Movie and Dinner or Picnic and Hike
Thread Topic: Movie and Dinner or Picnic and Hike
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happygolucky44
Omaha, NE
Joined: Mar 27, 09 Status Level: 2 |
2009-05-27 11:48:50 |
| Oh I want to read it!! And HAPPY FREAKIN BIRTHDAY! | |
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arwen
Sugar Land, TX
Joined: Feb 24, 09 Status Level: 3 |
2009-05-27 13:35:42 |
| Mollie Tillman Ms. Liscum English IV-2 25 March 2009 Queen Gertrude: Murderer Many would prefer to believe that once a woman steps up to claim a man, and holds his heart, no mother in their right mind would feel threatened with their son’s love and would honor and love their daughter in law, or future daughter in law. Not so is the case, most of the time, much to the detriment of young woman put in this particular position. When Queen Gertrude, in William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, is faced with the threat of Ophelia usurping the full love of her son, Hamlet, evidence leads us to believe that Gertrude kills Ophelia in cold blood after the young woman becomes insane from gruesome death of her father. Many scholars can find motives for Queen Gertrude to kill Ophelia, but even first time readers can notice a few drives for the murder. Harmonie Loberg believes that “Ophelia represented a potential danger posed to the ideal and stable family structure that the queen works so desperately to protect” (Loberg 66). Queen Gertrude loves Hamlet as any mother would love her only son, and has enjoyed many years of his favor unopposed by any other woman. Yet when beautiful Ophelia steps into the light of his affections, the dynamics change considerably. It is assumed that they both had relations before the play took place, and it is also assumed that they have intentions to marry, as they both admit love for one another. As heir to the throne of Denmark, if they married, Ophelia would be crowned queen, and Gertrude would be cast into the shadows as Dowager Princess. She works diligently to ensure that she remains on the throne after her own husband dies. All of that effort would be wasted if Ophelia and her son were to marry. Also, the way of the courts back in the days in which this play was set would turn the attention of all the gentry to the younger, more beautiful and new model of their queen. Gertrude became used to always being doted upon and being the center of attention while she reigned. When Gertrude is explaining to the others of Ophelia’s death, she speaks as if she was there to see it, and was close enough to hear the “snatches of old lauds” that Ophelia sang to herself (Ham. IV. vii. 176). She describes in full detail her death, but what many have asked in recent years is why she merely stood there and let the young woman drown. She knows all that transpired, yet was just content to let her clothes fill up with water and let the current drag her down. The way she acts leads readers to believe that Gertrude was guilty of pushing her into the stream, and then of drowning the young woman herself. Many directors who chose to do this play had Gertrude come in the scene muddy and wet. Gertrude’s reaction to the deaths of people close to her reveal such strange mannerisms that when her behavioral pattern changes, it stands out like red paint splattered upon a white wall. Polonius is brutally murdered right in front of her but for most of the scene she generally ignores his ruined body and carries on a steady conversation with her son. “The queen carries on an argument with Hamlet as if the dead body on her closet floor is a trivial object” (Loberg 68). Her own former husband only merits two months of mourning, if that, before getting remarried and frolicking around her palace as if nothing had happened. She says to Hamlet in response to his own grief, “Cast off thy nighted color…thou know’st ‘tis common, all that live must die” (Ham. I. ii. 68-72). When Ophelia dies, however, she shows great sadness, and older plays have directions for the queen to be crying softly while she makes it known to the others how the young woman dies. At the funeral, she cries sadly and never reprimands the others for showing such grief, but she was dry eyed at every other funeral and made no attempt to even show any sorrow. The differences in these behavioral flips are outstandingly obvious to anyone who looks closely. The queen’s grief is totally out of character, which leads us to believe that she is trying to fake grief out of guilt. Another aspect of this play that many would use as evidence against Gertrude, in an ironic way, is that the men in the play resort to poison (except Hamlet) when it was common for women to use poison to solve all their marital conflicts, such as lovers on the side that the men might keep, or even the husbands themselves. Frances E. Dolan describes poisoning as the “early modern housewife’s method of choice” (Dolan 30). Gertrude physically pushed Ophelia and drowned her with her own hands. Men were the ones thought to be the most violent, and even today we see more stereotypes against men for violence than women. Women were and still are by some considered to be too delicate of mind to commit such an act of violence. This is why most readers believe Gertrude when she says that Ophelia killed herself, because women were “incapable” of obtaining such violence. Most would rather believe she suffered from an unstable mind and could not bear living anymore. Suicide was described as more acceptable because “suicide doesn’t appear anti social or malicious” (Pearson 21). Harmonie Loberg spoke of how readers would more readily believe that suicide is the only crime readers see because of the emotional abuse Hamlet, Polonius, and Laertes bring down upon Ophelia, which was the reason she went mad in the first place. Queen Gertrude murdered Ophelia in cold blood. She was present for her death, supposedly, but failed to act, her reactions to death change suddenly and only for Ophelia, and she had many motives for such an act. In the end it was not enough though because she ended up being murdered too, if only by accident. |
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singingteacher
Brighton, TN
Joined: Apr 14, 09 Status Level: 2 |
2009-05-27 14:57:10 |
| OMG, I love it!!!! Happy, Happy Birthday, to a special Woman; who makes us smile while we sit around without a care in the world. Enjoy your special day, may you have many blessings on your way.... | |
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TalentWasted
Tacoma, WA
Joined: May 4, 09 Status Level: 1 |
2009-05-27 16:39:02 |
| happy belated birthday Arwen | |
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singingteacher
Brighton, TN
Joined: Apr 14, 09 Status Level: 2 |
2009-05-27 17:08:46 |
| Blues Brotherish Talent, I like it...great new picture | |
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arwen
Sugar Land, TX
Joined: Feb 24, 09 Status Level: 3 |
2009-05-27 19:10:00 |
| nice. thanks guys *blushes | |
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TalentWasted
Tacoma, WA
Joined: May 4, 09 Status Level: 1 |
2009-05-28 01:34:29 |
| thank you Teach! I think I may have some sort of suglasses and hat obsession thing starting to develpoe :P unfortunately i have to replace those pair of sunglases, but I have like 2 other pair of "john lennon" glasses some where LOL |
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happygolucky44
Omaha, NE
Joined: Mar 27, 09 Status Level: 2 |
2009-05-28 10:29:05 |
| I really enjoyed the essay Arwen! I can see why you got some top marks! Did you do anything fun / exciting / crazy / dangerious / wild for your birthday?! lol |
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arwen
Joined: Feb 24, 09
Status Level: 3 |
2009-06-03 08:36:37 |
| oh hell yes. i cought my BF that i actually liked alot sucking on a guy! | |
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TalentWasted
Joined: May 4, 09
Status Level: 1 |
2009-06-03 19:04:13 |
| "i cought my BF that i actually liked alot sucking on a guy!" I'm lost on that statement, like idk the wording is just not clicking in my brain lol, I think I have an idea what you mean, just the I cought my bf part is throwing me off lol |
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arwen
Joined: Feb 24, 09
Status Level: 3 |
2009-06-03 19:42:12 |
| my bi boyfriend was sucking on another guy at m birthday party | |
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TalentWasted
Joined: May 4, 09
Status Level: 1 |
2009-06-04 00:44:16 |
| alright then....ANYWAYS...how have you been | |
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arwen
Joined: Feb 24, 09
Status Level: 3 |
2009-06-04 11:55:28 |
| im ok. i wont be on for awhile, just to let you guys know, but if you want to hit me up im sending you my email and phone number! | |
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singingteacher
Joined: Apr 14, 09
Status Level: 2 |
2009-06-06 12:44:37 |
| I can't believe your boyfriend would do that at your birthday party! Ugh...anyway, I'll call you sometime...I'm also gonna be away, traveling places... | |
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TalentWasted
Joined: May 4, 09
Status Level: 1 |
2009-06-06 17:01:36 |
| well from what I have heard, I would not know this personally but, gay/bi guys are alot more um..sexually agressive or something, they give us straight faithfull guys a bad name, aside form the other a-holes on the male spectrum. I hope you did the right thing on that one Arwen and ditched him. thats uncalled for and is unexceptable in any cercumstance. Anyways, where are you going to be traveling around Teach? I myself may be moving out of Washington and to Virginia...eck...but on a plus side I can learn to surf :P |
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