How far is this a tragedy that that explores the burdens of duty?

*Was Hamlet's constant delay due to morality or cowardness? - link to duty- the only reason he's doing this in the first place is because of his filial duty to his father. Maybe his father's order is more important to him.?
Act 3 Scene 3

*Has idealism got anything to do with Hamlet's tactics?

*Laertes had a duty to revenge his father's death too. Might this have been one of the key reasons to the tragic end because the end battle between Hamlet and Laertes is what gave Claudious the chance to poison everything

* Was Ophelia's death due to the shock of the death of her father or was it because of her love for Hamlet or mixture of all?
Act 4

*Was the tragedy due the burdens of duty?

When I first started reading 'Great Gatsby', I thought of Nick Carraway as someone who isn't judgemental as he said 'I'm inclined to reserve all judgements'. I thought he was a considerate person until he contridicted himself and nearly everything he said sounded judgemental. This made me think of Nick as an unreliable person who says things he doesn't really mean just to make himself sound good. Nick seems to be from an upper class as he graduated from an highly respected Posh university 'New Haven' which is Yale University. Also the fact that his father could afford to finance him for a year makes him look like his from a quite rich family. I, from what I have read, think that Nick Carraway is a stuck up person and was very spoilt by his parent; he even has a servant to who makes his bed and cooks his breakfast. I, personally,  so far do not like him.

My Hamlet essay title:

Was Hamlet's fatal flaw due to his filial duty to his father?

Two hands

In the poem ‘Two Hands’ the writer is comparing his hands with his father’s hands; he’s not comparing them literally, although their hands are pretty similar ‘spade palms blunt fingers short in the joint’, but he’s actually comparing himself as a person with his father as a person.  He uses personification and metaphor to describe how his father takes out 13 operations in a day and yet sits up late to study even more ‘my father in his sits up late, a pencil nodding stiffly in the hand that 13 times between breakfast and supper led a scalpel an intricate dance.’  He contrasts this with himself who is a good writer but does nothing else other than that: ‘fingers with some style on paper, elsewhere none’. This contrast is effective because it shows how ‘hands so alike’, i.e. father and son, can be very different. He is also showing envious feelings towards his dads success and achievements; he is starting to see himself as useless as he has ‘saved no one, served no one’ whereas his father does this many times everyday. We can interpret that he wants his father to give him some attention as he seems to be putting all his effort into his work and putting his spare time towards his work therefore the relationship between the father and the son maybe isn’t so good.

Jon Stallworthy has used a rhyming scheme in his poem. His poem is set out in a that one line rhymes with the next line two lines down

Was Fortinbras right in his statement?

I personally think that Fortibas was partly right and partly not. I say this because if you look at it from one perspective, Hamlet was doing all that he did because he wanted to stay loyal to his father, who was also the royal king,  and take revenge for him, which in those days was perfectly alright. I think that although what Hamlet was doing might have been for a 'good cause', the way he went around things was wrong. His mission was to kill one bad guy and this turned into killing nearly everyone but 2 people. Not only did he's attempt of killing his uncle lead to the death of his girlfriend which he loved although he didn't really show much affection towards, but he's attempt also lead to the death of her father, brother and his own mother. However, the other perspective which you can look at is that all the tragedy deaths was not directly caused by Hamlet but in fact Claudios as the murder he committed was what had all these knock on effects on all the other deaths and therefore Hamlet can be looked at as someone who was trying to do the right thing, a real 'soldier'.

At the end of act 3, Hamlet accidently kills polonious. He is with his mother talking when he spots something moving behind the curtains. As it's his mother's bedroom he assumes that is Claudious and sees this as a chance to kill him as he'd already failed his first attempt. After realising it wasn't Claudious afterall and that it was in fact Polonious, Hamlet shows no remorse and thinks nothing of the fact that he had just committed cold blooded murder. A little bit later, the ghost turns up and Hamlet talks to the ghost; however, the mother cannot see nor hear anyone so thinks that her son is going mad.

In act 4 Hamlet goes and pulls Polonious' body apart. Hamlet is told that he's being sent away to England. Claudious seems to be relieved and feels like he has taken care of the risk of being exposed as a murderer and also of the risk of getting killed by Hamlet as revenge for his father.

Fortanbras arrives with his army seeking revenge on Norway.

Hamlet reads out he's soliloque in page 102 and 103 where he says 'my thoughts be bloody. He is really determined to at last avenge for his father and kill Claudious for all he has done, murdering his father as well as marrying his mother within 2 moths of his father's death; however, he has a porblem: he is being sent away to England.

In scene 5 Ophelia sings. The country want Laertes to be king. He returns to find out his father has been murdered and is after revenge. Ophelia has gone mad understandibly after all that she has been through. The king realises he needs to start thinking on his feet.

I think that Hamlet is upset by he's father death and within 2 months of the death his mother already married his uncle. Already annoyed by the fact his mother moved on quickly, he finds out that he's father was viciously murdered by his uncle. Hamlet feels like he's a coward and is angry at himself for not being able to stand up for his father and take revenge for him as he had promised. He's confused as to how to get back at his uncle and ends up coming up with a plan where he gets actors to act out the murder scene of his father so that he can observe any unusual reactions he's uncle might do. I think Hamlet is being set back because he knows his mother's in love with his uncle and therefore doesn't want to 'break' her heart again as she seems happy.

Why is Hamlet so famous?

Why is Hamlet so famous?

The tragedy of Hamlet has been around since what is believed to be about 1599. So exactly why has this play been around for so long? Perhaps the most famous quotation comes from the existential dilemma that causes Hamlet to question whether he should continue living or just quit? Put into Shakespeare's brilliant language, Hamlet says, "To be or not to be, that is the question."(Shakespeare). As Hamlet is having trouble in life, he is able to show the voice of a problem that still confronts a large amount of people today. Other than the ever so popular quote, Hamlet really grabs the audience into the play. With ghosts, betrayal, madness, murder, and the famous bloodbath that takes place in the end, Hamlet would even be a major hit in Hollywood today. Yet another reason Hamlet remains around today, is that it brings up so many questions that are still debated today. For example, "To be or not to be, that is the question."(Shakespeare). Well we know the question but what is the answer. Although the book can hint at what the answer is believed to be, it is truly up to the audience to decide for themselves. Furthermore, the tragic play brings about questions of religion, philosophical issues, political issues, psychoanalytical issues, and also feminist issues.

'Because of you' By Cathy Maxwell opening

'The persistent banging woke Samantha Northrup from a sound sleep. She lay in bed, hoping it was only another of the vicarage's many loose shuttersbeing buffeted against the side of the house by north wind. A visitor in the middle of the night meant bad news'

This first opening drew me in to the story because it triggers questions in your mind before you even reach the second paragraph. It makes you wonder who this man knocking on the door is; why they're knocking on the door and also why so late. I think this is a very clever way of starting a book because it makes the reader want to read on and find out all these unanswered questions in. Another reason I found this opening interesting is because of the reference to the weather. This instantly builds tension in your min and gets you to imagine the hauling of the wind in the middle of the night. It is sort of a gothic description.