What "To be or not to be" Should and Shouldn't Be

       Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy is the one of the most famous monologues of all time. And for good reason. It captures a pivotal point in the storyline of Hamlet and quite frankly, if it is acted correctly, can draw in an audience so much that they can't take their eyes from the stage or off the screen, as was my experience in researching these videos.
       These two videos in particular captured my attention because of the two different takes on the same set extreme of emotions. They both show that Hamlet is facing a very hard decision, and that he is debating suicide, whether or not he should act on what his father's ghost has told him to do, and all the while trying to keep the people he cares about safe from himself.
       The first video captures the stressed and depressed side of the soliloquy, which I feel stands out more in the text and in what Hamlet is trying to say, granting it top spot in the list of things to show in a performance of the piece in my mind. This rendition allowed me to understand what Hamlet feels and thinks as he talks himself through his problems, which is crucial for obvious reasons in understanding the story. Because this version made me understand the soliloquy more, it also made me realize why these Shakespearean plays are supposed to be plays. Plays just deliver the message better.
       The second video shows a different side of the piece, which, although important, I felt shouldn't have been highlighted. It focused on the anger at the situation and the craziness that is all around Hamlet, and maybe even the craziness inside his head. This version caught me off-guard when I made the realization that Hamlet seemed like a kind of psycho, pulling out daggers and yelling at himself in the mirror. I kept thinking to myself, "Isn't Hamlet supposed to be acting crazy, and not actually being crazy?" As a result of this thought I was lost and confused while watching this rendition of the soliloquy.

Short Works Edit

              James Joyce uses a passive tone in the beginning of the text in order to make obvious the everyday struggle that is Eveline’s life during and before the story takes place. Joyce uses this to paint the picture of her conflict with happiness and all the obstacles in her way, specifically her father. This in turn makes the reader feel bad for Eveline and it shows the reader how Eveline may react to certain situations. For example when Joyce writes, “Still they seemed to be rather happy then. Her father was not so bad then; and besides, her mother was still alive. That was a long time ago; she and her brothers and sisters were all grown up; her mother was dead. Tizzie Dunn was dead, too, and the Walters had gone back to England” (Joyce 20). The passage is narrated passively, showing that she, in turn, is a passive person. The narrator goes on to talk about how Eveline has one of her friends be lookout for when her father would “often come to hunt them in out of the field with his blackthorn stick” (Joyce 20) which further proves that she is a passive person, even as a child, because she lets someone else guard her fate; rather than looking for her father herself, she had her friend stand watch, thus letting herself not take action until it was necessary, in that case, running from her father when her friend called out. Had she taken action and not been passive, her battle for happiness could have been made easier.

James Joyce, the author of Eveline, uses passive tone at the beginning of the text in order to make obvious the everyday struggle that Eveline must cope with.  Before the story takes place, Joyce uses this literary device to paint the picture of her conflict with happiness and her father. In turn, making the reader feel empathetic towards Eveline. For example when Joyce writes, “still they seemed to be rather happy then. Her father was not so bad then; and besides, her mother was still alive (Joyce 20 it shows that Eveline is a submissive person, because of the use of passive tone. The narrator goes on to talk about how one of Eveline’s friends looks out to see if her father would “come to hunt them in out of the field with his blackthorn stick,” (Joyce 20) which further proves that she is a passive person. Even as a child, Eveline would let someone else guard her fate. Rather than looking for her father herself, she had her friend stand watch, leading her to return to your own ways. Had she taken action and not been passive, her battle with happiness could have been more easily accomplished.

Acting In Hamlet

When an actor makes a choice, it isn’t on the fly. Even when actors improvise, they take their characters’ personalities, thoughts, and experiences into consideration. Everything is layered on top. What you may see as an audience member may not be everything that is going on onstage and in the characters head. So when I say that Ophelia in the first video was completely opposite from the Ophelia in the second video, it doesnt mean that both takes on the character don’t involve each other. It may just mean that one is layered over the other. The first Ophelia was very normal, acting like she knew best and wasn’t actually going to consider what advice her brother gave her. the second Ophelia was a little odd, acting innocent and immature. She listened to her brother intently and did the same while her father was giving her brother advice. Ophelia #2’s innocence and Ophelia #1’s confidence are both at play in both versions of scene three, it’s just that one is far more apparent than the other. When the first ophelia was joking around with her brother she exuded both confidence and innocence at the same time, while still highlighting her confidence. In the second video Ophelia was innocent and small by her actions and confident in her words. Assuring her brother that she would listen to what he was saying. All in all I would cast the first ophelia though, because the was more natural and likeable, and I feel like she goes along with the story better because she is yet another strong and assertive character, rather than the only small and innocent character.

Missing His Father

Hamlet, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, strikes me as sad and lonely. He lost a father and a person who he looked up to. He lost a mentor and the one person who he could go to for guidance. Hamlet replies to statements about seeing his father’s ghost excitedly, “Then saw you not his face?/ What looked he, frowningly?/ Pale or red?/ And fixed his eyes upon you?/ Very like, very like. Stayed it long?” This dialogue shows that Hamlet wanted as much information as possible about anything having to do with his father. This also shows that he even wanted to go search for the ghost, completely disregarding that he is looking for a ghost. Whether this disregard of the average understanding that ghosts aren’t real comes from inner trauma caused by the loss of his father, or from ambition to find closure, or whatever other possible reason, it shows that he isn’t thinking logically and will do anything to see his father again, much like any person who looses a family member.

As for how he reacts to his aunt and uncle, the queen and king of Denmark, he kind of ignores them as if he doesn’t respect them. He doesn’t pay attention to them and when he does, he acts as if nothing is wrong and completely shields his resentment of them.  “Thou know’st ‘tis common. All that lives must die/ Passing through nature to eternity.” This quote is why he resents them. Because to him, they are disrespecting his father by not mourning over him and playing it off as “oh well, it happened and we can’t do anything about it. To anyone in Hamlet’s situation they would be infuriated, or at least I would be. As a result of this, he wants to find his father’s ghost and give them reason to mourn him.

The Never Ending Battle

The Never Ending Battle

James Joyce utilizes tone  in his short story, “Eveline” to highlight the nature of Eveline’s thoughts and how those thoughts come to be. He does this by using his matter-of-fact tone to depict her life previous to what is happening in the story to show why Eveline never knows what to do with her decisions. His tone evolves as the story progresses to coincide with Eveline’s internal struggle with keeping the life she has or starting anew with her boyfriend. The author ultimately uses his different tones in the work to make an example of Eveline’s life. By doing this  he makes obvious his use of Eveline as a metaphor for everyone’s battle for happiness and how we should obtain it.

James Joyce uses a passive tone in the beginning of the text in order to make obvious the everyday struggle that is Eveline’s life during and before the story takes place. Joyce uses this to paint the picture of her conflict with happiness and all the obstacles in her way, specifically her father. This in turn makes the reader feel bad for Eveline and it shows the reader how Eveline may react to certain situations. For example when Joyce writes, “Still they seemed to be rather happy then. Her father was not so bad then; and besides, her mother was still alive. That was a long time ago; she and her brothers and sisters were all grown up; her mother was dead. Tizzie Dunn was dead, too, and the Walters had gone back to England.”  (Joyce 20) The passage is narrated passively, showing that she, in turn, is a passive person. The narrator goes on to talk about how Eveline has one of her friends be lookout for when her father would “often come to hunt them in out of the field with his blackthorn stick” (Joyce 20) which further proves that she is a passive person, even as a child, because she lets someone else guard her fate; rather than looking for her father herself, she had her friend stand watch, thus letting herself not take action until it was necessary, in that case, running from her father when her friend called out. Had she taken action and not been passive, her battle for happiness could have been made easier.

             As Eveline’s life takes a major turn, breaking her routinely boring day with a boyfriend, Joyce’s tone also takes a turn, becoming a little more cheerful in order to illustrate Eveline’s feelings, or what she thinks her feelings are, and later becomes frantic as the story comes to a close. Joyce lightens the mood as he describes Eveline and her boyfriend, reflecting her happiness and sense of fun about the relationship. Joyce wrote, “People knew that they were courting and, when he sang about a lass who loves a sailor, she always felt pleasantly confused. He used to call her Poppens out of fun. First of all it had been an excitement for her to have a fellow, then she had begun to like him. He had tales of distant countries.” (Joyce 22) The author uses this light and cheerful tone to describe Eveline’s mood and to bring forth her struggle for happiness once again. When the narrator says that she is pleasantly confused, it hints that Eveline is not sure of her feelings To the reader, it is evident that they are not true because she is confused about the song, and the fact that she is literally a lass who loves (or may not love) a sailor goes to show something about where that relationship stands.

This quote, as happy as it may be, foreshadows what comes later in the story, which is what I will call, the final battle for Eveline’s happiness. She is torn on whether or not she should go with her boyfriend and start a new life or stay with her father and keep the life she has. Joyce says, “All of the seas tumbled in her heart. He was drawing her into them; he would drown her. She gripped with both hands at the iron railing… No! No! No! It was impossible. Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas she sent a cry of anguish!” (Joyce 23)The author’s tone goes from cheerful to panicked in a matter of a page. However, this isn’t relevant, because it corresponds to Eveline’s emotions, which at this point in the story are frantic, because she is for once, forced to take action with her life. This example shows the correspondence with Eveline’s mood and the author’s tone again.

Throughout the entire work, the author uses matter-of-fact, cheerful, and panicked tones to highlight Eveline’s thoughts and feelings and to make an example of Eveline. He wants to make clear his use of Eveline as a metaphor for everyone’s battle for happiness and how we should obtain it. He does this through his tones in very specific ways, reacting to moments in the story as Eveline would, and did react. As a result of this, he gives the reader insight on how he think people should pursue happiness, using Eveline as an example of what not to do. In short, he is sending the message to seize the day, and act on what you feel is right.

Revisions and outline

James Joyce utilizes tone to highlight the nature of Eveline’s thoughts and how those thoughts come to be. He does this in his short story, “Eveline” by using his matter-of-fact tone to depict her life previous to what is happening in the story to show why Eveline never knows what to do with her decisions. This tone evolves as the story progresses to coincide with Eveline’s internal struggle with keeping the life she has or starting anew with her boyfriend. He ultimately uses his different tones in the work to make an example of Eveline’s life. By doing this he makes obvious his point that in order to live as an individual people need to make their own decisions, especially those that are life changing.

I. James joyce uses an extremely nonchalant tone in the beginning of the text in order to make obvious the everyday boredom and sadness that is Eveline’s life during and before the story takes place. This in turn makes the reader feel bad for Eveline and it shows the reader how Eveline may react to certain situations.

a. “Still they seemed to be rather happy then. Her father was not so bad then; and besides, her mother was still alive. That was a long time ago; she and her brothers and sisters were all grown up; her mother was dead. Tizzie Dunn was dead, too, and the Walters had gone back to England.”

-the way that it is narrated so passively shows that she will not take action in events in her life until necessary

II. As Eveline’s life takes a major turn, breaking her routinely boring day with a boyfriend, Joyce’s tone also takes a turn, becoming a little more cheerful in order to illustrate Eveline’s feelings, or what she thinks her feelings are, and later becomes frantic as the story comes to a close.

a. find quote from first paragraph on pg 22

b. “All of the seas tumbled in her heart. He was drawing her into them; he would drown her. She gripped with both hands at the iron railing… No! No! No! It was impossible. Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas she sent a cry of anguish!”

III. Throughout the entire work, the author uses different tones to highlight Eveline’s thoughts and feelings and to make an example of Eveline. He wants to make his point obvious that in order to live as an individual people need to make their own decisions, especially those that are life changing.

a. find quote that proves point

Intro Paragraph Process Essay

James Joyce utilizes characterization to state that in order to live as an individual people need to make their own decisions, especially those that are life changing. He depicts Eveline, the main character in his short story “Eveline,” as a passive, helpless, and uncertain person who lets others govern her every move to make an example of what life would be like if we didn’t choose our own paths.  Eveline is a creature of habit who never ventures far into the unknown. Due to this behavior she has never been able to escape her boring life and therefore has never known true love or true happiness.This is why she can’t decide what her fate will be in the final moments of the story.

Something Sweeter

         "Miniver Cheevy" by Edwin Arlington Robinson told the story of a man who wished he were never born. Which is interesting because the reason for this is because of something he loves. "Miniver loved the days of old When swords were bright and steeds were prancing," and wished his life could be full of excitement like that. He wanted something sweeter than the life he had and he believed that he was born too late. So with all the things he wanted, why did he wish he were never born? He is a man full of regret and anger about things that were out of his control, and Robinson is making an example of him to make a point about how we should live our lives. According to this point we should be happy about what we do have and not live in the past or else we would end up like Miniver.       
        The visual in the last stanza is striking: "Miniver Cheevy, born too late, Scratched his head and kept on thinking; Miniver coughed, and called it fate, And kept on drinking." This shows that although he wished his life were different, he would not do anything about it, because he had already given up on trying. I believe that this stanza shows that he has already tried and is not just a drunken coward who hates his life. I think that he was actually imaginative enough to go through his life constantly thinking about his fantasy world and in his mind molding his current life into some variety of his fantasy. This poem just depicts the point where he breaks and realizes it can't happen.

Ironic

The definition of ironic is something that contradicts what was expected in an almost humorous and sometimes dark way. Barbie doll was very was very ironic because because the things that people thought were imperfections about the main character ended up being her downfall and the only time when she is viewed as normal is when she is lying dead in her casket with no legs or nose.

The post I was supposed to post.

The text that I enjoyed reading the most over the summer was probably “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I enjoyed reading about the imaginary world where everything was regulated and “perfect” but ironically took all of the pleasure out of life by being this way. I was surprised that, although I disagreed with how Harrison went about enforcing it, I held the same idea of how nobody should be handicapped and how boring life is/ would be if people were handicapped as they were in the story.

The beginning of the beginning of the middle.

             I'm Cameron. I'm a sophomore at sage hill school, hence the beginning of the beginning of the middle, and I aim to post about my view and perspective on life and the kind way to act towards others. I don't view myself as someone who should usually be listened to, given that I mostly act on impulse and generally just joke around, but I do believe that I am someone who's opinions matter, as everyone's do. With that, I like to take a step back every once and a while from what's going on around me and observe. I ask myself if I like what I see and what I feel needs to be changed to make the different communities that I am a part of better. I form opinions about certain issues and topics and tuck them away for later, so I can know what to avoid, what to do, and how to react. I don't usually share my opinions; they're my opinions anyway, because I want to let others have their own opinions. If they happen to have the same opinions as I do, fantastic, I have someone to talk to about it. If they disagree with me completely, so be it, it is only an opinion. Maybe it's a good opportunity for a debate. All in all, my blog will express what goes on in my head. It's as simple as that.