Act 5-Carli: Language and Personal Response

Language
1) my gorge rises: I feel sick, or nauseated. -Scene 1 Line 187
Hamlet says this when he is holding his old friend Yorick's skull. It makes him sick to think he is holding the skull of a once very important person to him, that he loved him and once kissed the dead lips he was looking at.

2) cozenage: trickery, the act of tricking of decieving someone. -Scene 2 Line 67
Hamlet uses this word when he talks about the evil deeds the king did in manipulating various things in Hamlets life, like the death of his father and turning his mother into a whore.

3) lapwing: a bird that draws intruders away from its nest and was thought to run around when hatched with its head in the shell. -Scene 2 Line 184
This is a reference to Osric as he leaves, his hat being the shell.

4) o'ercrows: triumphs over, overtakes -Scene 2 Line 355
Hamlet states that the poison has overtaken him, his death is coming fast.

5) cries on havoc: proclaims slaughter or mayhem -Scene 2 Line 366
Fortinbras shows up and sees all the dead bodies so he knows chaos or mass murders have taken place.

Personal Response
I loved the way it all ended, not because they all died but just how they did. It was so unexpected and ironic. It was so clever. It wasn't sad to me just because its hard for me to see emotion or drama in the text. It seems so blunt and straight forward that I can't feel emotional about it. Watching this scene in the movie will definitely change that I believe. I am glad that Horatio lived and that Hamlet stopped him before he drank the poison. If Hamlet would have just acted from the beginning and avenged his father right away, none of this would have happened. He could have saved a lot of lives by killing him sooner as ironic as that is. But overall I loved that story and especially the surprising ending.

Johns Act 5 Themes and Personal Repsonse

Themes:

• Twists of Fate- I found this to be one of the main themes in act five. It seems that the King will get away with another murder, this time to the son of King Hamlet. Laertes and Claudius plan the murder of Hamlet and it completely backfires. Hamlet says before he goes to fence Laertes that his fate is in God's hands and whatever happens to him will happen according to the will of God, and it seems that the fate of Laertes and Claudius was turned around due to their scheming plans and attempt to murder Hamlet. It seems that by their attempt to take another life, their fate was turned around and, despite killing Hamlet in the end, their plan completely backfired. Instead of forgiving Hamlet for the murder of Polonius and the madness he has caused in the kingdom, they end up killing basically anyone of any significance in the kingdom. The twist of fate ends up giving Claudius his own death sentence as well as the Queen and Laertes.

Personal Response:

         This act completely shocked me. I had no clue that when the word "tragedy" was used to describe Hamlet, it meant an all out killing. I find it fitting that Hamlet is later recognized for his actions when everyone doubted him and called him mad. King Claudius was awarded his own death after attempting to kill Hamlet. It seems like this act is comparative to how life works sometimes. When we make a wrong decision or two out of our own selfish desires, it turns out to hurt those we love in more ways than we could imagine, even though we didn't mean for it to. I found this act to be a very good ending to a suspense filled book. By it ending this way, it leaves almost all questions answered and it begins to show insight for the future of this country. It was ultimately disappointing Hamlet had to die, even though in the beginning we had a pretty good idea that he would end up dying.

Slade Ransdell: Act 4 Language/Response

1. Cicatrice: scar: a mark left (usually on the skin) by the healing of injured tissue
   
   Page 101, Line 4. Shakespeare used the word "cicatric" to describe the relationship between Denmark and England. When Claudius decides to send Hamlet to England he notes that England might be hesitant due to wounds that were inflicted by Denmark in the past. Hopefully the death of Hamlet will not only help those wounds, but it will get rid of Claudius' problem as well.
2. Imposthume: an abscess; to form an abscess.
   
   Page 102, Line18. Shakespeare uses the word "imposthume" to describe the act of Fortinbras' military aspirations. Hamlet is appalled that so many lives would be lost to fight for a piece of land that holds little importance. He feels as though by attacking Poland, both peace and wealth will form an abcess and be consumed.
3. Swoopstake: in an indiscriminate manner
   
   Page 109, Line 24. Shakespeare invents the word "swoopstake" to describe the manner in which Laertes conducts himself upon hearing of his father's death. Instead of remaining calm and investigating to find the cause and responsibility for his father's murder, he makes a big scene; drawing out both friend and foe. This is also a sort of criticism for the way that Laertes threatened the king. Claudius claims to be a friend of Laertes and his late father, if only to escape the edge of his sword.
   
   
   
   Response
    This Act was full of twists and secrets, which made it fairly interesting to read. Claudius' response to the play is continued in his efforts to get rid of Hamlet. This gives the sense that Claudius suspects that Hamlet knows he is responsible for killing his father. His desire to kill/get rid of Hamlet is so great that he conspires with Laertes to help him get revenge for Polonius' death (which is ironic). Meanwhile, Hamlet is trying to get home and exact his vengeance on his uncle. Laertes acts as Hamlet's opposite due to his immediate anger and desire for venegeance. Without any concrete proof of the murderer, he barges into the castle and demands justice (which is the exact opposite of what Hamlet did).

Act 4- Personal Response- Erika Kehrt

This act was very frustrating and difficult to read, because King Claudius is turning everyone against Hamlet when he is the one who needs to be killed. I really don’t know what is going to happen between Laertes and Hamlet, but I know that there is most likely going to be a big brawl between them. I hate that Ophelia died, because I really wanted her and Hamlet to get married, and for there to be a happy ending. I am looking forward to the next act to see what else Claudius tries to do to kill Hamlet.

Act 4- Clarification Questions- Erika Kehrt

1.      What insult does Hamlet have for Rosencrantz and why is this term fitting?

2.      Why is Gertrude so concerned with what Ophelia is saying in her madness?

3.      Why would Laertes demand the throne? Is he an heir?

4.      Why is Laertes upset by the manner of Polonius’ burial? 

5.      What is the significance of Hamlet sending the letter about the ship he was on being taken over by pirates, and was the letter true?

6.      How will Laertes and the King insure Hamlet’s death in their plot?

 

 

Answer to number 6:

       Laertes and the King insure Hamlet's death by tricking him into fencing with Laertes because the King claims that when Hamlet found out about Laerte's high regard as a fencer he could not stop talking about it. The first plan is to switch Laerte's fencing sword out with a real sword and put a type of poison on the end, where if it even touches a part of the skin it should kill the person. However, if that plan does not work then the second plan is, while the two are fencing Laertes intends on wearing Hamlet out to the point in which he needs a drink of water and King Claudius will already have the cup ready for him (with poison in it) so that they will be sure to kill him if the first plan doesn't work.

Cassidy - Act IV Themes and Personal Response

     I was debating on whether the theme of Act IV was either Disillusionment/Betrayal or Madness, but after reviewing the plots made in this part of the play, I believe that both are main themes.
   - In the beginning of Act IV, Gertrude confronts Claudius that Hamlet has gone insanely mad. This could be an arguement as to whether this is dissillusionment on Gertrude's part or if Hamlet is really mad; or both.
   - After hearing that Hamlet killed Polonius, Claudius decides to send Hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with sealed orders for the King of England to execute Hamlet. This is an example of betrayal of Claudius.
   - After hearing about the news of their father Polonius's death, both Ophelia and Laertes are immediately consumed with madness. Laertes, assuming that Claudius killed his father, was notified that Hamlet was the slayer, so he decides to avenge his father by plotting to kill Hamlet. After hearing that Hamlet is on his way back to Denmark, both Claudius and Laertes discuss a plan to kill Hamlet, which is another act of betrayal of Claudius.





Personal Response

               I must say that I am hooked on Hamlet as of now. Although I am sad about the death of Ophelia, I am stoked about reading the last act. I have a feeling that it may be sad, but I also believe that theres plenty of action in store. I enjoyed Act IV more than the first acts. I realized that not only Claudius is a murderer, he is also a hypocrite; helping Laertes avenge his father by helping him kill Hamlet, when Hamlet is trying to avenge his father by attempting to kill Claudius. Overall, I'm loving the book so far. Shakespeare rocks!!

Act 4-Carli-Symbols and Allusions and Personal Response

Ophelia's Flowers
After learning of her fathers murder, Ophelia starts to go insane. Although she's not as foolish or confused as she seems. She passes out different flowers to different people that all represent something. Many of the representations are ironic. She has rosemary for remembrance, probably of her father. Fennel and columbine were both insults to the King. Fennel represents flattery and columbine represents adultery.shes obviously referring to the king and Gertrude's relationship. She's hands out a daisy which represents faithlessness, then she states that she would hand out violets (which represent faithfulness) but they withered when her father died. Everyone assumes she's crazy and is making no sense, when in reality she knows exactly what's going on. She shows and expresses this in the symbolism of her flowers.

Saint Valentines Day
Ophelia references this day in a song she sings. Back then, they knew Valentines Day as the belief that the first girl seen by a man on the morning of this day was his true love. I believe Ophelia is still lovesick regarding Hamlet. Everything went wrong for her, she lost Hamlet and now her father. She's goes on to say that the man answers that he would have married her if she hadn't slept with him. This refers back to Hamlets opinion of women and the things he said to her like go to a nunnery. It's along the same lines, I think she is referring back to that conversation and how she loved Hamlet and was misled by him and thought he never loved her.

Personal Response
I was really sad to learn of Ophelia's fate. I felt like she was the most innocent character in the book and she seemed to lose everything, eventually her life. I think it's so ironic that the King is discussing Laertes' revenge on Hamlet for murdering his father, when Hamlet is waiting to get revenge on the king for murdering his father. I think this whole triangle is very interesting and I'm curious to see how it's going to unfold.