claudius soliloquy

Claudius’ soliloquy

·         The one place where we learn how Claudius feels about what he has done. The rest of the play is all about how Hamlet feels about what Claudius has done.

·         Claudius is praying and confessing to his sins of the murder of his brother.

·         He gives a reason for killing Hamlet but believes that his guilt is stronger than his intentions.

·         In the next couple of lines Claudius mentions his brother’s blood. It is almost as if he is washing his hands of his brother’s blood as he is confessing in his prayers.

·         Further down the scene Claudius wants forgiveness for his murder, He knows that cannot happen because in order to receive all his possessions. The word possess’d is a pun. The word could have two meanings. For example it could mean “possessed” like the act of being or it could mean possessions as in items. The possessions that he acquired from the murder of his brother were the crown, the queen, and ambition.

·         If he receives forgiveness, Claudius is most likely to lose all that he has acquired and he doesn’t want to do that. He is presented with two choices, Claudius can repent or he can keep his commodities from his sins.

·         Claudius is in moral dilemma at this moment in the play.

·          These are the reasons why he killed the King of Denmark. As he is kneeling Claudius is praising god to repent him. He asks for forgiveness.                      

ghost scene

The Ghost Scene

·         In Act 1, scene 5

·         Ghost of his father tells Hamlet that he was murdered by poison poured into his ear by Claudius

·         The Ghost tells him to avenge Claudius and leave the judgment of his mother to heaven

·         The ghost criticizes Claudius through listing.  Hamlet labels him as an “adulterate beast, with witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts, o wicked wit and gifts, that have the power so to seduce!”

·         The ghost doubts the queens self morals and dignity

·         Using the words “O” and “Ay” emphasizes the extreme emotions (sorrowful and angry) of the ghost

·         The ghost contrasts his “natural gifts” to that of Claudius’ – The King was seen to be more loyal

·         Juxtaposition:

o   “Though lewdness (bad comings) court it in a shape of heaven”

§  Meaning/purpose: the ghost claims to Hamlet that his fathers murder was an unjust debt

·         The Ghost denounces his queen in bitter terms, as she left his bed to “prey on garbage.”

o   Garbage is a metaphor for Claudius’ personality/behavior

·         From lines 65-87, the Ghost explains the story of the Kings death

·         Figurative imagery: “I scent the morning air”  - setting the scene with an innocent and pure mood

·         Juxtaposition:

o   “Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole”

§  Meaning/purpose: highlights the dreadful act of Claudius, he disturbed the Kings peace

·         Simile:

o   “That swift as quicksilver through the natural gates and alleys of the body” demonstrates that the poison rapidly killed the King

o   “And curd, like eager (acid) droppings into milk” means that the impure (eager) affected the King (pure - curd) – this quote is also a metaphor

·         Figurative Imagery:

o   “Instant tetter barked about”- refers to immediate blisters that appeared on the Kings skin from the poison

·          The Ghost lists his dispositions…“of life, of crown, of queen”

o   This was done to portray the extent of the Kings losses because of his death

·         The line with all my imperfections on my head” signifies that the Ghost is no longer superior

·         The repetition of “O horrible” stresses the Ghosts feelings towards his own death 

claudius 1st speech

Claudius’ 1^st speech- Act 1 Scene 2

The speech is divided three parts:

1.       Lines 1-7= Death of his brother

2.       Lines 8-16= Marriage to Queen Gertrude

3.       Lines 17-38= Politics

1.       Death of his brother:

In this part of the speech Claudius touches on his brother’s death.

-          “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death The memory be green, and that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom To be contracted in one brow of woe,”

Claudius uses words such as “dear” and “bear our hearts in grief” to tell the people of Denmark he had no connection with the death. He begins his speech by remembering the former King with respect, thus telling the people of Denmark that he is caring and sensitive.

-          “Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature That we with wisest sorrow think on him Together with remembrance of ourselves.”

2.       Marriage to Queen Gertrude:

Claudius follows on by touching on the sensitive topic of incest. In most religions marrying your dead brother’s wife is frowned upon, Claudius knows this and talks about the issue.

-          “Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, taken to wife.”

-          “Nor have we herein barred Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone With this affair along. For all, our thanks.”

Claudius responds to the critic of the people of Denmark by telling them that he and the Queen are in love. On the other hand there is a bit of a threatening tone to Claudius’ words, “Nor have we herein barred Your better wisdoms,” Here he is basically saying, “you are lucky you decided to accept this marriage or else…”

3.       Politics:

Recently young Fortinbras, new King of Norway, took control of the country. To show the public Denmark’s foreign intentions Claudius needs to respond.

-          “Young Fortinbras, Holding a weak supposal of our worth Or thinking by our late brother’s death Our state to be disjoint and out of frame,”

He is addressing the court because the king of Norway has a nephew named Fortinbras who wants the new King Claudius to return certain lands formerly given to Hamlet the Elder and now devoid of a pact any longer since the elder has died and Fortinbras is to be the new ruler and not bound by promises and treaties made by others. Claudius refuses to give in and makes the choice public with this court appearance as well as sending Cornelius and Voltimand with a letter to the old king to let him know what the nephew is doing while he is sick and old. The two courtiers have no power to negotiate, only to inform and their presence at the court of Norway will indeed require something to be done or discussed.

1st soliloquy

1^st solil\oquy:

·         Hamlet begins by stating he wishes to be dead, yet he will not commit suicide for fear of everlasting punishment.

·         Scorns all that life and the world has to offer, comparing it to an unweeded garden.

·         Beginning with line 136, Hamlet curses his mother for marrying his uncle two months after his father died. Hamlet calls his father an excellent king and his uncle a scoundrel.

·         Comments that his mother's affection for his uncle increases, causing Hamlet to curse women in general.

·         Criticizes his mother's quick marriage to an inferior person so soon after his father's death.

·         Hamlet's heart his broken and must not speak of his disgust in public.

• Line 129 - Hamlet uses synechdoche, a special type of metaphor that uses a part to represent the whole or the whole to represent the parts. In this example, flesh represents physical life. His flesh melting, thawing and resolving itself into a dew is a metaphor for dying.
• Lines 135-136 - Hamlet uses a metaphor, comparing the world to an unweeded garden that produces things "rank and gross in nature."
• Line 140: Hamlet uses an allusion to compare his father to his uncle: Hyperion is the Titan god of light in Greek Mythology; satyrs are half man/half beast, usually depicted as man above the waist and a horse or goat below the waist. The implication that Claudius below the waist is a beast is a comment on the new king's lechery.
• Line 146 - Hamlet uses an apostrophe, speaking directly to "frailty." This line provides insight on Hamlet's attitude toward women.
• Line 149 - Hamlet alludes to Niobe, a character in Greek mythology, famous for her ceaseless tears following her children's death. Hamlet compares the Queen to Niobe immediately following his father's death, making her marriage to Claudius all the more despicable in Hamlet's eyes.
• Line 157 - Hamlet uses personification--incestuous sheets--to characterize her mother and her uncle's relationship. Dexterity in the same line is not void of sexual innuendo.
• Line 158 - Hamlet uses meiosis, or understatement, to end his soliloquy, stating that all this cannot come to good, a mild statement in comparison with the rest of his speech.

The red text is an extract from this site: http://www.brighthub.com/education/homework-tips/articles/58444.aspx#ixzz1H8p35uv8

Themes: Love, Revenge, Misogyny, Religion, Death and Decay

Shooting an Elephant                                                                                                                                     Sarig T. Cohen

George Orwell is the author of “Shooting an Elephant”, a short story that uses the small incident of the murder of an elephant to portray the horrors of British Imperialism. Due to the fact that George Orwell writes a short story in the form of an essay, it contains a thesis, which is the argument about the nature of imperialism. The great thing about George Orwell’s essay is that the theme is represented throughout the plot and can be analyzed from any part of the story. This essay will discuss this thesis and how it is represented in Orwell’s short story by analyzing the literary devices used. The most influential literary devices used by George Orwell are metaphors, repetition and alliteration; others include anaphora and paradox.

Right from the start Orwell mentions his hatred towards British imperialism, “I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better.” There is no elaborate diction or sophisticated syntax. He explicitly states his loathing of imperialism. This is quite ironic since throughout the rest of the essay Orwell uses the symbol of the elephant as a metaphor for the fall of imperialism. As the big moment looms on Orwell, the reader can notice that he gets uneasy and nervous from the main event. This is noticeable from Orwell’s indecision; he begins to raise excuses for him not to shoot the elephant, “It is always unnerving to have a crowd following you.” Orwell puts the blame on the Burmese people stating that they are the cause for his hesitation. This is a direct implication towards British Imperialism since the “ruled” people were always blamed upon.

Metaphors are used plenty in this essay. Orwell shows the reader how metaphors can be used to compare two unrelated events with the same meanings. One of the strongest metaphors in this story is the elephant and its destructive path; it portrays British Imperialism and its hostile takeover, “in the morning the elephant had suddenly reappeared in the town. The Burmese population had no weapons and were quite helpless against it.” The elephant is seen as a huge animal with a lot of power and being dominant over the Burmese people. Orwell states that they do not have the weapons and capability to control the elephant, similar to the rule of the British. The British Empire was one of the most advanced and brutal empires. She had the largest navy and would force labour throughout her colonies. So her enemies were most often less advanced than she was.

George Orwell uses a type of repetition, anaphora, to emphasize the role of the Burmese people. “Some of the people said that the elephant had gone in one direction, some said that he had gone in another, some professed not even to have heard of any elephant.” Here the word “some” is repeated to stress the notion that Burmese people cannot be trusted. This is evidence for the racist tone and the condescending tone George Orwell has to the people of Burma. Throughout the essay Orwell plants certain phrases about the Burmese people and Indians which compare to the actions of the British Empire. This is quite ironic since the thesis of the essay is Orwell’s hatred towards British Imperialism and all that it stands for.

Another form of repetition is used by George Orwell, alliteration. George Orwell uses alliteration to create a consistent pattern that catches the reader’s eye. This makes the reader read faster, thereby adding a sense of speed and intensity to the sentence. Right after Orwell had fired at the elephant he used alliteration to describe its pain, “He looked suddenly, stricken, shrunken.” George Orwell uses this technique throughout his essay. Here the effect is the emphases on the pain of the elephant. As mentioned before the slow death of the elephant is a symbol of the downfall of the British Empire. Therefore in order to support his opinion of Imperialism George Orwell magnifies the death of the elephant into something much more powerful.      

Even though seemingly not a very influential aspect of the essay, the technique of the paradox is very interesting. George Orwell uses a paradox to install some fresh thought and ideas into the readers mind, “A story always sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it becomes.” He emphasizes a new approach and a new solution to the idea of Imperialism. Here Orwell is stating Imperialism looks good on the outside but internally it’s a mess, it will never work. This is a paradox since previously, nowhere has Orwell discussed the internal affairs of British Imperialism. Interestingly, by saying so Orwell is implying that the British Empire needs to manage its affairs better. 

Literary devices are key to George Orwell’s success to convey the weakness of Imperialism to his readers. Using a number of different literary devices lets George Orwell emphasize the theme in a number of different ways which makes his writing so special and such a joy to read. By doing so he also ensures himself that he reaches out to many different audiences of readers each preferring a different literary device for the message to be conveyed to them. Thus George Orwell makes it easy for the reader to understand his message which lets the reader enjoy the memory.