Hamlet is a thinker not a man of action Essay Example for Free

Hamlet is a thinker not a man of action Essay Hamlets one mission in the play is to revenge the death of his father by killing Claudius, however his procrastination leads to his untimely death, the deaths of many others in the Danish court and the relinquishment of Denmark to Fortinbras. Hamlets first words show a desire of revenge towards Claudius A little more than kin and less than kind. But later in his soliloquy we see that he is actually closer to killing himself, than killing Claudius or the perpetrator: O that this too too sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw and resolve itself into a dew, He doesnt even contemplate killing Claudius; he hopes that the situation will resolve itself, which it never will, showing his unwillingness to act. This soliloquy also shows that he is not the bravest of people, as he cannot tell his mother how he really feels, another restrictive character trait when trying to revenge someone: But break, my heart for I must hold my tongue. In his soliloquy straight after Hamlets conversation with the Ghost he seems determine to kill his uncle, thy commandment alone shall live / Within the book and volume of my brain. The use of the word commandment shows that he will follow the Ghosts word religiously. This shows that he is resolute, as a man of action would be. However, this is countered almost immediately at the end of the scene O cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right. This shows that Hamlet is scared to carry out what he has to do, he would much rather someone else revenge his father than he. The first device that Hamlet uses to carry out his revenge is to pretend to be mad. By this pretence he hopes to draw the attention away of the court away from him so that he can watch and follow Claudius to see if he is showing any signs of guilt. He tells Guildenstern of his madness. I am mad but north-north-west. When the wind is / southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw. His stated intention is to gain irrefutable evidence of Claudiuss villainy. He initiates this by visiting Ophelia in a state of undress and handing her a love letter, making Polonius believe that his madness is due to Ophelias rejection of him. Hamlet uses his feigned madness to show his true emotions and insult people he doesnt like: You are a fishmonger. A fishmonger in Elizabethan times could have meant pimp, showing that Hamlet thinks that Polonius is using his daughter to gain favour within the court. Hamlets feigned madness does affect Claudius: in the first act he delivers long speeches, but by Act 2 he is reduced to short sentences like We will try it. This is an action, but it is one that allows him to procrastinate. When Hamlet is left alone he laments his weakness and inactivity. An actor could weep at the imagined grief of Hecuba, whereas Hamlet fails to respond to the murder of his father: Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect, / A broken voice, and his whole function suiting / forms to his conceit? And all for nothing! / For Hecuba! Hamlets principles cause him a great deal of self-criticism: Why what an ass am I! This is most brave, / That I the son of a dear father murderd, / Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, / Must like a whore unpack my heart with words/ And fall a-cursing like a very drab, He curses his inactivity, showing that, although he is a thinker, he would prefer to be a man of action. At the end of the soliloquy he seems resolved to revenge Claudius, the Mouse-Trap play is a form of revenge against Claudius, but again it is not direct revenge, as he is still procrastinating. The fact that he has not confronted Claudius four months after confirmation from the ghost that Claudius is the guilty party shows that he is definitely a thinker. Hamlets soliloquy at the start of Act 3 still shows his overwhelming desire to think, particularly about suicide To be or not to be. The fact that he is still has time for soliloquies, and that he is not trying to hunt Claudius down and kill him, shows that he is definitely a thinker. Hamlet shows a lack of self knowledge as he cannot, as he intended in Act 1 sc 5 with wings as swift / As meditation or the thoughts of love / May sweep to my revenge. Instead he broods on his fathers death and even when he gets proof from Claudiuss reaction to the Mouse Trap play, Ill take the ghosts word for a thousand pound. He hesitates and needs further spurring by the ghost in Act 3 to whet thy almost blunted purpose. Hamlet has the perfect opportunity to kill Claudius in Act 3 sc 3, but again he procrastinates, letting himself think about what will happen to Claudius soul A villain kills my father, and for that I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. He doesnt act, because he thinks that Claudius is praying, cleansing his soul. This would send him to heaven, not hell where he belongs. The irony is that Claudius himself has too much on his conscience and cannot pray, My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. / Words without thoughts never to heaven go. Hamlet curses himself in a later soliloquy for his lack of action. Hamlets first action of physical revenge is to stab Polonius behind the arras. This action shows that he can only do something on the spur of the moment. If hed had time to think about it, he would have found a way around stabbing the person behind the arras, electing instead to procrastinate. Hamlet meets Fortinbras army in Act 4 sc 4, which makes him feel depressed when he compares himself to Fortinbras: the Norwegian Prince is prepared to fight over something of very little value, while he hasnt yet taken revenge for the murder of his father and the seduction of his mother: How all occasions do inform against me, / And spur my dull revenge. Hamlet does what he always does when confronted with a problem; he has a soliloquy. However, this is his last soliloquy, which could suggest that he is done with thinking now, and will finally carry out his revenge. Hamlet shows another decisive action, in dealing with the betrayal of his one-time friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and with Claudius attempt to have him killed on his way to England. He replaces his own name with that of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the letter, ensuring that they will be killed in his place. He also Boards a pirate ship so that he can return to Denmark, these are all very decisive actions focused to towards revenging his fathers death. Hamlets entrance into Ophelias funeral certainly is more action-focussed than his previous actions: This is I, / Hamlet the Dane. His fight with Laertes, declaration of his love of Ophelia and his switch from prose to verse show that he is longer talking his self into lying and misleading others. Therefore he is not thinking as much as he is acting. Hamlets next action is to duel with Laertes, not knowing that it has been fixed so that Hamlet will die, but as with most strategies in the play, it does go according to plan: Both Laertes and Hamlet are wounded by the poisoned sword, Gertrude drinks the poisoned wine, and one of Hamlets dying acts is to force Claudius to drink the poisoned wine, which he does with relish, enjoying the power he has, and the fact that he is killing the person who killed his father, seduced his mother, taken his thrown and plotted to kill him twice Here thou incestuous, murdrous, damned Dane, / Drink off this potion. Is thy union here? / Follow my mother. His action here was done purely, without any thought. As he dies Hamlet names Fortinbras as his successor to the throne of Denmark. He admires Fortinbras as a man of action, seeing that that is what his country needs to return stability to it, I do prophesy thelection lights / On Fortinbras. He has my dying voice. The time frame of the play helps to reinforce the impression of time passing. Individuals in the play travel from Denmark to Norway, Poland and England, from the court to the countryside. Contrasting the activity of Laertes and Fortinbras with the prolonged inactivity of Hamlet. As the hero in this tragedy Hamlet doesnt have one, sole, character flaw that leads to his untimely death. He is a thinker involved in a dilemma that can only be solved successfully by a man of action. His inability to act swiftly and decisively without high motivation in connection with his fathers murder brings havoc to the Danish court, his own death and the death of many others in the court. If he had been a man of action Claudius would have been killed months before.

The Brown Sisters Lecture Essay -- Brown versus Board of Education

The Brown Sisters Upon hearing the narrative assignment, I found myself stunned that I would actually have to attend a lecture outside of my classes. When scanning the list of possible events, the Brown Sisters lecture stood out in my mind. I had just completed an essay solely devoted to the decision and it’s impact on society so I thought it would be interesting to hear a first hand account of the tumultuous times these brave women faced. The lecture turned out to be more interesting than I originally imagined though I left with a slight sense of dissatisfaction. As I slowly trudged up the steps of Foellinger Auditorium, I saw my pledge mom and walked up to her prolonging the time before I had to enter the room. She immediately asked, â€Å"What class are you here for?† African Americans were forced to deal with social inequalities for centuries by their white counterparts and struggled to break free of the chains of racism. The Brown decision took a huge step towards fixing the discrepancies between races and should be celebrated by every citizen of our country. If the Brown family appeared at a university, every one should flock to see people that made the advancement of African Americans possible. But in reality, student converse about that mean teacher that makes his students attend outside lectures and how their time could be better spent. The composition of the audience came as no surprise to me. Students sat with dread as they pulled out notebooks in order to fulfill a required class assignment. Teachers and administration scattered the audience and a predominantly African American high school class filed in also wearing faces of discontent as a result of a required field trip. Two mi... ...band never got to see the success of Brown due to his death shortly after the decision but I think that Oliver Brown, to this day, would not be satisfied. To my disappointment, they did not deal with issues surrounding the current integration status and spent little time talking about what changed after the decision. Growing up, I lived a sheltered life and issues of integration did not concern me. As I further investigate the aftermath of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, I become decreasingly naà ¯ve about our current integration situation. When thinking about the area I live in, I notice that integration is nonexistent. Our society has come a long way in the past fifty years since the decision but we still have a long road ahead of us. The Brown decision signifies the beginning of the fight against segregation not the end of it, as many people believe.

Child’s learning Essay

The observations you made were quite predictable. Those students whose parents supported the learning of English and participated in the home had more probability of learning the formal as well as conversational second language. Those students whose parents did not support the learning of English did not have as much success with their second language. Education of any content supports the same observations. Parental support and participation is key to student success. Another key factor is the concept of â€Å"total immersion† in a second language. People are totally immersed in their first language from birth. Therefore the spoken language becomes almost automatic. Many students even have difficulty learning the ins and outs of their first language grammar because of this immersion, making the learning of the written first language difficult. Add to that the study of a second language out of the context of living. Even the observations of the second student, the 7th grader who was â€Å"truly immersed† in both her first and second languages, supported the value of immersion. But even though the first student, the 5th grader, was totally immersed in her second language at school, it was the absence of the second language spoken at home that counteracted the learning she acquired during the school day. I also found it very interesting when the difference in the pronunciation of the word â€Å"way† was discussed. It was the sound specific to the ear that the observer could not distinguish. I had a similar experience in a class when discussing the words â€Å"ma† and â€Å"ma† in an Asian language. The Asian character was not only written differently, but both words were pronounced differently. I could barely notice the difference in writing (thus posing a literacy issue on my part), nor could I hear the difference. When explained to me, how the inflection of one word went up (like an English question), and the inflection of the other word went down (like an English declarative sentence), I still could not hear it. I could not make the distinction much like the Asian student could not hear the difference in our letters â€Å"L† and â€Å"R. † Even though I explained that the sound was made by different parts of our mouth and throat, she could not hear it. I was finally able to understand my deficit with â€Å"ma† and â€Å"ma†, I would be wise to learn the difference since one meant â€Å"mother† and one meant â€Å"horse. † I wouldn’t want to misuse them! Allison Hill Your discussion about autism was interesting. It is difficult to determine how much cognitive ability is there and how much language acquisition is there in an autistic child. Through the descriptions of the boy’s behaviors, abilities and habits, along with the theories presented, the severity of autism is not clear. As you stated, autism is â€Å"characterized by a lack of social skills and relationships, difficulty with communication, and rigid and repetitive behavior. † This child was described as having â€Å"relatively developed social and communication skills†. Thus it would be initially assumed that this child had mild autism. The descriptions and examples of the child’s behavior go on to note that he does form social relationships but uses language only when he wants something. While some use of language indicates he understands the words, meanings and uses, other uses of language suggest he does not. He certainly understands that verbal communication is a tool. So is autism a situation where one does not have the capacity to understand language, or where one makes the choice to use or not use language? It is an interesting question; one that is not easy to answer. Behavior of this subject supports either answer. Your observations also suggest that language acquisition may be based on individual need. Autistic children have different needs than other children. Autistic babies do not respond to faces and voices as other children do because they simply do not have the same need to do so. Autistic children do not use language like other children simply because they do not have the same need to do so. When one word can get the desired results, why use more? This particular child has learned the words he needs to get the results he wants in his world. You noted in these observations that this child does make errors when attempting to use language to get desired results. Mostly though, the errors seem to be made when he is attempting to please another person, or give another person their desired results. It seems autistic children are less concerned with pleasing others. You concluded by stating that this child’s language learning experience is typical of that of a more severe case on the autism spectrum. Again, it is difficult to determine since it is unclear whether it is cognitive ability or social need that affects the language acquisition. This discussion reminds me of an article I read about requiring a deaf person to interact in a hearing world based on the rules of a hearing world. Once the deaf person understood the rules of a language based on sound and hearing, she was able to communicate appropriately in the hearing situation. It was as if this deaf person was bilingual; she had to know her language (ASL) and the ins and outs of spoken English. It seems that an autistic child must learn the rules of two vastly different languages: one language based on a very social world, and one based on a less social world. Amy Lambert Your observation confirms the theory that total immersion in a foreign language produces a more fluent speaker of that language. Studying a foreign language in a school setting usually only focuses on the written aspects of that language; reading, writing, grammar. Without that constant hearing and speaking, the language acquisition is lost. It was interesting that you made a distinction between learning a foreign language and learning a second language. There is a difference between speaking a language based on learned rules, and speaking a language based on â€Å"feeling† the language. Motivation also seems to be a factor in learning a language. Whether it be learning a foreign language or learning a second language, one must have some important reason for the study. With this woman, her interest started first with the desire to do well in the subject and improve. For some, that is enough to learn a foreign language. For others, the motivation increases as the learner desires not only to know the language, but to become a part of the culture and speech community of that language and thus it becomes a second language. It was interesting that this woman’s heritage was connected to her second language of choice which may have initially contributed to her original motivation. Her father and grand parents were native speakers of Spanish but her mother did not know the language. Speaking Spanish in the home was not stressed. Therefore there was an added challenge in becoming immersed in her chosen second language. This further confirms the theory that parental involvement and support in a child’s learning is a major contributor to the success of that child’s learning. My own experience learning a foreign language was similar to the observed woman’s experience. I studied formal rules of the reading, writing and grammar of Spanish beginning in 10th grade. After three years of study in high school (which included a conversational Spanish course), I cannot say I am a fluent speaker of the language. I was never totally immersed in the language so I never truly HAD to learn to survive and communicate in that language. In addition, I never have many opportunities to use my knowledge and sharpen my skills. It just goes to show; if you don’t use it, you lose it.

Persuasive Essay On The Lion King - 869 Words

Reid, Veronique Reid 1 Professor Fountain English 1301 25 September, 2017 The Disney King Being that a live action version of The Lion King is soon to come, it would be inappropriate to not take a look back at Disney classic. The movie discussed topics that many children had never learned; which helped change the perspective of Disney forever. Along with a new perspective, the film brings a flavor that is definitely new to Disney movies. Before someone watches the upcoming live action film, they must first fall in love, if they already haven’t, with the original movie. The Lion King is incomparable to all†¦show more content†¦Though many reviewers like to focus on the comic relief characters of the movie: Timon, Pumbaa, and Zazu, the characters that truly drove the movie were Simba and his conniving uncle, Scar. In one journal done by KINEMA a journal for film and audiovisual media, the writer describes how â€Å"... the physical portrayal of the two characters themselves already reveal their inner qualities† (KINEMA). Simba, at least as a child, is seen around vibrant colors, and the character himself is always energetic. Scar on the other hand, is always seen with poor posture and grim lighting (KINEMA). The way these two contrast throughout the movie, and then collide with their colors in the final fight scene of the movie, really ties the film together in a way that no other characters could. One thing that was colossally critiqued was Mufasa’s gruesome death in the climax of the movie. In one online article written by Matt Roth titled, A short history of Disney-fascism, Roth passionately writes â€Å" Disney’s recent cash cow, THE LION KING, is no exception, imperiling its characters with all manner of blood-splattered mayhem and terrorizing impressionable youngsters†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (15-20). 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