After finishing a Farewell to Arms, the ending really didn’t surprise me. As soon as the couple seemed to escape all of their troubles with the military police and escaping Italy, I knew that something bad would happen in the end. Hemingway doesn’t write happy endings and I could predict that she was going to die in childbirth from a mile away. Nevertheless, I did still have to read the entire ending because it seemed several times that Catherine might pull through. Yet no matter how many fatal bullets the couple dodges, they are never really in safety. Even in the last few pages after learning the baby died and that Catherine was recovering ok, there was still an ominous feeling in Heminway’s tone. The author didn’t fail to deliver in yet another sad ending despite surviving many near catastrophic events, Catherine dies of a hemorrhage. This conclusion makes A Farewell to Arms seem even more like a true Romeo and Juliet story except that Romeo doesn’t die.
As I alluded in my first blog, I believe that their relationship started as a make-believe love that developed into something deeper and truer. As Lt. Henry had more time to think about what Catherine really meant to him, he began to fall in love with her. It was no longer a wartime fling that he had experienced with so many other women. Although he first intended Catherine to be another one of his one night stands, he soon realized that she meant more to him that other women. He found that he actually cared about her. Lt. Henry matured over the course of his experiences in the war from being a lost young man to an adult that knew what he wanted in life. He realized that he only wanted to be with Catherine no matter what the risk. It was a type of emotional awakening for Lt. Henry along with Catherine. They both started to make sacrifices for each other and let themselves fall in love. They both began to let their emotional barrier down. Before meeting Henry, Catherine was still in shock from losing her long time fiancée in the war. Even when she met Henry, it seemed as if she believed it was her lost love coming back from the dead to be with her again. Even at their first meeting, Catherine wanted Henry to tell her how much he loved her, and that he would never leave her again. It seemed as if she was looking for someone to fill her void and that she was even a little crazy in visualizing Henry as her lost love. Even Lt. Henry could see that was a little crazy and was emotionally distraught. Nevertheless, he didn’t shy away from her; he embraced her because he too needed someone that he could love although he didn’t see it yet. Both of them had emotional problems that needed to be solved and were both a little crazy–they seemed perfect for each other.
In my paper I plan to analyze how their love matured and what events/changes were especially critical in their emotional awakening. It might also be interesting to examine to what extent is this a tragic novel and what devices and events make it seem this way. Although it seems like a tragic ending, the characters could not control their fate in the end at all. They did everything they could to make it and they did not have any tragic flaws that lead to their downfall. Their fate was out of their hands and in the hands of mother nature. It seems that Hemingway might be implying that no matter how hard you try to do everything right, your fate is never really in your own control. (635)
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sources for A Farewell to Arms Paper
These are the sources I have found that might be usefull in writing my paper.
1. Supernaturalism and the Vernacular Style in A Farewell to Arms
Authors: George Dekker, Joseph Harris
2. A Farewell to Arms: Hemingway and Peele
Author: Clinton Keeler
3. Tragic Form in A Farewell to Arms
Author: Robert Merrill
4. The English Journal Review A Farewell to Arms
Author: James F. Fuller
1. Supernaturalism and the Vernacular Style in A Farewell to Arms
Authors: George Dekker, Joseph Harris
2. A Farewell to Arms: Hemingway and Peele
Author: Clinton Keeler
3. Tragic Form in A Farewell to Arms
Author: Robert Merrill
4. The English Journal Review A Farewell to Arms
Author: James F. Fuller
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A Farewell to Arms 1
When I finished the first few chapters of “A Farewell to Arms” I knew that I was going to enjoy following Lt. Henry’s story. On my first sitting I had trouble putting the book down, so I read 280 pages. I have always liked reading books set in war time and this is no exception. The settings in the novel are so strange in that they are both dominated by the beautiful Italian countryside yet surrounded by a raging world war. All of the characters in the book, and I mean all of them, add something unique to the plot and simply make the novel interesting to read. Every character has his or her own bizarre mannerism or personality that helps to keep the reader hooked to every scene.
Lt. Henry is quite complex not only because he is an American fighting in the Italian army, but also because his motives for being in the war are so ambiguous. It took a lot of determination to take it upon himself to enlist in the army but on the second hand it seems as if he could careless about the war. No one forced him to join the fight so it would imply that he had some strong desire to serve and be a hero. Although he is courageous in battle and selfless when it comes to his men, Lt. Henry is not looking for honor or to be a hero. Even when he is recommended to receive a silver star he seems to care little at all. When he is at the front all he can do is think about leaving and yet once he is wounded all he can think about it getting back to the fight as quickly as possible. Lt. Henry is a very contradictory and complex man. It seems as if he has no real direction or purpose in life, that is until he meets Catherine.
Although at first he thinks she is crazy, for some reason he continues to visit her habitually. He tells her he loves her even though he doesn’t and he has no intentions whatsoever of falling for her. But once he is away from her for three days he begins to notice how much he truly misses her and I think that it shocks him greatly. Never before has he ever loved anyone or has know what it is like to love until now. When Lt. Henry is again sent to the front and is wounded badly in the legs, he can think of nothing but Catherine. From that point on he knows that he wants nothing more than to be with her. As he heals at the hospital their relationship quickly builds into something serious I believe that they both did not anticipate. I found it strange that they could fall in love so quickly and they never have any serious dialogue. Yet they both agree that they are essentially married. After spending many months with her he is finally healed enough to go back to the front and they cannot bear to separate. When the Italian lines break and Lt. Henry and his men are forced to retreat hastily, he is determined to survive only so that he can see Catherine again. Lt. Henry risks everything to return to her, even deserting from the army and possibly facing the firing squad. He finally realizes that the military was not his true calling, but it is to run away and be with Catherine. It seems as if Lt. Henry has found a genuine direction in his life and he is no longer wandering from place to place looking for something that he thinks might fill the void. (617)
Lt. Henry is quite complex not only because he is an American fighting in the Italian army, but also because his motives for being in the war are so ambiguous. It took a lot of determination to take it upon himself to enlist in the army but on the second hand it seems as if he could careless about the war. No one forced him to join the fight so it would imply that he had some strong desire to serve and be a hero. Although he is courageous in battle and selfless when it comes to his men, Lt. Henry is not looking for honor or to be a hero. Even when he is recommended to receive a silver star he seems to care little at all. When he is at the front all he can do is think about leaving and yet once he is wounded all he can think about it getting back to the fight as quickly as possible. Lt. Henry is a very contradictory and complex man. It seems as if he has no real direction or purpose in life, that is until he meets Catherine.
Although at first he thinks she is crazy, for some reason he continues to visit her habitually. He tells her he loves her even though he doesn’t and he has no intentions whatsoever of falling for her. But once he is away from her for three days he begins to notice how much he truly misses her and I think that it shocks him greatly. Never before has he ever loved anyone or has know what it is like to love until now. When Lt. Henry is again sent to the front and is wounded badly in the legs, he can think of nothing but Catherine. From that point on he knows that he wants nothing more than to be with her. As he heals at the hospital their relationship quickly builds into something serious I believe that they both did not anticipate. I found it strange that they could fall in love so quickly and they never have any serious dialogue. Yet they both agree that they are essentially married. After spending many months with her he is finally healed enough to go back to the front and they cannot bear to separate. When the Italian lines break and Lt. Henry and his men are forced to retreat hastily, he is determined to survive only so that he can see Catherine again. Lt. Henry risks everything to return to her, even deserting from the army and possibly facing the firing squad. He finally realizes that the military was not his true calling, but it is to run away and be with Catherine. It seems as if Lt. Henry has found a genuine direction in his life and he is no longer wandering from place to place looking for something that he thinks might fill the void. (617)
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The--Poem
At first glance "My Papa’s Waltz" may appear to be a dark poem describing an abusive, alcoholic father. Yet after further examination, the reader may develop a completely opposite oppion. Although the father's intoxicated "waltz" seems to be excessively rough and abusive, the overall tone of the poem suggests otherwise-a comic and affectionate situation between father and son.
The first stanza introduces the reader to the drunken, uneasy waltz that drives the action of the poem. It is clear that the father has been drinking heavily as the speaker notes his foul breath, "Could make a small boy dizzy." In order for the speaker to keep up with his father's wild dancing he must hang "on like death" suggesting that the father may be becoming abusive. The stanza ends with an uncertain tone, revealing a situation in which the speaker is trying to enjoy the moment yet cannot overlook his fathers heavy drinking problem.
As their dance continues they "romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf" creating a comic scene while the mother watches disapprovingly. The word "romped" connotes a joyful roughhouse between the son and his father, not an abusive situation disguised as dancing. Since the father is drunk his dancing has become less than perfect causing him to bump into the surrounding objects in the kitchen. If he was in fact beating his son and not just rough housing, the mother would have reacted with more enthusiasm than simply a frown. No attempts at intervention were made because none were necessary.
The third and fourth stanzas might again be misunderstood as an abusive encounter, but the overall playful tone suggest otherwise. The fathers hand is described as being "battered on one knuckle" which might imply that he has been abusing his family and son. His palms are then described as being "caked hard by dirt" which leads the reader to believe that the father is a manual laborer, and could have received his "battered" knuckle while on the job. If he had injured himself while beating his family, then the speaker would have not chosen such a humorous tone. At the end of the night the father, "Then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt." If the father was in fact abusing the small boy, then why would he take the time to put him to bed. The speaker is also described to be "clinging" to his father's shirt rather than running away in fear of his abusive, alcoholic father.
Although the satirical tone of the poem may suggest that the speaker is somewhat critical of his fathers heavy drinking, roughness, and inconsiderate actions, the overall comic scene helps the reader to look past the harsh edges. The constant rhythm throughout the poem helps to give it a lighter feeling to contrast with some of its possible darker interpretations. At times the fathers drunkenness and lines such "at every step you missed my right ear scrapped a buckle" or "you beat time on my head" might not suggest an altogether joyful dance, but rather a frightful experience. Nonetheless the relationship between the father and son is an affectionate and complicated love despite the poem's dark undertone.
Question Deals:
1. Although I have interpreted the poem to be an overall affectionate experiece, does anyone think that the poem is really about the boy being abused
2.How does the language used in the poem make its meaning ambiguous
3.How is the comic tone achieved in the poem
4.What effect does rhyming have on the poem
5.How would you describe the imagery used in the poem?
The first stanza introduces the reader to the drunken, uneasy waltz that drives the action of the poem. It is clear that the father has been drinking heavily as the speaker notes his foul breath, "Could make a small boy dizzy." In order for the speaker to keep up with his father's wild dancing he must hang "on like death" suggesting that the father may be becoming abusive. The stanza ends with an uncertain tone, revealing a situation in which the speaker is trying to enjoy the moment yet cannot overlook his fathers heavy drinking problem.
As their dance continues they "romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf" creating a comic scene while the mother watches disapprovingly. The word "romped" connotes a joyful roughhouse between the son and his father, not an abusive situation disguised as dancing. Since the father is drunk his dancing has become less than perfect causing him to bump into the surrounding objects in the kitchen. If he was in fact beating his son and not just rough housing, the mother would have reacted with more enthusiasm than simply a frown. No attempts at intervention were made because none were necessary.
The third and fourth stanzas might again be misunderstood as an abusive encounter, but the overall playful tone suggest otherwise. The fathers hand is described as being "battered on one knuckle" which might imply that he has been abusing his family and son. His palms are then described as being "caked hard by dirt" which leads the reader to believe that the father is a manual laborer, and could have received his "battered" knuckle while on the job. If he had injured himself while beating his family, then the speaker would have not chosen such a humorous tone. At the end of the night the father, "Then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt." If the father was in fact abusing the small boy, then why would he take the time to put him to bed. The speaker is also described to be "clinging" to his father's shirt rather than running away in fear of his abusive, alcoholic father.
Although the satirical tone of the poem may suggest that the speaker is somewhat critical of his fathers heavy drinking, roughness, and inconsiderate actions, the overall comic scene helps the reader to look past the harsh edges. The constant rhythm throughout the poem helps to give it a lighter feeling to contrast with some of its possible darker interpretations. At times the fathers drunkenness and lines such "at every step you missed my right ear scrapped a buckle" or "you beat time on my head" might not suggest an altogether joyful dance, but rather a frightful experience. Nonetheless the relationship between the father and son is an affectionate and complicated love despite the poem's dark undertone.
Question Deals:
1. Although I have interpreted the poem to be an overall affectionate experiece, does anyone think that the poem is really about the boy being abused
2.How does the language used in the poem make its meaning ambiguous
3.How is the comic tone achieved in the poem
4.What effect does rhyming have on the poem
5.How would you describe the imagery used in the poem?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Subtext Deal
LORD POLONIUS
He will come straight. Look you lay home to him:Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with,And that your grace hath screen'd and stood betweenMuch heat and him. I'll sconce me even here.Pray you, be round with him.
HAMLET
[Within] Mother, mother, mother!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
I'll warrant you,Fear me not: withdraw, I hear him coming.
POLONIUS hides behind the arras
Enter HAMLET
The two plot to get as much information from Hamlet as possible. Polonius believes that Hamlet is going crazy over Ophelia
HAMLET
Now, mother, what's the matter?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
HAMLET
Mother, you have my father much offended.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
HAMLET
Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
Hamlet questions the Queens motives for marrying her husband brother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Why, how now, Hamlet!
The Queen begins to understand that she has sinned and it is her fault.
HAMLET
What's the matter now?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Have you forgot me?
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.
Hamlet is sarcastic and knows his mother is beginning to understand why he is upset with her.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak.
HAMLET
Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge;You go not till I set you up a glassWhere you may see the inmost part of you.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?Help, help, ho!
Hamlet has become very violent in his tone and attitude. The queen thinks that she may be harmed.
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] What, ho! help, help, help!
HAMLET
[Drawing] How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!
Makes a pass through the arras
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] O, I am slain!
Falls and dies
Polonius belives the queen is at risk and comes to her aid. Hamlet stabs Polonius through the cutian under the impression that it is the King.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O me, what hast thou done?
HAMLET
Nay, I know not:Is it the king?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
HAMLET
A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,As kill a king, and marry with his brother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
As kill a king!
HAMLET
Ay, lady, 'twas my word.
Lifts up the array and discovers POLONIUS
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune;Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.Leave wringing of your hands: peace! sit you down,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 soThat it is proof and bulwark against sense.
Hamlet again shames his mother for marrying her murdered husband's brother. Hamlet attempt to humiliate her.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongueIn noise so rude against me?
Again the Queen tries to plead with Hamlet by reminding him that she is his mother.
HAMLET
Such an actThat blurs the grace and blush of modesty,Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the roseFrom the fair forehead of an innocent loveAnd sets a blister there, makes marriage-vowsAs false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deedAs from the body of contraction plucksThe very soul, and sweet religion makesA 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 disgusted with the queens immoral acts against his slain father.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Ay me, what act,That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?
The Queen tries to play innocent by not understanding Hamlets accusations.
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 MercuryNew-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:
Hamlet tries to make the queen remorse her husband by reminding her of his qualities and his impact on their lives.
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 ageThe hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,And waits upon the judgment: and what judgmentWould step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have,Else could you not have motion; but sure, that senseIs apoplex'd; for madness would not err,Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'dBut it reserved some quantity of choice,To serve in such a difference. What devil was'tThat 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 senseCould 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 shameWhen the compulsive ardour gives the charge,Since frost itself as actively doth burnAnd reason panders will.
Hamlet speaks of the contrast between the two brothers to further guilt his mother. His speech almost brings him to tears but yet he is still bitterly angry at his mother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, speak no more:Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;And there I see such black and grained spotsAs will not leave their tinct.
Hamlet's words have finally struck a cord with his mother. She finally begins to realiaze how much she has sinned.
HAMLET
Nay, but to liveIn the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making loveOver the nasty sty,--
Hamlet is disgusted with his mothers actions. He describes thier unholy marriage.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, speak to me no more;These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;No more, sweet Hamlet!
HAMLET
A murderer and a villain;A slave that is not twentieth part the titheOf 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!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No more!
The Queen is finally completely broken down from listening to Hamlet's words.
HAMLET
A king of shreds and patches,--
Enter GhostSave me, and hover o'er me with your wings,You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure?
Hamlet looks to the ghost with deep respect and admiration. He falls to his knees as if it were an angel.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, he's mad!
HAMLET
Do you not come your tardy son to chide,That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go byThe important acting of your dread command? O, say!
Ghost
Do not forget: this visitationIs 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 see how Hamlet has affected his mother with his words. She is in deep remorse and the ghost feels for her now.
HAMLET
How is it with you, lady?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, how is't with you,That you do bend your eye on vacancyAnd with the incorporal air do hold discourse?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 distemperSprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?HAMLET
On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares!His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones,Would make them capable. Do not look upon me;Lest with this piteous action you convertMy stern effects: then what I have to doWill want true colour; tears perchance for blood.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
To whom do you speak this?
The queen believes that her son is mad. She thinks that he may be irrational and unstable.
HAMLET
Do you see nothing there?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nothing at all; yet all that is I see.
HAMLET
Nor did you nothing hear?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, nothing but ourselves.
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!
Hamlet is staring at the ghost as if it was truly his father.
Exit Ghost
QUEEN GERTRUDE
This the very coinage of your brain:This bodiless creation ecstasyIs very cunning in.
HAMLET
Ecstasy!My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,And makes as healthful music: it is not madnessThat I have utter'd: bring me to the test,And I the matter will re-word; which madnessWould 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 timesVirtue itself of vice must pardon beg,Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.
Hamlet tries to convince his mother that he is not crazy and that his words and actions are true. What he is saying is what he truly believes and is not his irrational thoughts.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.
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 goodHe likewise gives a frock or livery,That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,And that shall lend a kind of easinessTo the next abstinence: the next more easy;For use almost can change the stamp of nature,And either [ ] the devil, or throw him outWith 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,
Pointing to POLONIUSI 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 wellThe 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.
He is again trying to appear clam and collected in front of his frightened mother. He does not want her to dismiss his previous words as the words of a mad man. Hamlet does not want to appear to be insane.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What shall I do?
The queen beings to believe her son and sees his rationality.
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 makes his final attempt to convince his mother to leave the king and that Hamlet still cares for his misguided mother. Hamlet also wants her to keep everything a secret. His tone is calm and collected, with a sense of urgency and importance.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Be thou assured, if words be made of breath,And breath of life, I have no life to breatheWhat thou hast said to me.
The queen tries to reassure her son, and to regain his trust. She wants him to know that she once again believes in him and in his guidance.
He will come straight. Look you lay home to him:Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with,And that your grace hath screen'd and stood betweenMuch heat and him. I'll sconce me even here.Pray you, be round with him.
HAMLET
[Within] Mother, mother, mother!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
I'll warrant you,Fear me not: withdraw, I hear him coming.
POLONIUS hides behind the arras
Enter HAMLET
The two plot to get as much information from Hamlet as possible. Polonius believes that Hamlet is going crazy over Ophelia
HAMLET
Now, mother, what's the matter?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
HAMLET
Mother, you have my father much offended.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
HAMLET
Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
Hamlet questions the Queens motives for marrying her husband brother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Why, how now, Hamlet!
The Queen begins to understand that she has sinned and it is her fault.
HAMLET
What's the matter now?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Have you forgot me?
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.
Hamlet is sarcastic and knows his mother is beginning to understand why he is upset with her.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak.
HAMLET
Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge;You go not till I set you up a glassWhere you may see the inmost part of you.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?Help, help, ho!
Hamlet has become very violent in his tone and attitude. The queen thinks that she may be harmed.
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] What, ho! help, help, help!
HAMLET
[Drawing] How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!
Makes a pass through the arras
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] O, I am slain!
Falls and dies
Polonius belives the queen is at risk and comes to her aid. Hamlet stabs Polonius through the cutian under the impression that it is the King.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O me, what hast thou done?
HAMLET
Nay, I know not:Is it the king?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
HAMLET
A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,As kill a king, and marry with his brother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
As kill a king!
HAMLET
Ay, lady, 'twas my word.
Lifts up the array and discovers POLONIUS
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune;Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.Leave wringing of your hands: peace! sit you down,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 soThat it is proof and bulwark against sense.
Hamlet again shames his mother for marrying her murdered husband's brother. Hamlet attempt to humiliate her.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongueIn noise so rude against me?
Again the Queen tries to plead with Hamlet by reminding him that she is his mother.
HAMLET
Such an actThat blurs the grace and blush of modesty,Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the roseFrom the fair forehead of an innocent loveAnd sets a blister there, makes marriage-vowsAs false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deedAs from the body of contraction plucksThe very soul, and sweet religion makesA 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 disgusted with the queens immoral acts against his slain father.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Ay me, what act,That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?
The Queen tries to play innocent by not understanding Hamlets accusations.
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 MercuryNew-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:
Hamlet tries to make the queen remorse her husband by reminding her of his qualities and his impact on their lives.
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 ageThe hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,And waits upon the judgment: and what judgmentWould step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have,Else could you not have motion; but sure, that senseIs apoplex'd; for madness would not err,Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'dBut it reserved some quantity of choice,To serve in such a difference. What devil was'tThat 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 senseCould 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 shameWhen the compulsive ardour gives the charge,Since frost itself as actively doth burnAnd reason panders will.
Hamlet speaks of the contrast between the two brothers to further guilt his mother. His speech almost brings him to tears but yet he is still bitterly angry at his mother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, speak no more:Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;And there I see such black and grained spotsAs will not leave their tinct.
Hamlet's words have finally struck a cord with his mother. She finally begins to realiaze how much she has sinned.
HAMLET
Nay, but to liveIn the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making loveOver the nasty sty,--
Hamlet is disgusted with his mothers actions. He describes thier unholy marriage.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, speak to me no more;These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;No more, sweet Hamlet!
HAMLET
A murderer and a villain;A slave that is not twentieth part the titheOf 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!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No more!
The Queen is finally completely broken down from listening to Hamlet's words.
HAMLET
A king of shreds and patches,--
Enter GhostSave me, and hover o'er me with your wings,You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure?
Hamlet looks to the ghost with deep respect and admiration. He falls to his knees as if it were an angel.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, he's mad!
HAMLET
Do you not come your tardy son to chide,That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go byThe important acting of your dread command? O, say!
Ghost
Do not forget: this visitationIs 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 see how Hamlet has affected his mother with his words. She is in deep remorse and the ghost feels for her now.
HAMLET
How is it with you, lady?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, how is't with you,That you do bend your eye on vacancyAnd with the incorporal air do hold discourse?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 distemperSprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?HAMLET
On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares!His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones,Would make them capable. Do not look upon me;Lest with this piteous action you convertMy stern effects: then what I have to doWill want true colour; tears perchance for blood.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
To whom do you speak this?
The queen believes that her son is mad. She thinks that he may be irrational and unstable.
HAMLET
Do you see nothing there?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nothing at all; yet all that is I see.
HAMLET
Nor did you nothing hear?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, nothing but ourselves.
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!
Hamlet is staring at the ghost as if it was truly his father.
Exit Ghost
QUEEN GERTRUDE
This the very coinage of your brain:This bodiless creation ecstasyIs very cunning in.
HAMLET
Ecstasy!My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,And makes as healthful music: it is not madnessThat I have utter'd: bring me to the test,And I the matter will re-word; which madnessWould 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 timesVirtue itself of vice must pardon beg,Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.
Hamlet tries to convince his mother that he is not crazy and that his words and actions are true. What he is saying is what he truly believes and is not his irrational thoughts.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.
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 goodHe likewise gives a frock or livery,That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,And that shall lend a kind of easinessTo the next abstinence: the next more easy;For use almost can change the stamp of nature,And either [ ] the devil, or throw him outWith 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,
Pointing to POLONIUSI 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 wellThe 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.
He is again trying to appear clam and collected in front of his frightened mother. He does not want her to dismiss his previous words as the words of a mad man. Hamlet does not want to appear to be insane.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What shall I do?
The queen beings to believe her son and sees his rationality.
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 makes his final attempt to convince his mother to leave the king and that Hamlet still cares for his misguided mother. Hamlet also wants her to keep everything a secret. His tone is calm and collected, with a sense of urgency and importance.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Be thou assured, if words be made of breath,And breath of life, I have no life to breatheWhat thou hast said to me.
The queen tries to reassure her son, and to regain his trust. She wants him to know that she once again believes in him and in his guidance.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Poor Greeks
In Sopchocles’s Antigone, yet again we are shown how our favorite Greek heroes and heroines suffer from their horribly tragic flaws. Through examining Creon’s and Antigone’s pitiful downfalls, we can only hope to learn from their unfortunate mistakes and pass this knowledge down to future generations. From what I have gathered after careful examination of the ancient text, I have concluded that it is important that we listen to whatever Teiresias says. But since Teiresias actually isn’t real, or at least he is dead, the real message here could be that we should listen to what other people have to say. In the story, Creon, Antigone, and Haemon all face less than favorable outcomes because they did not fully account for each other’s valid arguments. Creon and Antigone are both very different characters with very different motives. Creon adheres to the law of man and kingdom and in stark contrast Antigone follows her heart and the law of God. Their stubborn personalities would not allow them to seriously look at each other’s opposing arguments and to come to some sort of common agreement. If only Creon and Antigone could have found a way to set aside their pride and negotiate, they could have both avoided their tragic downfalls.
As the king of Thebes, Creon is the complete autocrat and leader who must personify the power and dignity of the state himself. Creon is the state. He represents the strength and stability in the kingdom. He possesses the unquestioned right to rule as he pleases and in any effort to uphold the stability of the kingdom. Though it may seem as if he is being cruel by leaving Polyneices to rot, the king must adhere to the laws of his state. If Creon did otherwise, it would seem as if he was a weak man who cared more for his blood than for his own people. Once Polyneices lead an army against Thebes, he became a traitor no matter what his past connection to the royal family. Creon must deny the enemy’s right to a decent burial although it is his own nephew. The king cannot have favorites and make exceptions at the cost of threatening the stability of his rule and kingdom. Once Antigone chose to defy Creon’s edict, she became a threat to the stability in Thebes and was arrested. If Creon simply allowed her to bury her brother, then it would appear that his laws meant nothing and could be easily broken. Up to this point, Creon’s actions are understandable as he is the king and must uphold the law of man. However, his treatment for Antigone is gruesome and the situation could have been handled a lot easier if he had only tried to negotiate with his niece.
In contrast to Creon, Antigone champions the laws of God above the laws of man. Antigone’s struggle to bury her traitorous brother draws attention to the difference between divine law and human law. To her, it is her obligation to bury Polynices no matter what his crimes. She follows her heart and believes that Creon’s edicts cannot override the laws of God and of morality. Creon coldly sees her argument as foolishly passionate and imprisons her. To Creon, his laws are the ultimate authority and are always right. Creon is just following his own laws. He is too proud and stubborn to notice that his decision is not morally just. Creon is not even affected by his own son’s pleas for mercy. Yet the king’s ultimate mistake is in Antigone’s punishment. Although Creon was full of pride and ambition at the start, by the conclusion Creon suffers the wrath of the gods, and ends in his own self-destruction.
If Creon and Antigone could have reached a compromise instead of taking the extreme sides of the argument, they could have easily prevented their fates. Creon was ultimately right in denying Polynices a public burial but he did not have to deny Antigone the decency to mourn her brother’s loss. If only he had allowed her to bury her brother in secret or out of the state, then this whole play could have been avoided. There would not have been a conflict, but then we wouldn’t have learned a valuable lesson. Both the opposing forces can never come to an easy agreement that makes a happy ending, because that doesn’t sell books as well. In the end, Sopchocles wanted to make money and teach us things at the same time. It must have worked since the play has been around a long time.
As the king of Thebes, Creon is the complete autocrat and leader who must personify the power and dignity of the state himself. Creon is the state. He represents the strength and stability in the kingdom. He possesses the unquestioned right to rule as he pleases and in any effort to uphold the stability of the kingdom. Though it may seem as if he is being cruel by leaving Polyneices to rot, the king must adhere to the laws of his state. If Creon did otherwise, it would seem as if he was a weak man who cared more for his blood than for his own people. Once Polyneices lead an army against Thebes, he became a traitor no matter what his past connection to the royal family. Creon must deny the enemy’s right to a decent burial although it is his own nephew. The king cannot have favorites and make exceptions at the cost of threatening the stability of his rule and kingdom. Once Antigone chose to defy Creon’s edict, she became a threat to the stability in Thebes and was arrested. If Creon simply allowed her to bury her brother, then it would appear that his laws meant nothing and could be easily broken. Up to this point, Creon’s actions are understandable as he is the king and must uphold the law of man. However, his treatment for Antigone is gruesome and the situation could have been handled a lot easier if he had only tried to negotiate with his niece.
In contrast to Creon, Antigone champions the laws of God above the laws of man. Antigone’s struggle to bury her traitorous brother draws attention to the difference between divine law and human law. To her, it is her obligation to bury Polynices no matter what his crimes. She follows her heart and believes that Creon’s edicts cannot override the laws of God and of morality. Creon coldly sees her argument as foolishly passionate and imprisons her. To Creon, his laws are the ultimate authority and are always right. Creon is just following his own laws. He is too proud and stubborn to notice that his decision is not morally just. Creon is not even affected by his own son’s pleas for mercy. Yet the king’s ultimate mistake is in Antigone’s punishment. Although Creon was full of pride and ambition at the start, by the conclusion Creon suffers the wrath of the gods, and ends in his own self-destruction.
If Creon and Antigone could have reached a compromise instead of taking the extreme sides of the argument, they could have easily prevented their fates. Creon was ultimately right in denying Polynices a public burial but he did not have to deny Antigone the decency to mourn her brother’s loss. If only he had allowed her to bury her brother in secret or out of the state, then this whole play could have been avoided. There would not have been a conflict, but then we wouldn’t have learned a valuable lesson. Both the opposing forces can never come to an easy agreement that makes a happy ending, because that doesn’t sell books as well. In the end, Sopchocles wanted to make money and teach us things at the same time. It must have worked since the play has been around a long time.
Monday, January 21, 2008
My Expert #2
After reviewing the four arguments posted in the "Imaginary Panel of Experts", it seems to me that the second expert appears to have been the most accurate in his interpretation of the text. Expert #2 believes that Gregor has transformed into an insect only because Gregor has felt like an insignificant being for so many years. The expert argues that Gregor has always been a disgusting groveling, abject, vermin-like creature his entire life – yet in human form. Only now has Gregor completed his metamorphosis and taken his true identity as an insignificant insect subservient to society.
As my selected expert points out, Gregor has adopted a vermin-like posture towards his family and the other authority figures in his life. Gregor seems to care only to please those around him and believes that he is insignificant to those around him. Even after he discovers he has taken the shape of an insect, Gregor can only think about how he is late for work. Gregor worries about his superiors reaction, Anyway I can still make the eight o’clock train. I’ll be showing up at the office very soon. Please be kind enough to inform them, and convey my best wishes to the director." As Gregor further pleads with his office manager to keep his job he says, "You will, you will let me go, won’t you? You can see, sir, that I’m not stubborn and I’m willing to work; the life of a traveling salesman is hard, but I couldn’t live without it. As you know very well, I am deeply obligated to the director." Again, Gregor grovels to his superiors as an insect just as he had groveled in his human form. Even as a human, Gregor never had given himself enough self-respect. As he continues his transformation into an insect, Gregor finds that he only enjoys eating garbage. As many people say, you are what you eat, and in Gregor’s case, he feels like garage. Even when Gregor rolls over and dies, he is so insignificant that his own family will not even take the time to mourn him. His new insect body severs to exemplify how his inner identity has transformed not only his mind, but also his physical form.
Gregor has been an insignificant insect for years in both his family affairs, and in his interactions with his boss. Gregor’s new physical appearance serves only demonstrate his true sense of worthlessness. Although the other experts provide valid arguments, the second expert’s interpretation of the text provides us with the most appropriate explanation for Gregor’s strange metamorphosis. Gregor’s mental state of worthlessness has finally caught up to his physical perception. Gregor has finally become the disgusting, cringing, abject, vermin that he has always felt he was. (457)
As my selected expert points out, Gregor has adopted a vermin-like posture towards his family and the other authority figures in his life. Gregor seems to care only to please those around him and believes that he is insignificant to those around him. Even after he discovers he has taken the shape of an insect, Gregor can only think about how he is late for work. Gregor worries about his superiors reaction, Anyway I can still make the eight o’clock train. I’ll be showing up at the office very soon. Please be kind enough to inform them, and convey my best wishes to the director." As Gregor further pleads with his office manager to keep his job he says, "You will, you will let me go, won’t you? You can see, sir, that I’m not stubborn and I’m willing to work; the life of a traveling salesman is hard, but I couldn’t live without it. As you know very well, I am deeply obligated to the director." Again, Gregor grovels to his superiors as an insect just as he had groveled in his human form. Even as a human, Gregor never had given himself enough self-respect. As he continues his transformation into an insect, Gregor finds that he only enjoys eating garbage. As many people say, you are what you eat, and in Gregor’s case, he feels like garage. Even when Gregor rolls over and dies, he is so insignificant that his own family will not even take the time to mourn him. His new insect body severs to exemplify how his inner identity has transformed not only his mind, but also his physical form.
Gregor has been an insignificant insect for years in both his family affairs, and in his interactions with his boss. Gregor’s new physical appearance serves only demonstrate his true sense of worthlessness. Although the other experts provide valid arguments, the second expert’s interpretation of the text provides us with the most appropriate explanation for Gregor’s strange metamorphosis. Gregor’s mental state of worthlessness has finally caught up to his physical perception. Gregor has finally become the disgusting, cringing, abject, vermin that he has always felt he was. (457)
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