominous eye contact with his son to imply the importance of the message he gives. At the end of the scene, when the ghost tells Hamlet to remember him and his message, they touch hands briefly. The looking down, the eye contact, and the touching of hands perhaps serve to convey the nature of father-son relationships and the respect that Hamlet perpetuates for his deceased father.

Finally, I believe that Branagh incorporates images of betrayal into the scene to convey why Hamlet must avenge his father. The scene cuts away to show Claudius and Gertrude joyfully playing a game together, and it later cuts away to show Claudius unlacing Gertrude's bodice; these images exist in the video to paint a picture of the ghost's message to inspire Hamlet to take action and get revenge. In addition, I think these images also validate the need for revenge to the audience because the members of which may have a hard time deciding the degree of Claudius' sins from simply hearing the ghost's words. The scene also shows the merciless murder of the late King Hamlet, which I believe exists to convey the same idea that Hamlet needs to take action.

In summation, I believe that Branagh has a great approach in portraying this particular scene in Hamlet because he really captures Hamlet's fear and the degree of the traitorous sins of Claudius.

First Impression of Hamlet

In the second scene of the first act of Hamlet, Shakespeare introduces Hamlet, the protagonist of the play. In his interactions with his uncle and mother, he appears noble, compassionate, and in possession of a strong moral compass.

When Hamlet’s mother disapproves of his black, sorrowful clothing, he describes mournful activities and then states, “These indeed ‘seem,’/For they are actions that a man might play;/But I have that within which passes show,/These but the trappings and the suits of woe” (1.2.86-89). He responds respectfully to maintain his nobility as prince, yet he also expresses resentment by implying that his mother does not understand the grief within him resulting from the death of his father. The subtle criticism toward his mother reflects Hamlet’s integrity and his ability to maintain unbiased opinions as an individual in a persuasive environment.

After everyone but Hamlet exits the scene, he reveals the extent of his grief and his feelings toward his mother and uncle. First, he comments on his outlook on life, “O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,/Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,/Or that the Everlasting had not fixed/His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter” (1.2.133-136)! His inclination toward suicide indicates the extreme degree of sorrow that the death of his father inspires, and it leads me to believe that Hamlet possesses a compassion that his mother and uncle seem to lack.

Hamlet continues his soliloquy, “Why she, even she/(O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason/Would have mourned longer!), married with my/uncle,/My father’s brother, but no more like my father/Than I to Hercules” (1.2.153-158). When he speaks without anyone listening, he reveals his real opinions toward his mother and uncle, and his opinions denote disapproval and resentment. He claims that even a beast would spend more time mourning the death of his father than his mother does, and then he compares his father with his uncle and concludes that his father represents a hero of superhuman strength and courage while his uncle represents an ordinary person. In my opinion, these internal beliefs of Hamlet suggest the existence of a strong moral compass because they imply his dissatisfaction with his family’s lack of compassion and his desire to have a strong, courageous, and heroic king.

I believe that Hamlet is an honest and uncorrupt prince with decent intentions. He does seem to harbor a lot of resentment toward his family that could potentially manifest itself in an aggressive manner, but as of the second scene of the first act, he makes an effort to conceal his feelings and remain passive.

Marquez's Tone in "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings Proves the Harmful Nature of Big Expectations

Gabriel Marquez's tone that evolves throughout "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" conveys the ultimately detrimental effects of big expectations. The initially pitying tone of the work expresses a dreary setting in which Marquez depicts the people as compassionate, and the tone becomes judgmental when evaluating the excessively poor condition of the unfortunate angel. The increasing cruelty and artificiality of the people toward the angel, which Marquez expresses in a somber voice, suggest that human nature and its extreme stereotypes and expectations never allow for satisfaction or fulfillment. Marquez points out through his pitying, judgmental, and somber tones that individuals have unrealistic expectations and an insatiable desire for tangible results that can only culminate in disappointment and blindness to the reality of given circumstances.

Initially in the work, a sympathetic tone depicts a gloomy environment and the seemingly considerate people who inhabit it to introduce an egocentric setting. In the very beginning of the story, the narrator states that, “the world [has] been sad since Tuesday. Sea and sky [are] a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach... have become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish" (Marquez 327). The degree of dreariness described in the depressing imagery of ash-gray sights and rotten smells invites readers to feel compassion for the characters in the work who must endure the dull environment. The tone calls for sympathy, and it prefaces the susceptibility of the people to obsess over and expect miracles that can potentially improve their lives. Next, when the main characters Pelayo and Elisenda discover the angel in their courtyard, “they [do] not have the heart to club him to death” (328), despite their neighbor’s in-put. The tone present when describing the couple’s decision not to kill the angel praises the characters as if sparing the lives of ethereal, godly figures is a commendable feat. This exaggeration of compassion suggests that the people in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” think highly of themselves for doing little and that they don’t typically practice empathy. The tone pities and praises the people in the short story, indicating their self-serving tendencies and prefacing their impractical expectations.

While the tone is praiseful and forgiving of the people, it becomes judgmental when regarding the pathetic condition of the angel by emphasizing his imperfections and his features that contrast those of a stereotypical angel, highlighting the ability of people to apply unrealistic expectations to their realities. When Pelayo and Elisenda first discover the angel, they believe that, “his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather [has] taken away any sense of grandeur he might have had… That [is] how they [skip] over the inconvenience of the wings and quite intelligently [conclude] that he [is] a lonely castaway.” (328). They believe that the old man could not possibly be an angel and even allow themselves to overlook his wildly inhuman wings because he does not meet the physical description of an angel that they have in mind. The influence of the stereotype on the couple illustrates their ability to find disappointment in miracles such as the presence of angels. When the priest examines the old man, he notices unkempt physical features and determines that, “nothing about him [measures] up to the proud dignity of angels” (329). Marquez makes a statement through his critical tone that not even priests can overcome artificiality and overlook physical imperfections to appreciate the presence of an angel. The critical tone that the narrator takes on to encompass the general opinions of the people in the work implies the inability of people to see past stereotypes and the disappointment that results from it.

Ultimately, Marquez effectively conveys with his somber tone the tendency of human nature to always want more and never achieve satisfaction. As people interested in the angel try to observe him, “even the most merciful [throw] stones at him, trying to get him to rise so they can see him standing” (330). The fact that even the most merciful of people try hurting the angel for personal amusement suggests that all people have a relentless dissatisfaction with the reality of given circumstances; the solemn tone implies this truth matter-of-factly to suggest the ability of people to justify hurting an angel with the lack of excitement in its unexpected appearance and temperament. As Elisenda is chopping onions toward the end of the work, she, “[lets] out a sigh of relief, for herself and for [the angel] when she [sees] him pass over the last houses, holding himself up” (332).  Her sigh of relief mostly pertains to her newfound freedom as a result of the angel’s flying away and leaving her house at last; she could never find satisfaction coexisting with the angel because he did not meet her stereotypically romantic expectations of how an angel should look and act, and the tone excludes remorse, illustrating the nature of people to shamelessly judge others without applying the same degree of judgment to themselves. The tone that retains solemnity toward the end of the work expresses a lack of appreciation resulting from unrealistic standards.

In conclusion, the evolution of tone in Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” from sympathetic to critical to solemn makes the statement about human nature that individuals build up too high of expectations, and as a result, they can find fault and disappointment in miracles such as the presence of angels. Perhaps Marquez means to suggest that we should not blind ourselves to wonderful realities by forming extraordinary yet impractical ideals in our minds. Instead, when we see an angel or its equivalent in magnificence, we must appreciate it without comparing it to impossible standards. By not forming impractical ideals or comparing reality to impossible standards, we can avoid disappointment and appreciate things that deserve appreciation.

Revised Intro Paragraph and outline

Gabriel Marquez's voice and expressive word choices in "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" emphasize the extent of human shallowness and the capacity of people to abandon compassion and act cruelly in order to reap personal benefits. The tone of the work expresses a dreary setting in which the people with their extreme stereotypes and expectations represent a microcosm of our culture today, and the tone also illuminates the excessively poor condition of the unfortunate angel. The increasing cruelty and artificiality of the people toward the angel, which are expressed in Marquez's voice, suggest that human nature never allows for satisfaction or fulfillment regarding a situation. Marquez points out through his tone and word choices that individuals have unrealistic expectations and an insatiable desire for tangible results that can only culminate in disappointment, resentment, and blindness to the reality of given circumstances.

I. Initially in "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," a gloomy setting is introduced, and the people who inhabit it impractically expect stereotypical ideals.
a. "The world [has] been sad since Tuesday. Sea and sky [are] a ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach... have become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish" (327).
b. "No one [pays] any attention to [the angel] because his wings [are] not those of an angel but, rather, those of a sidereal bat" (329).

II. From the very beginning of the work, Marquez makes the pitiful condition of the very old man with enormous wings clear, emphasizing his imperfections and his features that contrast those of a stereotypical angel.
a. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth. His huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever entangled in the mud" (328).
b. [Father Gonzaga] argued that if wings were not the essential element in determining the difference between a hawk and an airplane, they were even less so in the recognition of angels" (329).

III. Ultimately, Marquez effectively conveys the ability of people to exchange moral standards compassion for personal gain and the tendency of human nature to always want more and never achieve satisfaction.
a. "Even the most merciful threw stones at [the angel], trying to get him to rise so they could see him standing. The only time they succeeded in arousing him was when they burned his side with an iron for branding steers" (330).
b. "A spectacle like that , full of so much human truth and with such a fearful lesson, was bound to defeat without even trying that of a haughty angel who scarcely deigned to look at mortals" (331).

Short Works Process Essay Intro Draft

In "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," Gabriel Garcia Marquez utilizes symbols to convey a message about human nature. Throughout his work, symbols serve to suggest the severity of human shallowness and artificiality. In addition, they show the extent of the human capacity to strategically use cruelty as a tool to obtain personal satisfaction. Marquez uses the symbol of a very old man with enormous wings in a setting where the people question, abuse, and treat him expendably for personal gain to symbolize the tendency of individuals to abandon compassion and act cruelly in order to potentially extract miracles or money from a situation.

Born too Late?

E.A. Robinson presents us with “Miniver Cheevy” to send a message regarding resentment.

In subtle ways, Robinson makes it clear that Miniver Cheevy’s real life contrasts the life of honor and excitement that he romanticizes. While, “Miniver love[s] the old when swords were bright and steeds were prancing,” he, “sigh[s] for what [is] not, and dream[s].” Toward the end of the poem,”Miniver scorn[s] the gold he [seeks], but sore annoyed [is] he without it,” suggesting that he lives in a constant state of longing and never finds his life to be satisfactory.

Miniver believes himself to be an anachronism and blames fate for his misfortune, so I think readers should make him out to be indolent and without gratitude for the life that he was dealt. Robinson characterizes Miniver as such by not providing the character with a positive resolution. In the very end, Miniver calls his misfortune, “fate, and [keeps] on drinking.”

At one point, Miniver, “[weeps] that he was ever born,” which highlights his incapacity to actively improve his perception of life. Perhaps Robinson means to convey with Miniver’s lifelong commitment to misery that resentment ultimately leads to unhappiness and depression, as exhibited with Miniver when he, “[keeps] on drinking.”

Isn't It Ironic?

In the Oatmeal's take on irony and in the given definition, three types of irony -- verbal, dramatic, and situational/cosmic -- are addressed.

In "Once Upon a Time," Nadine Gordimer uses situational/cosmic irony to convey the necessity of a balance between extremes. The short story begins with the narrator introducing, "a man and a wife who [love] each other very much and [are] living happily ever after. They [have] a little boy, and they [love] him very much." Conflict is introduced when the possibility of dangerous riots upsets the wife. To maintain the peace-of-mind that is required in a happily-ever-after atmosphere, the husband installs burglar bars and an alarm system. The degree of the ferociousness of the security system increases as the family requires more and more home-defense mechanisms to maintain their peace-of-mind.

Finally, at the very end of the story when the family is living "happily-ever-after" amid serrated metal and jagged blades and flesh-tearing fangs, the little boy plays a game and accidentally becomes tangled in the system, and, "the man and wife burst wildly into the garden... [while] the alarm set up wail[s] against the screams [and] the bleeding mass of the little boy [is] hacked out of the security coil with saws, wire-cutters, [and] choppers." The ultimate doom of the little boy presents situational/cosmic irony because the security system that the man and wife set up to protect their family from any sort of harm results in the tragic and very graphic death of their son.

Gordimer most likely uses irony as opposed to direct narration in the short story to emphasize the tragedy of the situation and better convey the big picture. If the little boy had died in any other fashion, the message that resorting to extremes may not have been expressed. It is the parents' struggle to obtain absolute peace-of-mind that eventually kills their son, and this suggests that had the parents not obtained the most ferocious and threatening alarm system available, their son would still be alive. In conclusion, the irony optimally conveys that taking extreme measures is more likely to result in tragedy than in the intended outcome.

Welcome and My favorite Summer Reading Text

Welcome. I'm Kristin and this is my blog Kristinguistics (all kinds of Kristyntax), which will address literary matters and deliver my opinions on relevant literary topics.

For my first post, I'll have you know that my favorite text from the summer is "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula Le Guin. Initially in the short story, the author describes a utopian city called Omelas and the people who happily inhabit it with bright and cheerful imagery. As the story progresses, however, it becomes clear that the citizens of Omelas are imperfect and complex.

The story becomes very compelling to me when the speaker notes that, "[the people of Omelas] have a bad habit... of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting." Continuing with a similar idea, the speaker also states that, "the joy built upon successful slaughter is not the right kind of joy; it will not do; it is fearful and it is trivial."

Evidence of the citizens' off-putting derivation of contentedness is provided when the speaker describes the delicate situation of Omelas where the well-being and the joyousness of the entire city depend on the absolute misery of a single child. What is most striking about this predicament, in my opinion, is the fact that the population of Omelas as a whole is able to collectively justify and essentially condone the complete neglect of an innocent and helpless being.

Even more compelling is that those who actually walk away from Omelas choose to walk away, but they never make a formal decision. They are presented with the options of helping the child or living with the knowledge of his or her miserable existence, and the citizens of Omelas either choose the latter or avoid the decision entirely.

I found "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" to be incredibly thought-provoking because the radical rationalization of condemning a child to a lifetime of suffering and the citizens' avoidance of liberating him or her beg the questions: does human nature allow justification to supersede compassion, and could human compassion ever be enough to bring an end to suffering?