Prufrock

Prufrock has a very interesting lack of structure which actually supports itself visually with each short phrase. The love poem is random and all over the place, much like real love. Prufrock cannot seem to find this true love however, because it seems time is slipping away from him that he will never get back. The ups and downs of love are well displayed in the text with it switching back and forth without any pattern whatsoever. It seems that he is stuck in a downward spiral toward a vauge sense of nothingness.

Prufrock helps us visually imagine the complexities of love. There is no way to "put love into a box" or try and simply define it by words. In fact, words cannot even begin to define love. The author's amazing ability to show us these incomprehensible ideas and mangled thoughts of ficticious fancy truly enables us to see a portion of a glimpse of his struggle to find love. The words are more impactful in short phrases. Words by themeselves have much more emphasis and come with a whole lot more meaning than words in a sentence. Simple, yes. Meaningfull, absolutely. The way each section is broken down and separated from the rest is a work of absolute genious.

What does Ophelia mean in her statement to Claudius?

In act four, scene five, Ophelia is speaking to King Claudius when she utters the phrase "Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be." (43). She has been tormented by the fact that her father Polonius is now dead. She knows that Hamlet does not love her and she is wondering about what her future beholds. With everything lost, her madness mirrors Hamlet's own state of being. Throughout act four, scene five, she sings her dialogue in discussion with Queen Gertrude and the King.

In her maddened state she tells the queen singing: "He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone; At his head a grass- green turf, At his heels a stone." Her fathers sad passing has prompted her crazed state. She knows not what the future beholds for her or the kingdom. She is posing an interesting question inadvertantly through a statement. She really wants to know the meaning of what has all happened and where they are all going to go from there. She is not accepting her fathers death, but she is reliving the sadness over again in her mind. She wonders how things can continue to remain in any state of normalcy. Even though they know what they are like at this point in time, she distinctly points out that the future is unknowable and they could become so much different depending on the choices they presently make.

Play or Film? Which is more effective?

Personally, I prefer the play to the movie. Many of the scenes are out of order and in the wrong setting in the movie and it makes it slightly more difficult to follow the story. When we read in class there is a certain interaction that takes place between us as the characters. We try as best as we can to portray the mood of the character and the tone of thier voice. One problem is that sometimes, we do not always match with the characters intended tone. We apply a different tone that does not fit, which is sometimes confusing. It is not always our fault though because the play direction in some cases is somewhat vague and leaves room for interpretation

Amidst this confusion, I think it is beneficial for us to try and read the text as smoothly as possible. When we read, we analyze in our heads and interpret from that what the meaning is.
There are numerous benefits in reading it in class. We can stop to analyze a body of text and figure out the motives and thought processes for each character. Yes, this is significantly slower than watching the movie and quickly hearing each character speak, but it is also more in depth and true to the original play. Hollywood tries to spruce things up and add unneeded content which did not exist in the play. The same can be said about the lack of content in the movie that is included in the text.

There are misconstrued ideas and scenes that do not have as much impact as the play. One example is the scene where Hamlet stumbles into Ophelia's closet where she is sewing. Hamlet in the movie is portrayed as more calm, unshaking and not as crazy as was described in the play. In the play he was shaking uncontrollably and his sigh was supposed to be one that could kill him. It was toned down in the film which reduced it's overall effectiveness. It also failed to show him finding his way to the door and opening it without looking ahead of him. The scene cuts out as he is walking away from Ophelia. His acting however is completely convincing when he stares at Ophelia as he leaves her.

In many instances, the movie is more effective in displaying the story as a whole. When we read certain sections in class, it seems to be choppy and we tend to get a fragmented view of the story rather than a general picture in our head. The flow of events is more understandable when we read first and then see the scene in the movie. We can then judge whether the movie is true to the text.

Is art in general like a mirror that reflects society's flawed nature?

In Act 3:2, Hamlet is preparing the players for acting. He tells them to be true to reality and not overdo it. In line thirteen, Hamlet tells the player "I would have such a fellow whipped for e'erdoing Termagant. It out-Herods Herod. Pray you, avoid it." His emphasis on remaining true and believable is clearly evident in this scene. He tends to generalize about things and the play is no exception.

He also makes a point that the players should be passionate enough about their parts so that they may have an impact on the audience. In line sixteen, he declares "Be not too tame either, but let your own discretion be your tutor. Suit the action to the word...with this special observance, that you e'erstep not the modesty of nature." He wants to make sure that this artform becomes a mirror to reality, exposing all the true emotions of the characters, without being too fake and insincere. It is meant to uncover the bad aspects of human nature. The whole reason for the play is to be so true to the real-life circumstances that is causes his uncle, King Claudius to feel guilty enough to confess.

Later in Hamlets advice to the actors, he says in line twenty six how they must apply "the censure of the wich one must in your allowance o'erweigh a whole theatre of others." Thier artistic display must be entirely convincing to the audience as a whole to be succesful. One cannot procede to simlply make the fool laugh or the judicious grieve. He must focus his artisic abilities on the precise portrayal of the figure they represent. Inherantly, they almost become who they are representing. This is what art is meant to do, reflect society as it is. No barriers, no facades, but pure embodiment of each aspect of reality, whether it is good, bad, or ugly.

Does King Claudius know that Hamlet is a threat?

In Act 2, scene 1 King Claudius is about to be informed by Voltimand on national concerns and issues. The king is too caught up in thinking about why Hamlet is going mad to even care about what information is presented to him. "More than his father's death, that thus hath put him so much from th' understanding of himself." (8). He continues to ponder and invites both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to join in his discussion. "I entreat you both...you may glean, whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus." (10-17). It is evident that he is only concerned with domestic family affairs.

In Scene 2:2 (53), King Claudius speaks to Gertrude about his concerns for Hamlet's madness. "He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found the head and source of all your son's distemper."
He is interested in the knowledge that Polonius supposedly has about the reason for his step son's insanity.

When Queen Gertrude responds to this hypothesis, she says "I doubt it is no other but the main. His father's death and our o'erhasty marriage." (57). King Claudius responds to her naive remark by saying "Well we shall sift him." (58). This implies that he is still further interested and concerned with the reason for Hamlet's distraught state. He knows that Hamlet could be a threat and he is becoming worried. After Voltimand's lengthy speech about the state of national affairs, the King only replies with six short lines to this. He was undoubtedly distracted from displaying a reasonably thankful response, suggesting that he still was too concered with Hamlet.

Did Hamlet ever really love Ophelia?

First off, in Act 1: Scene 3, Ophelia tells Polonius that Hamlet had hinted at his love for her in the past. "He hath, My lord, of late made many tenders of his affection to me." (100). In response to this revealing new bit of information, Polonius says "Affection? Pooh! You speak like a green girl, unsifted in such perilous circumstance." (102). He believes that Hamlet's so-called affection is nothing but a passing fancy that will fade as time goes by. Hamlet is still immature and wreckless in his youthful pursuits of love in his opinion.

After Hamlet appears before Ophelia in his maddened state, he manages to write letters to her in his distrought condition. Ophelia says "No, my good lord, but as you did comman I did repel his letters and denied his access to me." (Act 2:2, line 109). This suggests that he was calling out for help after the true news of his fathers murder was unvieled. Polonius thinks "that hath made him mad" (110). It may have not have driven him insane, but it could have conjured up bitterness towards Ophelia for her lack of response.

In act 3 scene 1 Hamlet is speaking with Ophelia when he tells her that he did love her in the past. "Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This was sometime a paradox, but now time gives it proof. I did love you once" (112). As discussed earlier, his love faded with time; it is true that he did once love her. He describes the relationship between them as something that was fake and dishonest. It was only a fanciful glimmer of youthful love.