9/8/16 Act 4 of Hamlet

Hello, all! Sorry to miss you today. Please review Ophelia's scenes in Act IV for homework, and compose a blog post reflecting on her madness. What did you notice about her scenes? What do you think about what happens to her? What is the point of her character for the play as a whole? Is there a way in which she symbolizes anything? Also, please jot down a one-sentence summary of each scene in Act 4 for your future use when reviewing. Ophelia's scenes in Act 4 make her appear to be genuinely mad. She speaks through songs, repeating "he is dead and gone" over in over in reference to her father. She also sings being abandoned on Valentine's Day, which may be a reference to how Hamlet left her. Clearly, the combination of these two events have driven her crazy, not knowing what to think about life as she knows it. I feel saddened by her death, because I thought that Hamlet would eventually come clean to her about truly having loved her. I believe the point of her character is to be a symbol for the state of Denmark. Her death by drowning when her robes became oversaturated with water could be representative of how Denmark is becoming so bogged down with sins that it too will sink.  Act 4 Scene 1: The Queen tells Claudius that Hamlet killed Polonius and is not really mad, and Claudius says they must send Hamlet to England.  Act 4 Scene 2: Hamlet disposes of Polonius's body and refuses to tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern where he hides it. Act 4 Scene 3: Hamlet tells Claudius where Polonius is hidden, and agrees to board the ship to England, while Claudius reveals that Hamlet is to be killed. Act 4 Scene 4: Hamlet meets Fortinbras, and declares that from now on, he will seek bloody revenge. Act 4 Scene 5: Ophelia is distraught about her father's death, and Laertes becomes enraged at the death of their father; Claudius agrees to help Laertes figure out who killed his father.  Act 4 Scene 6: Horatio receives a letter from Hamlet who says the ship has returned to Denmark, and they rendezvous. Act 4 Scene 7: Claudius and Laertes agree to attempt to kill Hamlet in a joust, but will poison his drink in case he wins the joust; Ophelia commits suicide by drowning.

9/7/16 Hamlet - "Fortune"

Select a word you think is vital to (and prevalent in) the play (revenge, action, rank, virtue, see(n), world, man, demon/angel, matter, bawd/harlot/strumpet or another word of your choice). Then use the following website to search that word just in Hamlet. Once you see when/where/how it appears so far in the play (through Act 4, Scene 2), write a paragraph on its significance. You may want to consider how the word is variously used and to what effect, who uses it and when/why, how it speaks to a larger question/theme/character issue. Basically, you're exploring this word as a representative one in the play thus far and telling us why.

http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/search/search-keyword.php

The word "fortune" is used often throughout Hamlet. A synonym for fortune is luck; however, fortune is often used in irony in the instances in the play. Additionally, the word is typically seen capitalized, to refer to the Roman goddess Fortune, who was the bringer of luck, whether good or bad. Hamlet is the only character in the play to say the word fortune, and when he does so, he comments on the situation that Denmark has landed in. For example, when he reunites with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Act 2 Scene 2, Hamlet says, "what have you, my good friends, deserved at the hands of Fortune that she sends you to prison hither?" Hamlet also often curses Fortune, such as in Act 2 Scene 2 when he calls her a "strumpet", to say that she has had too much influence on the circumstances. The use of fortune in the play represents the unfavorable conditions that the characters have been placed in, which Hamlet struggles with the most. 

9/6/16 Act 3 of Hamlet

Blog post: review Act 3; write a one-sentence summary of each scene; describe how each of the main characters developed or changed in this act (Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Polonius); list 2 or 3 themes that have emerged or strengthened in this act.

Scene 1: Hamlet frames himself as more crazy by telling Ophelia that he never loved her, and that she should join a nunnery, while Polonius and Claudius establish themselves as more deceptive by watching Hamlet's actions. 

Scene 2: Hamlet spies on Claudius through the play, while Claudius spies on Hamlet through Polonius. 

Scene 3: Claudius decides to send Hamlet away to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and admits to murdering his brother in an aside; Hamlet decides not to murder Claudius until he does another bad thing, so that he will not have time to confess his sins and go to Heaven. 

Scene 4: Hamlet goes to the Queen, upset with her, and kills Polonius accidentally; he also tells his mother that he is putting on an act of being crazy. 

Scene 5: The Queen reveals to Claudius that Hamlet is not truly crazy, and that he has killed Polonius, while Hamlet disposes of the body.

Themes emerging: betrayal, deceit