Monday, November 28, 2011

Act 4 Question

Was Shakespeare proving yet again that women are just weak and useless by showing the difference between how Ophelia and Laertes reacted to the death of their father? or Was their something else he was trying to show in this dramatic change in Laertes and Ophelia's reactions.

18 comments:

  1. Does anyone think that Hamlet was actually captured by pirates? Or was it just a lie to get him back into the kingdom?

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  2. I feel like Shakespeare is trying to undermine women again. Throughout the entire play so far it has been nothing different than this event. Shakespeare seems to find any way possible to show how inferior women are. When Ophelia kills herself it is the ultimate slap in the face for women. If even emotional Hamlet was able to not kill himself, and yet she did just shows that Shakespeare feels that women are inferior to men.

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  3. I believe that Shakespeare will always take a shot at women when possible, but I do not believe that this scene was meant to defile women. I think the purpose of this scene was to show how grave of a sin Hamlet has committed. By killing their father, he has brought upon himself the wrath of Laertes, who seeks revenge, and lost what remains of Ophelia's love. I believe that deep down Hamlet still loved Ophelia, and by his sword he killed not only her father, but her as well. This scene was meant to show that Hamlet is more alone than ever before.

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  4. The differences between Ophelia's and Laertes' reactions to their father's death are to show the weaknesses of women. Laertes states that his once perfect sister has been driven to madness. He himself is still sane and ready to avenge the death of his father. He is willing to fight back while Ophelia takes the easy way out. Laertes states, "Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia,
    And therefore I forbid my tears. But yet
    It is our trick. Nature her custom holds,
    Let shame say what it will. When these are gone,
    The woman will be out.—Adieu, my lord.
    I have a speech of fire that fain would blaze,
    But that this folly doubts it." He is saying that because he is crying it means he is acting like a woman. He even calls his tears foolish, so foolish people (women) cry.

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  5. I believe that Shakespeare thinks women are useless and very weak and helpless. Through the scene of when we hear of Ophelia's suicide, I get the feeling that Shakespeare is saying that women can't handle things as well as men can. Shakespeare shows this when Ophelia finds out about the death of her father; after he fathers death she goes insane. This tells me that Shakespeare is trying to show how weak minded women are when they are faced with problems. I believe that Shakespeare thinks women can't handle the stress that men can.

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  6. I think that it was another attempt to show how weak women are compared to men because the men are the ones that take action and the women are the ones who sit back and watch "the fireworks". Shakespeare is applying that women need men to get them to act and think for them while men can do this on their own.

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  7. This is an interesting component to the play. I do think that the purpose of commenting on how different Laertes' and Ophelia's reactions to their fathers death was to show how weak women are, but I also think it could be to get the crowd to have pity for women. Earlier in the play we witnessed, if you can call it that, the Ghost of King Hamlet warning Hamlet to not take revenge on his mother, showing that Shakespeare had some care for women. Then in Act 4 we witnessed his pity for women once again with the differences in Laertes' and Ophelia's reactions.

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  8. I think that Shakespeare was defiantly trying to show his true opinion on women. When Polonius dies Ophelia not only loses her father but also loses all structure in her life. She has been raised to always have someone to tell her what to do at all times, now that that figure is missing she has nothing to hold on too. This is what drives her to the point of madness; she is initially mortified the death of her father and the loss of a structure figure which sent to in a state of mental insatiably. The fact that she is a women is what put her over the edge into insanity. This is something that we do not see in Laertes thus it leades me to the conclusion that Shakespeare was showing the weakness of women through Ophelia.

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  9. It ia clear that shakespeare was trying to convey his perosonal opinion of women through the difference in reactions from polonious's death. If women were considered equal by shakespeare I believe that he would have had ophelia react in a way very much alike to laertes.

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  10. I believe that Shakespeare is showing that women are weak in this act. The entire play Shakespeare agenizes woman by putting little pieces in the play to bring down their role in society. Ophelia couldn't handle it and ended up killing herself. Like other people have mentioned Hamlet lost his father and didn't kill himself he stuck around and is trying to revenge his father's death.

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  11. I agree with everyone so far, I believe the purpose of the difference of reactions between Ophelia and Leartes was to demonstrate the weakeness of women. Leartes became very angry and was determined to discover the truth about his fathers murder. He became a man of action. Ophelia could not handle the death of her father and became insane. She is shown as weak. She eventually becomes so weak that she dies, and it is unsure if she took her own life or was swept away. If she took her own life, her weakness got the better of her and she wasn't strong enough to deal with and live with the pain. Even if Ophelia was swept away, it shows her weekness. The difference between Leartes and Ophelia also reveals something about Hamlets character. It gives us yet another example of Hamlet's inaction. We see Leartes be so full of grief that he immediately jumps to action. Hamlet continues to struggle with inaction and this is just another instance

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  12. I think the difference of the reactions is to show women are much weaker then men and cannot handle the pressure that Leartes and Hamlet go through. The fact that Leartes wants to avenge his father and is immediately ready to take action without thought shows he is strong, and Ophelia chooses suicide; which to Shakespeare obviously means you are weak. This is also showing how Hamlet is somewhat of a weak man because he is unable to take action like Leartes is about to do. Gives you to views of men and how they will handle these same issues that they are faced with.

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  13. I do believe that it was to show the weakness of women because Ophelia reacted pretty drastically. She ended up committing suicide and as we have talked about before Shakespeare believes that everyone should just let God handle women. On the other hand we do not see Laertes going insane but keeping his cool the best he can and just trying to deal with the situation while Ophelia just loses it. That could also show that women cannot handle these types of situations as well as men can.

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  14. I believe that Shakespeare was trying to express that women lack the ability to make an impact, not necessarily the inability to act. I think by showing the two different reaction's of Laertes and Ophelia, Shakespeare portrays that women are dependent in times of comfort and need.

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  15. I agree with everybody else, that Shakespeare was trying to indicate the weakness of women through the method that Ophelia reacted to the death of her father Polonius. Through the grief and sadness that the death of her father brings over her, Ophelia appears to be defeated by these emotions when she dies (whether that be of her choice or by mistake), while Laertes wants to take action and not just accept what has happened, he wants to make things right. He feels as though he has power to change the things that have been done. Therefore through the large indicator of Ophelia's death, the reader finds out how important Shakespeare's opinion of the weaknesses of women are in his writings.

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  16. I think that Shakespeare is expressing his theory of how weak women are. There are a lot of references toward women's weakness. Laertes want to seek revenge for his father's killing in the story while Ophelia goes crazy and can't survive without her father. This is definitely a moment showing how shakespeare views women.

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  17. I think that Shakespeare's intentions were to show that women are weak. He clearly doesn't think highly of women. Not only do we see this portrayed through Ophelia, but Gertrude as well. Ophelia was lost in her insanity, while now Laertes wants to be the hero, getting revenge back for his father. Shakespeare is showing the strength and determination of men while he demonstrates the weakness of women through Ophelia.

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  18. I disagree with everyone. I don't think Ophelia’s relation shows Shakespeare‘s personal opinions about women. I think it highlights a flawed parent child relationship. Polonius is overbearing and controlling of Ophelia and never allows her to think on her own so when he dies she has no idea what to do and is completely lost. I think Shakespeare is saying that parents shouldn't be overbearing towards their children because if they are their children won't be able to stand on their own. I also don't think it is fair to claim that Shakespeare is sexist because one of his plays has two female antagonists and because Mrs. Smith says so. He has written other plays that show men in a bad light and women in a good one. Take Othello for example. In that play the male lead, Othello, behaves in a condemnable, violent way. While the female lead, Desdemona, is noble, honorable, strong and faithful throughout the length of the play. In the same play a female character describes men by saying, “They are all but stomachs, and we all but food; they eat us hungrily, and when they are full, they belch us" (Othello 3.4.100-102). To me that sounds like more of a feminist than a misogynist.

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