Hamlet Act 1 Essay

Hamlet's father has recently been killed in war. Soon after, hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude marries his uncle, Claudius. This greatly upsets Hamlet because his mother barely grieved her husbands death before moving on. Hamlet sees this as weak and incestuous.
Hamlet believes that he must hod his tongue about his discontents with his mother. I believe this is because he thinks he must honor his mother and uncle and be happy for their marriage, despite the death of his father.

Sir Thomas Wyatt Poetry Essays: Whoso List to Hunt and Varium et Mutabile

Whoso list to Hunt

            In Sir Thomas Wyatt’s Poem Whoso list to Hunt, he describes the exhausting hunt for a deer and how he wishes to abandon this hunt. In literature, a deer sometimes symbolizes gentleness and grace is women, or femininity. Wyatt uses this symbolization throughout the poem. This poem symbolizes Sir Wyatt’s tiresome attempts to pursue a woman who is in the arms of another man, possibly of royalty.

            In the first line of the poem, Wyatt asks who enjoys hunting and invokes a certain deer that he has chased for some time. He has recognized that this pursuit is futile. He may chase her endlessly, but she will always be faster. “Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.”

This deer wears a tag that states, “Do not touch me” because she belongs to the king. From these lines, we can infer that the deer referred to is Anne Boleyn. Wyatt supposedly had a relationship with her before she married King Henry VIII. 

Varium et Mutabile

When first reading Sir Thomas Wyatt’s poem Varium et Mutabile, one can see how each stanza has its own contradiction. Each stanza asks how plausible different things are. However, each stanza refers to emotions, which are a part of human nature. The tone of the poem seems to be very melancholy and downhearted, but the reason is never stated. The entire meaning of the poem cannot be inferred without first reading and translating the title. This poem does not have the same impact without your knowledge of the Latin title and Sir Thomas Wyatt’s love for a woman he cannot have.

Throughout the entire poem, women are referred to only once, at the very end. However, what can be inferred from reading this poem is that it is describing human nature, not just specifically women. Once the reader understands that the title refers to a line from Virgil’s Aeneid, meaning Woman is always fickle and changing, the poem seems to make sense and flow better.

Wyatt is describing a woman that he cannot have. He is describing her faults as how she always wins arguments, changes emotions quickly, and is manipulative, among others. This understanding shows the poem in a whole new light, as it is showing the faults of a woman instead of how emotions paly into human nature.

Hamlet Act 1 Scene 3 Rewrite

Laertes and Ophelia enter

Laertes- I’m all packed. Goodbye, sister. Make sure you call me and try to visit me.

Ophelia- You think I won’t?

Laertes- Let me give you some advice about Hamlet. Don’t believe what he says. He is a player. Disregard his flirting and don’t listen to him. He’s not mature, he might love you now, but it won’t last. He is a prince and will have to marry royalty.

Ophelia- Laertes, I hear what you say, but you’re being a hypocrite. You are a reckless player yourself. You should listen to your own advice.

Laertes- Don’t worry about me. I should go, our father is coming.

Polonius enters

Polonius- You’re still here? You’re gonna miss you’re cruise! Go but first listen to my words: Think before you speak or do. Be friendly but don’t lower your status. Only trust your oldest friends. Don’t get into trouble, but if you do make sure you crush your opponent. Listen to everyone’s opinion, but do not judge.  And last but not least, be true to yourself. Now Go!

Laertes- Thanks dad, but I must go. Goodbye. And goodbye to you, Ophelia, remember what I told you.

Laertes leaves.

Polonius- What did he say to you?

Ophelia- Oh, nothing. He was just talking about Prince Hamlet.

Polonius- Oh, really? I hear that you guys have been hanging out alone a lot. What is going on?

Ophelia- He has told me that he loves me.

Polonius- Love? Oh, you are so young and innocent! Do you believe him?

Ophelia- Well, he has really caught my eye and my heart. And he has really shown his affection.

Polonius- Love is a trap, don’t fall for it. Don’t hang out with Hamlet every time he asks you to. The promises he makes are just for show, not truthful.  From now on, I don’t want you to waste your time with him. And you must do what I say!

Ophelia- Okay, dad, I won’t see him anymore.

They leave.

Dante's Inferno Reaction Paper- Imagery

From the very first canto of Dante’s Inferno, we see many animals and many characters compared to animals. Whether with sympathy or hatred toward the sinner, Dante is constantly showing that he is looking down upon the souls. Dante uses animal imagery to keep up with the common Christian archetypes for sin as well as to make the sinners seem inferior to the pilgrim Dante.

In the Canto 1, Dante approaches a point in his life where he is faced with three sins, all of which are symbolized as animals. The leopard represents lust and desire, the lion is violence, and the she-wolf is fraud. Throughout the Bible, especially in the book of Jeremiah, these three beasts are shown to be associated with these sins. Christianity shows animal characteristics such as these to employ moral lessons. These animals within the story represent the three sins that impede Dante’s path to righteousness.

            As he enters Hell with his guide, Dante begins to see how the souls are eternally punished for the sins that they committed in the mortal world. Each sinner has indulged in an impulse as if they could not control their primitive instincts. Throughout, Dante compares each group of souls to different animals. He shows that each sinner did not use their human senses to decide whether or not their actions were moral. He is also trying to show how Dante the pilgrim is superior to these depraved souls because he still has a chance to change his actions and, consequently, his fate.

            An example of this would be in Canto 21. As Dante is touring the fifth bolgia of the eighth circle, he sees a black devil carrying two souls back into the pitch and he compares the devil to a mastiff chasing after a thief. This shows the devils aggressiveness toward such disgraceful souls. In Canto 22, Dante is still in the fifth bolgia of the eighth circle and he compares the sinners to three different animals. First, as he watches a soul writhe in the pitch, he compares the way he arches his back to that of a dolphin, showing how pathetic and weak he is with such a punishment. Second, he compares the souls on the edge of ditch to bullfrogs, with their eyes and snouts poking out of the pitch, as to show how they cower in fear of being shoved back into the pitch. Third, Dante compares a soul that the devil hooked to an otter. This gives the reader the impression that the soul is small, harmless, and inferior to not only the devils, but also all mortal beings.

            There are many more bestial comparisons throughout the journey. Each new animal is shown to show a common archetype or to give the reader an impression of the lowly sinner. Dante shows that the pilgrim is superior to these souls and that he can change his fate by asking for forgiveness and rejecting these sinful behaviors. 

Target Class Writing Assignment

Last Thursday, my mother sent me on an errand to pick up some prescriptions from Target. It was the early afternoon, and there were no more than twenty people in the store. As I walked to the front door with my parents' medication in hand, a siren began to screech, the lights shut off and a red light began flashing. My first instinct was to duck and hide. I ran to the nearest isle and ducked between the dish soap and the toilet paper. I heard a little girl screaming for her  mother, and someone frantically running in a few aisles away. The siren wailed and the light flashed for a good twenty minutes before everything went calm.

When everything went quiet, my ears were ringing and I sat for a few minutes. A voice frantically came onto the intercom, "Hello everyone. I am John Gates, the manager of this store. I am so sorry about this event, but if  everyone could calmly come to the front of the store by the returns desk, I will explain everything. " I sat still, wondering if this was really happening, and whether I should trust this man or find the back emergency exit. I peek out into the main aisle, and see the little girl, weeping into her mothers shoulder, walking to the front with an employee.

I slowly stood up, a little unsteady from such a traumatic moment. I walked to the front, on my guard at every footstep. When I got to the front, I saw everyone else that was already in the store. The manager began to speak to everyone. "I am very sorry about the circumstances that you all just experienced. The police are on their way. Our security system just had a small glitch. I will give you all store credit for $200 for the inconvenience."

He then walked to the door, as to open it to let us out. As soon as he touched it, the siren began to wail again and the red light flashed. We all ducked down and huddled together, as if a low flying plane were coming in above our heads. The manager quickly ran to the control box behind the concierge desk and pressed in a code, and the sirens stopped. He began apologizing profusely again, adding on more store credit, and asked everyone to stay calm. He called the security company, found out how to disconnect the sirens, but the door was still locked. We stood in the front lobby area for a good half an hour, we all began to wonder around hopelessly.

I walked through the clothes section a few times, trying on a few items here and there. Next, I stopped at the shoe section and tried on every heel in the store. After, I walked around the home décor section, finding something new to decorate my room with around every corner. . I decided to grab a cart and use my store credit. I then perused the movie aisle, the magazine aisle and lastly the book section. I peeked over into the toys section, and saw the little girl playing with a stack of toys, taller than her.

I then took a book that I found over to the home décor section and sat down on the futon and began reading. I was soon asleep from the long and exhausting day. The next thing I knew a random man was tapping me on the shoulder to wake me."Their saying that they figured out how to unlock the door," he said. I followed him to the front pushing a cart filled to the top with random décor items, and we left the store.

Dante's Inferno Canto 18 Analysis

Summary

·       The two poets approach the eighth level of hell, called Malebolge, which means “evil pouches.”

·       Dante describes Malebolge as a castle with many moats with bridges. There is a wall running along the outside of a giant pit which then has ten ridges in the wall. The sinners who commit ordinary fraud are punished in these pouches.

·       Virgil and Dante approach the first pouch, where they see souls running from wall to wall. On the wall’s are crevices containing demons with whips, which force the souls to turn around and run to the other side.

·       Dante then recognizes a soul who he names Venedico Caccianemico. He was a man from Bologna and had sold his sister to a noble. This reveals this pouch to be for the pimps, or Panders, and the Seducers.

·       Dante also sees Jason walking with the Seducers, who lead the Argonauts in their search to find the golden fleece of Colchis. He was known for often loving then leaving women, such as Hypsipyle of Lemnos, Medea, Creusa.

·       They then cross the bridge to the second pouch where they hear whimpering and smell a foul stench. Here is a large ditch full of human feces, into which humans are immersed.

·       They then speak to a man who is submerged in the excrement and Dante recognizes him to be Alessio Interminei of Lucca. He tells the poets that these people are the Flatterers. They see a women further on who is scratching herself and identify her as Thais.

Characters

·       Venedico Caccianemico: he pandered his sister Ghisolabella into doing sexual favors for a Marquis.

·       Jason: lead the Argonauts in their search to find the golden fleece of Colchis. He first seduced Hypsipyle of Lemnos in order to find the golden fleece, impregnated her, and then abandoned her. Next, he seduced Medea and used her magic. He then left her to marry Creusa, and Medea took revenge on Jason by murdering his children and poison his wife.

·       Alessio Interminei of Lucca: a flatterer

·       Thais:a prostitute from the classical tradition who falsely praises her lovers.

Sins and Punishments

·       The eighth circle punishes the fraudulent.

·       In the first pouch, we see the Panders and Seducers. These souls sold over or seduced women to satisfy their malicious purposes. These souls are whipped by horned demons, because of their infernal love and passion in the mortal world, they now suffer with infernal abuse of sexuality.

·       In the second pouch are the Flatterers, who are submerged in a ditch of human excrement. These souls are submerged in the flattery that they excreted in their mortal life.

Discussion Questions

·       Why would Dante choose excrement for the punishment of the flatterers? Can you think of a better punishment?

Dante has no reaction towards the people he identifies in this Canto. Why is that?

Dante's Inferno Canto 5 Analysis

Summary

·      Virgil leads Dante into the second level of Hell, which is a smaller place and with much more suffering

·      This level is guarded by Minos, a judge of the underworld. He determines their punishment and the level the soul will go to.

·      Minos can tell that Dante is not yet dead and warns him to careful who he entrusts. Virgil allows them to pass Minos freely.

·      They then come to a dark whirlwind of souls, where it is raining and the wind is blowing as if in a storm. These souls represent the lustful.

·      Dante sympathizes with these souls because they became too caught in love. He then calls out to the souls and they approach him.

·      Dante listens to the story of Francesca. She was forced into a marriage with an older, deformed man and then fell in love with his younger brother. When the old man found out, he ordered the two lovers to be killed, and they now suffer in the second level.

·      Dante then faints from pity.

Characters

·      Semiramis- Assyrian made the vice of incest a legal practice.

·      Dido- killed herself after her lover, Aeneas, abandoned her.

·      Cleopatra- killed herself to avoid being captured by her lover’s enemy.

·      Helen- left husband, Menalaus, to join lover, Paris.

·      Achilles- was tricked to enter the temple of Apollo to meet a Trojan Princess

·      Tristan- accidentally drank magic potion, fell in love with Iseult.

Sins and Punishments

·      The souls of the second level, or the Lustful, were obsessed with simulation of flesh.

·      For punishment, they now have continuously stimulated nerves from the storm.

·      They lie susceptible and in the dark, due to their previous lust.

·      They failed to restrain their tumultuous emotions, now a tumultuous storm tortures them.

Discussion Questions

·      Can you think of anyone today who would be tormented in the second level of Hell?

·      Do you think this is a reasonable punishment for the Lushful? Can you think of any other punishment to represent lust and passion?