Essay on Hamlet by William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

Essay on Hamlet by William Shakespeare Essay In many works by Shakespeare, single parents struggle with the difficulties their children have, such as Desdemona and her father in Othello, or Hermia and her father in A Midsummer Nights Dream. Issues between parent and child are evident in Hamlet, but the single parent is a mother, not a father. The poem Meditation at Elsinore by Elizabeth Coatsworth embodies the situation between characters, and has hidden morals within the prose. There are many morals and life lessons in Hamlet, one of which is the effects of poor parenting. In Hamlet, emotional suppression and lack of parenting lead to the downfall of Gertrude, and her son Hamlet. Proper parenting can be defined as caring for children and providing them with shelter, emotional security, food, education, and safety so that they can become successful adults. Gertrude may have had involvement in her husbands murder, and this as such, would qualify her as a poor parent. Her failure to respect Hamlets emotions, provide emotional security for her son, and engender mutual trust confirms her as an unfit parent. This behaviour by Gertrude caused Hamlet to be suspicious, and it was his suspicion that brought about his and his mothers death. When King Hamlet died, Gertrude quickly remarries Hamlets uncle, Claudius, and the timing of this union is detrimental to the relationship with her son, eliminating all respect Hamlet had for his mother. Gertrude realizes that her swift remarriage has greatly affected her son, and doubt[s] [that] it is no other but the main: / His fathers death and our o erhasty marriage (Hamlet, 2.2.57). She realizes the cause for Hamlets new found insanity, but does not react to the situation as a responsible parent would. Hamlet, being witty and quick, refers to his new parents as his uncle-father and aunt-mother (2.2.362) when talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This demonstrates that Hamlet has lost respect for both his mother and his uncle. Hamlet tells Horatio that the funeral baked meats / Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables (1.2.180) when asked about the funeral. In a respectful relationship, a mother would have confided in her son before making the choice to remarry. Hamlet grieves for his lost father, but Gertrude seems more interested in spying on him. This causes Hamlet to become suspicious. When Gertrudes husband died, she did not mourn his death and she did not  provide emotional security for her son, in the way mothers are supposed to console their children and support them through the tough times by helping them grieve. Gertrude is annoyed by Hamlets depression, and tells him to stop seek[ing] for [his] noble father in the dust (1.2.70). Instead of comforting Hamlet, she tells him that all that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity (1.2.72). She is telling Hamlet to stop weeping over the past, and to move on, when Hamlet misses his father and wants him to return so badly that Hamlet contemplates suicide so that he can be with his father in the next life. Hamlet obviously notices his mothers lack of grieving, and states to himself that a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer! (1.2.150). Hamlet notices that an animal would mourn longer over a dead loved one than his mother did with King Hamlet. This demonstrates that he recognizes the lack of communication between them, and that communication between child and parent is an important part of a healthy relationship. Hamlet is left with no one else, and one by one his loves [betray] his love (Coatsworth, 7). Helping a child grieve and showing empathy for his feelings is the role of a parent. Gertrude failed in this role as Hamlets mother and further exposes herself to his scrutiny. Gertrude sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on her son, demonstrating that she does not trust Hamlet. Trust is absolutely key to a healthy relationship between mother and son, and can be attributed to proper parenting. Without trust, there is no true love, there is no relationship, and as a result, there is no happiness. Gertrude tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to instantly visit my too much changed son (Hamlet, 2.2.35). She wants to know what Hamlet is doing, whether to cure her curiosity or to simply know what he is plotting. Even if this act was committed out of love, the proper parenting approach would be to ask her son instead of spying on, and to talk with him in a mature, sympathetic and respectful manner. When she does talk to him, she agrees with his antics and asks him what shall she do (3.4.184), but when he is gone, she says that he is as mad as the sea and wind when both contend which is the mightier (4.1.7). Hamlet realizes that his own mother does not trust him-nor does he trust her- and that his boon companions came as spies (Coatsworth, 12), not friends. This leaves him feeling abandoned and alone as the relationship with his mother, the only  parent he has left, has been damaged. Although Hamlets death is not directly caused by Gertrudes early remarriage, failure to help her son mourn, lack of trust and mutual respect, and the suspicion aroused by these acts lead to his demise. If Gertrude had paid more attention to Hamlet, and not to her own personal affairs, Hamlet may not have been suspicious. Things may not have been so rotten in the state of Denmark (Hamlet, 1.4.94). Gertrudes failure to parent Hamlet and convince him that everything is well leads to a downward spiral which results in the death of many. Gertrude dies a painful death, and only wishes that she would have had an opportunity to say good night [to her] sweet prince (Coatsworth, 20). Children will always push the limits with their parents, seeing what will make them give in, or what will make them explode with anger. Every child has does it, and every parent deals with it. It is part of life, but in the end, proper parenting will prevail, and the children will grow up knowing that they may have their own children. This is evident in Hamlet, by Shakespeare, and Meditation at Elsinore by Elizabeth Coatsworth. Hamlet will never have children, because of Gertrudes failure to properly parent, which eventually leads to the demise of both mother and son. This failure could be prevented, but many factors end up swaying the final decision, and Gertrude is the reason for the demise of both Hamlet and Gertrude. Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from depression. This is because of the high levels of hormones during periods such as birthing a child and menopause. The latter of the two is the reason for Gertrudes depression, and specifically leads to a failure in parenting. That is why Gertrude hurried with most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets (Hamlet, 1.2.157). This horrendous act committed by Gertrude can be classified as a failure in parenting. Gertrude forces her son to live with the reality that his uncle has become his father, which, on her part is a thoughtless and impetuous act. With the loss of her husband, it would be proper for Gertrude to fully mourn her deceased husband. Before remarrying, a mother should join with her son in the grieving process, to show that the  father in the family would be missed. The ten stages of grieving ensure that a person can accept and affirm reality, a stage that Gertrude achieves far too quickly. She skips a few steps on the way, and knows that Hamlets rash actions can be blamed on no other but the main: his fathers death and our oerhasty marriage (2.2.56). While some steps are missed, some are taken too far. Depression and loneliness is a stage Gertrude botches, as it is a stage where family members find communication difficult. Instead of moving on to the next stage, Gertrude lingers around loneliness and depression, which eventually brings her to marry Claudius. Gertrude does not erupt with emotions, or is never overcome with anger at anyone for the misfortune brought on old Hamlet. Ultimately, Gertrude reached the final step of the ten stages, but disregarded many rules on the way, resulting in poor communication between mother and son. Communication is essential to proper parenting, and this is where Gertrude failed. A lack of communication between mother and son can distance a relationship. To state that Gertrude has communication issues would be to grossly underestimate-she does not communicate at all. The love between mother and son had been established, but one by one [Hamlets] loves betrayed his love(Coatsworth 8). Instead of instantly jumping into marriage with a dead husbands brother, a parent must talk to their child about what their feelings are. Gertrude should have told Hamlet that she had a desire to find another man, so that Hamlet would have been prepared for what was coming. Gertrude sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to extract information from Hamlet, instead of talking to her son in person. In Gertrudes final seconds of her life she calls for her dear Hamlet (Hamlet, 5.2.314), the only person she really loves. Gertrude chooses to address her only son in her dying seconds, when the conversation should have taken place long before. All of the miscommunication leads to the demise of both Gertrude and Hamlet. On his deathbed, Hamlet knows that life will probably be better after death, as his biological father will not deceive him in heaven. Hamlets mother has left him with nothing, and even though Hamlet did not plan on dying, he wished that the Everlasting had not fixed his cannon gainst self-slaughter!(1.2.131-132)Depression, loneliness, improper grieving, and miscommunication lead to the failure of parenting. Hamlet was not crazy; he  was simply confused and misunderstood. Gertrudes selfish choices hurt Hamlet, and showed Hamlet that his mother no longer cared about the welfare of her son. If Gertrude had used proper parenting skills, things may not have been so rotten in the state of Denmark(1.4.94). Denmark would not have to say good night [to their] sweet prince (Coatsworth 20). Works Cited Coatsworth, Elizabeth. Meditation at Elsinore. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. John Crowther. New York: Spark Group, 2003.

Comparing The Lamb and The Tyger by William Blake Essay -- English Lit

Comparing The Lamb and The Tyger by William Blake In this essay I am going to analyse, compare and contrast two poems by William Blake. They are called 'The Lamb' and 'The Tyger'. I will be looking at how Blake uses imagery, structure and form to create effects and how the environment that Blake lived in affected the way he wrote his poems. In the late 18th century, the world was changing and developing into a new world quite fast. Blake was born in London, the third of five children. Because of the relatively lower middle class status of his fathers line of work, Blake was raised in a state of not quite poverty, but he saw what life could really be like if he was down on his luck, and this he would experience for the rest of his life. When he was nineteen the American Revolution happened and this caused great social unrest in the high and wealthy classes. Then, when he was 32, the French Revolution occurred which signalled the end of the monarchy and aristocracy in France. This, not surprisingly, caused the same area of society in Britain to fear that the same would happen in their back yard. Blake was still writing at the start of the Industrial Revolution, this time became the primary phase in which heavy machinery was used in factories and mines. This created a feeling of great political upheaval and paranoia, shown by the appearance of the Luddites. All these events affected the way Blake wrote, in the way that he spoke about how the power of God can influence us, the world being a beautiful place, but man not being in harmony with it all. Where he lived was an awful place, he lived next to a graveyard and a workhouse. People died in the street and he witnessed it all, but he was stil... ...bles as the one that preceded it. "By the stream & and o'er mead" the missing 'v' in over reduces the amount of syllables from two to one. This is so that the rhyming pattern will be even (6,6,7,7,7,7,7,7,6,6) instead of (6,6,7,8,7,7,7,7,6,6), also most of the rhymes in this poem are visual as well as oral this emphasizes the poems rhymes and thus allowing the message to get through clearer. The language used in 'the Tyger' is, in places, very similar to that of 'the lamb'. It uses alliteration in the phrase, "burning bright" to emphasize how striking the colour of this animals coat is. It also uses the old forms of address and it too has visual rhymes as well as oral ones. But what it has that 'the lamb' doesn't is, it repeats words one after the other in the phrase "Tyger, Tyger", this is used the same way alliteration is to stress the metaphor.

Lorrie Moore

In the story â€Å"How to Become a Writer†, Lorrie Moore takes the reader through what seems to be her own Journey on how she became a writer. The story is told in Second Person. The way she writes, in second person, she seems to take the reader personally through her Journey on â€Å"How to Become a Writer†, but you, the reader are the character. Moore writes about how â€Å"you† will apply to college, â€Å"you† will show up to the wrong class, and â€Å"your† mother will not understand this writing gig.Her style eems to draw the reader in hanging on for the next thing that will happen in â€Å"your† life. She effectively makes the audience feel like they are at college, in the wrong class or that they are simply standing in their kitchen showing their mom the haiku they wrote at the ripe age of fifteen and she stares at them â€Å"Blank as a donut† (Moore p. 652) and she says â€Å"How about emptying the dishwasher†(Moore p. 652). The common theme of this story is that â€Å"you† are always struggling with a plot, and o one quite understands â€Å"your† writings.This struggle is a relevant struggle for Moore, as well as many young college students. Through out the short story she explains this common trend of â€Å"no plot† and even still you read on and can not help thinking is there a point to this story? The no plot theme seems to take a deeper role. As most will struggle with the choices of life and a fair amount of people will even feel as if they have remained stagnant and really not done too much.Moore really drives this point home. She makes the reader really relate. College students can especially relate. With all the dysfunction a college student endures with choosing what to do and then like Moore having second thoughts and changing their major. This story was witty and sarcastic. Leaving you with a perm-a-grin, because you can totally relate. The style of writing was som ething unusual for me to be reading but I greatly enjoyed it. Although weird it was intriguing.

The First Oration, A Presentation Discourse Against The...

In the first Oration, â€Å"A Preliminary Discourse Against the Eunomians,† St. Gregory and St. Cyril, define the conditions of being a theologian. â€Å"Not to every one, my friends, does it belong to philosophize about God; not to every one; the Subject is not so cheap and low.† (27.III) Preaching God’s Word is not something to be taken lightly, it can be used either for good or bad. Hebrews 4:12 states, â€Å" The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.† Gregory states that a man needs to purify himself from sin, both internally and externally. Obviously, becoming completely pure is impossible, but one must be faithfully pursuing a life of purity. They should be striving to have an intimate relationship with God the Father, where He is the center of their life. Once the man has cleared both soul and body, he can begin evangelizing others. However, one must also be careful to not speak of what he does not know or unders tand. To speak of things one does not fully comprehend to those who have no knowledge of such things can do more harm than not to speak at all. Also teaching theology to those who know nothing of it can bear down on the audience. St Gregory states, â€Å"as excessive burdens beyond the strength injure those who bear them, or excessive rains the earth.† (27.IV) He is not insinuating that we never think of God, rather the opposite. However, as previously described where caution needs to be taken is in the message given. He stresses that it