#25 Week Fifteen "The Tragedy of Hamlet" Act 1 Scene 5

Summary: The Ghost and Hamlet are talking, the ghost tells Hamlet that he is indeed the ghost of his father. The ghost tells him that Hamlet must be ready for revenge. The ghost tells him that he was murdered! It wasn't a snake that bit him, but the real snake is wearing the crown! Claudius is the one who murdered King Hamlet. While Hamlet was in the garden, Claudius went up to him and poured a vial of hen bane poison into his ear. That poison moves fast through the veins and curdles the blood, causing King Hamlet to die. King Hamlet is also sad because Gertrude fell for the nice words and pretty gifts, that's why she is with Claudius. Within seconds, Claudius had stole everything from King Hamlet. Young Hamlet now plans to get revenge and kill his uncle. He tells the other guys to swear on his sword that they never saw him this night or knew what happened to him. 

Opinion: That is crazy! How rude, that is what power will do to somebody. Just for power or jealous, the dude goes and kills his own brother in law. Well I really want Hamlet to kill Claudius because if someone where to murder my father I would definitely be looking for revenge! I would also hate if my mom could be bought just as easy as Gertrude was! This whole family is messed up. I can't wait to read the rest! :)

#24 Week Fifteen "The Tragedy of Hamlet" Act 1 Scene 4

Summary: Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo are with Hamlet awaiting the ghost, when they here cannons. The men ask Hamlet what it means and hes says that the King is having a party. The fact the they party to loudly makes them look bad.  Hamlet says, "A tiny spot of evil casts doubt on their good qualities and ruins their reputations." The ghost then appears and Hamlet tells it to tell him what it wants! The ghost motions for Hamlet to go with him. The other tell Hamlet not to go and hold him back; but Hamlet takes out his sword and threatens to kill them. He then goes with the ghost because he doesn't care about living anymore. The men follow him, in order to protect him.
Opinion: Poor Hamlet he must really not care about his life. Okay, if a ghost were to come up to me, I would run! I would not know what to do if it told me to go with it, well yeah I would run! But if it is a relative then that's different. I see where Hamlet is coming from, he misses his father greatly and wants to be with him. So he will do anything just to be with him, even if it requires dying. Now that is a good kid! 

#23 Week Fifteen "The Tragedy of Hamlet" Act 1 Scene 3

Summary: Laertes is talking to Ophelia ( his sister) telling her not to be with Hamlet because he will just use here for his own lustful desires and that she needs to go out fully clothed because it will cause too much temptation. She must not expose herself to him and that often young people lost self-control. Ophelia then tells him that he better take his own advice. Polonius ( Laertes father) tells him what things he needs to watch for when he goes back to France. Laertes then tells Ophelia to not forget what he says! So Polonius is curious and asks what they were talking about. She tells him that Hamlet has been offering his affections a lot. Her father gets angry and tells her that she is just a fool if she believes those lies. That boys will say anything to fulfill his lustful desires towards her. Her father tells her to stop wasting her time, because Hamlet does not truly love her.
Opinion: Laertes is being a typical big brother and is right in warning her about Hamlet. Ophelia like any other girl falls for a sweet talker. With her father and brother warning her about how bad Hamlet is, it is going to make her want to change him. Which can not happen, she most likely will end up falling more for him. It is hard to not give in to lustful desires, especially if the guy is cute! But Ophelia should be cautious, because if two people were to warn me I would be a little more cautious with the guy. 

#22 Week Fifteen "The Tragedy of Hamlet" Act 1 Scene 2

Summary: Claudius marries his sister in law (Gertrude) and becomes King. He told Fortinbras uncle to stop him from invading the city. He then talks to Laertes and asks what he would like. Laertes wants to go back to Franc and Claudius approves it. Gertrude and Claudius then begin to talk to young Hamlet. They tell him to stop mourning for his father because it is not manly and it's stubborn. Claudius tells Hamlet to think of him as his new father and tells him he wants to stay in town because he is closer to the throne. Hamlet cry's out to God once everyone is gone and says how distraught he is by his fathers death!He is also upset because his father loved his mother so much, "He even stopped the wind from hitting her too hard in the face". But not even a month after his fathers passing, his mother got remarried to her brother in-law. Horatio, Bernardo and Marcellus come and tell Hamlet that they are there for his father's funeral. They then tell him about seeing his fathers ghost. He tells them that tonight he will stand guard with them and if the ghost talks to him he will talk to it. When they leave, Hamlet begins to think that it is strange for his father to be in full body armor and assumes that this must be foul play. 
Opinion: It's kind of weird to just marry someone like a month after your spouse dies. I can see why Hamlet would be upset! I would be too! I find it interesting though, perhaps it was just to keep the monarchy or whatever they have as a ruler going. Because there must be a Queen and King not just a Queen(at least not in these times). I am a little suspicious if this a trap because if Hamlet thinks it strange that his father is wearing body armor, something I assume he didn't do often, would make me a little more cautious to see the ghost.

#21 Week 15 "The Tragedy of Hamlet" Act 1 Scene 1

Summary: Bernardo, comes to take Francisco's watch. Marcellus and Horatio join Bernardo to help stand watch. Marcellus mentions that he saw something the other night. Bernardo tells them how at one o'clock Marcellus and him saw a ghost and that it occurs every night. Right as he mentions the ghost, it appears. They then notice that it looks like the deceased King. Horatio orders it to speak but it leaves. The guards then notice that the King was wearing the exact same armor that the ghost was wearing when he died. Horatio then mentions that it means bad news for their country. The late King was the great rival of Fortinbras, King of Norway. When they fought, King Hamlet killed King Fortinbras who had a legal document surrendering all his territories, his life to his conqueror. So King Fortinbras young son has sent a gang to get back what his father lost.They begin to wonder if this is why people are having to work through Sunday and why they all have to stand guard. Horatio then explains that it is something to worry about because just before Julius Caesar was killed, corpses came out of their graves and ran through the streets of Rome speaking gibberish. There were shooting stars and blood mixed with the morning dew and threatening signs on the face of the sun. The moos was so eclipsed that it almost went out. There have been several signs from the heavens. The ghost reappears and spreads open his arms. Horatio tells the ghost if there is any good deed he can do. He asks if the ghost has any secret knowledge about their country's fate, and demands him to speak! Suddenly a rooster crows and startles the ghost. Horatio then tells Bernardo and Marcellus that the ghost looked startled, like a guilty person caught by the law. He also said that the rooster awakens the god of day and makes all wandering ghosts wherever they may be, hurrying back to where they were hiding. On Christmas ghosts never come out because the rooster crows all night long. They then decide to tell young Hamlet about the ghost.
Opinion: The ghost is King Hamlet and is probably trying to warn these guys about something bad that is going to take place. Like Horatio mentioned that with Julius Caesar before he died that there was blood in the dew and corpses walking through Rome; there may not be that but I think seeing the ghost of the King would make me think that perhaps something is wrong. I think that they definitely tell Hamlet, because then he will confirm that the ghost is his father.

#20 Week Twelve "The Tragic Vision: Affirmation Through Loss & The Origins of Tragedy"

Summary: Tragedy is drama in which a major character goes through a loss but then achieves a new perspective. It is considered the most elevated literary form because it concentrates more on the religious and cosmic implications of its major character's misfortunes. It originated as a key element in ancient Greece. It all took place in Athenian festivals. Originally, tragedy in Athens was associated with the worship of Dionysus who was one of the twelve principal gods and who was thought to transform human personality, freed people from care and grief, ensured fertility and provided them with joy. To elevate this god Athenians would add the worship of Dionysus to the regular religious festivals. The most significant of these Dionysian festivals were the Lenaia- a short celebration held in January-and the City Dionysian- a week-long event in March-April. Aristotle claimed that the first tragedies developed from a choral ode called a dithyramb-a song that was sung or chanted also danced by large choruses of men at the festivals.

Opinion: Drama continues to impress me, I never knew that their were different types. Even though all tie together,there is so much put into each play,story that make them all unique. A play is performed in front of an audience, there are several characters and all have a role. There is a plot but also a subplot that the audience is able to see unfold in front of them.A tragedy could be told the same way,but it focuses mainly on one certain character. The reader is able to understand what the main character is going through but isn't able to see what the others are going through. I never would have thought that tragedy would originate from a festival where worshiping a god was the main focus. Actually in the tragedies that I have read do not really talk about the religious implications of the major character's misfortunes. 

#19 Week Twelve "Costumes and Makeup Establish the Nature and Appearance of the Actors & The Audience Responds to the Performance and Helps to Shape It"

Summary: Actors make plays more realistic by wearing costumes and using makeup,in order for the audience to understand a play's time period along with the occupations, mental outlooks and socioeconomic conditions of the characters.The costumes not only include the actual clothing but also items such as jewelry,good-luck charms, swords, farm women in plain clothes, a salesman in a business suit, a king in fashionable robes or a women in fine jewelry. Makeup enhances the person's appearance, whether to make them old or young. It also emphasizes a character's joy or sorrow. The audience is a big part in a play, the audience's reaction such as laughter, gasp, applauds give the actors feed back allowing them to continue on with the pace of the play. For this reason, drama in the theater  is the most immediate and accessible of the literary arts. It's a direct relationship with the audience and the stage action.
Opinion: I'm always amazed at how much makeup the actors wear! Up close they look weird but from far away they looked perfect and fit their characters well. An old woman may actually be played by a young girl but by all this makeup the young girl is transformed into an old woman. The costumes are definitely a big part in the character's appearance. A woman dressed in fancy clothes, shows that she is of a higher class, while a woman dressed in plain clothes or poor clothes suggest that she is of a lower class. Drama is in fact the only literary art that the audience is able to interact with unlike reading a book or hearing a poem read.