English Final Paper

 

 

 

                                                     Passion Drives Revenge and Redemption

Hamlet Final Essay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel White

 

 

EnglishIIIIA

Ms. Wilson

I have read and understand the sections in the Student Handbook regarding Mason High School's Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I am certifying that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act, which could include a "0" on the paper, as well as an "F" as a final grade in the course.

Daniel White

 Passion Drives Revenge and Redemption

Daniel White

    Just as in Hamlet every story has an element of redemption or revenge in it and most of the time these feelings are driven by an innate passion for a person or an ideal. Whether this is to prove oneself to friends or family, get revenge for a wrongdoing to oneself or family, or to right a wrong that they feel they need to redeem themselves for. Stories like Hercules come to mind when it comes to redeeming a wrong. Stories like The Punisher and Death Sentence come to mind in the revenge category. Each of the characters in Hamlet goes through a personal or public conflict or revelation that makes them either realize something life changing.

    For Hamlet the “To be or not to be” speech was really a big turning point in the story for him he was starting to realize that life may not be worth living if it is a life that is always ruled by fear or insanity. This later shows up in his clearly insane motives for his actions later on in Hamlet, the earlier events that strained Hamlet, such as his mother’s lake of empathy in the kings passing. All of this strain was what seemed to be a point of redemption that Hamlet wanted to prove to the people of Denmark. Even though he was seen as a failure he made the point of bettering himself to redeem what he perceived as shortcomings.

        Ophelia also applies to these concepts because of the internal and also somewhat public conflict of her and Hamlets relationship. Polonius was obviously very against it because he saw Hamlet as a passing fad that Ophelia would be infatuated with for a week. Polonius conveyed this to her in act one scene 3 and she seemed to get the point but the chance at a relationship with Hamlet always had her happy and she would have not passed up the chance if it had presented it.

As for the King and Queen a lot can be said for what goes on throughout the story. The blame for what happens to the country of Denmark can be put on the shoulders of the queen her marriage of the Kings brother almost instantaneously after the king passes has the biggest repercussions of the whole book it. It showed he lack of remorse for her husband’s passing, a lack of common courtesy to her husband’s memory, and ultimately the lack of love for her husband while he was alive. The worst part about it wasn’t even the repercussions it had on her; it was the repercussions it had on Hamlets mental fortitude and the county of Denmark. It showed the lack of feelings or pride she held in herself and in return, since she is the queen of the country, the lack of pride she had in the country. As the queen she should have seen that people would be looking to her the hard time of the kings and her husband’s passing. By moving on immediately and not showing an ounce of grief it showed she was thinking of herself before the nation she had sworn to lead above almost anything else.

     The thought that there was decay, disease and death to Denmark was a clear and correct observation of what was going on in Denmark at the time of Hamlets story. It seemed that nothing could go right for anyone in the kingdom and that Denmark was slowly degrading and breaking down to a broken down, failed city state was very relevant in the text. In this context the redemption factor that has been discussed come back into play because you get the feeling that Hamlet saw this happening and almost felt a call of duty to his passed father to bring back “his” nation to the past glory it had once enjoyed. It was almost as if Hamlet saw that if he could restore Denmark to what it was all of his perceived shortcomings would be redeemed.

 

In conclusion Hamlet is a literary tale that has as many tales and symbolism of revenge and redemption as any feature movie of today’s culture. Whether it’s the pursuit of a girl, the redemption of oneself or ones country, or the revenge for a fallen loved one, there will always be a reason for one to go a perceived vision quest or mission to redeem one selves shortcomings. Hamlet was a tale of love, insanity, and passion. It is a tale that will always thrive because it is something everyone can relate to; the need to feel accomplished.

Daniel White Hamlet Comments.

Blog Post 1(Eric Chen)

This explanation of how your life is better now than it was before Hamlet is almost comical in its lake of sincerity. If you had taken anybody else's feelings into account, for instance Hamlets, these unfortunate events that have taken place may have not happened. Running off with you husbands brother right after he passed was an irresponsible thing to do and has show to have weighed on Hamlets mind more than anyone had ever suspected.

Blog Post 2(Eric Chen)

The connections that you made from the Bourne movie to Hamlet are amazingly accurate. The lack of trust in the kingdom and the lack of trust between anyone in the movie have parallels in reasoning as well. Both of the characters are running from problems that will eventually catch up to them. The prevalence of betrayal in the both stories is significant because its all about the chase for one person, in most ways, in both stories.

Blog Post 3(Eric Chen)

I disagree as well with the statement that Hamlet must love Claudius. Hamlets infidelities have been much more than forgivable and have led to events that can not be reversed. Ultimately Hamlets wrongdoings sealed his fate as a betrayer of nations and this can not be undone. Unfortunately his fate was what he had coming to him and probably ended better than most saw it ending.

Blog Post 4(Eric Chen)

I agree with Michael on this one the mirror was a great way to represent the inner struggles of Hamlet. I felt it also highlighted his To be or not to be speech because it allows him to look into his inner self, see the discrepancies, and see that his wrongdoings have led to create problems that are tearing the kingdom apart.

Blog Post 5 (Eric Chen)

Ophelia was caught in an unfortunate situation in Hamlet. Normally Hamlet would have been a companion worth pursuing. In this situation though, with all of the mental and physical stress Hamlet would have led her down a dark path, as he did with himself. The stress that Hamlet experienced would have also worn no Ophelia. I was right when I told her that hamlet was a weekly fad and to not give him the time of day.

Blog Post 6 (Eric Chen)

A love song here is the only thing that thoroughly describes the situation. Your ability to fall in love so fast mirrors that of teenage relationships. Your ability to move on so quickly is a scary indicator that you were never really invested in the relationship and didn't really care that moving on so fast made you look bad. Your first husband gave you everything and you quickly just shrugged it off to get with next good looking guy. It is truly sad that you would be that unwilling to invest even a tiny bit of love into a marriage with a man you said you loved.

Daniel White Blog Post 6

Blog Post 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guocvS7XQW0

I chose Johnny Cash to represent the Story of Hamlet

You can run on for a long time

Run on for a long time, run on for a long time

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar, go and tell that midnight rider

Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

Well, my goodness gracious let me tell you the news

My head's been wet with the midnight dewI've been down on bended knee

Talkin' to the man from Galilee

He spoke to me in the voice so sweet

I thought, I heard the shuffle of the angel's feet

He called my name and my heart stood still

When he said, "John, go do my will"

Go tell that long tongue liar, go and tell that midnight rider

Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

You can run on for a long time

Run on for a long time, run on for a long time

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Well, you may throw your rock and hide your hand

Workin' in the dark against your fellow man

But as sure as God made black and white

What's down in the dark will be brought to the light

You can run on for a long time

Run on for a long time, run on for a long time

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar, go and tell that midnight rider

Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down

 

This song represents the story of Hamlet because it represents all of the characters wrongdoings and mistakes eventually being redeemed through fate or happening by a higher power. These wrongdoings could come from Ophelia’s wrongdoings or Hamlets insanity, either way all of the wrongdoings are eventually redeemed by a higher power or outside source “getting even” whether that’s by killing loved ones, self-doubt, or even the loss of a willingness to live. At its pinnacle this song really does break Hamlet down to what it is at its most basic form, it is a tale about how if you do bad or wrong things sooner or later they will come back to bite you. Even though you may live a life of luxury, you had to do something to get there and if those things were things to be looked down upon, sooner or later they will come back and take revenge on you. Whether or not that’s in a physical, mental, or spiritual form won’t matter, the fact is that you will be punished for your wrongdoings one way of another.

Daniel White Hamlet Blog Post 5

Blog Post 5

Ophelia’s portrayal in the criticism is one of a damsel in distress kind of role he says she is “Trapped in Denmark” this is simply not true, it is possible to see Ophelia’s predicament as something she brought onto herself because of her earlier actions with Hamlet and the King. She could also almost be blamed for what has happened regarding the kingdom of Denmark. As mentioned before Denmark has a certain something wrong with it, a decay or death to it, these attributes could be somewhat affiliated with Ophelia’s misdoings. While Ophelia’s misdoings may have been seen as something done out of grief of loss there is no doubt that there is also blame to be put on her for continuing these proceedings after that grief had passed. The fact that she didn’t correct these wrongdoings once that pain of grief had passed is another reason that a lot of the blame for all of the events that transpired during the story of Hamlet. The other issue that Ophelia faced throughout the story was the relationship with Hamlet that drove both of them to a breaking point that could have been avoided if they had just shut it down in the beginning like I had tried to do. The basic concept that is seen throughout all of these points is that a lot of the conflict that was seen throughout Hamlet could have been avoided if Ophelia would have had a more level head through most of the dire situations that were presented to her in the story.