Hamlet Commentary Essays

Hamlet Commentary Essays Hamlet Commentary Paper Hamlet Commentary Paper Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, is one of his greatest tragedy. It is the story of the prince of Denmark, Hamlet, whose father has been murdered by his uncle who now wears the crown. However in Act I, scene iii, there is an interesting contradiction presented by the author. This is the scene where Laertes tells Ophelia to be good while he leaves for college and gives her advice on life. Through this scene one may see three interesting aspects of the characters; the unwanted resemblance between Laertes and his father Polonius, the untrusting relation that they have and the power struggle that Ophelia represents. The way Shakespeare shows these three aspects of the characters in this scene is through the diction, irony , and the symbol that Ophelia represents. The reader may perceive those three eminent aspects of the characters through the diction used by Shakespeare in this scene. In the dialogue between Ophelia and Laertes at the beginning of the scene he uses specific words, and a sarcastic tone that makes the reader understand what type of men Laertes really is. When Ophelia says Do not as some ungracious pastors do,/ Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,/ Whiles like a puffd and reckless libertine/ Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,/ And recks not his own rede. ( Shakespeare. I, iii, ll 47-51) What the reader understands from that passage is that Laertes is a man that has a very festive and wild life when he is not at home, yet he tells his sister to be chaste, and lock herself up from men. : Because she says that she will take his advice if he himself applies it too when he is away, this show that Laertes is the opposite of what he advices his sister to be. This is one contradiction that Shakespeare uses to criticize the society of his time and the womens place in it. Yet it is even more ironic when one knows that Shakespeare wrote this play during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, was it to criticize her for being queen while it was a mans job? However the contradiction stands even stronger when Polonius, Ophelia and Laertes father, renew this advice later on in the scene. There again Shakespeares choice of words put forward even more this contradiction, and the unwanted resemblance between Polonius and Laertes. As it is seen when Polonius says: This above all: to thine own self be true,/ And it must follow as the night the day/ Thou canst not then be false to any man. (Shakespeare, I, iii, ll. 78-80) There Polonius is doing the same thing as Laertes did to Ophelia when he tells her to follow his advice. Polonius is telling Laertes to be true, while him himself is not a truthful person for he spies on Laertes later on in the play. This is proof of their unwanted resemblance. Irony is often used by Shakespeare in this scene. He uses it to make the reader ponder on the meaning of the actions and true personality of the characters in the scene. Again when Ophelia declares that she will accept the advice if Laertes does the same on his side, he changes the subject and tries to leave. However, his father, who enters at the same time, ironically gives him the same type of advice that Laertes just has given to Ophelia. Polonius tells Laertes how he should live his life when he goes away and Laertes just told Ophelia how to live her life when he is gone. This shows the resemblance between the father and the son. They both give advice before looking at themselves. The resemblance is further seen later in the play when Polonius sends a spy to see if his son is really studying or having fun. The reader can then draw the conclusion that when Polonius was young he too had a wild life, and knows what he was like at that age, therefore he expects the worse out of his son. However both of them seem to not accept the resemblances that they have, creating an untrusting and unloving relationship between them. It seems as though Ophelia is always in the middle, and always obeys to whatever she is told to do or say, which is again a reference of the roles of women in the society of those times. Ophelia in this scene is a very important character and she has a lot of power over the two men that she lives with. Shakespeare shows this strength through the answers that she gives to both her brother and father. She always obeys to everything that is asked of her. This is done to show the reader that in those times women had to do always as they were told, by men, for in the hierarchy of things they were placed after men and would never be heir to the familys riches. As well as they could dishonor the entire family if when she marries, she would not be chaste. Yet she represents a struggle for power between Laertes and Polonius. When Polonius finds out that Laertes has given Ophelia advice that a father should give, he feels that he has lost the power to control her, and therefore repeats the same thing that Laertes just said. Giving another reason to their bad relationship, since both of them want to be in control over Ophelia, there is always some competition between them at some level. This struggle between father and son furthermore emphasize Ophelias power, and importance to the scene. Because she says what he brother and father want to hear, such as I shall obey, my lord. (Shakespeare, I, iii, ll. 136), therefore leaving them both to think that they have power over her, while this is proven wrong at the end of the play when she commits suicide. This furthermore shows that she has control and power over her own life, showing another way Shakespeare defend womens position in society. This scene is of great importance to the play, for it is not only about a son leaving for college and a father giving him advice on life, and an obeying daughter; it is more Shakespeares way to give the reader a perspective on his society. One may also notice that the struggle between Laertes and Polonius is a symbol for a greater struggle; the one between Hamlet and the King. In both cases they want to have control over a women, whether it be Ophelia or Gertrude, Hamlets mom also known as the Queen. Polonius represent the King; who seems innocent to everyone, but to the audience, and Laertes represents the prince Hamlet. Hamlet is represented by Laertes in this scene because like Laertes he is trying to have control over a women that it is not for him to have control over, and they are both being spied on for their behavior by their fathers. Shakespeare could not have done away with this scene for it is crucial to the main plot, and to criticize his own society at the time the play was written. Bibliography: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Gill, Roma Oxford School Shakespeare. Oxford University Press. New York. 1997.

Definition and Examples of Direct Address in English

Definition and Examples of Direct Address in English In English grammar  and rhetoric, direct address is a construction in which a speaker or writer communicates a message directly to another individual or group of individuals. The person who is addressed may be identified by name,  nickname, the pronoun you, or an expression  thats  either friendly or unfriendly.   Conventionally, the name of the individual whos addressed is set off by a comma or a pair of commas. Direct Address Examples and Observations Hey SpongeBob,  can I borrow the cheese bucket?(Patrick in SpongeBob SquarePants)Youve been given a gift, Peter. With great power, comes great responsibility.(Cliff Robertson as Ben Parker in Spider-Man 2, 2004)Smokey, my friend, you are entering a world of pain.(John Goodman as Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski, 1998Frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn!(Rhett Butlers final words to Scarlett OHara in Margaret Mitchells novel, Gone With the Wind, 1936Richard Vernon: My office is right across that hall. Any monkey business is ill-advised. Any questions?John Bender: Yeah, I have a question. Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?Richard Vernon: Youll get the answer to that question, Mr. Bender, next Saturday.(Paul Gleason and Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club, 1985)Ilsa: Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By.Sam: Oh, I cant remember it, Miss Elsa. Im a little rusty on it.(Ingrid Bergman and Dooley Wilson in Casablanca, 1942Ilsa, Im no good at being noble, but it doesnt take much to see that the problems of three little people dont amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday youll understand that. Now, now . . .. Heres looking at you, kid.(Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, 1942 And you, my father, there on the sad height,Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.Do not go gentle into that good night.Rage, rage against the dying of the light.(Dylan Thomas, Do not go gentle into that good night)You idiot, what  are you doing working in this poorhouse crammed with rotten guavas full of maggots, and you rotting just like them?(Reinaldo Arenas, The Palace of the White Skunks, trans. by  Andrew Hurley, 1991)Hey, you old bastard, Chick said. How you doin?  Chick came down the final two steps, pushed Tommy aside, grabbed Franciss hand, threw an arm around his shoulder, slapped his back. You old bastard,  Chick said. â€Å"Where you been?(William Kennedy, Very Old Bones,  1992) Direct Address and the Pronoun You It is clear that a  term of address is always  closely linked with the pronoun you,  which in itself has vocative qualities. One could say, in fact, that whenever pronominal you  is used in direct address, vocative you is implicitly present.  The two kinds of you  are inextricably bound together, though  in an utterance like You! What do you think youre doing! the first you is clearly vocative, where the others are pronominal.Pronominal and vocative you differ in their attitudinal marking. The former is neutral, the latter unfriendly.  Pronominal you also conforms to normal rules of syntax; vocative you does not need to do so. Vocative you,  finally, allows substitution. In You! What do you think youre doing! vocative you could be replaced by darling, John, you stupid fool, and innumerable other terms of address, all of which could be described as vocative-you variants. That point is significant because the  corollary of my statement that vocative you is always im plicitly present when pronominal you is used in  direct address, is  that pronominal you is always implicitly present when vocative you is used.(Leslie Dunkling, A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address, 1990) The RhetoricalUse of My Friends in Direct Address -  My friends, [Senator] John McCain recently informed a crowd, we spent $3 million of your money to study the DNA of bears in Montana. . . .McCain . . . referred to my friends another 11 times. . . .Is this a doctrine of pre-emptive friendship immediately declaring crowds won over with an oratorical mission accomplished? Perhaps, but McCains friending is a strategy that hearkens back to classical rhetoric. Horaces call to amici performed a similar function in ancient Rome, and Tennysons 1833 poem Ulysses drew upon that tradition for the immortal lines: Come, my friends/ Tis not too late to seek a newer world. . . .But as a crowd bludgeon in modern political speechmaking, my friends can be laid at the feet of one man: William Jennings Bryan. His famed 1896 Cross of Gold speech at the Democratic National Convention invoked the phrase a mind-crushing 10 times.(Paul Collins, MFer. Salon.com, September 1, 2008)- Now, my friends, let me come to the great paramount issue.(William Jennin gs Bryan, Cross of Gold speech, July 9, 1896)- Words matter,  my friends.(Hillary Clinton, speaking in  Des Moines, Iowa, on August 10, 2016)- [W]e come to the  friendship of association, which is certainly the most common meaning of the word friend.  Some years ago the comedian Red Skelton impersonated a politician giving a campaign  speech. My friends he wheezed, and you are my friends, he quickly sputtered, and dont tell me youre not my friends, because nobodys going to tell me who my friends are. Obviously, the friends he was talking about were friends of association, acquaintances where there is little or no affection, or where people interact on some friendly basis.(John M. Reisman, Anatomy of Friendship, 1979) Visual Forms of Direct Address Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen [in Reading Images, 1996]  note that  images in which the gaze  is directed at the viewer of the image create a visual form of direct address. It acknowledges the viewers explicitly, addressing them with a visual you.  Kress and  van Leeuwen call these images demand images because they demand that the viewer enters into some kind of imaginary relation with him or her. A classic example of the demand image is  the Uncle Sam recruiting poster, I Want YOU.  (Cara A. Finnegan, Studying Visual Modes of Public Address. The Handbook of Rhetoric and Public Address, ed. by  Shawn J. Parry-Giles and  J. Michael Hogan, 2010) Direct Address in the Media [In many] contexts,  for example,  television comedy or commercials, news and current affairs programmes, ​direct address is the accepted convention, although not everyone has the right to address the viewer directly. Anchorpersons and on-camera reporters  may look at the camera but interviewers may not. In chat shows, hosts may use direct address but guests may not. In other words, direct address is a privilege which the media profession has by and large reserved for itself.(Theo  van Leeuwen, Moving English: The Visual Language of Film. Redesigning English: New Texts, New Identities, ed. by  Sharon Goodman and David Graddol, 1996)   Ellen Gilchrists Address to Her WritingStudents Dear Students,If you are not writing well and happily, or if you feel your writing is forced, stop for a while and read or go out into the world and watch building projects or street-repair crews or get a job in a mall for Christmas or get into the car and drive to a city and look at art. Learn, learn, learn, be curious, and, if possible, uncritical. Everywhere men and women are doing wonderful things, marvelous things, interesting things. Write paragraphs about what you see and dont try to turn them into anything but praise and understanding. . . .Learn, learn, learn, read, read, read. I will be thinking about you and wishing you well every day.Ellen(Ellen Gilchrist, The Writing Life. University Press of Mississippi, 2005 The Lighter Side of Direct Address Cassio: Dost thou hear, mine honest friend?Clown: No, I hear not your honest friend. I hear you.(William Shakespeare, Othello, Act Three, scene 1)Son, you got a panty on your head.(Truck driver addressing H.I. McDunnough in Raising Arizona, 1987)