Hey all, I just found this website and was wondering if anyone could help me out... I don't want you to write the essay or anything but I need guidance on what I should talk about , etc. Our teacher gave us a thesis, which is:
In Shakespeare play, Hamlet's circumstances force him to confront the bleaker side of human existance, but there is a positive message that emerges in spite of the tragic ending.
I can talk about the following:
Hamlet's Loss of Innocence
Hamlet's sense of helplessness
Hamlet's melancholy
Lastly I have to talk about Hamlet's Realization at the end of the play (finding balance, acceptance through example of Horatio)
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Can anyone help me out... I'm not sure how to start this off and what to talk about. I want to do this as a 1-3-1 essay and am having a hard time in figuring out what my 3 arguments should be.
Thanks :)
Hamlet's Realization
I'm not sure if you understand what's Hamlet's realization. It's not a balance, but "To be or not to be" which is "to act or not to act" and Hamlet finally chooses to act, and does all the things he does.
notice that even though it's a revenge story, nobody dies (except duncan) until act 4. WHY? because Hamlet was struggling whether to take action or to wait. He finally realizes his mission and his "road to glory" and decides to become active, which is why everybody dies in act 4 and 5.
his realization is THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THEME. He overcame the bleaker side of himself (which was to submit himself to fate) and decided to take his revenge. So, I'd suggest you putting this in the intro and 1st paragraph. you need to make this your main point, not his loss of innocence (you sure? He was never truly innocent, he was smarter than everybody else and had the most devilish schemes) or his helplessness (or lethargy), which could be combined with melancholy.
hope that helps.
Thanks it does help me out a bit... My main concern is if i do a 1-3-1 essay what should I talk about for the 3 main arguments... The one's I listed above are suggestions the teacher gave and he said we can incorporate those ideas into the essay.
Thanks a lot for the help though, I didn't know that before you posted it.
sorry, i misunderstood the meaning of bleak.
if you want to talk about his pessimistic view on the world, then talk about the trouble he was in: his father dead, his mother remarried 2 months later, now he's treated as crazy, killed an innocent, sent to england to die, survived b/c of pirates, killed his childhood friends (ros and guil) with the letter, and realized his love died, and confronted by Laertes, everybody, including his other, were against him. Briefly talk about these facts, then go on talking about his desperation.
which led to:
his statement that if one will eventually die, then why not accomplish something noble (scene 4 i believe, the sparrow argument i think)
so this ties in "to be or not to be"
end with his view on the relationship between his mother and his uncle --> the scene right before he kills Polonius, when he questions his mother why she would choose a man such as his uncle over the godlike figure of his father --> no hope between his mother and his uncle and of others. O DON'T FORGET THE GRAVEYARD SCENE. He saw yorrick's skull and lamented on the shortness of life, which also helped his decision to act.
you could play with the order a bit, hopefully that's enough info to play with.
Thanks :)
Basically my question is, with the thesis I provided... am I able to talk about what you said in your second post?
his realization is THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THEME. He overcame the bleaker side of himself (which was to submit himself to fate) and decided to take his revenge.
Can I talk about how Hamlet is unable to take revenge until it's too late... ?
Can I talk about how Hamlet is unable to take revenge until it's too late... ?
haha, that wasn't my point. it wasn't too late. revengers are bound to die, and hamlet actually succeeded in what he did. my point is that he questioned himself and finally, his bleak view of the world pushed him to act (as i said, i misunderstood bleak to be weak, when it's actually hopeless)
Okay I wrote something but I can't post it here... is it possible to PM you?
why not? technical or personal?
and sure message me.
Personal... I can't post what I"m about to hand in for plaigersim issues.. how do I message you?
isn't what PM means?
well, you should see a mail symbol next to my name, one of the privileges of signing up for a contributor lol :D
lol I"m either blind or stupid right now because I don't see the mail symbol next to your name...
o... haha , i see what's going on, it's restricted to contributors.
carlyang007@hotmail.com, i trust you with this, don't spam me plz
