#15: Do they have soft pillows in the afterlife?

1. 

     In the famous soliloquy, Hamlet makes many references to dark times and the quiet approach of death. 

Whether he should live or leave his "mind to suffer" (3.1.57). He repeatedly questions whether he should take up arms and defend himself or whether it may be easier, more worthwhile simply to "to die, to sleep" (3.1.60). He thinks that life after death may be more sound, and generally a better place, as he ponders, "for in that sleep of death, what dreams may come" (3.1.66). He does not know what the afterlife brings but the thought of having a more positive experience makes him ponder. He describes the more negative feelings in life, "pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay" (3.1.72). For him, the sweaty, arduous life can simply wear a person out. Dark moments when "no traveller returns" makes Hamlet believe that a deep sleep may be just what he needs.

     Hamlet relies largely upon pathos to persuade his audience. This can be seen most clearly in his diction, which utilizes tone to evoke feeling. For example, he wallows, "the pangs of despis'd love," and the "grunt and sweat under a weary life"(3.1.72-75). Words like "pangs" and "grunt and sweat" are rich and evoke pathos. He does further utilize logos to increase this speech's effect. Though not his major technique, he does reference some inarguable truths about human nature such as when he says, "conscience does make cowards of us all" (3.1.83).
     The tone used as Hamlet talks is contemplative, curious, and solemn, as Hamlet tries to weight the advantages and disadvantages of death. Does the uncertainty of death outweigh the pains of life itself? The diction is casual at least for that time period, as Hamlet is literally discussing with himself and does not need to be formal to indicate respect or otherwise. These are his thoughts simply spoken out loud.

     The main metaphor in this speech is the comparison of death to a deep sleep and dreaming. Also life is compared to a battle many times. Hamlet wonders about the end to suffering and hardship that death can provide by stating, “[t]he heartache, and the thousand natural shocks / That flesh is heir to" (3.1.62-63). He keeps asking himself and the universe why people can stand to suffer through the grunt and sweat of life when the promise of something better may lie ahead. What he concludes from this long questioning of life is that, death is uncertain and the afterlife will or won't be what you expect. It is this uncertainty that prevents everyone from committing suicide in order to simply get to the side with seemingly greener grass.

2. 
Kenneth Branagh. This scene begins and ends with an over the shoulder camera angle. The entirety of the speech is shown through the mirror as Hamlet inspects himself from the inside. This is a revealing of Hamlet's self-image to himself and the audience. The scene proceeds and the camera zooms closer and closer to Hamlet's face until that is the only thing within the screen. As the scene progresses, the zooming in reflects the viewers' greater understanding of who Hamlet is and what in life concerns him. He is wearing his dark attire that his mother and Claudius are often ashamed of, which traditionally symbolizes death and gloom, which parallels the content of Hamlet's speech. As Hamlet approaches the part of his speech about time as an oppressor, daunting music plays and as he reveals the blade, the music increases in pitch and therefore in suspense. The camera ultimately remains zoomed in on Hamlet's face which symbolizes his and therefore the audience's decreased visibility.

Laurence Olivier. This is the most dramatic of the four scenes, and bridges on unrealistic. At the beginning, suspenseful music plays, which seems slightly out of context. It foreshadows the troubles ahead, but does little more than add a cheesy touch. The shot pans out to the clouds and stormy skies, and then back down to the foaming seas below. This version also utilizes a shot of the back of Hamlet's head before he begins his initial speech, as if to literally provide the audience with Hamlet's point of view. Before he begins speaking, the camera zooms up on Hamlet's scalp and unrecognizable images start to encompass the screen and we see an image of a brain. This underscores the internal conflict that Hamlet is dealing with as well as his growing craziness, as well as foreshadows the contents of Hamlet's speech.  When Hamlet says “to die” in his speech, there’s a non-diegetic voice over until he reaches, “to sleep”, which is basically taking us inside of Hamlet's head, as if the soliloquy was part thought versus an actual speech. The techniques used in this scene highlight the fact that Hamlet's struggle is mainly internal.

Mel Gibson. The scene begins with Hamlet descending some dark stairs alone, immediately underscoring his the struggle within himself that he is dealing with.  The audience eventually picks up that he is inside a tomb, and the camera zooms in and out onto tombstones and skeletons, leaving nothing to the interpretation. As Hamlet ponders life and death, the camera shots increasingly become more obvious, relating directly to his words. His voice echoes slightly inside the tomb, which is important as his own words are almost replayed back to him. Most of the time, the camera is zoomed in a medium shot upon his face and other times, panned out to a wide shot when Hamlet is doing some significant body movement, except for when he reaches, “the undiscovered country,” the shot suddenly zooms in on the tombs.His face is often in and out of the shadows, and when making an important realization, he looks upwards and his face suddenly finds the light. 

Ethan Hawke. Is this even real? This is one of the more unrealistic versions of this scene as Hamlet has the biggest realization of the entire play within a BlockBuster video store. The camera shot follows Hamlet around the store as he gazes at various video displays and often at the television screens that show dark images like things being set on fire. Hamlet is still clothed in black but he is wearing a winter hat, perhaps indicating that it is cold outside, symbolizing the death and demise and freeze that comes with winter. Peacefully suspenseful and at times of real discovery, triumphant, music plays the entire time that Hamlet is speaking. This was the one scene that kept me completely engaged, though it was unrealistic. It is a modern version of the play, I assume, and thus this weird scene somehow works.

The Most Effective. I found Ethan Hawke's version of this scene to be the most effective because I could actually see it happening today. It kept me visually engaged because in a Blockbuster store, there is an awful lot to look at. His gloomy colored apparel stayed true to the original portrayal of Hamlet. I enjoyed that as dramatic moments took place in the speech, the television was burning something down or making other noises that paralleled Hamlet's realizations without being completely in the scene. I enjoyed that as he spoke "action" in his speech, he walked through the action section of the video store. It was a subtle way to highlight the significance of the video store, as it is a place where many different stories and perspectives are told.

What I would change. The version I would change would be Lawrence Olivier's scene as I found it to be way too dramatic for my taste. I would have more subtle music play at the beginning and skip the part where the camera zooms unreasonably close into Hamlet's head. I do not like having him out at sea pondering the question, as it is too unsurprising and unoriginal. Instead of having random blobs take over the screen before Hamlet actually starts speaking, I would pan out completely, showing Hamlet as simply a little speck sitting outside the castle or some place of more significance than the sea, and then zoom in to him as he begins talking.

#14: Welcome to the Girl World

Watch your back: They're your friends.

Who do you trust when your own friends are sneakily making you gain weight and stealing your boyfriend?

 In the movie Mean Girls, themes of revenge and distrust are taken to a whole new stage, your average high school. As the new girl, Cady, moves to town and begins to attend high school, she befriends Janice and Damien, who convince her to seek revenge on Regina George, in the form of weight-gaining bars, clothing malfunctions, and lies told over the phone. The revenge gives Cady awesome satisfaction at the beginning of the plan, but as the story unfolds, she finds herself becoming a plastic. Revenge backfires on Cady, as I predict it will with my dear Hamlet, should he seek it in some abrupt form. 

Who knows what he is up to these days? I did hear him speaking to himself after our hasty yet true wedding. He talks of things that worry me lately. "My father's brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules" (1.2.154). I fear that he believes Claudius as a replacement for his own father, which is not my intention. Perhaps guilt and jealousy is propelling him forward in his endeavors, just as the jealousy of Regina's power and popularity in Mean Girls ignites Cady's plot for revenge. Later, I did hear my dear son murmur to himself, "But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue" (1.2.161). What is Hamlet holding back? He must have someone that he can discuss the weighty matters of the world with. Who shall be that person? I hath found that in times of revenge, even in Cady's case, it is hard to discuss truly pressing matters with those close to you. And I doubt that what is bothering my Hamlet is "no other but the main; / his father's death, and our o'erhasty marriage" (2.1.56-57). This must be the stressor for Hamlet, as plots of revenge often require one, as I have seen in Mean Girls.

I sometimes think that only Ophelia's love may bring my dear son out of his present gloom. Polonius hath showed me his letters to Ophelia, accompanied by his misgivings. He loves her, however, "so he does indeed" (2.2.160). Just as Cady's love for Aaron who eventually recognized her transformation into a Plastic and brought her back down to Earth, perhaps Hamlet may have a similar realization. I hath heard Hamlet mumbling just earlier today about his "players" who will "play something like the murder of [his] father" (2.2.523). Oh why must I concern myself with these deadly thoughts? A woman must only charm and bathe, and smell like flowers after all. Perhaps I shall just continue watching my Sunday afternoon chick flicks.

#13: My Heart Aches for Thee, My Son

Please, dearest Hamlet, please understandeth that your Father-Uncle and I only want the best for thee. Understand I am that thou hath lost a father.A prince such as yourself shall not grumble and mope wearing the darkest of colours in our grand castle. After all, son, understand I do that thou hath lost a father but "Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die," (1.2.72). And yet, if it seemeth so common, "Why seems it so particular with thee?" (1.2.76). The greatest man was thy father, true be it, yet "I pray thee, stay with us" (1.2.119). We hath only beseeched Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to view your depression and informeth us about thou. As ye Queen, I plead thee, be he who is of man. Holdeth in tears of thee and be a man, Hamlet. For your mother am I, and "What have I done that thou dar'st wag thy tongue/In noise so rude against me?" (2.2. 40-41). Thou mustn't act out of haste in any instance, especially towards thine own mother. I do not doubt that the reason for thee gloom is "no other than...[thine] father's death and [my] o'erhasty marriage" (2.2.56-57). Yet, dearest Hamlet, remember thy morals, respect thy elders, if thou art to be King one day. Or not to be. These quotes highlight how Gertrude is dealing with Hamlet's sudden gloomy aura and her new husband. The quotes prove her general cluelessness and attempts at trying to understand what her son is going through, but disregard to actually communicate with him.

#12: I am Getrude, Hear me Roar

I have chosen to write in the perspective of Gertrude throughout the reading of Hamlet because frankly, she seems interesting and comical. She is shallow and only finds pleasure in the luxuries of life (although I do understand her love of "warm baths" and "trinkets"). She is beautiful yet morally and emotionally unstable, which makes her more complex than one may realize. Although as a modern woman and almost the antithesis of Gertrude, I do disapprove of Gertrude's wavering nature and her lack of critical thinking, there are some qualities to be admired about her. She admirably utilizes her charm and beauty to work a room and considers self-preservation a priority in all situations. She gravitates towards "safe" decisions in her life, which many people can definitely relate to. She is significant in that there are so many unanswered questions about whom she truly loves and her involvement in the murder. It will be interesting to follow her throughout this journey and witness her growth or demise.

Blog Post #11: Dr. Phil: The Odd Couple

Blog Post #10: Independent American Drama Acting Project

We chose the AP 1975 prompt because the focus of the prompt is on the characters and the audience’s response to those characters. The prompt specifically references the use of characters, setting, and the interaction of the characters. The setting plays a key role in the play, as it mirrors the relationships between the characters and the growth of the characters. In the beginning, the apartment is a mess, then it is immaculately clean, and finally it reaches a happy medium. This follows the central relationship of Flora and Brooke as Brooke starts out as irresponsible and sloppy. Then, when the apartment is overly clean, it causes a break in the relationship. Only when the characters have reconciled and grown into mature individuals does the apartment reach a healthy middle.The plot of the play is driven by characterization and the interaction of the characters as Flora and Brooke’s personalities clash. As Flora’s life falls apart, the audience feels sympathy for her, but when Brooke gets annoyed with her and points out her flaws, the audience loses sympathy for her. When Flora declares that she is moving into an apartment on her own, and Brooke decides she will save her money and pay her bills, the audience gains an new-found respect for the pair as they grow into mature women....

Click on me to read the full length project.

Blog Post #9: Answering the Finkler Question

Summer Reading Creative Project

Text
The Finkler Question by: Howard Jacobson
Essence
No one is born knowing their destiny. Religious identity can be created and realized through significant outlets such as food.
Brief Summary of the Text
The Finkler Question, set in East London, is about a self-righteous yet quite unspectacular man named Julian Treslove, a former BBC producer who now works as a celebrity double to make a living, and his two friends, Libor and Finkler. After becoming a victim of an anti-Semitist mugging, Treslove begins his search for a Jewish identity-through food, research of his family history, and relationships with Jewish women. Jacobson also addresses Finkler's somewhat rocky relationship with his Jewish heritage and fellow Jews. Libor, meanwhile, struggles to find his way after his wife's death, the powerful love he felt towards her mirroring the kind of belonging that Treslove craves to feel.
Prompt
2004. Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
Thesis
In The Finkler Question, Howard Jacobson addresses the question of what it means to be Jewish in England through his character, Julian Treslove, a man lost in his career and personal life, as he searches for his own identity through the ‘Jewish’ facets of everyday life; what is Jewish food, what is Jewish family, what is Jewish love?
Creative Project
Unleavened baked bread, significant to the Jewish holiday of Passover, which symbolizes Julian’s quest for a religious identity through food.
Quotations (can answer the prompt more generally)
• “Thereafter he gave up on a career in the arts and filed a succession of unsuitable vacancies and equally unsuitable women, falling in love whenever he took up a new job, and falling out of love…” • “Before he met Finkler, Treslove had never met a Jew. Not knowingly at least. He supposed a Jew would be like the word Jew — small and dark and beetling. A secret person. But Finkler was almost orange in colour and spilled out of his clothes.” • “Treslove liked that. The Jews were good at making one occasion not like another, he thought. The protocol alarmed him but he admired it.” -And so the obsession with Jewish culture begins. Treslove is creating his own identity by picking up on things that “the Jewish” all do. • “Though they complained of being without compass or purpose of their own, the three men — the two widowers and Treslove, who counted as an honorary third — enjoyed one another’s company, argued about the economy and world affairs, remembered jokes and anecdotes from the past” • “His life had been one mishap after another. So he should have been prepared for this one.”
Explanation
The Finkler Question examines the complexities of identity, loss, belonging, and love, by detailing the lives of Julian Treslove and his two Jewish friends. At the beginning of the book, Treslove is mugged and becomes convinced that his assailant targeted him thinking he was a Jew. He becomes obsessed with the Finkler question or the definition of Jewish identity. Since all of his friends are Jewish, Treslove is “envious, nonetheless…of the life,” (42) believing the Jewish religion to possess a closeness and sense of belonging that he’s never been able to find for himself. Treslove is jealous of the special Jewish connection that his friends have, finding himself jealous of their Jewishness: their closeness, grief, and mannerisms.An important motif in Treslove’s search for himself on the Jewish journey is food. Food is critical to note in literature as it engages all the senses in order to evoke strong sensory, cognitive, and emotional responses. For example, turkey represents the entire emotional response that comes with the holiday of Thanksgiving; just the thought of turkey can make you feel warm inside and appreciate the family surrounding you. Food's symbolic ability is also utilized for ethnic identity and pride, which is what makes it so easy for Treslove to feel excluded. Conversely, specific foods may be held up as distinguishing one group from another and as demonstrating that group's lesser worth. Furthermore, people can also use food to demonstrate their mastery of knowledge about a certain food or preparation needed to belong to a particular social group. For example, being able to determine different sorts of wines can highlight a person’s class status or level of sophistication. In the book, Julian attempts to prove his competence with Jewish food customs, especially dealing with food as he recites the Jewish questions: “Why on this night must we eat bitter foods? Why on this night do we dip our food twice?” (127). According to Foster Chapter 2, eating together is an act of communion and breaking bread represents peace between diners. If Julian can enjoy and be knowledgeable about the food that his Jewish friends enjoy, maybe he can enjoy the same cultural enlightenment and be part of the club. For example, at their dinner with Julian, Hephzibah is offended when Finkler jokes about “trayf” being in her food (176). The Jewish people obviously take the religious customs that come with consumption very seriously, unlike Treslove. For example at Passover, Treslove’s disregard for what it actually means to be Jewish is recognized, as when he is served chicken and potatoes, “which as far as Treslove could tell, symbolized nothing. He was pleased about that” (129). I have baked a traditional Jewish food eaten on Passover to signify the interrelation of food and religion that is prevalent in The Finkler Question. Matzo has special significance on Passover night, as when the Israelite slaves were fleeing from Egypt, they did not have time to wait for their bread to rise. The result was cracker-like, unleavened bread called matzo. Also, leaven symbolizes corruption and pride as it "puffs up,” as opposed to the “poor man’s bread” of matzo. In Julian Treslove’s search for his own Jewish identity, food provides him with a connection to Jewishness with his friends. As he is quite uninterested in the deeper religious meanings behind Jewish rituals, food provides some common ground that Treslove can actually begin to understand. For example, Julian comes to envy the specificity of Jewishness, the references that Jews seem to share among one another, and the “confidence, the certainty of right” (26). And because Julian cannot mimic the mannerisms and confidence that Jews seem to have, he can find this identity via Jewish food.