Hamlet Essay (posted to be printed out Mon 8th)

There are many aspects of 'Hamlet' written by William Shakespeare that leads us as an audience to come to the conclusion by the end of the novel that 'Hamlet' is very much a tragic novel.
Throughout the novel there are numerous key tragic events that create a number of effects on us as an audience. Not only are some of the events tragic but many of the characters have a tragic attribute about their personalities. Hamlet himself of course has hosted many tragedies from the death of his father to losing every body around him and then he had to avenge the death of his father and of course there's also the death of his mother who married his dead fathers brother. After Hamlets father is killed by his uncle it is clear to see that Hamlets life is simply one big mess of betrayal and love loss. Hamlet himself is used to state most of the tragedy through not only the events that take place during his life but also the language he uses to describe these tragedies. The quote that always stands out is of course,
'To be or not to be, that is the question'
Personally I think that Hamlet says this to himself rather then anybody else, i think this simply because i think that Hamlet is asking himself whether it is to be that he kills his uncle or whether Hamlet hasn't got the strength within himself to do it. Its tragic because Hamlet is questioning himself and whether he can avenge his father who was murdered. Hamlet is seen here to have a serious lack of confidence within himself as he doubts his ability to pull it off, or simply whether he genuinely wants to do it or not. Hamlet has seen alot of tragic events but i feel like he is also a cause of a large proportion of tragedy himself. Especially in Ophelias case Ophelia is another tragic character who i feel is equally as important as hamlet during the novel although it is questionable whether she is actually needed in the novel and if it would have the same effect on the novel had she not been in the novel. In my opinion i feel that the novel would not have the same effect if Ophelia wasn't in it because she is very much used as a time bomb for other characters in the novel for tragedy to unfold especially Leartes. Also Ophelia is shown at the beginning of the novel to be quite a warm character who loves her life, simply because of this she almost becomes an audience favorite who the audience likes to read about. When Ophelia becomes mentally ill due to the tragic events in the life the audience automatically feels that this is a tragedy because of her persona before it all happened. Then obviously when Ophelia drowns the audience are left with the question of whether Ophelia killed herself of if it was an accident either way i think what the audience would still see it as extremely tragic due to the fact that this is one side of Ophelia that wasn't easily predicted before the tragic events in her life took place.
Leartes obviously is angered by his fathers death at the hands of hamlet but this is emphasized when he sees his sisters state of mind again at the hands of Hamlets doing. The tragedy here is that Hamlet did not mean to do this to Ophelia, he was simply plotting and planning to kill Claudius and he felt that he could not tell Ophelia because it may ruin his plan another reason why this is tragic is because Hamlet has lost his father, his loved one, his friends due to betrayal and his mothers not through death though but he has lost the love and relationship he shared with his mother before his father was murdered which is within itself tragic.
Hamlet due to his planning and plotting could be seen as a similarity between him and his uncle, tragic because Hamlet isn't aware of the fact of just how similar he is to his uncle. The way that Hamlet plans is seen as extremely sly and cunning much like when his uncle plotted and planed the death of the king so much so that nobody was aware that the king was in fact murdered yet they were lead to believe that a snake had stung the king whilst he was sleeping.
Hamlet is seen to be tragic in more then one sense through the language and the events and because of this all we feel many different emotions but the key emotion is sympathy because of course we have to simpithize in order to see the tragedy that occurs in the novel 'Hamlet'.

(work in progress)

Ophelia

Ophelia by the end of act four somewhat takes the main lead character wise. Alone her life because of recent events has witnessed many tragedies. Firstly she has lost the love of Hamlet then on top of this she has lost her father at the hands of Hamlet although there is no real solid evidence to suggest that Ophelia knows that it was Hamlet that killed her late father.
Personally i feel that Hamlet is partially to blame for Ophelia's madness and ultimately her death. Although he isn't solely to blame i feel that Hamlet played a big part towards what eventually happened to Ophelia. The rejection he showed Ophelia obviously effected her mentally and it didn't help that on top of this rejection Ophelia then had to deal with the loss of her father.

Personally i think that the play could still have been good even if Ophelia wasn't in it although i feel that it would not have been as effective. My reason for this is simply that i feel Ophelia is used as a prop, bait if you like for Claudius and Polonius' plans to progress. Also if it had not been for Ophelia there would not be as much emotion due to the fact that in the previous scenes Ophelia is seen to be quite an Innocent character who loves Hamlet enough to lie to her father. She is seen as a very timid character who you would feel sympathetic towards. This is evident when she ultimately drowns, looking at it both ways if she had committed suicide we as an audience who sympathises with her would feel bad that Ophelia felt that bad that she had to kill herself because she felt like she had nothing more to live for. On the other hand if it was an accident and she fell into the water and drowned we would still feel sorry for her. I think that Shakespeare has used Ophelia as a character in which set the mood and atmosphere throughout the scenes. If she had not been in the play there would not be nearly as much sympathy and emotion in it and i also feel she is used as a sort of time bomb for Laertes feeling and anger to emerge.

Hamlet - Whats tragic.

After Act 1 & 2 i feel that there is a lot of tragic circumstances that have happened and that are inevitably going to happen.
Firstly not only has Hamlet had to cope with the loss of his father but then the fact that his uncle has married his mother shortly after I'm sure did not help Hamlets current state of mind. When he found out from the ghost of his late father that it was actually his uncle that killed his father this adds more grief to Hamlet then moreover he has sworn on a sword to avenge his father by killing his uncle. what is tragic about this is the fact that Hamlet has absolutely nobody to turn to. He turns everybody including his loved one against him so that he can pull off his plan. Inevitably Hamlet is going to upset his mother. He may possibly be beheaded for treason is he gets caught. Really Hamlet is trying to pull off the impossible.
I think by the end of Act 2 we realise even though Hamlet may not is that he is more like his uncle then we first thought in the way that Hamlet is very sly with how he plans things out. much like his uncle did when he murdered Hamlets father. Also i feel personally the Hamlet conducted his plan about the play to prove to himself rather then anybody else that he isn't being used like a puppet for the devil. as he mentions that the devil can assume a pleasing form.
I think whats tragic also is the lack of trust between all the characters because Hamlet cannot fully trust anybody. Another thing is that Hamlet lost his father and he also lost his mother, not in the same way he lost his father but he lost the connection with his mother. I think there is allot of tragedy and I'm sure there will be more to come.
After act 3 Hamlet's plan appears to have successfully touched a raw nerve of his uncle's. not only has Hamlet achieved this but he has also proved his thorie to Horatio therefore he has proved to himself and Horatio that the ghost is not a devil assuming a pleasing form, because of this fact Hamlet seems a lot more motivated and determined that he previously appeared. His primary plan was a success which has obviously given him reason and purpose to fulfill his promise to his late father. Hamlet is clearly in a better state of mind. Another thing is that Hamlet some what uses Ophelia to get at his mother, he becomes more flirtatious although its more in a aggressive sexual suggestive sort of way. He comes across as a womaniser and is clearly not bothered about anybodies reaction to this because he says quite lude things to her publicly although this could also be to get at Ophelia's father because Hamlet clearly does not like him in the slightest. He is very obvious with his hints towards the fact that he is being spied upon but then again he doesn't necessarily need to worry about it because of the fact that he has proven to himself that his uncle is guilty of the murder of his father.
After reading act 4 i think personally tragedy is shown when Ophelia's father is murdered. It is quite obvious that during this chapter king Claudius finds himself a little intimidated by Hamlet as he tries to send him to England, the king also talks to Laertes and twists his fathers death and makes Hamlet seem completely guilty to get Laertes on his side to plan how they are both going to rid themselves of Hamlet. i don't think there is much tragedy on that effects Hamlet per say but however the face that Ophelia and Laertes have lost their father is quite tragic amongst itself. Along with this Ophelia drowns or is drowned another tragic happening that laertes has to deal with. Hamlet must feel like he has the upper hand because he knows he has got his uncle exactly where he whats him. Scared beyond belief.
Act for has alot of tragedy in it. the fact that absolutely everybody dies bar Horatio is very tragic in deed. Hamlets mother is poisoned by a drink that was meant for Hamlet who is stabbed by a poisoned tipped fencing sword by Laertes who is stabbed by the same poisoned sword and then eventually Hamlet finally stabs King Claudius and kills him. there is so much loss in this act not only lives are lost but also love respect and honer. Its tragic because although Hamlet achieved his goal in the end, it can and a massive price.

The Great Gatsby chapters 8 & 9

Chapter 8.

Narative Style.
At the beginning of this chapter nick goes to see Gatsby, we are not really told the exact reason why because Nick doesn't really know himself. We also learn about Gatsby and Daisys intimate past with one another. Its quite weird really because we read alot of Gatsby's memories but these memories are shown still through Nicks prospectus. I dont really understand this because it seems quite odd because i dont get how exactly Gatsby's memories could be shown through nick. another key point of this chapter is that Gatsby get murdered by Wilson.


Characters/Characterisation.
Nick,Daisy,Mavromichealis,Gatsby and Wilson are the key characters throughout this chapter. We dont really find out a whole lot about most of the characters apart from Wilson really who took it upon himself to kill Gatsby on his own understanding that Gatsby killed his wife. This shows Wilson to jump the gun, his personality is to act before he thinks. It shows that the Buchanas were prepared to lie this is very slfish because Gatsby who was undoubtfully inocent is now dead and they are left to carry on with their lives.

Themes.
Love, Revenge, are shown as key themes in this chapter. Love because Gatsby waits outside Daisy's house to make sure she is okay. Revenge obviously because of Wilson murdering Gatsby.

Settings.
The key setting for this chapter is at Gatsby's house where Gatsby gets quite emotional is seems whilst he talks to Nick about the love he feels for Daisy.

Ideology.
I think the ideology in this chapter has something to do with trust and also not to act before you think. this is obviously put across because of Wilson not thinking about what he was doing. i think had he have thought about it he may have realise that he was not driving the car that killed myrtle.

Chapter 9.

Narative Style.
The last chapter focuses mainly on the death of Gatsby and how is has an effect on both the characters and the novel itself. Nick comes across as rather angry or frustrated concerning the amount of people who turned up to Gatsby's funeral. Naturally he thought that more people would have turned up considering the amount of people who turned up to his parties. There appears to be nobody who is bothered about his death atall.

Characters/Characterisation
In this chapter we are introduced to Mr.Gatz Gatsby's father. who seems proud of his son and repects his wishes because Mr.Gatz talks about Gatsby clearly prefuring the east also he shares some of his sons life plans with Nick.

Themes.
Greif, simply because of the death of Gatsby. this greif is clearly shown through Mr.Gatz because it his his soon who has been murdered.

Setting.
It is extremly hard to keep track of the setting in this chapter because of the fact that Nick is never in the same place. at some points he is at the gatsby household and at others he is at the funeral.

Ideology.
The ideology in this chapter is simply that life is too short. It can be taken from you as easily as it is given. because of this you should live your life to the full and treat everyday as your last.
Also the fact that you should never try to be something that your not and if somebody says you are not good enough for you that better yourself and move on.

The Great Gatsby chapters 6&7

In chapter six the narrative style is closely similar to what we have seen already in the novel. We are given alot of information about Gatsby himself at the beginning of this chapter although it confuses me how mick knows so much about Gatsby even if they have spoken many times. it just seems a little peculiar that Nick would know this much. In this chapter also Gatsby meets Tom. i think although Gatsby remembers Tom i don't feel that Tom remembers Gatsby although i think he tries to mask this and make out as if he does remember him. I think it is obvious that Gatsby dislikes Tom when he talks about his Arrogant eyes dominating his face.

All the characters in this chapter we have already met, although this chapter holds host to Gatsby kissing Daisy and daisy realising her feeling for Gatsby. Tom gets extremely jealous of Gatsby and Daisy's closeness.

Themes include suspicion, Romance, and jealousy.

The main setting for this chapter takes place in Gatsby's house at yet another house party. Nick talks about some unpleasantness being in the air, unpleasantness that wasn't previously there. although we aren't told about this unpleasantness i think it could connote Nick seeing the scene and events to come as if he was a bystander and not actually himself.

ideology perhaps in this scene could show that no amount of money can buy happiness because clearly Daisy is only with Tom for his money and the life she can get out of it whereas she would much rather be with Gatsby because she loves him and doesn't actually love tom.

chapter 7.

Chapter 7 shows Tom suggesting to Nick and Jordan that Daisy and Gatsby are having an affair.
it is once again shown through nicks prospectus which is nothing unusual. Nick and Gatsby go to visit Daisy and Tom at the Buchanan's house.

In chapter 7 we see Tom and Daisy's daughter which is extremely rare seeing as throughout the entire novel this child isn't seen at all. I personally forgot they even had a daughter together because the daughter is rarely seen or heard from at all. The fact that Daisy talks about the little girl not looking like her father at all suggest that maybe Daisy doesn't like the fact the the child's father is Tom or even that Daisy had another affair with somebody else and she is trying to innocently suggest this fact.

themes include, grief, anger, romance, love, confrontation.

The main setting for this chapter is Tom and Daisy's house. Also New york is another setting where there is a big argument between Tom and Gatsby also in New york we wittiness Myrtles Death in the Car accident.

I think the ideology in this chapter is simply the way in which rich people feel because they can pay people to be quiet and therefore shows arrogance and ignorance because they feel that because they are rich they have no conscience and that their actions will have no consequences at all.

My veiw on Nick

The majority of the novel is written through Nicks prospectus. As a reader because of this fact you question why exactly the novel is called 'The Great Gatsby' instead of something related to Nick. Throughout the novel Nick comes across as Judgmental and is shown to be very observant, it appears as if he describes every little aspect of what he does and what is seen yet he focuses very little of the more important matters of the novel. The novel itself i think is completly biased in the way that Nick puts across certain dislikes about a character for example Tom. Nick makes it out like nobody likes Tom atall just because of the fact that Nick himself dislikes Tom. As a narater i think Nick is pretty usless because he puts things in the novel that seem completly random and out of place to the point where you wonder yourself what on earth he is talking about. Often i got very confused by his way of telling the story of certain characters because it seems as though he began to tell us something then went on to decribe something else that is of no use like what other very unimportant characters are wearing. Nick also comes across as rather suspicious especially towards Gatsby this may be because one of Nicks first sightings of Gatsby what where Gatsby himself was staring at Daisys house.
Personally i feel like i couldnt really get into the novel because of the way that Nick was telling the story. I feel that if it had been told in a slightly different way it may have been better and easier to understand although if it had been done in this way it wouldnt be 'The Great Gatsby'.

The Great Gatsby- Chapters 4 & 5

Chapter Four
Chapter four is based on Gatsby inviting Nick to lunch & talks about something that Jordan will tell him about. Nick invites Daisy to his house because he is asked to, along with Gatsby,Which reveals an old unknown past between the two.

In this chapter Fitzgerald switches from Nicks veiwpoint to Jordan Bakers point of veiw without much warning which seems unusual. Even though he does this i dont think the way in which he does this is confusing to the reader at all. He uses Jordan as the narater for a short while then switches back to nick.

It seems that during this chapter Gatsby is a little too friendly with Nick. He uses the words 'Old Sport' which seems very odd as nick tells us they have only spoken half a dozen times. It is soon shown later as the chpter progresses that he only invites him to lunch to inform him of the chat him and Jordan will have later. nearing the end it seems like nick and Jordan are more then just friends.

This scene is set outside nicks house early in the morning. the rest is set in a hotel.

chapter 5 is yet again shown through Nicks prospectus. we seen that gatsby and daisy are reunited after many years. once this happens it appears as if nick becomes slightly lonly as he stands alone in rain. The bad weather could connote a warning that something bad is to come of daisy and gatsby's relationship.

theres alot of decept and unhappiness in this chapter as far as themes are concerned.

the setting is just shown through the bad weather again as a possible warning as to something not being right or something bad is going to happen.

The Great Gatsby- Chapters 2 & 3

After reading chapters two and three i am left slightly confused the the whole plot of the story.
When Nick goes to Gatsbys party we dont really get a clear image in our heads of what the party was actually like. he describes a few members of the party wearing yellow dresses although he fails to mention what many of the other guests are wearing and there is very little description about the party tself leaving us with a slightly hazy impression of the party.
i think the fact that he refurs to one of the guest being called 'Mr. Mumble' shows his lack of interest in the party itself because if he had been interested then i doubt he would have forgotten 'Mr.Mumble's name as i am sure that isnt it.

The party is at Gatsby's house and with the very little description of the party itself it sounds very high class and luxurious a place Nick doesnt really suit or fit into. I find it strange that although Gatsby shows his guest great hospitality they still find the need to make up rumours and discuss his personal life or what the know about it. Many rumours fly around about him killing a man or being a german spy which clearly show just how little gatsbys guest know him. Another way in which this is show is because many of gatsbys guest werent actually invited but simply turned up.

The build up of actually meeting Gatsby is very long and dragged out but when we eventually do meet him it seems like a bit of a waste of time as Nicks meeting with gatsby is extremly short lived which leaves you wondering many questions about gatsby himself because with all these rumours you think to yourself are any of them true because he just seems like a normal guy.

Chapter three holds host to a very pointless car crash that needn't even be in chapter three because we dont even know the characters involved and they both turn out to be fine anyway. Thinking about it, i wonder wether this has been place here for a reason which will be uncovered at a later point in the novel. He contiuously refurs to Nick as 'Old sport' which makes me question gatsby's social skills because it tells us they have only spoken 6 times yet 'old sport' seems like a bit too friendly to say to somebody after only six meetings.

Chapter One Of 'The Great Gatsby'.

Chapter One - 'The Great Gatsby'



For the main part of chapter one we see the settings, point of veiws and characters through the character of 'Nick's' eyes. Nick Through out this period of time Nick seems to be a lighthearted yet sarcastic type of guy. This is show by his sarcastic remarks towards the other characters. One particular example of this is when his cousin Daisy tells nick that he 'Reminds her of a rose', he responds by telling her he is nothing like a rose. The first chapter builds up gradually to Nick finally seeing a silhouette or Mr.Gatsby.





The character of Daisy comes across as rather ditsy. As Nick tells us that she has an 'absurd, charming little laugh'. Also it says she has exitement in her voice. this gives off the impression the Daisy is quite a happy bubbly sort of person who may be a little nieve but in an inocent sort of sense.


A theme included in The Great Gatsby's chapter one are unrestfulness due to Tom and Daisy not being about to settle down in the same place for a long period of time.

Setting is decribed in great detail by the diction the author has chosen to use. for example 'how the hallway seems to be so big yet so small' and other in the way in which he decribes the garden and how the white room is decribed as being angelic.

My responce to the text is a bit strange because not being a big reader i wouldnt normally read something like this but the way in which the author has used certain devices has kept me hooked and wanting to read on. He makes everything seem a bit mystical especially in the way he decribes Mr.Gatsby.