Hamlet Act II

For Act II of Hamlet I decided to discuss why the player in Act II decides to speak an excerpt from "The Aeneid":

The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC that tells the story of Aenaes, a Trojan who traveled to Italy, and became the ancestor of the 'Romans'. The player who comes to put on a play for Hamlet and his family and friends reads an excerpt from the Aeneid. The reason, I believe, Shakespeare chose this certain epic poem to add to his story was because it shows Hamlet's fear and hesitation of killing his uncle, even though he really wants to. Hamlet tries to kill his uncle but in unsuccessful at first because of his fear and hesitation to do so. I think Shakespeare was smart to add to this excerpt because it secretly ties in with Hamlet's own personal struggle, without having to say it straight forward to the audience what was going on.

Hamlet, Act I

I decided, for Act 1, to discuss the struggles Hamlet goes through after the death of his father and how he tries to deal with his pain and anger:

Hamlet is so upset by his father’s death, that he too wishes to die. He feels as if he is an unlucky person stating that “O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into dew" in Act 1, scene ii, lines 133-134. Hamlet seems to hope that if he was to die, then he would become cleansed and just be done with everything and forget about all the bad stuff in his life. Hamlet also realizes that committing suicide would be considered a sin in the eyes of the “Everlasting” God (Act 1, scene ii line 135) who with hall this “canon ‘gainst self slaughter! line 136) would prevent him from reaching heaven and would be considered evil in the eyes of God and would therefore go to hell.

Coleridge and Shelley

1) The power of the imagination is often exalted in Romantic poetry. In your opinion, does “Kubla Khan” celebrate the imagination or caution against its indulgence? To whom might Coleridge be writing and for what purpose(s)?

Kubla Khan, in my opinion celebrates the imagaination. I say this because the way the poem is written makes it seem that the author, Colerdige, is trying to make a point naming the poem "A Vision in a Dream". The name of the poem makes it seem as if the whole thing is a fantasy and that the whole idea comes from the authors mind and imagination. As to whom Coleridge may be writing to, I would say that he is writing for his own desire to get his ideas down and just get them out of his head. The purpose of his writing may be to just free his mind and clear his thoughts and to take notes on his imagination.

2) Even in the brief space of a sonnet, Shelley suggests a number of narrative frames. How many speakers do you hear in "Ozymandias"? What does each of these voices seem to say to you (or to others) as listeners?

In the sonnet, "Ozymandias", I hear only one speaker throughout the whole sonnet. I do not hear numerous voices becuase the sonnet just flows freely and dosen't seem to have different sections or "voices".