BLOG 9
PROMPT 1.
“THERE’S A DIVINITY THAT SHAPES OUR ENDS”

Divinity is the will of god. Important matters are decided by a
divine force, however much humans try to plan their lives. An
individual has little power over what he / she will become.
Hamlet said these words and believes that we have no control
over our lives. We do not know what will happen to us. Hamlet
– a student studying in Wittenberg had a life full of joy when
suddenly his life changed after coming to know about his
father’s death. He even had not imagined his mother’s marriage
to his uncle. At that moment he was angered, full of sorrow, had
fear, and was disgusted at his mother’s behavior. His mother and
his uncle decided to get married after 2 months of his father
death.
Hamlet’s actions changed from the very moment when he saw his father’s ghost. He lost his mind and decided to kill Claudius, who was now wearing his father’s crown. I believe that one’s fate is not shaped by divinity but it’s in our own hands and in the actions we commit. In the whole play hamlet took so long to kill Claudius. At once he got really good opportunity to kill Claudius but then he did not want to kill him while he was praying. In Elizabethan period people believed that a person will not go to hell if he is killed while praying or after he has finished praying .but in the case of hamlet, he was so determined to send his uncle to hell but at that moment may be his luck did not favored on his side because Claudius was praying at that time. I really don’t understand that why hamlet had to think so much while killing Claudius? If we have so much hatred towards another person, we do not think of any circumstances, instead we just finish doing what we have intended to do. While killing Polonius, he did not even think once …..He just kept stabbing the person behind the curtain.

I certainly do not believe that “there’s a divinity that shapes our ends”. All we do is controlled by ourselves. Like in hamlet he decided his own fate. His actions and his behavior led to his dead in the end. He even lost the girl (Ophelia) who cared and loved him so much and that was because Ophelia was so much in grief of her father’s death, and after that ,all she wanted was love from hamlet. He was absorbed in his thought for most of the time, and couldn’t think properly what he wanted to do next. Hamlet’s action and his behavior ruined him and led to no where , lastly his conscious mind left in the death of so many innocent people.

HAMLET SILOLOQUY

BLOG 7
HAMLET ACT 1:

1). KENNETH BRANAGH: Of all the four soliloquies I enjoyed Branagh’s performance the most. He shows a sense of sadness when he wishes to die and commit a suicide. Then slowly he starts showing his anger towards his mother and his uncle. He very well explains each line by his hand and face expressions. He stresses his words more when he recalls how passionately she had loved his father. Confusion, depression, anger describes Branagh’s performance.

2).KEVIN KLINE: He has a deep sadness in his tone. His getting down on his knees gave a little extra touch on his performance. His tears show how deeply he is disappointed with his mother being married to his uncle. Throughout his act he mostly stays in the same tone but there were only a couple of lines where he was recalling his dead father while comparing Hyperion to a Satyr.

3).NICOL WILLIAMS: In the beginning there is not much of anger or sadness in his voice it’s only at the end of soliloquy where he performs a little hand and face expressions. He does not show much of his emotions throughout his soliloquy. The mood that can describe Nicole’s performance may be sadness and grief.

4). MEL GIBSON: In my view I felt that Gibson’s performance was the weakest of all the four soliloquies. He does not show any sign of anger, frustration or sadness but he is not happy to see his mother getting married with his uncle. He has no change in his tone and more or less his face actions remain the same throughout his whole performance.
I found Kenneth Branagh’s performance to be the best above all the other four soliloquies. He mostly shows all emotions in his voice and actions such as anger , confusion , frustration, grief , disappointment and many more.

BLOG # 5
PROMPT 1.

BRABANTIO’S ACCUSATIONS

There are many situations that can be compared and contrasted between brabantio’s reactions to his daughter’s marriage to Leonato’s reaction at the accusation against Hero. Leonato’s daughter (hero) was going to marry Claudio, when he accused of her being unfaithful towards him. It was don john who had planned against hero and her fiancé Claudio. He manipulated Claudio so much to make him believe that what he saw was true and hero is unfaithful towards him. Claudio accused her in front of everyone at their wedding day. Leonato was shocked to hear this; he believed in Claudio’s words and started cursing his daughter. He stated “hath no man’s dagger here a point for me” (act 4).but on the other hand there is Desdemona, sweet and loving daughter to Brabantio. Desdemona eloped with the moor (Othello). Brabantio says that Desdemona would never do such a thing. He does not approve the fact that his daughter has eloped with a man. I think it may also be because that era was different when compared with today’s modern society. He says that Othello has performed some sort of magic on his daughter. This was the first example where we can see the differences between two fathers. On one hand there is hero who is innocent and fair but leonato believes that she is guilty and on the other hand there is brabantio who do not want to believe that his daughter has deceived him and trying to prove that her daughter could never perform an act like this.

The similar things that both fathers have are in the end they both accepted their son-in-laws. After all the accusation that was made by Claudio, he still got one more chance to love and marry hero. When leonato found out that it was all planned by don john, he kindly forgave Claudio. Brabantio knew Othello from the very beginning even before hero found him. Although he did not wanted to believe that his daughter eloped with him but finally gave up when his daughter herself confessed their love in front of everyone. It shows how a person cannot see the truth even when it is right in front of him. Likewise, both these fathers failed in seeing the truth of their daughters. One was found guilty even she was innocent and the other deceived her father but her father was still defending her .

"A MARRIAGE OF TRUE MINDS"

BLOG#4
QUES-2:

Beatrice and Benedick's journey from hostility to love was quite long and difficult. In much ado about nothing, most of the characters had interesting relationship with each other. For example hero and Claudio, who were deeply in love. Another example was of friendship between Benedick, Claudio and Don Pedro. But the relationship between Benedick and Beatrice was different than others. From the very beginning they started mocking and cursing each other .Benedick on one hand is a smart good looking and a funny guy. He is very witty and always has to anyone's comments. On the other hand there is Beatrice who is life - giving, energetic, witty, intelligent, fun loving but lonely .she has no patience and is a woman who rages against the masculine solidarity which can so easily destroy a woman's reputation. Beatrice is the play witty heroine. She is mainly noted for her firm opposition to marriage and for her verbal dueling with Benedick . Her first comment in the play was asking a series of question about Benedick which reveals an interest which herself may be unaware of.

In their relationship, they hated each other. Their personalities were so similar, that it made them sick of each other, but the similarities in their personalities is also what brought them together. We can make many assumptions on Beatrice and Benedick's relationship and how it may have grown throughout the whole play. Both of them are essences, they are in progenitors of the clichés of the women – hater turned lover and ice queen turned golden heart .Both of them experience a very similar sequence of events, both work with their respective tutee's in love in the same way, and both come to realize their love for each other through tricks played upon them by their own friends. In this, Benedick and Beatrice are really the true soul-mates of the story in that they truly seem to be of the same cloth and of the same heart - two halves of the same whole. Their change from enmity to love covers the course of the entire play and, in many ways, is much more engaging, funny, entertaining, and ultimately rewarding than that of Claudio and Hero.


From all these examples we can see how both Benedick and Beatrice changed when they found out they both love each other. Their love made them think so differently and were in a position that could even sacrifice anything in the name of their love. I think that their story culminates in a “marriage of true minds”- a union of equals. Their final kiss in the play symbolizes that they have learned to share and how those two stone hearted people melted when they loved each other.

THE SILENT HERO SPEAKS

(Hero is in nunnery):

Its already been a couple of weeks here in nunnery ,i cant believe what happened to me just few weeks before . It was such a nice moment when we were about to get married , my hearts were full of joy , I thought my dream was coming true , a dream to spend my entire life with Lord Claudio . But It all vanished in a moment when Claudio accused me of being unfaithful towards him.I thought nothing could go wrong on the wedding day as Claudio had always been nice and loving to me.Suddenly i was in a shock when he accused me in front of everyone calling me a whore .

I was confused and did not believe when he called me a "rotten orange",a man who had so much cared and caressed me was now cursing me . Claudio may had been influenced by Don John .I never did any wrong to him , why he had to ruin my life like this ?.All these questions are unanswered to me right now but i want to know why this happened to me. Behind this Don John must be the one to plot against us like this .He must have been jealous of Claudio and his happiness.It is so easy to accuse a women without any evidence . Why is it always women that has to suffer everytime ?.

my greatest worry beside all this is i disgraced my father's name .what he must be doing right now ? may be he is sad .i hope Beatrice and Antonio is there to console him. an old man had to go under such a rough time because of me .wish i could do something for him.Oh Lord!

I am very thankful to Friar Francis who helped us in such a harsh moment .All I can do is wait for the day when i will be able prove everybody wrong and earn back the respect of my father .I feel i am still living in dream but every dream has to end and face the reality.

blog 2

BLOG 2.

3.Much ado about nothing in my opinion is William Shakespeare’s best comedy . The play has many interesting characters; especially Benedick and Beatrice . these two provide a great portion of humor in this particular play . Beatrice and Benedick are alike in many ways , as well as very different .

Both of these characters have so called “wooing” the opposite sex . Benedick is a will full warrior that just got out of war and says that he will never marry . He says “ I may chance have some odd quirks and remains of wit broken on me , because I have rail’d so long against marriage .” Although by this point , Benedick is changing his mind about marriage , this still emphasizes his previous views on women and marriage . Beatrice also feels the same way that Benedick does about marriage . She seems as if she is more open to marriage than Benedick , but has given up because she has been unable to "woo"
the man of her choice .Beatrice says, “ I thank god and my cold blood , I am your humor for that: I rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swears he loves me”.( act 1.i. 95-98). I think that she only says this to match wits with Benedick .

Beatrice the leading lady , the Benedick the leading man , are very much in love , but they are also in complete denial of this passion . Eventually they openly expresses their amorous feelings for each other.

Benedick thinks he hates Beatrice but really loves her and Beatrice who thinks she hates Benedick but really loves him!.The witty insults that they threw on each other constantly were a result of their past relationship.