Hamlet 6

The contrasts between the mindsets of King Claudius and Hamlet highlight the pondering, over-thinking mindset of Hamlet. As Claudius is praying, Hamlet contemplates killing him and getting revenge for his father. Hamlet ponders, "To take him in the purging of his soul/ When he is fit and seasoned for his passage?/ No" (III.iii.86-88). Hamlet believes that if he kills Claudius while Claudius is praying, Claudius will go to heaven and will not suffer for his crimes. Claudius, however, thinks the opposite of Hamlet. He states, "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below./ Words without thoughts never to heaven go" (III.iii.98-99). Claudius is hopeless that his prayers are going to make it to heaven. Claudius thinks very briefly about the matter then moves on. Hamlet states an entire soliloquy on the fact of Claudius going to heaven. Hamlet's mind is very complex and and complicated. His thoughts are often conflicting and he often fights between his emotions and logic.

Next Stop Wonderland

Red to Blue is where I go, 

A stop in Downtown -- State Street too. 

Next stop Wonderland, 

To stroll down Ocean Avenue. 

The Beach is ugly,

The girls are too.

But it's the only place,

That reminds me of you.

A place so far,

from where I am now:

A double-decker brownstone

Right outside of downtown.

Now, I'm doing well ,

Have a job and a wife.

A nice BMW 

That I drive down the Pike.

I'm a real yuppie, sure

The type we used to hate.

Hell I'm an executive

At old Fleet bank.

But I'm still missing you,

Every single day.

Even though you leaving, 

Caused me to change.

It's funny how things work like that.

You were important then,

But now, 

You're not.

Now you're higher,

Than ever before.

When the man from the sky,

Knocked on your door.

But my trains almost here,

It's time for me to go.

Next stop Prudential.

Have to carry on my show.

Hamlet 5

In his infamous "To be, or not to be" (III.i.57), prince Hamlet debates the reason for living. Like Meursault from The Stranger, Hamlet ponders the struggle of a meaningless life. Hamlet's, similarly to Meursault, views life as full of "nasty things" (III.i.58) and "troubles" (III.i.60). However, the ways in which Hamlet and Meursault view life is where they differ. Meursault believes that it is one's purpose to create meaning in an utterly meaningless world; that one should attempt to find a purpose to thrive on in life. On the contrary Hamlet believes that the only escape from the tortures of life is suicide. Hamlet's only reservations towards suicide are worries about after death. He states, "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come/ When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,/ Must give us pause" (II.i.67-69). Suicide is the only option for Hamlet. He cannot attribute meaning to his life therefore he has no purpose. Towards the end of his monologue he confirms his future death by stating "The fair Ophelia!—Nymph, in thy orisons/ Be all my sins remembered" (III.i.90-91).

Hamlet 4

Hamlet identifies his low self-esteem and low self worth when he compares himself to one of the actors. After the actor has preformed a deeply emotional speech, Hamlet remarks,

Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!/ Is it not monstrous that this player here,/ But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,/ Could force his soul so to his own conceit/ That from her working all his visage wanned,/ Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect,/ A broken voice, and his whole function suiting/ With forms to his conceit? And all for nothing—[...]Yet I,/ A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak/ Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,/ And can say nothing (II.ii.509-528)

Hamlet feels as if he has not done enough to mourn and avenge his father. He believes that the actor has shown more emotion in a fictional display than Hamlet is capable of truely expressing. The melancholy outlook on his own life is a foreboding sign of Hamlets future; he feels inadequacy even in sadness. The deep hopelessness felt by Hamlet continues to fuel Hamlet's isolation from the real world. He is failing to honor the one task that the Ghost (the last connection to his father) asked of him. This failure to take action further progresses his depression.

The Climber

I trek up the mountain.
Up and up,
Further and further,
deeper and deeper
the snow gets.
Then there's wind
The wind is stronger, blowing faster,
pushing me back; the wind is whipping, the snow is stirring, the air is leaving,
my lungs.

Only in the trees,
do I find ease.
A peaceful respite,
a warmer delight
than the mountain.

But the thicket ends,

I trek up the mountain,
Up and up,
Further and further,
deeper and deeper
the snow gets.

the wind returns and fills my lungs with cold.
The ice and snow whip at my face, the wind reds my cheeks, It burns like the cold fire it is,
the icy breath of the mountain.

Money

Go to UMASS,

The cost's so low!

My friends said it was great,

and I think you should go!

Mom, no.

It's to far away.

It's Framingham part two

Honestly I'd rather stay.

Well that'd save us more!

I could buy you car!

Live up in your bedroom,

and we'd never be far!

Absolutely not.

I'm going away,

you better suck it up,

you're going to pay.

Then take out loans,

Write scholarship apps.

You need to get money,

A full ride perhaps?

Hamlet 1

The contrast between Hamlet and Gertrude's reactions to King Hamlets death highlights the misogynistic undertones of Hamlet's relationship with his mother. Hamlet reacts very dramatically towards the death of his father. He is emotionally exhausted and tormented by the lost. He laments, "Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,/ Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,/ Or that the Everlasting had not fixed/ His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God/ How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable/ Seem to me all the uses of this world!" (I.ii.133-138). The deep melancholy of Hamlets inner feelings displays the emotions of a hurt and distressed man. However, this is in stark contrast to Gertrude's reaction which Hamlet describes as:

Within a month—/ Let me not think on ’t. Frailty, thy name is woman!—/ A little month, or ere those shoes were old/ With which she followed my poor father’s body,/ Like Niobe, all tears. Why she, even she—/ O God, a beast that wants   discourse of reason/ Would have mourned longer!—married with my uncle,/ My father’s brother, but no more like my father/ Than I to Hercules" (149-157)

The conflict between Hamlet and his mother stems from the improper actions of Gertrude towards King Hamlets death. The contrasting reactions between Hamlet and Gertrude lead Hamlet to think  in a Misogynistic tone. His disapproval for his mothers actions leads to a conflict which Hamlet must address in order to maintain his proper purpose in the kingdom.