Hello Everyone!!
I liked to welcome you all back to my blog! I know I haven't posted a blog in a while and for that I'll say I have been very busy of late. However, I did manage to read on, and all I can say is immense bravo to you William Shakespeare. I have never read a play filled with some much uncertainty and suspense. I'm guessing you all know that our comic relief of a character Polonius was killed by the "supposed madman" Hamlet. Sad isn't it. Moving on, I would love to share with you all the topic of today's discussion; "Hamlet's Foils". Foil? What is a foil? Hmmm......? Then I realized a foil means someone who is the complete opposite of you. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Benvolio is a foil to Mercutio. Benvolio is peaceful and unselfish, whereas Mercutio is self-centered and violent. Carrying on, Fortinbras and Laertes are two characters that are a strong contrast to Hamlet. Hence, they are foils to the noble Hamlet. I'm guessing majority of readers feel the same when I say that all three characters share something in common. All three character are seeking revenge on behave of their father's deaths. However, both Fortinbras and Laertes have taken immediate action to avenge their father's death, whereas Hamlet hesitates. Fortinbras is seen as a man of action, and courageous, while Hamlet is seen as a man who is indecisive. Upon hearing his father's death, Hamlet vows to seek revenge, however it takes him about five acts to do so. I'm pretty sure anyone who is the position of Hamlet, would not have hesitated in carrying out their revenge or seek justice. For that I truly believe Hamlet is a coward. His is a coward because he is afraid of carrying out his revenge. While, young Fortinbras "... Whose spirit, with divine ambition puffed/ Makes mouths at the invisible event/ Exposing what is mortal and unsure/ To all fortune, death, and danger,/ Even for an eggshell." (IV, IV, 51-55). While, Hamlet is mopping the floor with his sorrow, Fortinbras takes immediate action in order to achieve what he wants, even though what he wants seems meaningless in Hamlet's eyes. Hamlet even admires Fortinbras, and feels that Fortinbras posses certain characteristics that he desires. On the other hand, Laertes whose father was murdered by Hamlet, comes back to Denmark in haste, vowing to seek revenge for his father's death. Laertes who is enraged, storms into the castle with his group of supporters and says to the King "[H]ow did he come to die? I'll not be juggled with./ To hell with my allegiance!"(IV, V, 141-142). He goes on to say "[L]et come what comes, only I'll be revenged/ Most thoroughly for my father's death" (IV, V, 146-147). Without even thinking Laertes storms into the castle vowing seek revenge against the man who killed his father. Similarly, both Laertes and Fortinbras take immediate action to avenge their father's deaths. Fortinbras the son of the late king of Norway, quickly assembles an army to invade and capture Denmark, the land his father lost. From this, I can only say that Fortinbras and Laertes are honorable men. Both men honor the father's death, by seeking revenge upon those who killed their father's. In my opinion, I believe that Hamlet over-thinks too much and his conscience has gotten the best of him, which causes him to delay his revenge. Whereas, Laertes and Fortinbras do not over-think. Hamlet’s tragic flaw is due to the fact he other-thinks, which makes him hesitate in carrying out his revenge. A perfect example of this is when Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius while he seems to be praying, but Hamlet over-thinks the situation, which causes him to not avenge his father’s death. I think by nature Hamlet is an indecisive person, whereas some are born decisive. However, that's just my opinion. Everyone has the right to voice their own opinion. So what do you think? Have you discovered any other reasons why Fortinbras and Laertes are foils to Hamlet? If so, comment below!!! Hello, Hola, Bonjour, Ciao.
Welcome once again, thanking you for reading on my friends, I’ll try my best to stay on topic this time. Oh! What an eventful act 1 of Hamlet was, so many questions, so little answers. Since then, I have moved on and read act 2 of Hamlet, which as well was filled with exciting and suspenseful events. While reading act 2 this certain question kept on arising in my mind, and I felt it would be a great topic to discuss today. I know you all are itching for today’s topic, so well here it is; “Why does this act open with Polonius and Reynaldo? What does this tell us about Polonius's character, and what theme or motif does it introduce in the play? At first, this question puzzled me. I kept on wondering why this act opened with Polonius and Reynaldo. What’s so special about this encounter? What’s so special about Polonius, in which we need to know so much about him? Polonius does seem to be a major character earlier on in the play, so I guess it is fitting to study his character. From my personal perspective, I believe that the reason why the act opens up with Polonius and Reynaldo is because Polonius’ family is subplot in the play and Shakespeare wants us, the readers to learn more about the type of character Polonius is. Since, the family is a subplot, I’m guessing Shakespeare, wants to refer back to them at times; and what a great way too, by starting off Act 2 with Polonius’ family. So, from act 1 we know Polonius has a son and a daughter. His daughter Ophelia, who supposedly is Hamlet’s lover, is seen as an obedient and a well-behaved young girl. Ophelia is obedience is can seen when she says “No, my good lord, but as you did command, I did repel his letters and denied his access to me” (II,I,118-120). However, for me and maybe for most readers, we do not really know a lot about Laertes’s character, since he seen little of him so far. We all know that Laertes has gone back to France to continue his studies, and also has a good brother-sister relationship with Ophelia; since he gave her some brotherly advice earlier on in the play. That seems to be all that I know about Laertes’s character so far. Moving on, I wanted to voice my personal opinion about Polonius’s character. At first Polonius did seem to me as a loving, caring father, but as the play progressed my opinion on Polonius had completely changed. In my eyes, Polonius is a self-centered, egotistic person who only worries about his reputation and status among the kingdom. While studying his character, one can say Polonius is the type of dad who is so embarrassing that you don’t want your friends to meet him. Not to mention, Polonius is the type of dad who is so protective and would try the sneakiest way to gain information on who you are with, and what you are doing. Furthermore, some character traits that I have come across that resemble Polonius are: manipulative, noisy, controlling and egotistic. Polonius comes across as man that thinks he is wise, because he gives out a lot of advice, but in my eyes he does not come across as a wise man. Polonius manipulates Reynaldo into spreading lies about his own son and this can be seen when Polonius says “Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, Quarrelling, drabbing- you may go so far” (II, I, 27-29). Polonius manipulating Reynaldo to spread lies, just to see whether or not, Laertes actually does any of those things is outrageous! I have never seen a father, ever do such a thing! One can say Polonius does not trust his son, but by no means, why go to lengths, such as; hiring a spy to watch over his son. In addition, Polonius ever-so willing to use his own daughter to find out the true cause of Hamlet’s madness is disgusting. Polonius is so noisy that he can not stop himself from getting into other people’s businesses, that he is ever so happy to use his own daughter as bait. If anything happens to Polonius in the future, it is a direct result of his noisiness. Moreover, two themes that are introduced into the play are: search for truth and family relationship. The first theme is directly correlated to Polonius searching for the truth about his son’s behavior in France. The second theme is family relationship and it is shown in a good and bad way so far. The good side of this family relationship is that Ophelia and Polonius have a strong father-daughter bond. While Polonius’s relationship with his son, is not a good one since he sends out a spy to watch over him. To conclude, I have given you all my personal view on Polonius’s character, and some themes introduced in this section of the play. Once again thanking you for reading, and I hope you are enjoying this thrilling play so far just as I am. Remember I am always happy to answer your questions! Leave a comment below! Until next time my friends, farewell. Hello, Hola, Bonjour, Ciao.
Welcome to my blog, I’m guessing you must be one of the few lucky ones who actually dared to read on, and for that I say “bravo to you!! I thought it might be interesting to talk about Hamlet, or voice my own opinion on the play so far. Hamlet, is written by playwright William Shakespeare. Shakespeare has written countless of plays, but Hamlet, seems to be the most studied. I have just finished reading act 1 of Hamlet in English class and I can’t seem to get the play of out my mind. Oh! Wait, where was I…. oh right, I forget to introduce the topic of today’s discussion; Whether or not Hamlet will be successful in completing this daunting task of avenging his father’s death. So far it seems the relationships that young Hamlet has built, is leaning me towards believing that Hamlet will be successful in avenging his father’s death. Right off the bat, the reader can see Hamlet is mourning his father’s death, and torn that his own mother moved on so quickly and married his uncle, who Hamlet despises. Personally, the first few scenes left me confused, since when do ghost appear, telling people to avenge my death? Whoa! Moving on, I do believe that Hamlet has the capability to avenge his father’s death. Ultimately, my decision came down to Hamlet’s strong to desire in carrying out his father’s wishes. Actually, there are a few reasons why I feel Hamlet is capable in completing this heavy burden that was so unfortunately placed upon him. Frankly, Hamlet has adequate reasoning, in my opinion to fulfil his father’s wishes based on the relationships with Horatio, his mother, and Claudius. So far, I think everyone who has read or is reading Hamlet, can frankly say that Hamlet has developed a deep hatred for his uncle, who is now the King. In one of the many famous soliloquies Hamlet has in the play, Hamlet does not hold back the fact he has hates his uncle and even refers to him as “… O villain, villain, smiling damned villain!”(I,V,111). As of now, I know that Hamlet’s hatred for his uncle has risen even more, and is now aware that Claudius, his own uncle killed his father! Oh My! From this I can conclude that Hamlet will avenge his father’s death by enact his revenge on Claudius. However, this is not the only reason why I believe Hamlet will be successful in carrying out his father’s wishes. Hamlet returning to Denmark and finding out his mother re-married so quickly raises a suspicion in my mind. Hamlet’s mother re-marring just “…two months dead- nay, not so much, not two”(I, II, 138-139). Hamlet is devastated that his mother has moved, and married his uncle. Hamlet sees this marriage as incestuous, which only causes him to hate his uncle and his own mother even more. With this, Hamlet’s anger has driven to levels were, the likelihood of Hamlet being successful in carrying out his father’s wishes is a very good chance. Lastly, Hamlet sees Horatio as a trustworthy friend, and it seems that Horatio is the only person that truly cares for the well-being of Hamlet. I’m guessing that Hamlet needs someone to control him in cases if he tries to go overboard with this whole revenge thing. Horatio seems as the only one who would by Hamlet’s side steering him out of trouble. To conclude, I have just voiced to you all a few reasons why I believe Hamlet would be successful in avenging his father’s death. A wise man named Confucius once said “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves". In the case of Hamlet, this is only the beginning I hope you are closely studying him just as I am. It seems that’s all for today’s discussion! What do you think? Agree or Disagree? If so, leave a comment below! Until next time my friends, adieu, adieu. |
Abdullahi AbdiI might not be famous, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have an opinion and be heard. Read on, but only if you dare. ArchivesCategories |