Blog Comments

Olivia Small Blog post #1 (Ophelia)

Ophelia,

I completely agree with your ideals, and I also believe that Hamlet needs you in these dark times. As he said, “My lord, he hath importuned me with love in honorable fashion.” (1.3.110). This only irritated Polonius the more. You should pursue your own interests, my dear, because happiness is fleeting.

-Gertrude

Michael Marino Blog Post #2 (Horatio)

Horatio,

Yes, even though you are absent, there is a lot of spying, and I am guilty to be a part, for I helped to commission Guildenstern and Rosencrantz “To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather / so much as from occasion you may glean,” (2.2.15-16). They were swift to spy on him, but were eventually inconclusive in their findings. This was obvious when Rosencrantz told to us, “He does confess he feels himself distracted, / but from what cause ‘a will by no means speak.” (3.1.5-6) but they still continue. I hope he can find peace with whatever troubles him, so that he may return to his old self.

Kristen Heydt Blog Post #3 (Hamlet0

Hamlet,

You need to return to you old self, and your colors need to truly show that. You need to not let your emotions cloud your thoughts and bring you down. When you said, “the heartache, and the thousand natural shocks / that flesh is heir to! ‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.” (3.1.62-64) I felt the same feeling when you said this, because I feel like you are dying in your emotions. What further upset me more was when you told to me, “Mother, you have my father much offended.” (3.4.11) You act like I never loved your father. You need to be less fierce, and change to some brighter colors.

Mohsin Shafi Blog Post #4

Claudius

I also think Kenneth Branagh is able to portray my son in the best way. He showed the fierceness and desperation that exists within hamlet. You also shouldn’t tease him, he is still grieving, as he said, “not so, my lord. I am too much in the sun.” (1.2.67) he was obviously making a jibe at you, but he is still attached to his father. And you should feel threatened by him. He is not himself.

Kelly O’Keefe Blog Post #5 (Gertrude)

Gerdy,

Peter Seng did have some solid points, and we both agree on that. Her death was sudden and devastating, and she will be missed. She was loved, as was apparent when Laertes said, “Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, and therefore I forbid my tears” (4.7.185-186) which showed that she was loved more than she knew.

Arden Jacobs Blog Post #6 (Ophelia)

Ophelia,

Now that I have joined you in the spirit realm, I have to appreciate your song choice. And you are partially right when you say that when you are gone, it will create something big. We are all worried about our legacies. Unfortunately, only Hamlets legacy holds, “Let four captains bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, / for he was likely, had he been put on, / to have proved most royal;” (5.2.397-399) but I must say goodbye to you and to all.

Blog Assignment #7

Blog Assignment #5

When I first saw what Peter J. Seng wrote in his literary criticism, I was indifferent, and I thought nothing of it. It is a very straightforward thinking that contains all factual information; it also put some things into light for me. For one, while talking about Ophelia’s deeper meaning, he brought up the idea, “No one is to be trusted at face value.” (Seng p.220) This was completely true throughout all of the royalty of Denmark, such as when Polonius told me to “Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with,” (3.4.2) right before Hamlet lunged to him and killed him. But really, it shows how very often we are influencing each other for different purposes. I thought about this further, and it really made me think. Are our own interests separating us? Is that why Hamlet is separating from me and Claudius? It might just be the small things, when Claudius Asked of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz “To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather / So much as from occasion you may glean,” (2.2.15-16).

But on the other hand I think he was very flagrant, and went a little too far with some of his accusations. He said that “The lives of all of the characters have been infected by Claudius’ original crime.” (Seng p.227) That is a heinous accusation! I should have him sentenced to death. I fell in love with Claudius and was able to be with him, as he said, “Therefore our sometimes sister, now our queen, / th’ imperial jointress to this warlike state,” (1.2.8-9). It obviously benefited the both of us to join together as one.

I also must disagree with Seng for saying, “The distraught girl could hardly turn to King Claudius, and the ‘beauteous Majesty of Denmark,’ Gertrude, has apparently been avoiding her.” (Seng p. 218). This is completely false, we have always been there for Ophelia, she has been too estranged from sanity to come seek the help from us, and it is her fault that she met her demise.