We have finished reading Hamlet, and it is probably my favorite
play that we have read thus far.
Shakespeare’s Biblical allusions, such as the holy trinity and Hamlet
being the sacrifice for Denmark’s sins, as Jesus was for us, I found to be
really interesting. In addition I really
liked how Shakespeare uses double meanings of words and conversations to create
multiple possibilities. As an example
when Hamlet and Ophelia are talking and he tells her to go to a nunnery either
because he knows she is not a virgin and thinks her to be a whore, or because
he really loves her and doesn’t want her to be with anyone else. I enjoyed reading Hamlet too because it is a change in writing style from other plays
that we have read.
Death of a Salesman and The American Dream focused on America
and the corruption in our society, but I also think that Hamlet confronts issues in Shakespeare’s time. For example the way in which the royal court
lives. Hamlet doesn’t care for the
practices and attitudes the nobility express, such as their immoral actions to
gain power and money. Shakespeare subtly
shows the public how corrupt a government is or can be.
We have also started learning how to
describe description words. I find this
exercise to be a lot of fun. I
especially like looking at the pictures and then trying to figure out what mood
can be interpreted from them. Hopefully
we will keep doing this because I think it will be helpful for the AP exam.
It was really interesting that you found a similarity in DOA, The American Dream, and Hamlet: they all focus on corruption in human society. Everyone has different thoughts about Hamlet. Some people really like it, like you do, and others hate it. Reading Hamlet was a change of pace and weather you love it or hate it Shakespeare does some pretty brilliant things with language in his play like the layered language.
ReplyDeleteYes! I loved reading Hamlet as well, at least in comparison to the other plays. It seems to have several more "levels" than in the other works, and it's cool to be able to take them apart to see a deeper meaning in the story. The language part of Hamlet was fun too, because you could laugh (at insults) and come to revelations (hidden meanings) based on the specific words used in the play.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the connection to DoA and Am. Dream, that's a very interesting observation. And I definitely agree that the use of double meanings was really fun and clever; the part about Ophelia's pregnancy especially. There's so much more to that play than meets the eye, and even though I didn't enjoy the characters, the language was really quite fun.
ReplyDeleteGood on you for mentioning the description practice, too.