The Betrayal in Hamlet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Betrayal in Hamlet - Essay Example Hamlet's insanity is philosophical, the result of brooding upon his father's death and learning the truth about it. Ophelia's insanity is often portrayed as the result of being a woman, a person for whom emotion trumps reason, who cannot be held accountable for her actions as a result of her gender. Although this is true as Showalter explains it, modern readers can still create a new picture of Ophelia, as an intelligent woman who defies society's expectations by thinking for herself, even as others manipulate her for their own gain. Ophelia's first appearance in the play is at her brother Laertes's side; the time and place of her life requires that, if Ophelia is to be a good girl, she will always be governed by trusted men. Her brother engages in the family pastime of giving unwanted advice in long, lofty monologues. He says straight off, "For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor, Hold it a fashion and a toy in bloodnot permanent, sweet, not lasting" (I. iii. 5-8). Laertes anticipates Hamlet's betrayal of his sister, and Ophelia seems to understand what he is saying. But we can assign a degree of independence to Ophelia in his conversation; she accepts his warning lightly and then turns it around, suggesting that Laertes is giving good advice, which he himself needs to follow. When her father, Polonius, quizzes her on the same subject, she is slightly more forthcoming, but she also argues in Hamlet's favor, calling his wooing of her "honorable" (I. iii. 110) and "holy" (I. iii. 114). At the end of the scene, P olonius tells her to avoid Hamlet, and she promises to do so. Modern readers are left to wonder the men's motivations. Do they care for Ophelia, or is she a commodity whose worth could be compromised They do not trust her to make the right decision on her own, but force her into dangerous situations for their own reasons. When next we see Ophelia, she is reporting to her father on Hamlet's frightening behavior. Although she has tried to avoid him, he bursts in on her private quarters and acts crazy, grabbing her arm staring at her in a scary way. Ophelia is still behaving essentially according to expectation, coming to her father for help. She tells him she has acted "as you did command" (II. i. 108), and even Polonius believes it may be his advice that has provokes such a response. Not long after that, everyone starts to worry about Hamlet's bizarre behavior. The king, with Polonius, decides to set up a situation in which the two men can observe the young people together and determine whether Ophelia is the reason for Hamlet's madness, and in this scene, Shakespeare plants the beginnings of Ophelia's madness in Hamlet's lies and contradictions. Here her mind turns to melancholy. She sees herself "of all ladies most deject and wretched" (III. i. 158), but not before she laments the poison that infect s Hamlet. Meanwhile, her father and the king disagree on the effect of their pawn sacrifice, not considering the extent to which they have really sacrificed her. Without this external manipulation, Ophelia might have been safer. Again, in Ophelia's next scene, she is forced to contend with Hamlet's changing madness, as he flirts outrageously with her in front of both of their families and actually

The american story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The american story - Essay Example What features characterize the American past and how they are reflected within the current day’s American society? In the simplest form, the American story would be seen in whole range of aspects surrounding political, social cultural as well as the economic evolution as has been cited in the past (Salzano 1-3; Anon, 2-3). In the analysis of the American story, this paper intends to evaluate the great steps that characterize the past of the great nation. In particular, the evaluation of the movies as watched in the class depict the systematic change in the different aspects of a nation; economic, social cultural as well as political that are characteristic features of the past to America. As seen from the great book by Garrett, ‘the American story’, much of mankind past can never be ascertained by simply believing what is seen. He clearly reveals that much is what lies behind the scenes and only take the hand of divinity to reveal what actually is presumed. Just a s the case with the rest of world’s countries, the journey of a sovereign America as it is today started with the weight of colonialism. However, events unfolded systematically to pave way to what is currently known as the world’s great, ‘the America’. ... Indeed, the great Henry is quoted to say "As for me, give me liberty or give me death" (Garrett 14), all in the spirit of nationhood as characterized the early formation of a state. It is the committed strive of a great people to birth an unknown country and which would command great global power within a mere span of six generations down the line. Despite the oneness revealed through the struggle for independence within the American country and which is evidently portrayed by the independence declaration, â€Å"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable right, that among these are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness† (Garrett, 13-16) turned out to mock this own spirit with the practice of mastery and the slave as was the case with the negroes. The actual sense of liberty was only inherent within spirituality as many generations down the line find liberty as mere fiction in their p ursuit. Different continents in history hold different stories of evolution as the book by Diamond in review of the movie, ‘guns, germs and steel’ portrays. He sought to unravel the reasons behind the inequality as seen in our societies, the reason why some societies develop quickly than others. It also intends to reveal the mystery behind the colonization of America by Europe and not otherwise as common sense would have it. Food production as revealed through the evolution track of human beings brought about disparity and class distinction between the haves and the have-nots. Much of the endowment in productivity arose from geographical disparities and the climatic conditions (Diamond 195-197).