In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet and Fortinbras come from similar situations in the sense that both princes must avenge their father's deaths because both were previously murdered. The contrast between the two characters is shown through how each prince approaches getting revenge. Throughout the play, Hamlet would always plan his next move and deeply strategize how to approach the situations thrown at him; however, he never acted. On the other hand, Fortinbras serves as a foil to Hamlet is the sense that Fortinbras took action with his revenge plan and evidently succeeded. Through this, Shakespeare shows how taking action and initiative in order to achieve one's goals results in better outcomes than not taking action.
After Hamlet and Fortinbras's fathers were murdered, both characters swore to avenge their father's deaths. However, the way in which each character approached this task varied greatly between each other. Fortinbras took initiative and gathered his army in order to take over land previously lost; however, Hamlet upon discovery that the new ruler of Denmark, his uncle, was the murderer of his father, did not take any initiative. Instead he began to strategize when and how to get revenge on his father's death. This, inevitably leads to a standstill between Hamlet and his goal throughout the entire play because he took no action. On the other hand, Fortinbras throughout the entire play was constantly gaining lands back and working his way to achieving his goal. The contrast in Hamlet and Fortinbras's approaches to achieving essentially the same goal evidently result in different outcomes for the two characters. Fortinbras by the end of the play was able to take over the entire kingdom of Denmark, avenging his father's death. Hamlet, while still technically avenging his father's death, also caused the death of many others including his mother and himself. This is all due to his hesitation and lack of action in achieving his goal. The contrast between Hamlet and Fortinbras's mindset in achieving revenge showcases how Hamlet's lack of action leads to his downfall as shown in Fortinbras's success, and Hamlet's failure. The ending is highlight's Shakespeare's idea that action over inaction leads to successful results while taking inaction can lead to one's downfall. This is shown by the ending of Hamlet with Fortinbras succeeding in taking over all of Denmark and Hamlet losing his life while both trying to achieve the same goal of revenge.
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Author --> Tom Stoppard (1937-present). He is a Czech-born British playwright.
Setting --> In the woods of Denmark, Elsinore, and on the ship headed to England. Plot --> This play focused on two minor characters from Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. In Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are such minor characters who inevitably have their fate decided from the beginning, an element of the characters Stoppard highlighted and focused on in this play. The play begins with the two flipping coins, coming up as heads every single time. Guildenstern is both concerned yet fascinated of this while Rosencrantz does not seem too troubled by it. They later encounter a set of actors, who Guildenstern wins a bet against based upon the coin always coming up heads. However, as they leave, the coin actually landed tails up. Now they have gotten to Elsinore, where Claudius commands Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet to figure out what is up with him. However, when they ask, they leave without really learning anything or knowing what was going on. Then, the Tragedians arrive at Elsinore to perform the play that Hamlet requested to expose Claudius's guilt. Hamlet then kills Polonius which causes Claudius to ask Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find Hamlet, but they fail. They then are ordered to travel with Hamlet to England. On the boat, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern read the letter from Claudius to England which orders Hamlet to be killed. Hamlet then figures out the contents of the letter and switches it out with a separate letter while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sleeping. Then the pirates attack! Hamlet inevitably goes with the pirates and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern read the new false letter explaining that they themselves are to be killed. Guildenstern then stabs the Player with the player’s knife who then falls dead yet it was all an act and the knife was actually a prop. As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are about to die, Guildenstern wonders if they could have prevented their death in any way. The play ends. Significant Characters: Rosencrantz --> One of the two in the dynamic duo. Throughout the play, he seems to be more unaware of what is happening compared to Guildenstern. Also seems to go along with life without contemplating why things are happening the way they are. Guildenstern --> The other of the two in the dynamic duo. Seems to be the character who is more aware of his surroundings in the play in the duo. Always contemplates why things happen the way they do. The Player --> Leader of the tragedians and most self-aware character in the entire play. He seems to understand everything that is happening around him and also appears to be the only character in the play who can control his fate. The Tragedians --> The Tragedians are the traveling group of actors accompanied by the Player. They have fallen on some rough times and resort to acting and prostitution on the side. Style: modern/post-modernistic elements. Self-reference is a big stylistic element in the play. POV --> Third person Symbols: The Coin: The coin in the beginning of the play is one of the main symbols in the play. Because it lands on heads every single time, it is Stoppard hinting that the universe that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern live in is completely dependent on fate meaning that the coin was determined to land on heads every time. Additionally, the coin represents Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as characters being opposite forces yet also being quite similar (two sides of the same coin). Imagery: While the play itself is left up for a lot of interpretation, with the strict stage directions and detail, Stoppard gives us a good amount of imagery. Tone: The tone overall is almost playful given the play's overall comedic qualities and given the far from serious behavior of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. There are moments in the play where the tone gets heavier and darker such as when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern realize their fate. Quotes: "The only beginning is birth and the only end is death - if you can't count on that, what can you count on?" - Guildenstern This quote relates to the idea of fate and free will. This is a moment in the play where Guildenstern begins to touch on the idea that fate is a driving force in life and that free will is not real in their universe. “Our names shouted in a certain dawn … a message .. a summons … there must have been a moment, at the beginning ,where we could have said no. But somehow we missed it.” - Guildenstern This is the moment at the end of the play where Guildenstern is aware of the fact that he could have changed his outcome of this entire story somewhere. However, as we know, this is not case because Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's fate had been decided from the beginning of the play given the name of the work and the universe they live in. Overall, it shows that while Guildenstern is aware of his fate, there is no way in which he could have changed the outcome with any of the choices he made. Theme Statement: In the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Stoppard expresses the inevitability of fate, showing that any choices made are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The idea of fate being the universally driving force throughout the play is stated from the very beginning of the play with the coin flipping. The idea that no matter how many times Rosencrantz and Guildenstern try, the coin will always land on heads indicates that the universe they live in had already predicted their outcome. This is also apparent in the title, stating that the fate of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is that they will die. This indicates that any action or decision made by the two will have no effect on the outcome of the play because the two were already destined to die. Overall, given Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's predestined fate, any decision they make has no effect on the overall outcome of the play. The main topics this past unit have been finishing up Hamlet and transitioning from that to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and reading a collection of short stories and poems in preparation for the AP Exam.
We concluded our long journey through the play that is Hamlet by writing the Summary and Analysis, which I view as a "mandatory tradition" for all the big works we have read, and by writing an Open prompt in class on Hamlet. If I am not mistaken, that was the first full length open prompt essay we wrote, and in my opinion, it was somewhat challenging. I thought my biggest problem was taking my claims and my plentiful evidence and putting them together in order to prove my overall thesis. In other words, I would say my biggest problem area was my "warrant" section of each paragraph. I am glad that we were able to revise it because it allowed me to correct mistakes that I will not make in the future. Furthermore, we read the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead which was a lovely transition from Hamlet because we were working with the same characters in the same universe. This play reminded me of Albee's The American Dream play in the sense that it almost appeared to be Theatre of the Absurd. But the meaning and symbolism Stoppard included in the play was just amazing and specialized to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. I will admit, however, that the symbolism and meaning of the play overall was very difficult to find and grasp. The articles we read definitely helped with that and allowed me to look at the play with the right lenses. Overall, I thought the play was great and provided a great transition from Hamlet. Lastly and currently, we are working on reading short poems and stories, and quickly analyzing them on areas such as author, symbols, setting, syntax, diction, tone, meaning, etc. This evidently is in preparation for the AP exam because this is the exact type of process we will be doing when taking the test. It can be hard to decipher meaning from these types of poems and stories in the limited amount of time you are given, so this practice is definitely helpful, especially with the AP Exam approaching. Student 3A --> This student starts out with a simple and concise introductory paragraph that, in my opinion, is bordering the edge of being too simple or vague. Nevertheless, it gets the job done. I do feel though that in the first few body paragraphs, the student begins those paragraphs with a lot of plot summary which is something the prompt states to avoid. However, as the student begins to analyze more, it becomes apparent that the plot summary of her literature choice, The Joy Luck Club, in the beginning was necessary to prove how the minor character was a foil character. In this student's final body paragraph, he or she in a way brings everything together from the previous paragraphs and proves how the character is a foil character. All in all, I thought the author's questionable start was saved by the good body paragraphs and analysis towards the end. Overall, I thought this student did deserve an 8, but there is definitely room for improvement.
Student 3B --> I thought this student started off with a well-written beginning of his or her introductory paragraph. However, when it came down to this student's thesis statement, it was a little unclear who the student was using as a minor character. This overall, made the thesis statement sound vague and unclear, setting the student up for weaker essay than it has the potential to be. Another thing that weakens this student's essay is how frequently the student seems to go off on unnecessary tangents. For example, in the first body paragraph, the student discusses Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This is not relevant and it did no contribute to overall proving how the minor characters acts a foil to the main character. Another tangent that occurs is when the student begins to discuss the character Shug in the second paragraph. The second body paragraph overall was better than the first but with the combination of the weak thesis statement and tangents, this student was well deserving of his or her score of a 6. Student 3C --> This student's introductory paragraph is very simple and, in this case, too simple for me. The thesis statement is incredibly vague and the rule that the introductory paragraph could stand alone as an answer to the question is not true in this case. Given the very thin thesis statement, despite how good the evidence is, it is inherently hard to prove a weak and vague thesis statement. Evidently, this student sets himself or herself up for failure with this intro paragraph. The evidence the student gives is also rather vague and it appears as if the evidence is not even useful towards the building of the argument. The student's analysis of the evidence he provides is, once again, fairly vague. Overall, the student writes everything in a very simplistic manner and never dives deeper using more details. This creates an overall simplistic and unconvincing argument that was well deserving of a score of 4. Author: William Shakespeare
Setting --> Denmark, Royal Castle called Elsinore, set during middle ages Plot --> Act I, Scene I: Guards Bernardo and Marcellus tell Horatio they saw the former ruler Old Hamlet’s ghost, who suddenly appears. Horatio is terrified, asks it to speak, believing it to be an symbol of evil. The ghost vanishes soon after and the trio hurry to tell Prince Hamlet in hopes that his father’s spirit will speak to him. Act I, Scene II: Claudius chastises Hamlet for still being upset over his father’s sudden death, with the agreement of Hamlet’s mother , the Queen. Everyone leaves but Hamlet, who angrily discusses his mother’s hasty remarriage with himself in an emotional soliloquy. Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo enter and tell him about the ghost. Hamlet, intrigued, decides to stand with them at guard that night in hopes that the ghost will return again. Act I, Scene III: As Laertes is preparing to leave for France, he warns his sister Ophelia about Hamlet and his love. Polonius enters as well with some advice for his son and some harsh advice and orders for Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet. Act I, Scene IV: Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus stand at guard. To Hamlet’s amazement, the ghost appears and Hamlet follows it, not to the liking of Horatio and the guards. Act I, Scene V: The ghost reveals to Hamlet that he was poisoned by Claudius in his sleep, and tells Hamlet to seek revenge while also warning him to treat Gertrude fairly. Hamlet agrees to avenge Old Hamlet’s death, and swears Horatio and Marcellus to secrecy while revealing that he plans to act insane in order to distract people from his true plan. Act II, Scene I: Polonius asks his servant to gather information about Laertes in France. Ophelia enters and tells her father how the seemingly insane Hamlet came into her closet unannounced held her; Polonius decides to tell Claudius this. Act II, Scene II: Claudius orders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet. The ambassadors return to announce the end of hostilities with Prince Fortinbras of Norway, and Polonius arrives to tell Claudius about Hamlet’s love for Ophelia. Hamlet enters and pretends to act illogically, although he insults Polonius numerous times. Ros. and Guil. arrive and admit they “were sent for.” They are closely followed by some players, who recite excerpts from a play about the story of Pyrrhus and Priam. Hamlet is soon struck with a plan: the players will stage The Murder of Gonzago the next night -- and with it a scene mimicking Claudius’ murder of Old Hamlet -- and Hamlet will observe his uncle to confirm the truth of the ghost’s story. Act III, Scene I: Ros. and Guil. report back to Claudius. Hamlet enters and harshly rejects a devastated Ophelia with Claudius and Polonius surreptitiously watching. Claudius decides to send Hamlet to England, but Polonius convinces him to have Gertrude speak with him as a last resort. Act III, Scene II: Claudius becomes visibly disturbed during the Players’ recreation of his murder, and Hamlet is convinced of his guilt. At the behest of Ros. and Guil, he then decides to go speak to his mother. Act III, Scene III: Claudius charges Ros. and Guil. with escorting Hamlet to England, and reveals that his conscience is troubling him. As he attempts to pray, Hamlet watches and contemplates killing him, but ultimately does not out of fear of sending his soul to Heaven. Act III, Scene IV: When arguing with his mother, Hamlet hears Polonius behind a curtain and inadvertently kills him. He then tells Gertrude about Claudius’ murder of her previous husband, who is deeply shaken. Act IV: Gertrude tells Claudius about Polonius’ death; Claudius then sends Ros. and Guil. to find the body. They then bring an unrepentant Hamlet before Claudius, who promptly sends him off to England. After everyone leaves, Claudius reveals his plan to have Hamlet killed. Hamlet meets a Norwegian soldier; after he discovers the meaningless cause that Fortinbras’ men are fighting for, he resolves to act. Back in Elsinore, Claudius and Gertrude discover that Ophelia has gone mad. Laertes bursts into the throne room to take the throne; however, Claudius convinces him that Hamlet is behind his family’s tragedies. Hamlet lets Horatio and Claudius know that he is returning to England. Claudius and Laertes conspire to murder Hamlet, and Gertrude reveals Ophelia is drowned. Act V. Scene I: Two gravediggers banter about Christian doctrine. Hamlet enters and contemplates human mortality while holding Yorick’s skull, and Ophelia’s funeral procession appears. Hamlet reveals himself to the court by jumping into her grave, and grapples with Laertes before abruptly leaving. Act V, Scene II: Hamlet recounts his escape -- and his indirect murder of Ros. and Guil. -- to Horatio. He is then offered Claudius’ wager by Osric, and reiterates his faith in Providence. He begins the fencing exhibition with Laertes: in the resulting bloodbath, Gertrude, Claudius, and Laertes are all killed, and Hamlet himself is mortally wounded. He charges Horatio with telling his story, and dies. Fortinbras enters the throne room and proclaims himself King. He then orders Hamlet to be given an honored soldier’s funeral. Significant Characters: Hamlet --> main character, prince of Denmark, son of Old Hamlet Old Hamlet --> Hamlet's father, was murdered by Claudius, old King of Denmark Claudius --> King of Denmark, murderer of Old Hamlet, Old Hamlet's brother, Uncle of Hamlet Gertrude --> Queen, married to Hamlet but remarries to Claudius Horatio --> Hamlet's best friend, a commoner Polonius --> the King's right hand man, father of Ophelia and Laertes Ophelia --> Hamlet's love interest, sister of Laertes and daughter of Polonius Laertes --> brother of Ophelia and son of Polonius Style: Hamlet is written in typical Shakespearean style. It is a 5-Act play and Shakespeare's longest. Quotes: “To be, or not to be: that is the question…” - Hamlet This is the famous beginning to one of Hamlet's famous soliloquies. The soliloquy as a whole is Hamlet explaining his internal struggle of life and death, and suicide or life. He compares death to a little sleep which he deems not so bad. This highlights Hamlet's internal struggle and dilemma he has with life overall. "Follow her close; give her good watch, I pray you." -Claudius This quote highlights Claudius as a character in Hamlet. This is one of the many times Claudius has asked someone to spy on another person he deems not well or insane. Furthermore, Claudius does this so many times out of love and concern. Upon closer reading, it is clear that Claudius does in fact care about Hamlet and Ophelia and does not ask people to spy on them for personal enjoyment, but more for personal concern. Theme: In Hamlet, Shakespeare denounces traditional notions of revenge as a solution to one's problems. This is supported by the overall attitudes Shakespeare makes us as readers feel for each character. Early on in the play, Shakespeare establishes Claudius as an antagonist and Hamlet as the protagonist with a plot for revenge. By making us agree and like Hamlet early on, it makes us as an audience want to support Hamlet and his decisions. Being that his main decision is revenge on the antagonist, we as an audience support that, making it appear that revenge is a plausible solution to a problem. Of course Shakespeare evidently proves in the end that revenge is not the solution to one's problems given the ending. Hamlet's whole goal in the play was to get revenge on Claudius; however, the plan does not work out in the end for him because he and the rest of his family dies. This represents that revenge never has a good outcome. This past unit mainly focused on Hamlet, Shakespeare's arguably most controversial work among critics. This was explained in class that the controversy revolving around the play was that the whole play's plot is about Hamlet making a decision only for him to not make that decision in the end. For this reason, critics say the play is either Shakespeare's best or worst play. No matter whether it is Shakespeare's best or worst play, it is definitely interesting.
Some minor things we did in class was read some articles and a poem for Hamlet forums. One article that stuck out to me was the "Shakespeare in the Bush" article about how different people can interpret the same work of literature completely differently based on the culture each person was raised upon. This concept is something that when given closer and deeper thought seems intuitive yet the concept as a whole is still overall, mind-blowing. I liked that article because it changed my perception a bit but as I stated in the forums, it did not completely change my opinion/mindset. The big work we read in this unit was Hamlet by Shakespeare. This was probably the most difficult work to read just because of the language and style of writing for the time period. I have read other works by Shakespeare; however, I am by no means an expert. One element of the play that I found interesting was the frequent soliloquies from Hamlet and other characters. Another cool thing I found when reading was the famous quote "To be or not to be..." actually originated from Hamlet. Overall, I thought the whole plot of the various levels of insanity in characters, scenes that directly related to the bible, and other hidden meanings made for Hamlet to be quite an interesting read; however, I would not say it is my favorite work we have read in class. The last thing we did was watch movies! We watched one version of Hamlet in its entirety during school and then a few clips from other renditions of Hamlet afterwards. I will say that the Tennant version of Hamlet seemed a bit awkward for me with the inconsistent time setting of the story. From the knights wearing suits of medieval armor, yet the castle having security cameras kind of distracted me from the rest of the film. It was nice to get to see a visual representation of Hamlet after spending weeks reading it in class on paper. The other versions we saw seemed fairly good for the small sections we saw of them. Overall, the main points we did in class was read articles and poems related to Hamlet, actually read Hamlet, and finish the unit with watching various films of Hamlet. One of Shakespeare's most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet, is about the tragedy between the love of a man and woman coming from two families in a long-lasting rivalry filled with hatred for the other. Romeo, the tragic figure in the story, is an instrument for the suffering of everyone else in the play leading to his and Juliet's ultimate death.
Romeo, being the tragic hero in Romeo and Juliet, possesses the tragic flaw of falling in love too easily and too quickly. This is shown in the beginning of the story, before Juliet as a character was introduced, when Romeo tells his friends Benvolio and Mercutio about a girl name Rosaline that he has fallen in love with. This is where Romeo's tragic flaw is introduced, and quite obviously, because Benvolio and Mercutio both tease him about his ability to fall in love too easily. Further into the story, Juliet is introduced and the bitter rivalry between the Capulets and the Montagues is emphasized. Romeo tragic flaw is then further emphasized again when Romeo seemingly completely forgets about Rosaline and almost instantaneously falls in love with Juliet. As the play progresses through each act, and as Romeo and Juliet continue to love each other, the rivalry between the Capulets and the Montagues becomes greater and greater which ultimately drives the tragic state of the play. After Romeo and Juliet kill each other, for each other, the Capulets and Montagues are heartbroken for each loss, and ultimately end the fued which also contributes to the tragedy. Ultimately, Romeo, the tragic figure in Romeo and Juliet, acts as an instrument for the suffering of everyone else in the play such as the Montagues and Capulets. Student 1:
This student wrote about the tragedy of Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. The beginning of the essay started off very well with a well organized and thought out thesis statement. Furthermore, the student's introductory paragraph was a great organizer of ideas and stated the main idea or topic of the entire essay. As we learned in class, this student's beginning paragraph was well done in the sense that if it were to stand alone as a paragraph, it would work overall. The rest of the essay works well to as it clearly highlights the and relates the time setting of the story to the downfall of Gatsby, essentially proving the tragedy of Gatsby. The quotes used were integrated well in the sense that it did not seem like the student incorporated a quote just to add a quote. Overall, this student wrote a strong, well-written, concise and essay which proved its thesis statement well. Student 2: This student decided to write about a tragic figure with the play King Lear. In this student's essay, he or she centers the focus of discussion around the pride and vanity relating to Lear. A good thing this student does is he or she is able to maintain the focus point on pride and vanity of Lear throughout the essay, without getting off topic. Another good thing the student does is he or she is able to relate the main focus points of the essay to the tragedy of Lear. One gripe I do have with this essay however, is that the second paragraph is basically just a summarization of the plot of King Lear which is what the directions specifically said not to do. However, this is just one small thing compared to all the good key points and good qualities this essay has overall. I believe the score this student received was well deserved. Student 3: This student's essay was subpar compared to the other two students' essays. The overall structure of the essay was very basic and predictable as the scoring commentary states, and that makes the essay as a whole dull and boring to read. In my opinion, one key to a good essay is engagement, meaning that having your readers be engaged is a good sign of a quality essay. Since this essay was so predictable in structure, it was quite uninteresting to read. As far as theme and tragedy goes, the student has basic understanding of tragedy in the story; however, nothing outstanding. Most of the essay seemed to be plot summary which, as stated above, is something that the directions say to try and avoid. Although, the student does touch on a few key points, he or she only managed to speak around the surface and neglects to dive deeper into analysis. Overall, while some aspects of the essay were nice, it was not worthy of a high score in my opinion. Author: Joseph Conrad
Setting, Plot, and Significant Characters: Setting --> A boat on the Thames River (beginning where Marlow tells the story) | The African Congo controlled by Belgium at the time) Plot --> - Marlow tells his story to the men he is with on the boat on the Thames River - Marlow sees his Aunt who got him a job working in the Congo which is controlled by Belgium - After getting to the first outpost in the Congo, Marlow notices the white men are all racist and treat the natives as non-human. Marlow also views them as lesser forms. Marlow becomes in charge of a station whose leader died. - Marlow's steamboat breaks down so he repairs it - Marlow is given the mission to find and retrieve Kurtz, who is a man in charge of his own station without limitations because he is very far upstream. - Surviving hunger, attacks from natives, etc. Marlow and his crew travel upstream going deeper into the Congo in order to find Kurtz - After reaching Kurtz's station, Marlow meets the Russian, a strange person living at the station. The Russian tells Marlow that Kurtz is loved and honored here yet he also shows Marlow all the dead bodies and heads pinned on stakes lying around - Marlow establishes the relationship of the natives at the station and Kurtz is that Kurtz is considered a god to the natives - Marlow finally sees Kurtz for the first time; however, he is somewhat shocked and almost disappointed to discover that Kurtz is in poor health/near death. That being said, Marlow notes his powerful and strong voice - Marlow finds out that Kurtz has escaped so he goes out and finds him. After finding him, Marlow brings Kurtz on the boat - On the boat ride home, Kurtz dies with his last words being, "The horror, the horror." -After returning home in Europe, Marlow meets Kurtz's intended. She asks him what his last words were and Marlow lies and tells her it was her name Significant Characters: Marlow --> Main character, person teling and recounting the story that happened to him. Kurtz --> Main objective of Marlow. Marlow is trying to find him. Lives on a station far upstream and runs that station with no limitations. Appears to have gone crazy. The Intended --> Kurtz's fiancee. Meets with Marlow at the end and asks him what Kurtz's last name was. The Russian --> Man living at Kurtz's station who shed's light on Marlow about Kurtz from a different perspective and more objective position. Natives --> The "savages" who live in the Congo jungle. Viewed as less than human in the eyes of the Europeans. Style: The style Heart of Darkness is written in is almost like a story within a story. The structure of the novella is Marlow telling his story that happened in the past to his crew mates on a boat. So, the story begins with present-day Marlow on the boat and transitions to the actual story of Marlow traveling deep into the African Congo. This allows for present-day Marlow to pick and choose which details to include and leave out. It also allows Marlow to rethink of a certain situation from the story and describe it with a different tone if he so chooses. The tone of the story changes many times throughout. Quotes: “But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and, by heavens I tell you, it had gone mad.” This is Marlow describing Kurtz. He describes his soul as being mad and accusing the jungle of making his soul go mad. This ties into the theory of the book being symbolic of traveling through Hell and how Kurtz sold his soul to the devil. It shows the price Kurtz paid for the power he received, madness. "And this also," said Marlow suddenly, "has been one of the dark places of the earth." What Marlow is referring to in this quote is England. What he is saying when he calls it one of the dark places on earth is that England is no better than Africa and the Congo. It ties in with our theme that there is a bit of savagery in every man, not just the Africans. Theme: In Heart of Darkness, Conrad shows the fallacy of the human condition to show how eerily similar we all are. Heart of Darkness mainly takes plaace in the deep, untamed jungles of Africa which is seemingly opposite of the tamed, refined lands of Europe. However, underneath the visual difference of the two locations, Conrad hints at both locations being the same, Europe just being a more evolved version of the Congo. Heart of Darkness, while at the basic level can mean the Congo, can also mean that there is the savagery aspect in every one of us. While most people can be tamed from it and hold back this savagery, it existing in all of us is what Conrad was trying to show. From the last time we wrote a "Response to Course Materials" blog, we have read Heart of Darkness, watched the movie Apocalypse Now, and read two poems by T.S. Eliot known as "The Wasteland" and "The Hollow Men."
Heart of Darkness was cronologically the first piece of literature to be published from the select group above and, logically, was the first piece of literature we read in class. The novella was written by Joseph Conrad and published in 1899. The general storyline is that a man named Marlow accepts a job and travels from Europe to the deep jungle of Africa with the specific mission to find a person named Kurtz and bring him home. For me, Heart of Darkness was the most confusing story we have read so far in AP Lit; however, I understand the underlying meaning in the sense that Conrad highlights savagery in every man. I also find the idea that Heart of Darkness is a story relating to Dante's Hell in Dante's Inferno very interesting and how with each stage or stop down the river in Heart of Darkness is like a stage in Hell from Dante's Inferno. And the stop in which Marlow finds Kurtz being the center of Hell is very plausible given the amount of death everywhere, human heads on sticks, etc. I think it also makes sense that Kurtz is not representative of the devil but representative of someone who sold their soul to the devil. Overall, Heart of Darkness was a great story about the savagery of man and darkness in world and ourselves. Next, we watched the movie Apocalyse Now. This movie had a storyline that was loosely based on Heart of Darkness. However, I feel like if I had watched the movie first and then read the book sometime later (independently from each other) I would not have realized that Apocalyse Now was based off the book. Getting to watch the movie just after reading the book was great because it allowed me to make the connections of the storyline and symbolism from Heart of Darkness while it was still fresh in my mind. I thought Apocalyse Now was a good movie to watch along with Heart of Darkness as it provided a good visual representation of the book we had previously just read. Finally, we read two T.S. Eliot poems named "The Hollow Men" and "The Wasteland." These poems relate to Heart of Darkness because Eliot uses direct quotes and passages from Heart of Darkness in his works. The poems themselves seem to have similar meanings to the meaning of Heart of Darkness. Overall, most of what we have been doing in class revolves around Heart of Darkness, its messages and themes, and repsonses to the novella. |
AuthorHi, my name is Daniel and I am a Junior in high school. This is my blog that I intend to use for my American Literature Class. Archives
May 2016
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