Who is your favorite Hamlet character?
Monday, January 26, 2009
"Thus conscious does make cowards of us all..." ~Hamlet talking to his father in his tomb
"To be or not to be, that is the question..." ~Hamlet talking to his father in his tomb
When Hamlet said this, I think he meant that there is no way to get out of having troubles. Either you are rich and suffer "slings and arrows" or you are poor and stuffer a "sea of troubles." This quote could actually have many different meanings to it, just depending on what's on your mind when you read in, what things in your life have been happening, and just how you view life. I think that this is the kind of quote that really makes you think about it in order to fully understand it. From reading this quote, I learned a lot about Shakespeare. He's a lot more clever than I would've ever thought him to be. Even though this is one of his quotes that I don't fully understand yet, I'm sure that once I understand it, it will be a wonderful quote.
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King." ~Hamlet talking to himself
In this story, Hamlet comes up with a genius idea to tell if Claudius is really guilty for poisoning his own brother. He comes up with a play, called Mouse Trap, that pretty much tells the story of how Claudius poisoned Hamlet Sr. During the play, Hamlet and Horatio watch Claudius very closely to see his reaction. Once he recognized what the play was about, Hamlet could tell he was guilty. The King started getting hot and sweaty and very uncomfortable. There are many times today when we try to trick people into telling the truth. For example, that's what lawyers get people to do in court. They say certain things, which make the suspects say things that lead to either them being guilty or innocent. I think that this is a very smart way to get to hear what you want people to say, even though if you’re on the wrong end of the deal it's not so fun.