Hamlet: New York Mobster

With many different ways to go about creating an interesting alternate setting for Hamlet, I settled with the Mob scene in New York set in the 1930's. Hamlet, the son of an infamous gangster in the Mafia, struggles to cope with the sudden death of his father. Uncle Claudio, his father's brother and also a gangster, marries Hamlet's mother Geovana. Distraught over his father's death, feeling betrayed by Geovana, and confused over the intermarriage, Hamlet suspects foul play. After a visitation from his father's ghost, Hamlet's suspicions are confirmed: the ghost informs Hamlet of Uncle Claudio's plan to murder Big Hamlet and take control over the underground business. Also, Hamlet feels the need to live up to his father's name and take over the family business, but he does not want to continue living a life of crime. I feel like the Italian Mafia setting would translate the themes of power and greed. In those times, mobsters and their families were frequently targeted in order to gain power over money.

Act 3 Scene 3 could capture the New York mob setting, with the scene of Uncle Claudio showing remorse for the murder of his brother. Imagine Claudio in his office; slumped in a red velvet chair by the fireplace, a cigar in one hand and a glass of scotch in the other.  Dressed in nice slacks, but with his white dress shirt rumpled and his striped tie undone, he looks disgruntled. Claudio stares into the fire unnervingly as he thinks about the sins he's committed. He attempts to pray for forgiveness. Behind him, Hamlet slips into the office with a shotgun. He plans on killing Uncle Claudio right there, but decides that Claudio's prayers might make up for his sins. Hamlet does not want to take the chance of Claudio going to Heaven instead of Hell. After Hamlet quietly exits the office, Claudio bursts into a fit of anger and throws the glass of scotch at the brick wall behind him; the shattered glass litters the floor. Claudio declares that he cannot pray sincerely, and stares longingly at the bits of glass.

To Be or Not To Be...

   
In the first video, David Tennant portrays Hamlet's famous soliloquy in a soft, whispering tone. He appears fearful as he speaks: when Tennant says the line, "To be or not to be--that is the question," it seems as if he is actually searching within himself for the answer of whether or not he should live. The tone of his voice throughout the soliloquy indicates that he is full of despair and unsure where his plan to avenge his father might lead him.
    In the second video, however, Kenneth Branagh's portrayal of Hamlet differs. His approach leans toward the angry, aggressive side. His voice is quiet and even, unlike Tennant's shaky, whispering voice. From my point of view, Branagh seems more like a madman because of his quiet-anger demeanor.
    I prefer David Tennant's performance over Kenneth Branagh's, because Tennant's performance felt raw and emotional. I see Hamlet as a torn, confused young man. David Tennant showed that side of Hamlet clearly in the first video.

Oh, What Fun: Revision Time

  Hello! I've made revisions to a paragraph from my short works essay on James Joyce's story "Eveline". Here I have posted an original, not-so-great paragraph and a revised, slightly-better version of the paragraph! Enjoy.

The original, not-so-great paragraph:

The ship, which Eveline plans to escape with Frank on, signifies Eveline’s opportunity of escape.  Frank, a sailor, had “…tales of distant countries…He told her the names of the ships he had been on and the names of the different services. He had sailed through the Straights of Magellan and he told her stories of the terrible Patagonians,” (Joyce 22). He intrigues Eveline with tales of foreign places; Eveline, too, wants to experience new things on her own. Eveline “was to go away with him by the night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Buenos Ayres where he had a home waiting for her,” (Joyce 21). She finally makes her own decision: she plans to sail away on the ship and relocate to a foreign place. Eveline has the chance at a new life—one that doesn’t involve the familiarity of her home. However, when the time comes to make a final decision and board the ship, “She felt her cheek pale and cold and, out of a maze of distress, she prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty. The boat blew a long, mournful whistle into the mist,” (Joyce 23). Eveline, unable to go through with her plan, does not escape to Buenos Ayres with Frank. Although given the opportunity to leave her familiar and unchanging life, Eveline chooses not to step onto the ship. Instead, she sticks to what she has known her entire life. 

The revised, slightly-better paragraph:

The ship, which Eveline plans to escape with Frank on, signifies Eveline’s opportunity of escape. Frank, a sailor, had “…tales of distant countries…He told her the names of the ships he had been on and the names of the different services. He had sailed through the Straights of Magellan and he told her stories of the terrible Patagonians,” (Joyce 22). He intrigues Eveline with tales of foreign places, which in turn encourages Eveline to want to experience new things on her own. She finally makes her own decision: she resolves to sail away on the ship and relocate to a foreign location. Eveline “was to go away with him by the night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Buenos Ayres where he had a home waiting for her,” (Joyce 21).  Eveline’s chance at a new life doesn’t involve the familiarity of her home. However, when the time comes to make a final decision—board the ship to Buenos Ayres or stay put in familiar surroundings—Eveline desperately needs guidance, “She felt her cheek pale and cold and, out of a maze of distress, she prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty. The boat blew a long, mournful whistle into the mist,” (Joyce 23).  Eveline retracts from her original plan and does not escape to Buenos Ayres with Frank. Although given the opportunity to leave her accustomed life, Eveline chooses against change. Instead, she sticks to what she has known her entire life. 

Ophelia Vs. Ophelia

    The actress portraying Ophelia in the first video presents her character in a bold way. In the video, when Laertes warns Ophelia about Hamlet's affections, "A violet in the youth of primy nature/Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting/The perfume and suppliance of a minute/No more," (1.3.8-10), the actress responds in an annoyed, almost sarcastic manner. In this way, Ophelia seems strong-willed and unwilling to listen to her father and brother. I don't agree with her approach at portraying Ophelia. This is the first scene that involves Ophelia, and her responses toward her father and brother's opinions should leave me unsure about what's really going on inside of her head. Instead, the scene left me with the thought that Ophelia had her mind set to disobey their advice and continue to see Hamlet. I imagine Ophelia's character as a softer woman whose intentions toward her relationship with Hamlet are unclear. 

    The actress in the second video portrays Ophelia as a quiet, conflicted young woman. I had to re-watch the scene to come to the conclusion that she barely speaks in the video. While her brother Laertes  lectures her to stay away from Hamlet, the actress meekly walks around him and avoids his gaze. Her facial expressions are troubled and give the impression that her brother's opinions do matter to her. I connect with the second actress's portrayal of Ophelia much more than the first. 

Hamlet: Oh the Angst

    I see Prince Hamlet in Shakespeare's Hamlet as a distressed and internally confused young man, unsure of how to act since the death of his father. He's conflicted between sadness and anger, and as a result lashes out at his mother and uncle.   

    As his uncle, and to-be stepfather, concludes his speech to the people as King of Denmark, Hamlet mutters, "'A little more than kin and less than kind,'" (1. 2. 67). Prince Hamlet's entrance exudes attitude; he can't help taking a jab at the new king. Although, who could blame him? Just two months after his father's death, Hamlet’s mother is already marrying his father's brother. I find the situation very twisted. 

    With the tenacity to criticize Hamlet's manliness, King Claudius says, "‘but to persever/In obstinate condolement is a course/Of impious stubbornness. 'Tis unmanly grief,'" (1. 2. 96-98). Not only does his father's death cause Hamlet major grief, but now Hamlet also has to deal with a controlling man trying to replace his father.

    Hamlet responds to his uncle and mother as an annoyed stepchild would—unwilling to subject to change and a bit cynical. Considering the situation, I understand where he's coming from. However, further into Scene 2, I saw that Hamlet's anger and sadness comes from a much deeper place,

"'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!'" (1. 1. 136-138). He wishes God had not made suicide a sin; otherwise he would take his own life. 

      I’m excited to find out more about Prince Hamlet, and to watch his character evolve throughout the play. Will Hamlet be in the same mindset at the end of the play? Will he turn out completely different than he did in the beginning of the play? 

I found a clip of Scene 2! Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2RHXt9t-d4

Symbolism of the Dust, the Old Photograph, and the Ship in James Joyce's "Eveline"

Symbolism of the Dust, the Old Photograph, and the Ship in James Joyce’s “Eveline”

In his short story "Eveline", James Joyce uses symbols—the dust, the old photograph, and the ship—to portray the self-imposed restrictions that limit not just his title character but also us from becoming individuals. Eveline  longs to escape from home, but relies on the past to stabilize her present, and depends on others to make decisions for her. When faced with the dilemma to either stay in Ireland or to leave for Buenos Aires with Frank, Eveline chooses to stick to the familiarity of her home. Joyce's symbolism represents the inner conflicts and self-imposed restrictions that young adults often face when on the verge of breaking into adulthood and essentially coming-of-age

In the beginning of “Eveline”, Joyce stresses the importance of dust through symbolism. The concept of dust symbolizes the layers of time that accumulated over the years.  Like dust, Eveline’s life has remained settled and unchanging, “She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue. Her head was leaned against the window curtains and in her nostrils was the odor of dusty cretonne. She was tired," (Joyce 20). The dust in Eveline’s house reminds her of all that’s gone, because while she stays put in the house, others have either died or moved away. The dust consistently collects in parts of her home, but instead of dusting the particles away, Eveline chooses not to because the odor has become so familiar, "Home! She looked round the room, reviewing all its familiar objects which she had dusted once a week for so many years, wondering where on earth all the dust came from,” (Joyce 20). Rather than cleaning the dust out of the house, Eveline allows the dust to collect. Eveline finds comfort in the dust because she has grown accustomed to it.

Early in the story, Joyce uses the yellowing photograph of her father’s old school friend as a warning to Eveline that those who leave inevitably disappoint her father. The man in the photograph had once been important to Eveline’s father; "He had been a school friend of her father. Whenever he showed the photograph to a visitor her father used to pass it with a casual word: 'He is in Melbourne now'." (Joyce 20), However, her father continues to keep the old photograph on the wall throughout the years; Eveline’s father has never moved on from the abandonment. Eveline “had never found out the name of the priest whose yellowing photograph hung on the wall above the broken harmonium..." (Joyce 20). She does not want to leave her father and become nothing but an unnamed, yellowing photograph on the wall. The thought of disappointing her father, however abusive and demanding he may be, “…she sometimes felt herself in danger of her father’s violence…latterly he had begun to threaten her and say what he would do to her only for her dead mother’s sake,” (Joyce 21), holds her back from becoming an independent young woman.

        The ship, which Eveline plans to escape with Frank on, signifies Eveline’s opportunity of escape.  Frank, a sailor, had “…tales of distant countries…He told her the names of the ships he had been on and the names of the different services. He had sailed through the Straights of Magellan and he told her stories of the terrible Patagonians,” (Joyce 22). He intrigues Eveline with tales of foreign places; Eveline, too, wants to experience new things on her own. Eveline “was to go away with him by the night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Buenos Ayres where he had a home waiting for her,” (Joyce 21). She finally makes her own decision: she plans to sail away on the ship and relocate to a foreign place. Eveline has the chance at a new life—one that doesn’t involve the familiarity of her home. However, when the time comes to make a final decision and board the ship, “She felt her cheek pale and cold and, out of a maze of distress, she prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty. The boat blew a long, mournful whistle into the mist,” (Joyce 23). Eveline, unable to go through with her plan, does not escape to Buenos Ayres with Frank. Although given the opportunity to leave her familiar and unchanging life, Eveline chooses not to step onto the ship. Instead, she sticks to what she has known her entire life.

Joyce’s symbolism in Eveline provides background to the hesitance she feels towards making her own decisions—particularly one decision that could drastically change her life, for better or for worse. Ultimately, Eveline chooses to stay behind while Frank leaves on the ship.. The symbolism of the dust, the old photograph, and the ship proves Eveline lacks the confidence and maturity she needs to strive on her own. As we grow from young adults into adults, the pressure to act like an adult—to take responsibility for ourselves and to make our own decisions—often frightens us. Like Eveline, we might restrict ourselves from the new because we fear unfamiliarity.  Joyce shows that the shift into adulthood is often frightening and new, but requires maturity and independence in order to be successful.

"Eveline" Intro Paragraph

In his short story "Eveline", James Joyce uses symbols--such as the past, dust, and an old photograph--to portray all that holds Eveline back from becoming an individual. Eveline is one who longs to escape from home, one who relies on the past to stabilize her present, and one who depends on others to make decisions for her. Joyce's symbolism represents the conflict that young adults often face when on the verge of breaking into adulthood and essentially coming-of-age.

I. Joyce begins the text with Eveline reminiscing her childhood; recurring nostalgia shows that Eveline has a tight grip on the past.
    a. "Still they seemed to have been rather happy then. Her father was not so bad then; and besides, her mother was alive."
    b. "Sometimes he could be very nice. Not long before, when she had been laid up for a day, he had read her out a ghost story and made toast for her at the fire.... Another day, when their mother was alive, they had all gone for a picnic...She remembered her father putting on her mother's bonnet to make the children laugh."

II. The concept of dust represents the layers of time that accumulated over the years and appears in the text more than once.
    a. "She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue. Her head was leaned against the window curtains and in her nostrils was the odor of dusty cretonne. She was tired."
    b. "Home! She looked round the room, reviewing all its familiar objects which she had dusted once a week for so many years, wondering where on earth all the dust came from."

III. Joyce  uses the yellowing photograph of her father's old school friend as a warning to Eveline-- those who leave inevitably disappoint her father.
    a. "And yet during all those years she had never found out the name of the priest whose yellowing photograph hung on the wall above the broken harmonium..."
    b. "He had been a school friend of her father. Whenever he showed the photograph to a visitor her father used to pass it with a casual word: 'He is in Melbourne now'."

"Born Too Late"

While reading E.A. Robinson's "Miniver Cheevy", I couldn't help but feel a connection to Cheevy. There have been countless times where I've watched Sixteen Candles, or The Breakfast Club, and I wished I could travel back in time to live in the quirky and laid-back 1980's. What girl wouldn't want to be Molly Ringwald in a high-school dramatic film with a cheesy romantic ending?
And then there's Miniver Cheevy, who "sighed for what was not, And dreamed of Thebes and Camelot," (Robinson). He wanted to escape the "commonplace" , or the straight-and-narrow life plan set for him. E.A. Robinson makes it clear that Miniver Cheevy used his longing for the past as an excuse to escape his dreary present, "Miniver cursed the commonplace and eyed a khaki suit with loathing; He missed the medieval grace of iron clothing," (Robinson). How could he miss something that he had never even experienced? Miniver could have watched movies set in the medieval era, or read many books on the time period, but that isn't the same as living in the medieval times. Therefore he wouldn't be able to miss it. It's like me, sixteen years old, claiming that I miss the good old 1960's. I would just sound ridiculous.
Robinson presents a character that is dwelling on the fact that current times are terrible, instead of facing the obstacles in his life. It's almost as if Miniver uses the medieval facade as a shield to block him from admitting the truth: that he's looking upon the past with longing and complaining about the present instead of improving his situation.
Although, at the end of the poem Miniver Cheevy contradicts himself, "Miniver scored the gold he sought, but sore annoyed was he without it...Miniver Cheevy, born too late, scratched his head and kept on thinking; Miniver coughed, and called it fate, and kept on drinking," (Robinson). He complains about his straight-and-narrow life, but without it Cheevy would not have the "gold", or money, that he receives. In the end, he would not actually trade his dull life for a medieval, heroic one. Miniver Cheevy just likes to dream of it.

Oh, the Irony.

Marge Piercy uses situational and dramatic irony in "Barbie Doll" to convey to the reader the tragic story of a girl who did everything in her power to conform into what others wanted her to be. The poem starts out with the "girlchild" growing up in the perceived "usual" way that a young girl would; playing with dolls and fake stoves and lipstick. Marge's repetitive use of synonyms of the word "small" in the first stanza is ironic-- "...miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy"-- because as the girl grows older she is seen as "a fat nose on thick legs," (Piercy). From the beginning of the young girl's life, she was programmed with the need to be "wee" and petite. As a reader, I wanted to somehow telepathically let her know that she did not have to change herself or feel bad about herself to please those around her. Thus dramatic irony, "when an event occurs whose significance the audience understands but the characters do not," (the oatmeal.com/comics/irony).  As a result of the pressures to become thin and "exercise, diet, smile and wheedle," (Piercy), she "cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up," (Piercy). The last stanza was the hardest for me to read. After going though with the surgery in order to blend in, the girl still was not happy with herself. Her society-- please forgive me, I just used the commonly used word society -- set women's standards so high that no woman could live up to them. It is still unclear to me whether or not the girl took her own life or died because of the surgery, but either way it's an example of situational irony, "Situational irony is when something happens and a reversal of expectations occurs...the reversal: the armor, which was intended for protection, is what ended up causing harm," (theoatmeal.com/comics/irony). In other words, the girl's surgery was intended to boost her confidence, to live up to her society's standards, and essentially be a perfect girl.

Instead, it ended up costing the girl her life. And, get this; the same people whom she could never seem to please were only appreciative of her as she lay in her coffin, "Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said," (Piercy). That only angers me even more. They had the audacity to show up to her funeral and only then did they call her pretty. It's saddening to think that the girl is looking down from Heaven, or some form of afterlife, finally pleased with herself.