Blog 10: What is a man?

What is a man? Many people have different answers to this question. Some believe you become a man when you reach a certain age or when you move out of your parent's house. Some believe a man is defined by the amount of money he makes, or females he "associates" with.
For me, to be considered a man, you must be: responsible, courageous, honest, proud, confident, loyal, adventurous, a provider for your family, and mentally and physically tough. A real man looks to better himself and and invests in his success. He learns how to lead rather than follow. Males are born but men are made.
The exterior of Macbeth shows several "manly" qualities. Early in the play, He is praised by King Duncan for his bravery and loyalty for his role as general of the Scottish army. Macbeth possesses many titles in the play. He is a general, Thane of Cawdor, a husband, and eventually King of Scotland. However, his journey to the throne is not very admirable. In fact, it is Lady Macbeth who convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan. (Act 1, Scene 5; Lady Macbeth says;"I may pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valour of my tongue all that impedes thee from the golden round.") She feels that Macbeth is not ambitious and must find a way to convince him to kill Duncan in order for her to gain power through her husband. Macbeth is easily convinced by his wife to carry out this deed, proving that she wears the pants in the relationship.
After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth becomes very paranoid, hearing voices (Act 2 Scene2; "Sleep no more, Macbeth does murder sleep") and hallucinating. After believing in the predictions by the witches and the diabolical plan of his wife, the once strong, confident Macbeth proves that he is weak. He is not a true leader and not worthy of being called a man.

Blog #9 "So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz Go To It"

I am not surprised, nor am I angry with Hamlet's decision to have his "friends" , Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed without remorse due to their alliance with Claudius. At a time when Hamlet was most confused, angry, and in need of companionship, to discover that his friends were informants for Claudius must have really pushed him over the edge in what was already a mad state of mind.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are by no means innocent victims here. Their purpose was to subconsciously help Claudius kill Hamlet. Also, Rosencrantz ans Guildenstern should have denied Claudius and Gertrudes request to spy on Hamlet in the first place. If they were loyal friends to Hamlet, they would have made him aware of what they were really doing... spying!
Hamlet's real motive for the demise of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, however, was mainly to spite Claudius. Throughout the play, Hamlet develops a disgust for not only Claudius, but everything associated with him. Hamlets decision to send R and G to their deaths shows me that he will stop at no cost to achieve vengeance on behalf of the ghost.
Hamlet finally comes to terms with the belief that destiny controlls everyones life. After returning from exile in act five, he overcomes his anxiety and becomes calm, rational, and less afraid of death. In act 5, scene 2, Hamlet says to Horatio, "Sir, in my heart their was a kind of fighting that would not let me sleep" and "Our indescretion sometimes serves us well when our deep plots do pall, and that should learn us there's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will". This new "enlightened" Hamlet suggests to me that Rosencrantz and Guildensterns' fate have already been decided by God and that Hamlet must carry out his plans for Claudius and let no one stand in his way.

Blog # 8: Justice?

Hamlet's way of taking justice into his own hands bares many similarities to Othello, as well as many differences.
The first similarity is that the violent nature of Othello and Hamlet is persuaded and controlled by others. it is the ghost's guidance of Hamlet and Iago's manipulation of Othello that lead these characters to commit theses savage acts.
Another similarity between the two is that both Othello and Hamlet feel they are doing a great justice in murdering their victims. According to Othello, he does a great service for all mankind in killing Desdemona. If she's dead, she can't cheat.(Act 5, Scene 2: Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men.)
Hamlet's angle is that he is avenging the death of his father. Clearly, Hamlet and the ghost believe in an eye for an eye justice system. If that were the case back in the day, Othello would seem ten times as harsh as he already does.
Finally, the largest difference that I saw between Hamlet and Othello is their views toward the souls of their prey. Othello was thoughtful in making sure that Desdemona made her peace with god before he smothered her. What a good guy. Hamlet, however, delays in killing Claudius because he is praying at the time of Hamlet's attempt to kill him. Hamlet wants to send him straight to hell. This leads me to believe that the ghost is acting through Hamlet, a servant of heaven sending a sinner (Claudius) to hell.
I wonder where Othello and Hamlet went when they died. If I were the judge, I would send Othello to hell. Desdemona was innocent and the symbol of all that is good and pure. Killing her is like flipping god the bird. Hamlet, however, would go to heaven. He saw the evil in Claudius and believed that incest is wrong when others did not. Justice was served more in Hamlet and not so much in Othello.

Blog #7 Hamlet's soliloquy

1) Kenneth Branagh: I enjoyed Branagh's performance. Early in the soliloquy he shows frustration when hinting at the idea of suicide and the torture of living a life with no redeemable qualities. He becomes most enraged when touching on the issue of his mother's marital habits. Depression, frustration, and confusion best describe Branagh's performance.
2) Kevin Kline: Like Branagh, Kline seemed angered most at his mother's marriage to his uncle and her ability to quickly put aside her feelings for Hamlet's father. Kline, for the most part, kept a level tone throughout the soliloquy. Falling to his knees added some drama but the zooming camera angles and background music gave his performance a corny soap opera feel.
3) Tony Richardson: In this adaptation, Nicol Williamson seems to be the most stable Hamlet of all the Hamlet portrayals. He is annoyed but does not show much emotion. The mood that I got from him was that everyone else in the play is crazy for not seeing the bizarreness that is incest in regards to gertrude and Claudius.
4) Mel Gibson: Mel Gibson's portrayal of Hamlet was weak! I expected to see a fiery "William Wallace/ Braveheart" like performance but he left me depressed and let down, much like his depiction of Hamlet.
When reading the soliloquy and Hamlet's thoughts about suicide, his fathers death, and his mother's incest, it is understandable that countless emotions would run through his head. That is why I feel Branagh's performance best illustrated Hamlet. He ranged from frustration to anger to disgust ( basically every adjective listed on blackboard), which is how I view Hamlet- confused and unstable, but sure of why he is angry.

Blog #6 Desdemona: Submissive Desdemona

Today, no respectable woman would put up with such an abusive, untrusting relationship like that of Othello and Desdemona. If I were a woman, Othello would be dead the second he put his hands on me.
However, I understand that the choice for Desdemona to be submissive to Othello's accusations and accusations was her only option. The fact that Desdemona is so submissive is surprising since she is in the upper class of society and could have had many suitors for her hand in marriage. She also proves to be independent, secretly marrying Othello and standing up to her father when he opposes the marriage. It's understood that women did not have many rights in the 16th an17th centuries and men were dominating figures but where do you draw the line?
I do respect Desdemona's attempt to plea for mercy by putting the white sheets on the bed. She may have had a shot at living if she didn't break down when hearing of Cassio's death. Clearly, that was the straw that broke the camels back in Othello's mind. Watching this relationship deteriorate was very frustrating because it was interesting to see Desdemona break away from traditional values during her time by marrying a black man. Once again, like in Much Ado About Nothing, manipulation leads to the downfall of love between man and woman. What is most frustrating for me is when Desdemona defends Othello to Emilia before she dies. Like Claudio, Othello should have seeked the truth harder and should not have laid a hand on a woman. Desdemona should have exposed him for being a mad man.

Blog 5: Leonato's and Brabantio's similarities

In Act 1, Scene2, Brabantio accuses Othello of stealing Desdemona and using magic to get her to marry him. Brabantio says, "O thou foul thief", and " Damned as thou art, thou has enchanted her, for I'll refer me to all things in sense, if she in chains of magic were not bound". Clearly, Brabantio has an issue with Othello's race above anything else. Throughout the beginning of the play, Othello is presented in a negative way by a few different characters. Iago uses the term,"The Moor", when referring to Othello. In Shakespeare's day, they used this term to describe any African with dark skin. Blacks were viewed as wicked with negative associations. Roderigo shares Iago's views toward Othello, referring to him as "The Black Ram" and making reference to his "thick lips" in act 1, scene 1. This is unfortunate because Othello is a well rounded, powerful man who did seem to have genuine intentions for Desdemona.
The relationship between Desdemona and Othello bothers Brabantio because he does not feel that "The Moor'', who he views as animalistic, is not a suitable match for his daughter. Of course, to Brabantio, Desdemona is "tender, fair and happy"(act 1, scene 2).
This scenario is similar to Much Ado About Nothing. Like Brabantio's perception of Desdemona, Leonato sees Hero as being pure, kind, and gentle. But when he hears of the accusations regarding his daughters sexual conduct, he is distraught. However, unlike Brabantio, Leonato is honored to give his daughter's hand to the admirable Claudio. That is until Claudio's true colors show. Though the story lines are different, the two plays are similar in that they tackle some touchy issues; race, and the purity of women.

Blog #4: Claudio Blew It!

From the beginning of the play, it seems evident that Claudio is enfatuated with Hero. Unfortunately for the two parties, enfatuation and love are two totally different things. One can question Claudio's true feelings for Hero on more than one occasion. For example, his interest in Hero being the only heir to Leonato leads to questions of whether there are other motives that spark Claudio's interests in the young lady. Also, the fact that Claudio is so easily manipulated by Don John, without seeking CONCLUSIVE evidence on two separate occasions, leads me to believe that he does not feel strongly enough for Hero to actually love her. If he did, he would have had Don John prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was the woman having sexual relations with Borachio. He also shouldn't have believed that Don Pedro would make a move on Hero for himself at the masked ball.
It becomes obvious that Claudio is shallow and insincere in Acts 4 and 5. First, at the wedding ceremony in Act 4, Claudio's outburst was out of line. He tells Leonato, "Take her back again. Give not this rotten orange to your friend." Claudio's rejection of Hero is designed to inflict as much pain as possible, and Hero's and Leonato's reaction to it seem to make things worse.
The last straw is in Act 5. After falling into a state of shock and anger, Leonato challenges Claudio to a duel, as an attempt to avenge his daughters death. Claudio mocks this challenge, claiming that Leonato is too old to fight. He then adds fuel to the fire when he tells Benedick of his recent encounter with Leonato (Act 5. Scene 1, Claudio says to Benedick: We had like to have had our two noses snapped off with two old men without teeth).
Perhaps Claudio has become jaded from war, but his suspicious nature and passion for revenge makes him an unsuitable match for the kind, gentle Hero. He does not deserve a second chance.