Prompt Revision 1/20/13

           In Anthony Burgess' dystopian novel Clockwork Orange, Alex is forced to become a product of a governmental experiment. He is confronted with the question of conforming to what the government wants him to be and what he has always been. Burgess uses the violence of youth to highlight the problems in the new futuristic city, while showing insight to whether or not people can change from their past behaviors to new ones.

          In the beginning of Burgess' novel, Alex is portrayed as a violent and ruthless towards his victims. He is superior to others as he beats, steals, and rapes people throughout the beginning of the novel. In a particularly disturbing incident, Alex beats a man and rapes his wife in front of him, forcing him to watch. Alex, clearly finding pleasure in the pain and suffering he causes others, feels superior as his boys continue to rob the house. In a later discovery, he is told that the wife that he had raped later died. The lack of compassion that Alex feels when hearing this news shows the audience the type of gruesome person that he truly is. As a violent person in power, Alex is able to be seen as selfish. It helps portray Alex as a heartless and sadistic person at the beginning of the novel.

         Later in the novel, Alex is used as a governmental experiment called the Ludovico's Technique, where violent images are shown to Alex as he is given a drug that makes him feel nauseated and sick. He begins to associate the sickness with the violent images, making him sick whenever he is a witness to violent crimes. This use of violence, something that had once made Alex feel empowered and in control, now cripples him and is used as a weapon against him. This leaves him defenseless against enemies. Burgess effectively uses violence as something that can be used for and against Alex, showing Alex's struggle to be what the government wants him to be and what he has always known. His defenselessness pushes him to beg the man that he had once beat to take care of him, ironically leaving him at the mercy of those he had once been in control of. The violence is used effectively in the plot to create a turn of events. It shows the power switch in the novel. It creates sympathy for Alex, despite his horrific actions in the beginning of the novel. Readers recognize the pain that Alex experiences and begins to wonder if the experiment truly pushes Alex to change his ways now that violence is used against him.
           Seeing that the violence that Alex had always known and embraced to be so deep in his core, the audience questions the society that he lives in. Prostitutes, drugs, and violence all openly roam the streets and Alex, representing the youth as a whole, indulges. Seeing the problems in the society from the violence Burgess shows, it raises questions regarding society and the violence surrounding it. In this way, Burgess and his use of violence is successful in using the violent youth in Alwx'a society to raise questions about the problems in society.

          Using violence as a tool for exposing character growth and governmental problems, Burgess is able to explore the ideas of whether or not people can change from their ways and the effect of violence in the youth of the futuristic city. From comparing and contrasting Alex from the beginning of the novel to the end, readers are able to create their own conclusions regarding Alex as a maturing human. Without violence, readers would have a harder time seeing the flaws in the society Burgess created as well as the growth that Alex experiences through his trials with and without violence.

Hamlet Summary and Analysis 1/21/2013

Shakespeare: A famous English poet and playwright who lived in the time period of 1564- 1616 in Stratford-upon-Avon and London. He was part owner of the traveling play group known as the King's Men. He had three play writing eras, in which he wrote comedies and histories, tragedies, and tragicomedies (romances).
 Most of his plays were performed in his famous theatre, called the Globe.

Setting: The play is set in Elsinore in the Kingdom of Denmark, somewhere in the late 16th or early 17th centuries.

Plot: The play opens with three soldiers on watch. The ghost of old Hamlet is seen roaming the exterior of the castle in the same suit that he was killed in. Horatio, Hamlet's friend from college, tells the guards the story of the power-hungry struggle between Fortinbras of Norway. Old Hamlet killed Old Fortinbras and took his land. Young Fortinbras has been preparing to retake the land that Norway had lost from this battle. Horatio tells Hamlet that the ghost of his father has been roaming Elsinor, and Hamlet wishes to see his deceased father's ghost. The ghost leads him to a secluded place and tells young Hamlet that he was killed by Claudius, the new King of Denmark who married Gertrude. The ghost tells Hamlet to avenge him by killing the man who married his wife and took over the throne. Hamlet originally trusts the ghost, but then begins to doubt him.
           Meanwhile, Laertes, Polonius' son, is making preparations to return to France. Polonius offers advice to him before he leaves. Polonius is killed as he tries to hide in Gertrude's curtain in her closet by Hamlet. Hamlet decides to stage a play detailing the events of his father's murder to watch his mother and Claudius' reactions. Claudius seems to react negatively, and later decides he needs to ship Hamlet off to England in order to get rid of him before he becomes too dangerous. He enlists in the help of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to help kidnap Hamlet and send him to England. Pirates attack the ship and Hamlet is kidnapped again. He escapes and returns to Elsinore after arranging the death of his friends.
          Ophelia loses her sanity and passes out symbolic flowers out to those around her. She drowns in what is debated as suicide or an accident. Laertes, in mourning both the deaths of his father and sister, converses with Claudius, who convinces him to take part in the murder of Hamlet. Laertes hastily agrees, and later regrets the decision as Hamlet apologizes for his actions. In the battle, both Hamlet and Laertes are cut with a poisoned sword. The queen drinks the poisoned wine intended for the winner of the battle. Claudius is murdered by Hamlet. All end up dead, except for Horatio, who is convinced by Hamlet to stay alive to retell his story. Fortinbras arrives at the castle, and gives Hamlet the proper King's burial.


Characters: 

Hamlet: As the son of Old Hamlet, he is the heir to the throne of Denmark. Once a happy college student, he returns to Elsinore and sees the ghost of his murdered father. This prompts him to swear to avenge his father by killing Claudius. Although in love with Ophelia, her coldness towards him prompts him to call her a whore multiple times. His long solilioquys questioning life and the meaning of it seems to suggest that he is suicidal. In the end of the play, he decides to leave his fate to the hands of God and accepts his impending death. He battles Laertes and dies to a cut with a poisoned sword. He is the only character to be given a King's burial at the end of the play by Fortinbras. He was once friends with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but he arranges to have them killed after they try to betray him. He is also friends with Horatio.

Claudius: A power-hungry, scheming, and manipulative King of Denmark. Brother to Old Hamlet. He kills his own brother by pouring poison into his ear while he is sleeping. He attempts to convince Hamlet to stay in Elsinore in order to be able to keep an eye on them. He marries Gertrude, creating controversy regarding incest. He shows signs of remorse, but not regret, because he says he enjoys the gains that he has made from his sinful actions. He schemes throughout the play to kill Hamlet, using Laertes as an assassin to kill Hamlet.  In the end of the play, he is stabbed by Hamlet and denied a King's burial, despite being the King of Denmark.

Gertrude: Queen of Denmark and married to Claudius. She is the widow of old Hamlet. She seems to care for Hamlet and later turns to him for advice. She is accidently poisoned by Claudius whens she drinks the poisoned wine intended for Hamlet.

Ophelia: A beautiful, youthful, and naive love interest of Hamlet. It is suggested that she is abused by Hamlet and pregnant. Laertes and Polonius both tell her that Hamlet's love for her is disposable; She is only useful to him as long as she is young and beautiful. Knowing this and the fact that Hamlet is prince, she takes both her father and brother's advice to avoid the young man that she loves. In doing this, she is often called a whore by Hamlet. She is suicidal and loses her sanity towards the end of the play. She drowns but is still given a burial because her family insists on it.

Horatio: Hamlet's loyal friend from his College days. Horatio gives advice to Hamlet and is always loyal to him throughout the play. He often serves as the communicator between Hamlet and the rest of the characters, as seen when Horatio informs Hamlet of his father's ghost or when he retells Hamlet's story to King Fortinbras. At the end, he even contemplates suicide in order to be by Hamlet's side, but instead goes on to tell Hamlet's tale.

Polonius: An arrogant man who tends to use his children for his own benefit. Father of Laertes and Ophelia. He is Lord Chamberlain of Claudius' court. He is killed by Hamlet while sneakily hiding in a curtain.

Laertes: Impulsive son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia. He is a foil to Hamlet. He spends most of the play in France. Incest seems to be hinted at between Laertes and Ophelia.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: Courtiers who were once friends of Hamlet. They betray Hamlet. They are assumed to have been murdered.

Point of View: Hamlet is a play, so there is no single character that the story is told from the perspective of.

Tone: The play has a dark, omniscent tone to it as characters search for deeper meanings. The murders and blood in the play give it a nearly violent tone as well.

Imagery: Shakespeare uses imagery of the dead and decaying to show the depression and negative view on life. This can be seen very clearly in his famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy. It also gives insight to the changing atmosphere surrounding him.

Important Quotes:

"Something is rotten in the State of Denmark" 
Act 1, Scene iv (67)

This quote shows the possibility that the ghost of old Hamlet is a dark omen for Denmark. Although Hamlet views the ghost as the spirit of his deceased father who has unsettled business to attend to.

"Sir, I cannot you make you a wholesome answer; my wit's deceased."
Act III, Scene ii (296-298)

This quote shows the question of whether or not Hamlet is actually mentally insane or if he is faking it. In this quote, he is speaking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who betray him in the play. Throughout the play, viewers wonder whether or not the intelligent Hamlet is manipulating those around him behind the appearance of insanity, or whether the suicidal thoughts and manipulative people around him are making him crazy.

Theme
What is the significance of death?
Throughout the play, Hamlet contemplates suicide. He wonders whether or not suicide is unhonorable, what the meaning of life is, and the spirituality behind it. All of Hamlet's problems, including his love life, his family, and responsibility of avenging his father begin to eat away at him. Some even say it eats away at his mental health. Hamlet questions whether or not suicide would end all of these problems, or if it would continue to haunt him in his afterlife. He questions the meaning of life in his long soliloquy as he observes the unhappiness and dishonor in all those around him. His loss of faith in Ophelia and Gertrude along with the revelation of his father's murder shows him the sadness and unhappiness that comes along with life. In the end of the play, Hamlet seems to accept his death, leaving it in the hands of God.

Response to Course Materials 1/13/12

Reading Hamlet in class and watching several different movies of the play has been the bulk of our course material since the last "Response to Course Materials" post. Reading the play in class didn't really help me aside from Ms. Holmes' insight on key points on the play, like Ophelia handing out flowers, the significance of rue, incest, and the fight scene. Certain aspects of reading Hamlet are difficult to understand because of the words and norms used in Shakespeare's time period. Reading plays such as Hamlet with double meanings behind words and phrases has really helped me to pay more attention when reading. It was also interesting to see how directors are able to put their spin on Hamlet's sanity or his gentle/violent personality. Seeing interpretations like this showed me that each person may feel differently about the play.