Hamlet Essays (3454 words) - Characters In Hamlet,

Hamlet THe unraveling of Hamlet Hamlet (c. 1600) is perhaps the most famous of all the tragedies created by William Shakespeare. The main character Hamlet -- may be the most complex and controversial character any playwright has ever placed onstage. Hamlets erratic behavior poses a question: is he being rational in his acts and sacrificing himself for the greater good or is he simply mad? How and why does Hamlet move from one state of mind to the other? What significance does this have for the play? Throughout the play Hamlet goes through several different stages of life, constantly being in a tortured mental state, caught between love, grief, and vengeance. His different states of mind are the result of his controversial personality and his ability to objectively analyze any situation. Over the centuries there have been a multitude of different explanations for Hamlet's behavior. One of the views is that Hamlet is simply a victim of circumstances; the other presents him as a beautiful but ineffectual soul who lac ked the willpower to avenge his father. Hamlet can also be viewed as something close to a manic-depressive whose melancholy moods, as his failure to take revenge continues, deepened into self-contempt. His disturbing gift of laughing at his own grief as well as at the shortcomings of the world in general also contributes to the complexity of his character. His laughter strengthens the plot, by becoming one of the qualities of his mind that enable him to avoid his mission and postpone his revenge. The reader can see that Shakespeare meant to create Hamlet to be such a complicated character. Hamlet is a person of exceptional intelligence and sensitivity, raised to occupy a high station in life and then suddenly confronted with a violent and terrifying situation in which he must take drastic action. He admits that he is not ready for this task: The time is out of joint. O cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right! (1.5.188-89). At this point Hamlets mind is torn apart by the controversy of vengeance. It's hardly surprising to find him veering between extremes of behavior, hesitating, demanding proof, and looking for the most appropriate way to carry out his task. The Ghost appears before Hamlet at a very disturbing time in his life -- his fathers tragic death and his mothers quick remarriage are more than Hamlets mind can bear. The reader can easily find justification for this point of view, especially in Hamlet's own soliloquies. Early in the play Hamlet manifests his anger: Let me not think ont; frailty, thy name is woman A little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she followed my poor fathers body Like Niobe, all tears, why, she O god, a beast that wants discourse of reason Would have mourned longermarried with my uncle, My fathers brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules. Within a month, Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to good. (1.2.146-58) Linked to the theme of revenge is the great question of Hamlet's inner meditations: Is there a point to life at all? Do humans suffer in this harsh world for a purpose, or simply because they are afraid to find out what may lie beyond it? Is there a higher power, and how does one seek its guidance? Hamlet's anguish is caused by his effort to link even the most trivial event to the order of the universe. His inability to coop with reality because of his philosophical beliefs causes Hamlets state of mind to constantly change. His dilemma is in his unsuccessful attempts to create a tangible bond between his passion, which would spur him to immediate vengeance, and reason, which is God-given, and which would soothe Hamlets action with sensible judgment. Hamlet is trapped between two worlds: the ideal world that he created in his head and the existing reality. Worst of all however, is that he realizes tha t the weakness of his mind prevents him from acting:

Free Essays on Pass-fail Grading

Resolve: All classes should be made pass/fail (grades would be abolished) I. Introductory statement: Wouldn’t you agree that school would be less stressful if you didn’t have to worry about what letter grade was going to appear on your report card? To solve this problem I think that all schools should adopt the pass or fail grading system to be the new form of grading and to get rid of the A’s B’s and C’s so you don’t have to worry what you get on a test but to actually understand the material that you are supposed to learn and not just memorize for a test. II. Supporting arguments A. For a pass/fail grading system a standard would have to be set up what would be considered pass or fail. This standard would show anything over a 70% a passing grade and any thing under 70% would be considered a failing grade. With this system now students of all levels would be motivated to do some honest work and put some effort in school and every student could see PASS, PASS, PASS, PASS instead of seeing A or B, B or C, and C or D B. In this pass fail grading system there would be three different levels, a core or basic level course, an academic or an average level course and advanced which is for the best and the brightest students. Each student would fit in one of these levels for every class and will be able to get as much as he or she puts into their school work. If you put an honest effort into your classes, then you will be able to pass any of your classes. You would concentrate on learning the important ideas instead of studying to do good on testes. You would retain the information you learned. It should be your choice on what you get out of your high school education, Right? C. At Baldwin, we only have one pass/fail class - drivers education. Pass or fail classes have started to spread across the country starting in local districts, staring to move across states and possible going to start to m... Free Essays on Pass-fail Grading Free Essays on Pass-fail Grading Resolve: All classes should be made pass/fail (grades would be abolished) I. Introductory statement: Wouldn’t you agree that school would be less stressful if you didn’t have to worry about what letter grade was going to appear on your report card? To solve this problem I think that all schools should adopt the pass or fail grading system to be the new form of grading and to get rid of the A’s B’s and C’s so you don’t have to worry what you get on a test but to actually understand the material that you are supposed to learn and not just memorize for a test. II. Supporting arguments A. For a pass/fail grading system a standard would have to be set up what would be considered pass or fail. This standard would show anything over a 70% a passing grade and any thing under 70% would be considered a failing grade. With this system now students of all levels would be motivated to do some honest work and put some effort in school and every student could see PASS, PASS, PASS, PASS instead of seeing A or B, B or C, and C or D B. In this pass fail grading system there would be three different levels, a core or basic level course, an academic or an average level course and advanced which is for the best and the brightest students. Each student would fit in one of these levels for every class and will be able to get as much as he or she puts into their school work. If you put an honest effort into your classes, then you will be able to pass any of your classes. You would concentrate on learning the important ideas instead of studying to do good on testes. You would retain the information you learned. It should be your choice on what you get out of your high school education, Right? C. At Baldwin, we only have one pass/fail class - drivers education. Pass or fail classes have started to spread across the country starting in local districts, staring to move across states and possible going to start to m...

Suitors of Queen Elizabeth I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Suitors of Queen Elizabeth I - Essay Example Eventually, it was still Elizabeth's word against them when she said that the people's interests were more important. Centuries after the Queen's death, investigations were being done to claim that indeed, there was a secret marriage with two secret sons to boot. One of the sons accordingly was Francis Bacon, a writer turned critic of the Queen. Whether this was true or not, the Francis Bacon Society is promoting the truth of this belief now. In fact, some of the sources used in this paper come from sirbacon.org, a website for Francis Bacon. Queen Elizabeth was born on September 7, 1533, to Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, King of Great Britain.1 The King then had Catherine of Aragon for a wife who could not bear him a son that he changed the course of his country's history to marry Boleyn. Instead, she bore Elizabeth. Eventually, Anne was charged with incest and beheaded on May 19, 1536, before Elizabeth was even three years old. Meanwhile, Elizabeth grew up but is a reminder to Henry of Anne, Elizabeth was sent away from Court.2 From 1534 to 1585 or for a period of 51 long years, dukes, archdukes, princes, knights, and kings courted Elizabeth. The first suitor on record was Charles, Earl of Angouleme, 3 but the nature of such courtship has not been explained. In 1534, Elizabeth was only a year old, having been born in 1533. 4 Elizabeth became queen on November 17, 1558, at the age of 25. 5 Therefore 21 nobles may have courted her before she was ever crowned, and 13 when she became queen.6 Upon the queen's coronation, Felipe II, the King of Spain, instantly became a suitor, taking after his son, Don Carlos, coming ahead by three years in 1556.7. When she was last being wooed in 1585 she was already 52.8 The Queen died on March 24, 1603, at the age of 70 9 having had 34 principal suitors .10 The list of suitors The following list 11 includes only the principal suitors of queen Elizabeth according to period: 1534, Charles, Earl of Angouleme; 1536, Duke of Orleans et de Chtellerault; 1542-1545, Duke of Bourbon, third son of Francois I; - 1538, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria; 1542, a Prince of Portugal; 1543 James Hamilton, Son of James Hamilton, 2 Earl of Arran; 1544, Prince Felipe; 1547, Sir Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley; 1551, Brother of the Duke of Guise; 1551, Alfonso D'Este; 1533-1597, Son of Hercules D'Este Duke of Ferrara; and 1551, Son of Cosimo de' Medici, Duke of Florence; - 1552, Prince Frederick of Denmark; 1553, Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire; 1554 Henry Fitzalan, BaronMaltravers, Son of the Earl of Arundel; 1554, Duque de Segorbe; 1554, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor; 1554, Prince Frederick of Denmark; 1555, Christopher II Zahringen, and 1536, then again in1577, Margrave of Baden; - 1555, Philibert Emanuel, Duke of Savoy; 1556 Prince Eric of Sweden; 1556, Don Carlos (son of Felipe II); 1559, Felipe II; 1559, Prince Eric of Sweden; 1559, Son of Johann Friedrich I, 1556, Duke of Saxony who also tried two years before; 1559, Sir William Pickering; 1559,James Hamilton, 2 Earl of Arran, father of the one who courted the Queen in 1543; - 1559, Henry Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel; 1559, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; 1560, King Eric XVI of Sweden; 1560, Adolphus of Gottorp, Duke of Holstein and Knight of the Garter;  1560,   King Charles IX of France; 1560,   Henri De Valois, Duke of Anjou.