I continue to have a smorgasbord of ideas as I wind down on Persuasion, but I believe that they are all important to truly understanding the message that Austen wishes to send to her readers. Although I am not yet able to narrow down my final thesis, I have picked up a few more key ideas that will help to bring my thesis to life.
Jane Austen’s Persuasion is a book with an extremely strong message of feminism. Although there are women in the book that elude sexuality and beauty, Austen writes her story around a “plain” girl. Anne is not a typical woman, in fact, she is not beautiful, she is extremely intelligent and well read, and she extremely steady in character. Anne is the opposite of what we would normally view as a heroine, but she embodies all the qualities that make a woman worth admiring in my mind. Three men in the book fancy Anne: Elliot, Wentworth, and Charles Musgrove. Although there are many women in Persuasion that possess typical heroine behaviors, these three men see beyond appearance and stature to the quality of Anne’s spirit and her consistent fortitude and patience.
In a previous blog, I touched on the idea of social class (more specifically, if Persuasion paints the picture of a typical social hierarchy). I think that Anne is the character that prevents this novel from being thrown into the pile of novels that write about the importance of class and rank. Although Anne’s father and sisters are concerned with their status, Anne is not. Anne thinks for herself. I think that this message is so powerful because Austen then chooses to have the defiant Anne as the character that is most desirable in the novel. Although she has a spirit of her own, Austen does not present her as an outcast; instead, she is the center of the narrative. Anne is not maverick in her society, but she is able to think for herself and in context with the time period, I respect Austen for giving her that influence.
With Anne as the protagonist of the narrative, I found myself wondering; who or what is the antagonist of the narrative? I think that Anne has many contrasting antagonists in Persuasion. First of all, is society itself. Society and its strict rigors on social class prevented Anne from sharing her love with Wentworth in the first place. Although Anne works through this obstacle and has come out a better stronger person, Anne is clearly influenced and hampered by society. An additional contrast to Anne is her entire family. As a unit, they represent an antagonist in Persuasion. Anne’s father, Anne’s older sisters, and Sir Elliot are individuals in this society that differ from who Anne truly is and what Anne truly believes.
I think that the ideas that I have talked about in my blogs serve to create a strong final thesis. With reflection I think that I will be able to gather my thoughts to create a cohesive conclusion on Austen’s Persuasion.(531)
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Generations Apart
“Digging” by Seamus Heaney tells the story of work and dedication to a family tradition, planting and harvesting potatoes. With further observation, it is apparent that Seamus Heaney is the voice of the poem. He is narrating his own personal tale of admiration and appreciation. He starts out recognizing himself as a writer, “Between my finger and my thumb/ The squat pen rests; snug as a gun”, which corresponds with his occupation, and goes on to recognize his father and his grandfather as potato farmers. Although the apparent separation of generations is present and potent, the true and deeper meaning lies in the high regard that Heaney feels for the men that have forged the path before him.
A key element of “Digging” that revealed itself to me was the blurred use of time. Although three generations of men are being intricately described and observed, the line between each is not obvious. A solid union between the grandfather and father is present when Heaney says, “I look down/ Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds/ Bends low, comes up twenty years away/ Stooping in rhythm through potato drills/ Where he was digging”. The word “rhythm” creates the image of the father and the grandfather performing the same tasks with the same methods although they are a generation of time apart. The indistinguishable portrayals of the father and the grandfather set the stage for Heaney to reveal his own personal form of digging. The only line that seems to be obvious is that of Heaney himself. He does not dig with a shovel, instead, he digs with his pen, “Between my finger and my thumb/ The squat pen rests./ I’ll dig with it”. He will devote the same passion to his writing as his father and his grandfather has devoted to their, literal, digging. The word “digging” as it is used in this poem does not match its formal denotation, but instead stands for the zeal and fervor with which the men of the Heaney family have assigned to their lives, whatever occupation they have chosen. The tradition of potato farming is present, but the hard work is even more recognizably a custom in this family.
Digging is a poem of freedom and liberation from family traditions while continuing to keep ties to the past. Fitting with the idea of independence, Heaney wrote his poem in free verse. He begins the poem with a rhyme scheme, but as the story of his family is revealed and he begins to identify with the men of his past, the poem loosens to allow the speaker to use whatever words he desires. Free verse poems do not have rhyme or meter, but are still recognized as a cohesive body of poetry. There are few rules in free verse. This form of poetry fits snuggly with the idea the Heaney begins to recognize his own sense of freedom while still respecting his father and his grandfather. This casual presentation hits the reader on a personal level that allows a deep connection to occur as we all have traditions in our families that can be defined from many perspectives.
Seamus Heaney is proud of his family’s tradition. By the end of the poem, he believes that if he listens to his heart and respects his true desires, his family will be proud of him for whatever it is that he dedicates his life to. Although a personal recollection of memories, Heaney’s idea of breaking out of tradition and creating his own life and career will always be current and universal. (617)
Discussion Questions:
1.) How many different definition of the word "digging" are present in the poem?
2.) By the end of the poem, is the author sound with the idea of breaking away from the family's tradition?
3.) In the last stanza of the poem what is the significance of the line "I'll dig with it"?
4.) Do you think that his father will accept his writing as a branch of the family's tradition?
A key element of “Digging” that revealed itself to me was the blurred use of time. Although three generations of men are being intricately described and observed, the line between each is not obvious. A solid union between the grandfather and father is present when Heaney says, “I look down/ Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds/ Bends low, comes up twenty years away/ Stooping in rhythm through potato drills/ Where he was digging”. The word “rhythm” creates the image of the father and the grandfather performing the same tasks with the same methods although they are a generation of time apart. The indistinguishable portrayals of the father and the grandfather set the stage for Heaney to reveal his own personal form of digging. The only line that seems to be obvious is that of Heaney himself. He does not dig with a shovel, instead, he digs with his pen, “Between my finger and my thumb/ The squat pen rests./ I’ll dig with it”. He will devote the same passion to his writing as his father and his grandfather has devoted to their, literal, digging. The word “digging” as it is used in this poem does not match its formal denotation, but instead stands for the zeal and fervor with which the men of the Heaney family have assigned to their lives, whatever occupation they have chosen. The tradition of potato farming is present, but the hard work is even more recognizably a custom in this family.
Digging is a poem of freedom and liberation from family traditions while continuing to keep ties to the past. Fitting with the idea of independence, Heaney wrote his poem in free verse. He begins the poem with a rhyme scheme, but as the story of his family is revealed and he begins to identify with the men of his past, the poem loosens to allow the speaker to use whatever words he desires. Free verse poems do not have rhyme or meter, but are still recognized as a cohesive body of poetry. There are few rules in free verse. This form of poetry fits snuggly with the idea the Heaney begins to recognize his own sense of freedom while still respecting his father and his grandfather. This casual presentation hits the reader on a personal level that allows a deep connection to occur as we all have traditions in our families that can be defined from many perspectives.
Seamus Heaney is proud of his family’s tradition. By the end of the poem, he believes that if he listens to his heart and respects his true desires, his family will be proud of him for whatever it is that he dedicates his life to. Although a personal recollection of memories, Heaney’s idea of breaking out of tradition and creating his own life and career will always be current and universal. (617)
Discussion Questions:
1.) How many different definition of the word "digging" are present in the poem?
2.) By the end of the poem, is the author sound with the idea of breaking away from the family's tradition?
3.) In the last stanza of the poem what is the significance of the line "I'll dig with it"?
4.) Do you think that his father will accept his writing as a branch of the family's tradition?
Friday, April 18, 2008
A Collection of Jumbled Thoughts
After reading your comment last week, I set out reading with a determination to find the depth and quality to Anne’s character and I believe that I succeeded. I have found a new and deeper respect for the choices that she makes. The act of persuasion and influence still remain as the central power in Persuasion, but I see a deeper meaning as a rebellious and heroine-like spirit is portrayed through Anne’s character. I think that it is necessary for me to get my thoughts in order as to how “persuasion” affects the various characters in the novel. In addition, as I work towards the development of my final thesis, I think that it is important to address how “persuasion” blossoms and grows unstoppably throughout the novel.
Persuasion leads to the destruction of one of the characters in the novel. Frederick Wentworth temporarily falls in love with Luisa Musgrove, whom I recognize as Anne’s foil in Persuasion. Luisa is full of spirit and wears her emotions on her sleeves. Wentworth does not have to question his love for Luisa because she is so ready and able to return that love. She is full of conviction and confidence. These are the qualities that Wentworth believes Anne lacks. While in Lyme, the qualities that Wentworth admires in Luisa lead her to feel untouchable and capable of anything. Wentworth persuades her not to jump from the wall, but she disobeys him and is immediately forced in a coma. At this point, I believe, that Wentworth begins to once again value the stability and levelheaded actions of Anne. Anne’s reserved and thoughtful spirit no longer looks prude, but instead it looks appealing.
Although persuasion causes tragedy and its value and stance between good and evil is highly questionable, I realize the power that Anne has to defy this pressure. As I progressed towards to the end of the novel, I realize that Anne is truly an inspirational character. She is shy and reserved, but moving and dominant in her own right. She is in touch an aware of her instincts, but she does not let them sweep her off of her feet. She knows that she loves Wentworth, but she worries that he does not care for her as he once did. I absolutely adored the scene (which I also think is the climax/turning point of the novel) when Anne is having a discussion with Captain Harville about passion. With Wentworth only feet away with pen in hand, I knew that this was the true turning point for these two characters. Anne expresses her fervent belief that men let go of love and relationship much sooner than women. She thinks that men forget the strength and the connection that once consumed intimate relationships. The fact that this conversation was spoken in front of an eight-years-in-mourning Wentworth makes it even more powerful.
I have a few pages left to read of the novel, but I am officially persuaded that I love persuasion and I absolutely concur that Anne is a pivotal character in writing. As my thoughts are still jumbled and my final message/thesis is not yet clear (as is readily apparent in my blog), I know that a deeper message will come from my currently basic and shallow thoughts. This work of writing is very different (different in a good way) from what I expected and I think that I need to reflect on the themes that I have in mind. (597)
JSTOR articles:
Title: The Importance of Vision: "Persuasion" and the Picturesque
Link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3886237
Title: The Bodily Frame: Learning Romance in Persuasion
Link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3044848
Title: The Achievement of Persuasion
Link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/449831
Title: The Abiding Possibilities of Nature in Persuasion
Link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/450230
Title: Divided Attention in Persuasion
Link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2933017
Persuasion leads to the destruction of one of the characters in the novel. Frederick Wentworth temporarily falls in love with Luisa Musgrove, whom I recognize as Anne’s foil in Persuasion. Luisa is full of spirit and wears her emotions on her sleeves. Wentworth does not have to question his love for Luisa because she is so ready and able to return that love. She is full of conviction and confidence. These are the qualities that Wentworth believes Anne lacks. While in Lyme, the qualities that Wentworth admires in Luisa lead her to feel untouchable and capable of anything. Wentworth persuades her not to jump from the wall, but she disobeys him and is immediately forced in a coma. At this point, I believe, that Wentworth begins to once again value the stability and levelheaded actions of Anne. Anne’s reserved and thoughtful spirit no longer looks prude, but instead it looks appealing.
Although persuasion causes tragedy and its value and stance between good and evil is highly questionable, I realize the power that Anne has to defy this pressure. As I progressed towards to the end of the novel, I realize that Anne is truly an inspirational character. She is shy and reserved, but moving and dominant in her own right. She is in touch an aware of her instincts, but she does not let them sweep her off of her feet. She knows that she loves Wentworth, but she worries that he does not care for her as he once did. I absolutely adored the scene (which I also think is the climax/turning point of the novel) when Anne is having a discussion with Captain Harville about passion. With Wentworth only feet away with pen in hand, I knew that this was the true turning point for these two characters. Anne expresses her fervent belief that men let go of love and relationship much sooner than women. She thinks that men forget the strength and the connection that once consumed intimate relationships. The fact that this conversation was spoken in front of an eight-years-in-mourning Wentworth makes it even more powerful.
I have a few pages left to read of the novel, but I am officially persuaded that I love persuasion and I absolutely concur that Anne is a pivotal character in writing. As my thoughts are still jumbled and my final message/thesis is not yet clear (as is readily apparent in my blog), I know that a deeper message will come from my currently basic and shallow thoughts. This work of writing is very different (different in a good way) from what I expected and I think that I need to reflect on the themes that I have in mind. (597)
JSTOR articles:
Title: The Importance of Vision: "Persuasion" and the Picturesque
Link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3886237
Title: The Bodily Frame: Learning Romance in Persuasion
Link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3044848
Title: The Achievement of Persuasion
Link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/449831
Title: The Abiding Possibilities of Nature in Persuasion
Link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/450230
Title: Divided Attention in Persuasion
Link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2933017
Thursday, April 10, 2008
I am not persuaded that I am in love with Persuasion
There is something off and I know exactly what it is. The story of Persuasion is not pleasing— it does not illuminate love. Persuasion does not quench my desire for the walls of this stale 19th century society to break down. In fact, the walls stand high and mighty. As hard as I push for them to crumble, they remain steady. Although I am distraught by the fact that Anne cannot rise above the words of her elders, I am pleasantly challenged by my disagreement with this novel.
I am so accustomed to reading novel such as Romeo and Juliet and Love in the Time of Cholera where, deep down, I know they have the power and the will to defy their disapproving company, but in Persuasion, deep down, I feel that Anne does not have that same rebellious spirit. She is trapped by the walls of society. I find it fitting, but curious that the word persuasion is so often used. Before Wentworth went to the navy, Anne was persuaded by her father that she did not love him and Anne actually obeyed him. This is where I first knew that there was something seriously off with this novel. Where is the powerful woman that is typically at the center of the novel that will stumble for no obstacles as she forges her own path seeking to fulfill her hearts desires? Basically, why is Anne so meek? I do not think that Anne was persuaded to conveniently fall out of love with Wentworth, instead, I believe she was brainwashed. Anne’s family is truly trapped by the static cold walls they have built around themselves. They have neither the drive nor the passion to step outside society’s expectations, at the cost of marring their image, to stand up for what is right. What is the most frustrating to me is that Anne does not have the courage to do so either. Anne is sound with being persuaded and does not fell she has been cheated out of a great love.
With that said, I do not think that this novel is meant to be a classic romantic story. Thus far, I think that the underlying message in Persuasion is the power of persuasion. I think that Austen intends the reader to be angered by the decisions and the mildness of her characters. This leaves the reader to decide if the power of persuasion is fundamentally good or bad. (456)
I am so accustomed to reading novel such as Romeo and Juliet and Love in the Time of Cholera where, deep down, I know they have the power and the will to defy their disapproving company, but in Persuasion, deep down, I feel that Anne does not have that same rebellious spirit. She is trapped by the walls of society. I find it fitting, but curious that the word persuasion is so often used. Before Wentworth went to the navy, Anne was persuaded by her father that she did not love him and Anne actually obeyed him. This is where I first knew that there was something seriously off with this novel. Where is the powerful woman that is typically at the center of the novel that will stumble for no obstacles as she forges her own path seeking to fulfill her hearts desires? Basically, why is Anne so meek? I do not think that Anne was persuaded to conveniently fall out of love with Wentworth, instead, I believe she was brainwashed. Anne’s family is truly trapped by the static cold walls they have built around themselves. They have neither the drive nor the passion to step outside society’s expectations, at the cost of marring their image, to stand up for what is right. What is the most frustrating to me is that Anne does not have the courage to do so either. Anne is sound with being persuaded and does not fell she has been cheated out of a great love.
With that said, I do not think that this novel is meant to be a classic romantic story. Thus far, I think that the underlying message in Persuasion is the power of persuasion. I think that Austen intends the reader to be angered by the decisions and the mildness of her characters. This leaves the reader to decide if the power of persuasion is fundamentally good or bad. (456)
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Reality? I'd Say So!
Narratives are often written about women being pushed around by oppressive men. In fact, living in today’s world with one of the three presidential candidates being a woman, it is hard to relate to many of these types of tales, but Ibsen‘s vividly realistic description of a life lived in the shadow of a man makes this situation easy to imagine and even easy to identify with.
This play does not paint a picture of a bright and colorful life; instead, it digs into the plagues and tribulations of the often forgotten and neglected middle class. There is no sugar-coating, and there is no cushioning. This story is presented through the eyes of the middle class worker and it depicts real life situations and obstacles. The supernatural is a distant notion in “A Doll’s House”. This narrative consists of real people, real troubles, and real events.
“A Doll’s House” is absolutely a form of realism. When I think of what makes life “real” and unique, I think of all of the quirky and quaint actions that go on throughout a day. These interactions are really hard to capture in a narrative because they seem trivial, but they set the stage for reality. An example of this in “A Doll’s House” that grounded this narrative and helped to assure me that these people were absolutely realistic was when Torvald asked Nora if she has “given into her sweet tooth”. These little seemingly insignificant comments are, to me, what makes a story seem realistic. Another example is the fight over money. What real life family does not, at one point or another, argue about frivolous spending habits? This is relatable and slightly endearing.
The story line of “A Doll’s House” contains no extreme plot twists or heavenly influences, but instead, it depicts the life, lies, and weights of ordinary people with everyday problems. This play culminates around a shared forgery and fear of being tarnished in the face of society. This may seem basic and slightly dull compared to death, insurmountable love, and marrying your mother, but these are the big problems that face real people working hour after hour everyday. Reputations are at stake and there is nothing more important that maintaining a good reputation. In addition, when Nora is confronted with the idea that the poor decisions that she makes in her life may negatively affect her children, she is terrified. In reality, there is truly nothing more important than family and Nora is scared that she has dishonored her children and has made them into criminals.
Representation of real life dilemmas and trials pulls the reader in because the reader can relate to the lives being portrayed. Everyone has felt ruled over by an authoritarian and with that established universal common ground; we are brought together by the realistic depiction of life through narration.(514)
This play does not paint a picture of a bright and colorful life; instead, it digs into the plagues and tribulations of the often forgotten and neglected middle class. There is no sugar-coating, and there is no cushioning. This story is presented through the eyes of the middle class worker and it depicts real life situations and obstacles. The supernatural is a distant notion in “A Doll’s House”. This narrative consists of real people, real troubles, and real events.
“A Doll’s House” is absolutely a form of realism. When I think of what makes life “real” and unique, I think of all of the quirky and quaint actions that go on throughout a day. These interactions are really hard to capture in a narrative because they seem trivial, but they set the stage for reality. An example of this in “A Doll’s House” that grounded this narrative and helped to assure me that these people were absolutely realistic was when Torvald asked Nora if she has “given into her sweet tooth”. These little seemingly insignificant comments are, to me, what makes a story seem realistic. Another example is the fight over money. What real life family does not, at one point or another, argue about frivolous spending habits? This is relatable and slightly endearing.
The story line of “A Doll’s House” contains no extreme plot twists or heavenly influences, but instead, it depicts the life, lies, and weights of ordinary people with everyday problems. This play culminates around a shared forgery and fear of being tarnished in the face of society. This may seem basic and slightly dull compared to death, insurmountable love, and marrying your mother, but these are the big problems that face real people working hour after hour everyday. Reputations are at stake and there is nothing more important that maintaining a good reputation. In addition, when Nora is confronted with the idea that the poor decisions that she makes in her life may negatively affect her children, she is terrified. In reality, there is truly nothing more important than family and Nora is scared that she has dishonored her children and has made them into criminals.
Representation of real life dilemmas and trials pulls the reader in because the reader can relate to the lives being portrayed. Everyone has felt ruled over by an authoritarian and with that established universal common ground; we are brought together by the realistic depiction of life through narration.(514)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Hamlet
SCENE IV. The Queen's closet.
Enter QUEEN GERTRUDE and POLONIUS
LORD POLONIUS
He (Hamlet) will come straight. Look you (Queen Gertrude) lay home to him:
Tell him (Hamlet) his pranks have been too broad to bear with,
And that your (Queen Gertrude) grace hath screen'd and stood between
Much heat and him. I'll (Polonius) sconce me even here.
Pray you (Queen Gertrude), be round with him.
HAMLET
[Within (Inside)] Mother, mother, mother!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
I'll warrant you (I heed your warning),
Fear me not: withdraw, I hear him coming. (The Queen is telling Polonius to hide because she hears Hamlet coming. The Queen has heard and knows Polonius’s concerns surrounding Hamlet. She may possibly be whispering when she is telling him to go hide so that Hamlet does not hear her.)
POLONIUS hides behind the arras
Enter HAMLET
HAMLET
Now, mother, what's the matter? (Hamlet is questing why his mother needed to speak to him.)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. (The Queen is telling Hamlet that he has offended his father. This is extremely ironic coming from the Queen)
HAMLET
Mother, you have my father much offended. (This is a stab at the Queen because Hamlet is telling her that she is actually the one that has offended his father because she has married the man that killed her husband)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue. (The Queens is saying, “Don’t be fresh with me! Respect me, I am your mother.”)
HAMLET
Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. (Hamlet is spitting back at the Queen that fact that she asked posed such an offensive question when she is in no place to accuse him)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Why, how now, Hamlet! (She is angered with Hamlet. She is speaking much louder. The Queens is disgusted that her son is treating her with such disrespect)
HAMLET
What's the matter now? (Hamlet pretends that he does not know that he has offended his mother. He is provoking her. This answer is searching for a reaction)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Have you forgot me? (The Queen may at this point be referring to the fact that Hamlet seems a little bit insane, possibly because he is treating her incorrectly)
HAMLET
No, by the rood, not so:
You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife;
And--would it were not so!--you are my mother.( This is a very sassy answer. Instead of calling his uncle “Claudius”, Hamlet refers to him is “you husband’s brother” which is another stab in the back referring to her misconduct. Hamlet is speaking with a grin on his face and a sly spark in his voice)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak. (The Queen walks away)
HAMLET
Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge;
You go not till I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you.(Hamlet want his mother to see that she has in fact done wrong and that she has offended her dead husband. Hamlet must force her to come back and reflect on what she really has done)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?
Help, help, ho! (I think that she is threatened by Hamlet and his tone and actions. She misinterprets Hamlet’s intentions and she screams in fear for help)
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind (From his hiding spot)] What, ho! help, help, help! (Polonius, not have left his hiding place, hears the Queen yelling for help. Polonius also feels threatened, so he beings to yell for help. In yelling, Polonius blows his cover)
HAMLET
[Drawing] How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead! (Hamlet draws his sword and is ready to attack the person that just yelled. He is angered that someone is listening in on his conversation with his mother. He in defensive in his tone and his angered in his movements)
Makes a pass through the arras (He makes a swift movement of his sword though Polonius)
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] O, I am slain! (Still in his hiding place, Polonius has been struck by Hamlet’s sword and has died. I am sure that this is said with great angst. I am sure that Polonius is holding onto his wound before he dies)
Falls and dies
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O me, what hast thou done? (The Queen is saying “Oh my God, Hamlet! What have you done?”)
HAMLET
Nay, I know not:
Is it the king?(Hamlet is playing dumb here. Hamlet knows exactly who he has just killed and he does not feel an ounce of remorse or regret for his actions)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this! (The Queen is saying, “That was impulsive! What were you thinking?” I am sure that she is holding her head is amazement and disgust)
HAMLET
A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,
As kill a king, and marry with his brother. (Hamlet is saying that the queen is being a hypocrite. He is saying that she has done a bloodier deed by killing her husband and marrying his brother. He has been waiting to say this to his mother for a long time and it is said with great force and confidence)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
As kill a king! (She is offended that Hamlet has accused her of killing her husband. She is making a rebuttal and saying that she did not kill her husband. The Queen is very angry that Hamlet has accused her of such a wretched act)
HAMLET
Ay, lady, 'twas my word. (Hamlet is saying, “That is exactly what I said. You heard me.” Hamlet is being very defensive and powerful with his words)
Lifts up the array and discovers POLONIUS
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!(He is angered that Polonius intruded on his conversation and thinks that he deserved his ending)
I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune; ( I think that Hamlet was hoping to have killed Claudius)
Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.
Leave wringing of your hands: peace! sit you down,(Now Hamlet is speaking to his mother and has turned to his mother)
And let me wring your heart; for so I shall,
If it be made of penetrable stuff,
If damned custom have not brass'd it so
That it is proof and bulwark against sense.(Hamlet is angry that his mother has betrayed him by letting Polonius listen in on their conversation. He is calling her a bad person who has a hard heart and has no emotions)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue
In noise so rude against me? (The Queen is saying, probably crying because she is frustrated and does not understand, “What have I done to you that has made me yell at me and disrespect me?” )
HAMLET
Such an act
That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,
Calls virtue hypocrite( <-- BINGO), takes off the rose (Hamlet is telling his mother to immediately stop pretending that she is innocent that she is not aware of her bad deed)
From the fair forehead of an innocent love
And sets a blister there, makes marriage-vows
As false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deed(Hamlet is accusing his mother of making false marriage vows. The Queen has betrayed her husband by marrying his brother and that qualifies as breaking her marriage vows) from the body of contraction plucks
The very soul, and sweet religion makes
A rhapsody of words: heaven's face doth glow:
Yea, this solidity and compound mass,
With tristful visage, as against the doom,
Is thought-sick at the act.(Hamlet is telling her that she has committed a sick act)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Ay me, what act,
That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?(The Queen is asking, “What act have I committed that was so huge and sick?” )
HAMLET
Look here, upon this picture, and on this,
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
See, what a grace was seated on this brow;
Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself;
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command;
A station like the herald Mercury
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;
A combination and a form indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,
To give the world assurance of a man:
This was your husband. Look you now, what follows:
Here is your husband; like a mildew'd ear,
Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes?
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed,
And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes?
You cannot call it love; for at your age
The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,
And waits upon the judgment: and what judgment
Would step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have,
Else could you not have motion; but sure, that sense
Is apoplex'd; for madness would not err,
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'd
But it reserved some quantity of choice,
To serve in such a difference. What devil was't
That thus hath cozen'd you at hoodman-blind?
Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight,
Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all,
Or but a sickly part of one true sense
Could not so mope.
O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell,
If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones,
To flaming youth let virtue be as wax,
And melt in her own fire: proclaim no shame
When the compulsive ardour gives the charge,
Since frost itself as actively doth burn
And reason panders will. (Hamlet is reading the riot act to his mother. She is very angry and very stern in his tone. Hamlet starts by explaining how perfect her husband was and how perfect their life was together. He then goes on to tell her to open her eyes and realize that sin that she made. She has broken the will of marriage and has betrayed her husband. I also think that it was interesting when Hamlet points out that she does not love Claudius, for she is beyond the age of sweeping love. Hamlet is yelling at his mother for her crime)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, speak no more:
Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;
And there I see such black and grained spots
As will not leave their tinct. (The Queen has finally listened to Hamlet and has realized the sin that she has done. She sees the black in her heart and in her soul from betraying her husband. She realizes her wrong and she cannot bear to hear it. She asks Hamlet not to speak of it)
HAMLET
Nay, but to live
In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,
Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love
Over the nasty sty,--(Now Hamlet is getting graphic with her act of betrayal. She is asking her how she is capable of sleeping in a tainted bed and how she is capable of making love to the murderer of her husband)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, speak to me no more;
These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;
No more, sweet Hamlet! (The Queen has her hands over her ears so she does not hear the horror that Hamlet is speaking. The Queen is begging from the bottom of her heart that Hamlet not speak about this deed anymore)
HAMLET
A murderer and a villain;
A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe
Of your precedent lord; a vice of kings;
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole,
And put it in his pocket!(Hamlet has ignored his mother’s request and continues to point out her misdemeanor because it was so terrible that she deserves this treatment. He is telling his mother that she has done all of this for a person that cannot even begin to compare to Hamlet’s father. Hamlet is calling Claudius the murder of his father. Hamlet is also calling Claudius a thief because he stole the position of king from his father by killing him)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No more! (The Queen still has her hands over her ears and is begging Hamlet to stop immediately)
HAMLET
A king of shreds and patches,--(Hamlet continue to speak poorly about Claudius, but he is interrupted by the arrival of the Ghost)
Enter Ghost
Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings,
You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure? (Hamlet is now begging the Ghost to help him. Hamlet is down on his hands and knees pleading with all his heart)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, he's mad!(The Queen thinks that Hamlet is mad because she cannot see the Ghost that Hamlet is talking to and she thinks that Hamlet is talking to himself)
HAMLET
Do you not come your tardy son to chide,
That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go by
The important acting of your dread command? O, say!(Hamlet is speaking to the Ghost. Hamlet is asking the Ghost is he is angry that he has not talked to Claudius)
Ghost
Do not forget: this visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.
But, look, amazement on thy mother sits:
O, step between her and her fighting soul:
Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works:
Speak to her, Hamlet.( The Ghost is asking Hamlet to show compassion to his mother. The Ghost tells Hamlet that he needs to clear his mind and calm his spirit and speak to his mother instead of yelling)
HAMLET
How is it with you, lady?(Now Hamlet is speaking to his mother. Hamlet has taken the Ghost’s advice and is now speaking to his mother with a concerned and compassionate tone)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, how is't with you,
That you do bend your eye on vacancy
And with the incorporal air do hold discourse?( The Queen is saying, “What is your problem? You are having a conversation with the empty air!” )
Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep;
And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm,
Your bedded hair, like life in excrements,
Starts up, and stands on end. O gentle son,
Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper
Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?(The Queen thinks that Hamlet has gone mad and she is concerned. The Queen is asking Hamlet if he is alright. The Queen wants to know what Hamlet is looking at and who he is speaking to. The Queen wants insight into Hamlet’s mind)
HAMLET
On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares!
His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones,
Would make them capable. (Hamlet turns to the Ghost) Do not look upon me;
Lest with this piteous action you convert
My stern effects: then what I have to do
Will want true colour; tears perchance for blood.(Hamlet points to the Ghost. Hamlet says that he is speaking to a Ghost and he talks about the Ghost’s appearance. Hamlet wants so badly for his mother to see the Ghost. Then Hamlet turns to the Ghost and tells him not to look at him. The Ghost is telling Hamlet to kill Claudius and Hamlet is pleading to the Ghost. Hamlet is overwhelmed.)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
To whom do you speak this? (The Queen is referring to the second half of the preceding line when Hamlet was addressing the Ghost and she wants to know who he was talking to)
HAMLET
Do you see nothing there? (Hamlet asks his mother if she can see the Ghost)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nothing at all; yet all that is I see. (The Queen says that she cannot see the Ghost. The Queen is verk skeptical about this whole situation)
HAMLET
Nor did you nothing hear? (Hamlet asks his mother if she heard the Ghost)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, nothing but ourselves. (The Queen says that she heard nothing but the conversation that she is having with Hamlet)
HAMLET
Why, look you there! look, how it steals away!
My father, in his habit as he lived!
Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal! (Now Hamlet is desperate. Hamlet wants his mother to be able to see the Ghost so badly. Hamlet refers to the Ghost as the shadow of his father. Hamlet is being slightly mad in this line)
Exit Ghost
QUEEN GERTRUDE
This the very coinage of your brain:
This bodiless creation ecstasy
Is very cunning in.(The Queen is calling Hamlet mad. She is accusing him of making the Ghost up. She does not believe that there is a ghost)
HAMLET
Ecstasy!
My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,
And makes as healthful music: it is not madness
That I have utter'd: bring me to the test,
And I the matter will re-word; which madness
Would gambol from. Mother, for love of grace,
Lay not that mattering unction to your soul,
That not your trespass, but my madness speaks:
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place,
Whilst rank corruption, mining all within,
Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven;
Repent what's past; avoid what is to come;
And do not spread the compost on the weeds,
To make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue;
For in the fatness of these pursy times
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.(Hamlet is angry that his mother does not believe him and he begins this passage yelling at his mother for not trusting him and think that he is mad. Then he turn his tone and beings to repent. Hamlet wants his mother to understand him and he wants his mother to admit to her sins and confess her wrong doings)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain. (Hamlet has broken his mother’s heart)
HAMLET
O, throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other half.
Good night: but go not to mine uncle's bed;
Assume a virtue, if you have it not.
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this,
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery,
That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence: the next more easy;
For use almost can change the stamp of nature,
And either [ ] the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency. Once more, good night:
And when you are desirous to be bless'd,
I'll blessing beg of you. For this same lord,(Hamlet tells/demands his mother to choose the right path and to follow a good heart and not to go back to Claudius tonight)
Pointing to POLONIUS
I do repent: but heaven hath pleased it so,
To punish me with this and this with me,
That I must be their scourge and minister.
I will bestow him, and will answer well
The death I gave him. So, again, good night.
I must be cruel, only to be kind:
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.
One word more, good lady.(Hamlet admits that he feels bad for killing Polonius, but he tells the Queen that Polonius must pay for his wrong actions)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What shall I do?(The Queen wants to know what to do. She thinks that she should go back to Claudius, but knows that Hamlet does not want her to go, so she asks Hamlet what she should do)
HAMLET
Not this, by no means, that I bid you do:
Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed;
Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse;
And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses,
Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers,
Make you to ravel all this matter out,
That I essentially am not in madness,
But mad in craft. 'Twere good you let him know;
For who, that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise,
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib,
Such dear concernings hide? who would do so?
No, in despite of sense and secrecy,
Unpeg the basket on the house's top.
Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape,
To try conclusions, in the basket creep,
And break your own neck down.(Hamlet is listing all of the actions that he does not want his mother to do. Hamlet also wants to touch on the fact that he is not mad in his mind, but he is fierce in his actions. Hamlet continues to advise his mother as to what she should do. Hamlet tells his mother how to act. Hamlet tell his mother that she must listen to his words and that she must do as he is telling her because this is a very serious situation that she is in)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Be thou assured, if words be made of breath,
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe
What thou hast said to me.(The Queen assures Hamlet that she has heard what he has told her to do and that she will honor what Hamlet has said to her)
Enter QUEEN GERTRUDE and POLONIUS
LORD POLONIUS
He (Hamlet) will come straight. Look you (Queen Gertrude) lay home to him:
Tell him (Hamlet) his pranks have been too broad to bear with,
And that your (Queen Gertrude) grace hath screen'd and stood between
Much heat and him. I'll (Polonius) sconce me even here.
Pray you (Queen Gertrude), be round with him.
HAMLET
[Within (Inside)] Mother, mother, mother!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
I'll warrant you (I heed your warning),
Fear me not: withdraw, I hear him coming. (The Queen is telling Polonius to hide because she hears Hamlet coming. The Queen has heard and knows Polonius’s concerns surrounding Hamlet. She may possibly be whispering when she is telling him to go hide so that Hamlet does not hear her.)
POLONIUS hides behind the arras
Enter HAMLET
HAMLET
Now, mother, what's the matter? (Hamlet is questing why his mother needed to speak to him.)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. (The Queen is telling Hamlet that he has offended his father. This is extremely ironic coming from the Queen)
HAMLET
Mother, you have my father much offended. (This is a stab at the Queen because Hamlet is telling her that she is actually the one that has offended his father because she has married the man that killed her husband)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue. (The Queens is saying, “Don’t be fresh with me! Respect me, I am your mother.”)
HAMLET
Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. (Hamlet is spitting back at the Queen that fact that she asked posed such an offensive question when she is in no place to accuse him)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Why, how now, Hamlet! (She is angered with Hamlet. She is speaking much louder. The Queens is disgusted that her son is treating her with such disrespect)
HAMLET
What's the matter now? (Hamlet pretends that he does not know that he has offended his mother. He is provoking her. This answer is searching for a reaction)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Have you forgot me? (The Queen may at this point be referring to the fact that Hamlet seems a little bit insane, possibly because he is treating her incorrectly)
HAMLET
No, by the rood, not so:
You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife;
And--would it were not so!--you are my mother.( This is a very sassy answer. Instead of calling his uncle “Claudius”, Hamlet refers to him is “you husband’s brother” which is another stab in the back referring to her misconduct. Hamlet is speaking with a grin on his face and a sly spark in his voice)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak. (The Queen walks away)
HAMLET
Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge;
You go not till I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you.(Hamlet want his mother to see that she has in fact done wrong and that she has offended her dead husband. Hamlet must force her to come back and reflect on what she really has done)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?
Help, help, ho! (I think that she is threatened by Hamlet and his tone and actions. She misinterprets Hamlet’s intentions and she screams in fear for help)
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind (From his hiding spot)] What, ho! help, help, help! (Polonius, not have left his hiding place, hears the Queen yelling for help. Polonius also feels threatened, so he beings to yell for help. In yelling, Polonius blows his cover)
HAMLET
[Drawing] How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead! (Hamlet draws his sword and is ready to attack the person that just yelled. He is angered that someone is listening in on his conversation with his mother. He in defensive in his tone and his angered in his movements)
Makes a pass through the arras (He makes a swift movement of his sword though Polonius)
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] O, I am slain! (Still in his hiding place, Polonius has been struck by Hamlet’s sword and has died. I am sure that this is said with great angst. I am sure that Polonius is holding onto his wound before he dies)
Falls and dies
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O me, what hast thou done? (The Queen is saying “Oh my God, Hamlet! What have you done?”)
HAMLET
Nay, I know not:
Is it the king?(Hamlet is playing dumb here. Hamlet knows exactly who he has just killed and he does not feel an ounce of remorse or regret for his actions)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this! (The Queen is saying, “That was impulsive! What were you thinking?” I am sure that she is holding her head is amazement and disgust)
HAMLET
A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,
As kill a king, and marry with his brother. (Hamlet is saying that the queen is being a hypocrite. He is saying that she has done a bloodier deed by killing her husband and marrying his brother. He has been waiting to say this to his mother for a long time and it is said with great force and confidence)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
As kill a king! (She is offended that Hamlet has accused her of killing her husband. She is making a rebuttal and saying that she did not kill her husband. The Queen is very angry that Hamlet has accused her of such a wretched act)
HAMLET
Ay, lady, 'twas my word. (Hamlet is saying, “That is exactly what I said. You heard me.” Hamlet is being very defensive and powerful with his words)
Lifts up the array and discovers POLONIUS
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!(He is angered that Polonius intruded on his conversation and thinks that he deserved his ending)
I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune; ( I think that Hamlet was hoping to have killed Claudius)
Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.
Leave wringing of your hands: peace! sit you down,(Now Hamlet is speaking to his mother and has turned to his mother)
And let me wring your heart; for so I shall,
If it be made of penetrable stuff,
If damned custom have not brass'd it so
That it is proof and bulwark against sense.(Hamlet is angry that his mother has betrayed him by letting Polonius listen in on their conversation. He is calling her a bad person who has a hard heart and has no emotions)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue
In noise so rude against me? (The Queen is saying, probably crying because she is frustrated and does not understand, “What have I done to you that has made me yell at me and disrespect me?” )
HAMLET
Such an act
That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,
Calls virtue hypocrite( <-- BINGO), takes off the rose (Hamlet is telling his mother to immediately stop pretending that she is innocent that she is not aware of her bad deed)
From the fair forehead of an innocent love
And sets a blister there, makes marriage-vows
As false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deed(Hamlet is accusing his mother of making false marriage vows. The Queen has betrayed her husband by marrying his brother and that qualifies as breaking her marriage vows) from the body of contraction plucks
The very soul, and sweet religion makes
A rhapsody of words: heaven's face doth glow:
Yea, this solidity and compound mass,
With tristful visage, as against the doom,
Is thought-sick at the act.(Hamlet is telling her that she has committed a sick act)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Ay me, what act,
That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?(The Queen is asking, “What act have I committed that was so huge and sick?” )
HAMLET
Look here, upon this picture, and on this,
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
See, what a grace was seated on this brow;
Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself;
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command;
A station like the herald Mercury
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;
A combination and a form indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,
To give the world assurance of a man:
This was your husband. Look you now, what follows:
Here is your husband; like a mildew'd ear,
Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes?
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed,
And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes?
You cannot call it love; for at your age
The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,
And waits upon the judgment: and what judgment
Would step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have,
Else could you not have motion; but sure, that sense
Is apoplex'd; for madness would not err,
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'd
But it reserved some quantity of choice,
To serve in such a difference. What devil was't
That thus hath cozen'd you at hoodman-blind?
Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight,
Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all,
Or but a sickly part of one true sense
Could not so mope.
O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell,
If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones,
To flaming youth let virtue be as wax,
And melt in her own fire: proclaim no shame
When the compulsive ardour gives the charge,
Since frost itself as actively doth burn
And reason panders will. (Hamlet is reading the riot act to his mother. She is very angry and very stern in his tone. Hamlet starts by explaining how perfect her husband was and how perfect their life was together. He then goes on to tell her to open her eyes and realize that sin that she made. She has broken the will of marriage and has betrayed her husband. I also think that it was interesting when Hamlet points out that she does not love Claudius, for she is beyond the age of sweeping love. Hamlet is yelling at his mother for her crime)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, speak no more:
Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;
And there I see such black and grained spots
As will not leave their tinct. (The Queen has finally listened to Hamlet and has realized the sin that she has done. She sees the black in her heart and in her soul from betraying her husband. She realizes her wrong and she cannot bear to hear it. She asks Hamlet not to speak of it)
HAMLET
Nay, but to live
In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,
Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love
Over the nasty sty,--(Now Hamlet is getting graphic with her act of betrayal. She is asking her how she is capable of sleeping in a tainted bed and how she is capable of making love to the murderer of her husband)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, speak to me no more;
These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;
No more, sweet Hamlet! (The Queen has her hands over her ears so she does not hear the horror that Hamlet is speaking. The Queen is begging from the bottom of her heart that Hamlet not speak about this deed anymore)
HAMLET
A murderer and a villain;
A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe
Of your precedent lord; a vice of kings;
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole,
And put it in his pocket!(Hamlet has ignored his mother’s request and continues to point out her misdemeanor because it was so terrible that she deserves this treatment. He is telling his mother that she has done all of this for a person that cannot even begin to compare to Hamlet’s father. Hamlet is calling Claudius the murder of his father. Hamlet is also calling Claudius a thief because he stole the position of king from his father by killing him)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No more! (The Queen still has her hands over her ears and is begging Hamlet to stop immediately)
HAMLET
A king of shreds and patches,--(Hamlet continue to speak poorly about Claudius, but he is interrupted by the arrival of the Ghost)
Enter Ghost
Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings,
You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure? (Hamlet is now begging the Ghost to help him. Hamlet is down on his hands and knees pleading with all his heart)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, he's mad!(The Queen thinks that Hamlet is mad because she cannot see the Ghost that Hamlet is talking to and she thinks that Hamlet is talking to himself)
HAMLET
Do you not come your tardy son to chide,
That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go by
The important acting of your dread command? O, say!(Hamlet is speaking to the Ghost. Hamlet is asking the Ghost is he is angry that he has not talked to Claudius)
Ghost
Do not forget: this visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.
But, look, amazement on thy mother sits:
O, step between her and her fighting soul:
Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works:
Speak to her, Hamlet.( The Ghost is asking Hamlet to show compassion to his mother. The Ghost tells Hamlet that he needs to clear his mind and calm his spirit and speak to his mother instead of yelling)
HAMLET
How is it with you, lady?(Now Hamlet is speaking to his mother. Hamlet has taken the Ghost’s advice and is now speaking to his mother with a concerned and compassionate tone)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, how is't with you,
That you do bend your eye on vacancy
And with the incorporal air do hold discourse?( The Queen is saying, “What is your problem? You are having a conversation with the empty air!” )
Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep;
And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm,
Your bedded hair, like life in excrements,
Starts up, and stands on end. O gentle son,
Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper
Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?(The Queen thinks that Hamlet has gone mad and she is concerned. The Queen is asking Hamlet if he is alright. The Queen wants to know what Hamlet is looking at and who he is speaking to. The Queen wants insight into Hamlet’s mind)
HAMLET
On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares!
His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones,
Would make them capable. (Hamlet turns to the Ghost) Do not look upon me;
Lest with this piteous action you convert
My stern effects: then what I have to do
Will want true colour; tears perchance for blood.(Hamlet points to the Ghost. Hamlet says that he is speaking to a Ghost and he talks about the Ghost’s appearance. Hamlet wants so badly for his mother to see the Ghost. Then Hamlet turns to the Ghost and tells him not to look at him. The Ghost is telling Hamlet to kill Claudius and Hamlet is pleading to the Ghost. Hamlet is overwhelmed.)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
To whom do you speak this? (The Queen is referring to the second half of the preceding line when Hamlet was addressing the Ghost and she wants to know who he was talking to)
HAMLET
Do you see nothing there? (Hamlet asks his mother if she can see the Ghost)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nothing at all; yet all that is I see. (The Queen says that she cannot see the Ghost. The Queen is verk skeptical about this whole situation)
HAMLET
Nor did you nothing hear? (Hamlet asks his mother if she heard the Ghost)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, nothing but ourselves. (The Queen says that she heard nothing but the conversation that she is having with Hamlet)
HAMLET
Why, look you there! look, how it steals away!
My father, in his habit as he lived!
Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal! (Now Hamlet is desperate. Hamlet wants his mother to be able to see the Ghost so badly. Hamlet refers to the Ghost as the shadow of his father. Hamlet is being slightly mad in this line)
Exit Ghost
QUEEN GERTRUDE
This the very coinage of your brain:
This bodiless creation ecstasy
Is very cunning in.(The Queen is calling Hamlet mad. She is accusing him of making the Ghost up. She does not believe that there is a ghost)
HAMLET
Ecstasy!
My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,
And makes as healthful music: it is not madness
That I have utter'd: bring me to the test,
And I the matter will re-word; which madness
Would gambol from. Mother, for love of grace,
Lay not that mattering unction to your soul,
That not your trespass, but my madness speaks:
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place,
Whilst rank corruption, mining all within,
Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven;
Repent what's past; avoid what is to come;
And do not spread the compost on the weeds,
To make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue;
For in the fatness of these pursy times
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.(Hamlet is angry that his mother does not believe him and he begins this passage yelling at his mother for not trusting him and think that he is mad. Then he turn his tone and beings to repent. Hamlet wants his mother to understand him and he wants his mother to admit to her sins and confess her wrong doings)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain. (Hamlet has broken his mother’s heart)
HAMLET
O, throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other half.
Good night: but go not to mine uncle's bed;
Assume a virtue, if you have it not.
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this,
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery,
That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence: the next more easy;
For use almost can change the stamp of nature,
And either [ ] the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency. Once more, good night:
And when you are desirous to be bless'd,
I'll blessing beg of you. For this same lord,(Hamlet tells/demands his mother to choose the right path and to follow a good heart and not to go back to Claudius tonight)
Pointing to POLONIUS
I do repent: but heaven hath pleased it so,
To punish me with this and this with me,
That I must be their scourge and minister.
I will bestow him, and will answer well
The death I gave him. So, again, good night.
I must be cruel, only to be kind:
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.
One word more, good lady.(Hamlet admits that he feels bad for killing Polonius, but he tells the Queen that Polonius must pay for his wrong actions)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What shall I do?(The Queen wants to know what to do. She thinks that she should go back to Claudius, but knows that Hamlet does not want her to go, so she asks Hamlet what she should do)
HAMLET
Not this, by no means, that I bid you do:
Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed;
Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse;
And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses,
Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers,
Make you to ravel all this matter out,
That I essentially am not in madness,
But mad in craft. 'Twere good you let him know;
For who, that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise,
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib,
Such dear concernings hide? who would do so?
No, in despite of sense and secrecy,
Unpeg the basket on the house's top.
Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape,
To try conclusions, in the basket creep,
And break your own neck down.(Hamlet is listing all of the actions that he does not want his mother to do. Hamlet also wants to touch on the fact that he is not mad in his mind, but he is fierce in his actions. Hamlet continues to advise his mother as to what she should do. Hamlet tells his mother how to act. Hamlet tell his mother that she must listen to his words and that she must do as he is telling her because this is a very serious situation that she is in)
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Be thou assured, if words be made of breath,
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe
What thou hast said to me.(The Queen assures Hamlet that she has heard what he has told her to do and that she will honor what Hamlet has said to her)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
To attempt to answer your question, Mr. Coon...
I think that "cook all your books" is referring to the line before it that says "'I hated everyone.' said the sun". I think that the sun, because it hates everyone, decided to "cook" or burn all of the books and by that I think that the sun is saying that he does not want us to have the pleasure of reading and educating ourselves in order to improve ourselves as a race. I may be reading WAY too far into this, but that is what I got from that line. Just an idea.
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