#3

Hamlet's first soliloquy reveals how distressed he feels about the marriage of his mother to his uncle. After his father had died, it was not but 2 months after the funeral that the kingdom celebrated the wedding. Claudius suggests Hamlet get over his mourning, but there just hasn't been enough time, His fathers death along with his mothers marriage just piles grief upon grief to the point of anger where he appears to have gone mad. His mind then becomes obsessed with his fathers death, and becomes consumed in his own thought.

#9

As I discussed in my essay, Hamlet's to be or not to be speech is a direct view of his internal conscious. He is so overwhelmed with emotion that he is now debating his own existence, whether to give up avenging his father or follow through with his plan of exposing the king. Hamlets "madness" is only internal, hence why his speech was written as a soliloquy, but his action is distinct. He finally resolves in his conflict and beckons Ophelia to remember his sins for he will follow through with the play he had set up for the king.

#7

I believe that Hamlet's "antic disposition" is both of surprise and self interest. Of course Hamlet is astounded at the sight of his fathers ghost, but he does see the use of the ghost to his advantage. By appearing to have gone crazy, he has won a specific perspective from his friends upon himself and can use that to construct his next move. In other words, if he knows the king is thinking one way, that he is indeed mad, then he can shape his approach to his murder, play etc. the way he chooses without fear of being discovered.

#4

Both feel that Ophelia and Hamlet could never marry simply because they are incompatible socially. Hamlet could be married off to any princess for diplomatic reasons at any time having to give up Ophelia. Laertes has a more loving approach with Ophelia showing more care then Polonius, who doesn't seem to connect with ophelia at all, and tends to think she is very childish. Polonius tends to be one of those characters that does his own thing the entire play and never really connects.

Stuck Between Synapses: Hamlet's Unfiltered Mind

Our minds are unbelievably complex in their capability to process information and then render it into a purposeful action. As human beings we are not fully capable of understanding what ideas go on in ones mind; yet, what we can derive from ones actions offers some analysis to the motives of others, but not enough to create a detailed perspective of ones thought process. Shakespeare's Hamlet is perceived to be complex, but it is too often that Hamlet's mind and actions are misinterpreted as the same thing. Shakespeare has done us the impossible; he has given us a front row seat into a beautifully troubled mind, allowing Hamlet to be explored to depths like no other. The tragedy is that Shakespeare's gift is so utterly abused, allowing Hamlet to be considered as the most complex characters ever created, when the result of his cognition is that of one distinct action. His unfiltered thought process is mistakenly interpreted as the structure of his character, disregarding the fact that this is how our minds work. Thus Shakespeare's greatest creation is not the intricate character that he is esteemed to be, rather we the audience are privileged with viewing the raw processing power of Hamlet's mind and the construction of an idea into an action.

"Before the taking of a toast and tea."

I feel that this line is crucial to the understanding of the Human ego. The contrast in the triviality of this statement to the gravity of the entire poem represents how we tend to over-think even the most simplest of tasks. This line also represents the ego of Hamlet, who despite having a clear opinion of his fathers murder, is plagued with indecisiveness and over analysis.

Carlin Stiehl's Blog

Coy Mistress

The most obvious effect of this poem is the sense of urgency established by the author. He structures his poem much like an argument with "had," "but," and "now" trying to convince his mistress that she and him must seize the day. What stands out most is the last two lines "though we can not make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run." This captures the essence of his message, stating that they can not stop time, thus they must run together form it.