Hamlet Summary and Analysis

Setting:

Elsinore, capitol of Denmark

Characters:

Hamlet
Horatio
Claudius
Gertrude
Polonius
Ophelia
Laertes
Ghost
Rosencrantz
Guildenstern
Players
Fortinbras

Plot:

Hamlet follows the plot of a Seneca revenge tragedy:

"There is a secret murder, usually of a good ruler by a bad one/ The murdered man's ghost visits a younger kinsman, generally a son/ The murderer and avenger plot against each other. Often, disguise is involved, and there are several casualties/ The play ends in a bloodbath, often including the death of the avenger"

"There is a secret murder, of [old Hamlet] by [Claudius]/ [old Hamlet]'s ghost visits [young Hamlet]/ [Claudius] and [young Hamlet] plot against each other. There are several casualties/ The play ends in a bloodbath, including the death of [young Hamlet]"

Quotes:

 - Claudius: My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: words without thoughts never to heaven go.

Through Claudius, Shakespeare is conveying the message that prayers offered without real intent aren't able to reach divine ears. In other words: God doesn't listen to fakers.


 - Hamlet: Denmark's a prison.

This statement is an externalization of Hamlet's internal makeup. His prison is made up of his attitude about life. As the rightful heir to the throne, Hamlet uses synechdoche to refer to himself as Denmark. So wherever he goes, whether it be Elsinore, Denmark, or elsewhere, he will always feel imprisoned due to his tortured mind.

Theme Statement:

Shakespeare's Hamlet cautions that self-doubt paired with moral corruption can lead to the subversion of providence.

Open Prompts: Part 2 - III

2004, Form B. The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or deaths take place. Choose a novel or play and write a well-organized essay in which you show how a specific death scene helps to illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.



In Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the deaths of Ros and Guil at the end of the play help illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Throughout the play, Guil is aggravated by the Player's mockery of death: "No one gets up after death," he says; Guil has a strange obsession with death that only makes sense after reading the entire play. The characters of the play are trapped in and endless cycle, only existing while the play occurs; while the book is open. Once the characters die and the pages close, the characters are gone until the cycle is repeated. The characters are, in a way, cursed with immortality: living and dying over and over. Stoppard has even made the main characters self aware. What Stoppard is pointing out is that he, as the author, controls his characters; as opposed to the characters coming to life themselves. If he chooses to give them consciousness, then he will - as part of his story.

Open Prompt: Part 2 - I

1982. In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literary merit that confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes of violence. In a well-organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning of the complete work. Avoid plot summary.



In Edward Albee's American Dream, Mommy and Daddy call Mrs. Barker over because they are dissatisfied with their adoption of a "bumble." During their conversation, Daddy leaves to the kitchen to get Mrs. Barker something, but he gets lost and Mommy has to go find him. In the lull, Grandma, who lives with Mommy and Daddy, tells Mrs. Barker a story about a situation not unlike the one concerning Mommy and Daddy; she tells Mrs. Barker how the "bumble" wasn't acting the way Mommy and Daddy wanted, so they chopped off the parts that weren't acting right; they ended up with this unrecognizable, monstrous chunk of flesh that they couldn't stand, so they got rid of it. And now they are dissatisfied with Mrs. Barker's service (giving them a "bumble"- a flop, a dud, a bad baby). 

This violence is symbolic of the societal values that the people of America embrace; they take a set of values, ethics, or morals, and they chop off the parts they don't want. Eventually, what is left is this monstrous blob that no one wants, so they throw it away and look for something better, which ends up being what they were given in the first place, ironically.

Albee's play confronts the selfish, materialistic, consumerist societal views that we have accepted. Mommy and Daddy look for satisfaction, but when they find it, they are immediately dissatisfied. This instance of violence where the "bumble" is mutilated contributes to the whole meaning of American Dream, because it shows the consuming dissatisfaction that comes from materialism.

Open Prompts: Part 2 - II

1979. Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of recognized literary merit who might on the basis of the character’s actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, seeks revenge on his uncle-now-father, Claudius, for the murder of his actual father. This course leads him to murder Polonius, send his friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to their deaths; he also kills Laertes, the son of Polonius before finally achieving his goal of killing Claudius. Hamlet then dies himself. From Hamlet's actions alone, a reader can take him to be an immoral character, however, Prince Hamlet is the protagonist of Shakespeare's play. As the protagonist, Hamlet gains the opportunity to obtain forgiveness and sympathy from the audience, because they follow him through the course of events and see how and why Hamlet took the actions that he did. In context of the play, Hamlet can be viewed as a tragic hero: his fall and madness account for the immoral acts he commits, and his death seals him in the mind of the audience as a martyr.

Hamlet does a lot of stuff that wouldn't exactly be considered "good." His bent on destroying Claudius affects everyone around him, his first real ill deed is the way he treats Ophelia after seeing the ghost of his father; he then causes the deaths of several individuals, starting with his murdering of Polonius. The madness in Hamlet, whether pretended or real, is agreeably out of hand and needs dealing with. However, Prince Hamlet is the play's protagonist, so he obviously must have good reason for what he does.

In the position of protagonist, Hamlet is granted a sort of clemency by the audience. They see his perspective, they understand what is troubling him: his father's ghost and its demand for revenge, as well as his mother's relationship with his uncle, mixed with his uncle's relationship with Hamlet. The audience sees the stress that is put on Hamlet, they see him snap and fall into the downward spiral of the Seneca revenge plot that Shakespeare has written him into. When Hamlet kills Polonius, thinking him to be Claudius, the audience isn't surprised or outraged - yes it is a high-tension moment, but it is somewhat expected - they just understand. They feel sympathy for Hamlet because his situation is falling out of his hands, and so as Hamlet sinks deeper and deeper into his pit, the audience feels sorry and regards him as a tragic hero.

A person reading Hamlet can easily finish the play with the perspective that Hamlet is a tragic hero. He started as the Prince of Denmark, his father is murdered by his uncle, his uncle marries his mother and takes his throne, he sees his father's ghost and goes mad, and makes a series of ill-informed choices from there, which ultimately lead to his death. Hamlet's crimes are attributed to his madness and he dies a martyr: the mad prince who died avenging his father. The immoral acts Hamlet committed are softened by the context in which they are placed within the play.

Hamlet's actions, alone, would be considered evil or immoral, but by his presentation and characterization throughout the play, the audience is able to sympathize with him. Hamlet is the protagonist of Shakespeare's play, so a reader is more prone to that sympathy because they are able to see how and why he is led to make the choices he does. Where Hamlet could be an antihero or villain because of his actions, he becomes a tragic hero and a martyr because the audience understands him.

Death of a Salesman Summery and Analysis

*For the first part of this blog, I'm trying something out. The numbers intermittently placed throughout the summary are end notes.*

Death of a Salesman is one of Arthur Miller's most popular works (1). Willy Loman is a common travelling salesman who live in New York in the year of 1949. He has lived an unfulfilled life (2) and, as of late, is experiencing hallucinations (3) that take the form memories from the year of 1928 (a better time), in the same location as the present. In Willy's dreams, his sons, Biff and Happy, are well-liked and showing their potential for success; his older brother Ben (4) frequently visits. In the present, Willy's sons aren't doing very much with their lives: Biff has been travelling out West, out of work, stealing for spite (5); Happy sleeps around and exaggerates his status (6), and Ben has been dead for a while. Linda Loman is Willy's wife, and she is all too aware of what is going on: Willy is becoming suicidal. However, she does not bring it up with him for fear of destroying any shred of dignity (7) he has. Biff is torn between earning his father's approval and accepting the reality of what he is. Biff sees himself as a failure in his father's eyes, but he has issues (8) with his father that cause him to reject that notion and is content to not aspire to anything. Tensions really start to boil when Willy is fired from his job (9) and Biff realizes that he doesn't want to vie for his father's attention. Following a heated argument (10) between the family (but mainly Biff and Willy), the play concludes as Willy finally decides he is worth more dead than alive and goes and kills himself in a car crash.

Analysis End Notes:
(1) - As a child, Arthur Miller's father was a fairly profitable business owner and his family enjoyed many comforts. Due to the Great Depression in 1929, Mr. Miller lost his business and the family suffered much hardship. I believe that Death of a Salesman has much in common with the circumstances of Miller's youth and the struggles he observed in his own home.

(2) - Willy has had no father in his life, so he looked to those he envisioned to be the embodiment of what a father would be: David Singleman was a very popular and successful businessman who inspired Willy into his own career as a businessman; Ben, Willy's older brother, a very successful man.

(3) -Miller distinguishes between Willy's dreams and reality by allowing the characters to pass through gaps in the set walls during dreams, while confining the present-time characters to regular stage physics. The dreams themselves are important because they express Willy's conflict: he's lost because his life isn't going at all the way he planned and he doesn't know why. The memories that he plays back through his mind lead up to the point where his life flipped upside-down (when Biff caught him in an affair), at which point he realizes the pitiful state he's in.

(4) - "When I walked into the jungle, I was seventeen. When I walked out I was twenty-one. And, by God, I was rich!"(p. 35) - Ben's most significant line in the play. Ben had gone off, at the age of seventeen, leaving his mother and infant brother behind in search of his father, who was part of the gold rush in Alaska. By some odd mischance, Ben ended up in Africa, where he went into the jungle (and the diamond market) and gained a fortune. This fortune he did not share with his family that he had left behind. Like his father, he abandoned Willy and his mother, specifically Willy, leaving him without a father-figure to pattern himself after.

(5) - The reason Biff himself gives in explanation for his thievery is that all the praise his dad gave him as a boy made him feel superior to everyone else, so he couldn't take orders from anyone. As a result, he stole what he wanted.

(6) - Happy is a product of his father's making. Whether he knows it or not, Happy follows the patterns his father sets. First off, he sleeps with his coworkers'/ employers' women. This is because he is neglected by his family and feels lonely on the inside, so he looks for other means to feel wanted or loved. Willy had the same reasons to have his affair, except he was married at the time. Secondly, Happy exaggerates his status to seem more important or successful than he actually is. This is a play pulled straight from Willy's book, as we see Willy doing just that throughout the play.

(7) - Death of a Salesman is Arthur Miller's adaption of tragedy. In his essay, Tragedy and the Common Man, he defends his play's status as a tragedy with his own definition of tragedy, "As a general rule, to which there may be exceptions unknown to me, I think the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing--his sense of personal dignity." Linda plays at being, in part, a tragic hero by sacrificing common sense to preserve her husband's dignity; Willy himself, at the conclusion of the play, *look at this from Willy's point of view, as odd as that may be* makes the ultimate sacrifice to keep his sense of dignity as being a successful man and the provider of his home by committing suicide so that his family could have the $20,000 from his insurance policy. He also wanted to keep his dream of his son's success alive by providing him with the means to start anew.

(8) - Biff craved nothing more than his father's praise and attention as a boy. After Biff had failed his math class, he went to his dad for help (like any boy should), only to find him involved in an affair. This hit Biff hard, because he loved his mother as much as he loved his father; to see this man, whom he had idolized, being unfaithful to the woman he should love more than anything made Biff question if Willy ever actually was truthful about anything. In the place of every word of praise, every encouragement, was now a festering wound. Biff's dad was a fake in his eyes. Willy was angered and hurt by Biff's reaction, as well as worried that he would tell Linda, so Willy kicked Biff out of the house.

(9) - In the "Tape Recorder" scene where Willy gets fired, there is A LOT that goes down. The gist of it is that Willy's delusional perception on how the world should work (Willy has the idea that words are infallible and connections are the key to everything. This is true, but he missed the memo that ACTIONS speak louder than WORDS. So he doesn't get the concept that hard work is also involved to make one successful.) comes face-to-face with reality. Also, the audience finally understands what Willy is selling - he's selling himself. Not, like, his body, he's selling the essence of Willy Loman. All his ideals, values, dreams, and successes are laid on the line. This is that confrontation mentioned above. When Willy is fired, Howard is rejecting Willy's entire persona, his way of life and who he is. This scene would be the catalyst for the downward spiral leading to Willy's suicide, however, as Willy spouts off about Dave Singleman, "He died the death of a salesman." This is the one time the play the title is mentioned. It can be seen that every action Willy makes after this, he's only going through the motions; this scene is really where Willy's spirit dies, in the end his physical death was inevitable after this experience.

(10) - This argument at the end is what I originally thought was the climax, but after I had an "Aha!" moment with the tape recorder scene during a class discussion, I decided that this just sealed the deal/ closed off any other path that Willy might have taken. The argument consists of Biff plainly stating the truth of his and Willy's identities and his silent plea for his father's love and acceptance, like he was used to growing up; on Willy's side, Willy has already given up and he wants to hide away in his shell, but he's drawn out by Biff's breakdown - when he start crying and begging his dad to let him go - taking this in a completely different way than Biff meant it, Willy is convinced that Biff (despite his previous failings) will end up a great man *if he has Willy's life insurance behind him.* Solidified in his purpose, Willy can now kill himself with a clean conscience, believing that he is sacrificing himself for a noble cause, or rather,dying a "hero."

Quotes:

• Willy: "You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away - man is not a piece of fruit!"(p.55) ...Maybe in Willy's world, but here in reality, everybody "eats the orange" and "throws away the peel." Sorry buddy.
• Biff: "I am not a leader of men, Willy, an neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can with the rest of them!"(p.93) This outburst of Biff's supports the motif of "not every man is a leader," also it drives in the nail that Howard set when he confronted Willy's delusions with reality.
• Ben: "When I walked into the jungle, I was seventeen. When I walked out I was twenty-one. And, by God, I was rich!"(p. 35) Here is the basis and summary of Willy Loman's work ethic, the "All you have to do is walk in" method. Since Willy never knew his father, Ben has assumed the father figure in Willy's eyes, and Willy deifies his older brother, latching on to every word he says.

Theme Statement:
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman advocates the idea of valuing actions over words by emphasizing the consequences of Willy Loman's puffery; Miller implicates the folly in ignoring responsibility results in one building a house of cards on a sandy foundation (a.k.a. - puffery/ delusional perception) that will lead to inevitable self-destruction.

Biff is content with his dream of "...working out in the open." (p. 11) Despite his troubled youth, he understands the benefit of honest, hard labor. Willy doesn't get this concept, instead, he relies on his words to get the job done: 
Willy: "I averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in commisions."
Howard (impatiently): "Now, Willy, you never averaged..." (p. 55)
His facade doesn't hold up against the hard facts. But Willy never learned the benefit of hard work. He always went off of Ben's philosophy of just "going into the jungle" and "coming out rich." No one was there to teach him how he was supposed to go about being successful, so he had nothing to go on, and that turned out to be detrimental.

American Dream Summary and Analysis

The American Dream is a one-act play by Edward Albee, a well known playwright who had a slightly adverse view to the society he grew up in. The play is set in a room within an apartment; a basic, separated layout with a doorway on either side of the room (stage) and a couch in the middle (facing the audience) with arm chairs facing inward on either side. This is the almost black-box setting of the play. The story goes as follows: Mommy and Daddy are having a shallow discussion to introduce the audience to some of the main motifs (consumerism and a lack of satisfaction, as well as a lack of respect). Grandma (the old American Dream) walks in with loads of boxes (the old values) and it is clear that Grandma isn't quite welcome. Mrs. Barker then enters (a personification of the new consumerist society and a symbol of the roles women play in the era) and no one knows why she is present (this is another motif: everyone is lost as to what is going on). It is shown that Daddy has been emasculated and that Mommy has assumed the patriarchal role in the household. Later, when Mommy and Daddy are both absent, Grandma tells Mrs. Barker a would-be tragic story of a "bumble" that the family adopted. As the "bumble" grew, the parents literally chopped off pieces they didn't like and the "bumble" eventually died; now that the "bumble" is gone, they want satisfaction (in the form of a replacement, but they don't even know that). Mommy and Daddy come back, and the group reverts to frivolous conversation, then the doorbell rings. Grandma goes to get the door and a Young Man (the new American Dream) walks in, a perfect image of everything Mommy and Daddy ever wanted, but on the inside, he's empty. Void of emotion, the American Dream is a hollow shell, a superficial solution to the characters' problems. Grandma Ushers in the Young Man and has him help her remove her boxes from the scene. With Grandma gone, we go back to Mommy and Daddy. Mommy realizes Grandma is gone and goes into a shock, beside herself with some sort of anguish caused by Grandma's departure. Everyone notices the Young Man and Grandma and the memories of her are forgotten.

Though The American Dream contains many elements from Theatre of the Absurd and existentialism, the narrative voice of the story shines through in Grandma, who gives the play direction with things the says and how she interacts with the audience. Albee's own point of view is expressed through linking events in his life to events in the play; as a child, Albee was adopted and (being a budding homosexual) he felt his parents trying to "chop away" parts of him. In The American Dream, this is reflected in the "bumble." Albee uses strong imagery and details/ lack of details to convey his messages throughout the story.

Two important quotes found in The American Dream are:

1. Daddy: The way things are today; you just can't get satisfaction; you just try it. - This is a big motif throughout the play; the characters all try to obtain satisfaction, but in this consumerist society, they never will because there is always something more to want.
2. Young Man: As I told you, I am incomplete... I can feel nothing. I can feel nothing... And so... here I am... as you see me. I am... but this... what you see. And it will always be thus. - This sums up the ideology of the new American Dream; fueled by a superficial desire in a consumerist society, the new Dream has been stripped of the values that gave the Dream substance.

The title correlates directly to the meaning of the play. The theme of Albee's The American Dream is that it warns that the current generation of Americans has gutted the heart and soul of traditional American values and replaced them with a superficial/ materialistic longing that drives us to acquire unattainable satisfaction (gender change, Mommy married Daddy for money, Young Man will "do anything" for money, etc.). 

Close Reading October 13th

Apparently This Matters: Billionaire uses flip phone

By Jarrett Bellini, CNN

"My dad still uses an old flip phone. It's gray. It's clunky. And its two ringtone choices are an early recording of Greensleeves or a dramatic poetry slam by Grover Cleveland. But it works for him. And that's all that matters. The world sort of took notice of Jones' phone last week at the Arizona State-Notre Dame football game which was, for recruiting and financial reasons, being played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The venue is now known as AT&T Stadium.Besides, how proletarian could it possibly be when even the billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, uses one? But you can call it the Flip Phone Dome. Because, at one point, Jones appeared on the game's TV broadcast while talking on his flipper inside his luxury box. And that's when the tweets started pouring out." (Bellini)

I enjoy Bellini's writing style a lot. It's the kind of style I wish I had, but don't quite have a grasp on yet. In this article, he's writing about a billionaire with a flip phone and makes it sound like it's worth your time to read! How does he do it? In my opinion it's all about the diction and syntax. His tone and the mood he creates help out, but diction and syntax do his heavy lifting.

The author flirts with colloquial and informal diction to get you nice and comfy. For example, "My dad still uses an old flip phone. It's gray. It's clunky." Pretty simple start to the piece. And who uses the word "flipper" to describe a phone? Oh wait... we're talking about a flip phone... clever Jarrett, clever. So now we're disarmed and amiable; ready for his silly story about a "non-situation situation." You'll see though, that even though there is an almost overwhelming amount of slang and jargon, Bellini will throw an intelligent word or witty phrase in here or there: proletarian, "If the stadium roof were open... standing on the moon... you could... I wouldn't. But you could." Stuff that makes you step back and say, "Wha...? Where'd that come from? ...Oh it makes sense now." You can see the bright journalist behind the nonsensical "whywouldidothisohjustforfunsies" article.

Walking into this AP Lit class, the hardest thing for me to understand was syntax. I know I still have a shakey hold on it, but I'm learning fast. I love what Jarrett Bellini does with his sentence structures. Nothing is really ever long, it's all short. To the point. "I have something to say. This is a joke. Laugh." He says a lot, yet his ideas are clearly separated; not jumbled up into one huge blob (the way I often find mine). This was a fun, refreshing article for close reading. Not all authors can pull off straightforward humor like writing about nonsense in a serious way, like a reverse travesty, but that's what I see Bellini as having done here. 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/11/tech/social-media/apparently-this-matters-jerry-jones-billionaire-flip-phone/index.html