I saw the play of Hamlet my first year of high school and loved it! (Probably because the guy playing Hamlet was a stud) So it was exciting to finally read the play.
Hamlet, like many of Shakespeare's tragedies, is full of dramatic speeches, unrequited love, misunderstandings and lots of death.
Hamlet's character was so interesting to me. He is such a narcissistic drama-queen and yet the audience cannot help but pity him. After all, he does have a lot going on. His dad, the king of Denmark, was mysteriously murdered and is now haunting the earth; his uncle, meanwhile, has married Hamlet's widowed mother and taken over the throne; and the mother sees nothing wrong with it; and then Hamlet discovers that his uncle was the murderer of his father! Whew! So Hamlet tries to solve the problems by himself, but what ends up happening is just a lot of talking about how he will solve the problems. While Hamlet plots and schemes, he misses all his chances to actually get things done.
Ophelia is such a tragic character. Hamlet is a real jerk to her and the poor girl's life is so dysfunctional.
So, anyways, I really enjoyed Hamlet! My favorite character was Hamlet himself, despite his being a slightly annoying emo kid.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Catching Up On What We've Read...
Alright, so it's been awhile since the last post! Okay, it's been FOREVER!!! Ah, well, better late than never! :D
THE DIVINE COMEDY by DANTE ALIGHIERI
It has been awhile since we read this, but I must say that the memories are fond ones. We read all of the Inferno, and then excerpts from Purgatorio and Paradiso. The Comedy (though at times it was indeed more of a tragedy) was hilarious at times! A certain quote that has remained fresh in my mind goes something like this: "He then made a trumpet out of his ass." I laughed really hard when I read that!
Anyways, I thought the Inferno was interesting because it was full of reasonably nice people. Virgil, Dante's guide and resident of Hell, seemed in particular quite good and deserving of at least a long wait in Purgatory. When Dante must leave Virgil, I was so heart-broken that the ancient poet had to stay in Hell. :(
Purgatorio is a mountain, whose top is the Garden of Eden. This is a very clever touch I think. Paradiso is incredible and Dante does a spectacular job at describing it.
An interesting fact to note is that Dante includes mythical characters in his Comedy. People from fairytales and ancient poems are found in the different circles. Dante portrays legendary figures as real people that lived. Gods and goddesses are found throughout the Comedy. In Heaven, Dante gives praise to Apollo. I thought this was all really fascinating. I wonder if Dante really did have a vision of the whole thing..
JULIAN OF NORWICH
Julian was a hermit, mystic, and writer who lived in the Dark Ages. Her writings are mysterious and inspiring. It was cool to read the writings of a woman from the medieval times since women back then were not usually allowed much education. Anyways, Julian documents different visions that God has shown to her. She describes God as our mother which I really loved. I would like to learn more about her!
SIR GAWAIN
I honestly don't remember everything about this poem but basically, it's about a knight- Sir Gawain- who volunteers to find this crazy Green Knight. The Green Knight lives up to his name: he is all green; skin, eyes, hair, clothes, blah, blah, everything. So Gawain is gallant blah blah and ventures to fight the green man. Oh yeah, and Sir Gawain is one of King Arthur's knights of the Round Table. The tale is a good adventure.
KRISTIN LAVRANSDATTER: THE WREATH by SIGRID UNDSET
I loved, loved, loved this book! It is about the life of a girl living in medieval Norway. Her character is so human and goes through so many things that everyone can relate to. I was shocked at how modern the story was! I guess nothing has changed! Kristin is a strong woman who puts up with a lot of junk, and yet she is also very vulnerable and ordinary. I recommend this to all!
CANTERBURY TALES by GEOFFREY CHAUCER
These stories are CRAZY and RIDICULOUS! They are just so WEIRD! Basically, it's like a medieval Superbad/The Hangover meets Beach Blanket Bingo. The tales are really all about farting and sex and toilet humor- it's just written in old English so it isn't as obvious. The stories are hilarious and just kind of creepy. It is nice to see that people back then still had a sense of humor, however strange it was.
THE DIVINE COMEDY by DANTE ALIGHIERI
It has been awhile since we read this, but I must say that the memories are fond ones. We read all of the Inferno, and then excerpts from Purgatorio and Paradiso. The Comedy (though at times it was indeed more of a tragedy) was hilarious at times! A certain quote that has remained fresh in my mind goes something like this: "He then made a trumpet out of his ass." I laughed really hard when I read that!
Anyways, I thought the Inferno was interesting because it was full of reasonably nice people. Virgil, Dante's guide and resident of Hell, seemed in particular quite good and deserving of at least a long wait in Purgatory. When Dante must leave Virgil, I was so heart-broken that the ancient poet had to stay in Hell. :(
Purgatorio is a mountain, whose top is the Garden of Eden. This is a very clever touch I think. Paradiso is incredible and Dante does a spectacular job at describing it.
An interesting fact to note is that Dante includes mythical characters in his Comedy. People from fairytales and ancient poems are found in the different circles. Dante portrays legendary figures as real people that lived. Gods and goddesses are found throughout the Comedy. In Heaven, Dante gives praise to Apollo. I thought this was all really fascinating. I wonder if Dante really did have a vision of the whole thing..
JULIAN OF NORWICH
Julian was a hermit, mystic, and writer who lived in the Dark Ages. Her writings are mysterious and inspiring. It was cool to read the writings of a woman from the medieval times since women back then were not usually allowed much education. Anyways, Julian documents different visions that God has shown to her. She describes God as our mother which I really loved. I would like to learn more about her!
SIR GAWAIN
I honestly don't remember everything about this poem but basically, it's about a knight- Sir Gawain- who volunteers to find this crazy Green Knight. The Green Knight lives up to his name: he is all green; skin, eyes, hair, clothes, blah, blah, everything. So Gawain is gallant blah blah and ventures to fight the green man. Oh yeah, and Sir Gawain is one of King Arthur's knights of the Round Table. The tale is a good adventure.
KRISTIN LAVRANSDATTER: THE WREATH by SIGRID UNDSET
I loved, loved, loved this book! It is about the life of a girl living in medieval Norway. Her character is so human and goes through so many things that everyone can relate to. I was shocked at how modern the story was! I guess nothing has changed! Kristin is a strong woman who puts up with a lot of junk, and yet she is also very vulnerable and ordinary. I recommend this to all!
CANTERBURY TALES by GEOFFREY CHAUCER
These stories are CRAZY and RIDICULOUS! They are just so WEIRD! Basically, it's like a medieval Superbad/The Hangover meets Beach Blanket Bingo. The tales are really all about farting and sex and toilet humor- it's just written in old English so it isn't as obvious. The stories are hilarious and just kind of creepy. It is nice to see that people back then still had a sense of humor, however strange it was.
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