Ophelia and Gertrude Essay

Ophelia and Gertrude Essay The classical and world-renowned Shakespearean play Hamlet has two very prominent and important female characters as the main roles, Ophelia and Gertrude. As to a surprise, they are similar in many ways. This essay will inform the reader about their similarities or likeness. It is quite obvious that both Gertrude and Ophelia are both motivated by love and a desire for quiet familial harmony among the members of their society in Elsinore. Out of love for her son does Gertrude advise: Dear Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not for ever with thy vailed lids Seek for thy noble father in the dust. (1.2) Likewise does she ask that the prince remain with the family: â€Å"Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet, / I pray thee stay with us, go not to Wittenberg.† Later, when the heros supposed â€Å"madness† is the big concern, Gertrude lovingly sides with her husband in the analysis of her sons condition: â€Å"I doubt it is no other but the main, / His fathers death and our oerhasty marriage.† She confides her family-supporting thoughts to Ophelia: â€Å"And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish / That your good beauties be the happy cause / Of Hamlets wildness,† thereby attempting to keep a loving relationship with the young lady of the court, even though the latter is of a lower social stratum. When Claudius requests of Gertrude, â€Å"Sweet Gertrude, leave us too; / For we have closely sent for Hamlet hither,† Gertrude responds submissively, â€Å"I shall obey you.† Familial love is first among Gertrudes priorities. When, at the presentation of The Mousetrap, she makes a request of her son, â€Å"Come hither, my dear Hamlet, sit by me,† and he spurns her to lie at Ophelias feet, Gertrude is not offended; her loyalty to family overrides such slights. She considers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to be friends of her son, and only for that reason sends them to learn about him; she would never use them as Claudius later does in an attempt to murder Hamlet. And even at the moment of her death, her last words include, â€Å"O my dear Hamlet.† Yes, Gertrude is pro-family. Ophelia manifest great familial affection In similar fashion does Ophelia manifest great familial affection, agreeing to comply with the advice of her brother Laertes: â€Å"I shall the effect of this good lesson keep / As watchman to my heart.† When her father, Polonius, makes inquiry regarding the â€Å"private time† which Hamlet has been giving to Ophelia, she replies unreservedly, â€Å"He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders / Of his affection to me,† and elaborates mightily on the subject. Polonius insists that she â€Å"from this time forth† not â€Å"give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet,† and Ophelia dutifully complies with his wishes: â€Å"I shall obey, my lord.† She later even gives him her love-letters from Hamlet. When she acts as a decoy so that Polonius and Claudius can observe the prince, resulting in Ophelias chastisement by the protagonist, she nevertheless keeps him as the main focus in her life: â€Å"O, what a noble mind is here oerthrown!† Her love for brother, father, boyfriend, and others generally, override her love of self. Her respect for the opinions of immediate family is greater than her respect for her own opinions even in the matter of her courtship. Bonds of family and friends Another similarity between these two lady-characters is that they suffer from a severing of the bonds of family and friends. Gertrude is displeased with Hamlet when, with The Mousetrap, he upsets King Claudius: Guildenstern says to Hamlet, â€Å"The Queen, your mother, in most great affliction of spirit, hath sent me to you.† And when the hero meets with his mother, her concern is: â€Å"Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.† Of course, Gertrudes grief over the kings upset is soon upstaged by her sons killing of Polonius behind the arras: â€Å"O me, what hast thou done?† and â€Å"O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!† Gertrude, unaware of Claudius murder of King Hamlet, probes the prince for the cause of the disturbance within him: â€Å"What have I done, that thou darst wag thy tongue / In noise so rude against me?† and â€Å"Ay me, what act, / That roars so loud and thunders in the index?† Even when Hamlet has afflicted his mother s soul with great distress, she still tries to preserve the mother-son relationship by referring to him as â€Å"sweet†: â€Å"O speak to me no more! / These words like daggers enter in my ears. / No more, sweet Hamlet!† Even after Hamlet has done considerable emotional damage (â€Å"O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.†) Gertrude still tries to keep the familial bond from being totally severed by asking â€Å"What shall I do?† and by not revealing to Claudius that her son mistook Polonius for his uncle. Similarly, Ophelia suffers from the severing of the bonds of family and friends. She is traumatized by Hamlets visit after the ghosts appearance, when he has assumed the â€Å"antic disposition,† with â€Å"his doublet all unbraced; / No hat upon his head; his stockings fould,† and other aspects which make him appear as one â€Å"loosed out of hell.† Frank Kermode says that this â€Å"antic disposition† is a foil to Ophelias coming madness (1137). Polonius asks, â€Å"Mad for thy love?† and Ophelia responds, â€Å"My lord, I do not know; / But truly, I do fear it.† This is a time of uncertainty for her, for she has invested herself heavily in â€Å"the love for Hamlet, and her filial love† (Coleridge 353). When she later agrees to be a lure for Hamlet so that her father and the king can study his conduct in her presence, she feels the full loss of the princes affection for her: â€Å"Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? [. . .] We are arrant knaves all; believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery.† The severance of the ties with Hamlet cause her to pray for help: â€Å"O, help him, you sweet heavens!† and â€Å"O heavenly powers, restore him!† and â€Å"O, woe is me, / To have seen what I have seen, see what I see!† Later, as the Mousetrap begins, Ophelia readily consents (â€Å"Lady, shall I lie in your lap?†) to Hamlets resting his head on her lap: â€Å"Ay, my lord,† hoping to somewhat restore a dying relationship along with the heros sanity. And she cannot be too agreeable in her efforts with him: â€Å"You are as good as a chorus, my lord,† and â€Å"You are keen, my lord, you are keen.† Male influences Both Ophelia and Gertrude are victimized by male influences in the play. Ophelia is interfered with in her love-life by her brother Laertes, her father Polonius and by Hamlet himself. She is presented â€Å"almost entirely as a victim† (Boklund 123).Gertrude is intruded upon in her relationship with Claudius by Hamlet, by Laertes and by Claudius. The rejection of Ophelia by the prince, plus the loss of her father at Hamlets hands, brings about madness in Ophelia, and later indirectly her death. The devious machinations of Laertes and Claudius effect the accidental death of Queen Gertrude, who imbibes the poisoned cup. Deaths Both Ophelia and Gertrude die incidental, unostentatious deaths of no special moment. Hamlets death and royal burial by Fortinbras is in sharp contrast to the passing of these ladies. Ophelias demise is publicized by the queen: â€Å"One woe doth tread upon anothers heel, / So fast they follow; your sisters drownd, Laertes.† That Laertes should respond with the question, â€Å"Drownd! O, where?† seems out of place, since the most logical question from a loved one would be, â€Å"How?† or â€Å"Why?† The queen replies that â€Å"her garments, heavy with their drink, / Pulld the poor wretch from her melodious lay / To muddy death.† Laertes says briefly, â€Å"Alas, then, she is drownd?† and the queen even more briefly, â€Å"Drownd, drownd.† Until the reaction of Laertes and Hamlet in the grave, Ophelias passing seems to go almost unnoticed. Likewise, when Queen Gertrude later drinks from the poisoned cup on the occasion of the Laertes-H amlet contest of foils, she experiences a quick, quiet death: â€Å"No, no, the drink, the drink,O my dear Hamlet, / The drink, the drink! I am poisond.† And there is no more to the matter, possibly because everyone else is dying at the same time. Another experience which both Ophelia and Gertrude have in common is that they are both attacked verbally by Hamlet. When the prince suspects that Ophelia is a lure (Coleridge 362), he lambasts her with: â€Å"Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go, and quickly too. Farewell.† The Queen The queen also bears the brunt of Hamlets melancholic mood. After the â€Å"play within a play† Gertrude asks to see her son, who comes immediately but not in a good humor. At one point he is so aggressive that she thinks perhaps he is going to murder her: â€Å"A bloody deed! Almost as bad, good mother,/As kill a king and marry with his brother.† This alarms the queen, who blurts out, â€Å"As kill a king!† in her appalled mental state, shortly followed by â€Å"What have I done, that thou darst wag thy tongue/In noise so rude against me?† Hamlet leaves the queen in an emotionally spent condition: â€Å"I have no life to breathe / What thou hast said to me.† Both Ophelia and Gertrude possess complex temperament and motivation, thus qualify as rounded, not flat or two-dimensional, characters (Abrams 33). Also both women have a delicacy about them. In recognition of this delicacy, the ghost asks the protagonist to disregard revenge on Gertrude: â€Å"Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive / Against thy mother aught.† Ophelias delicacy is revealed in the appearance of her insanity and later death resulting from the loss of her father and the affection of her boyfriend. WORKS CITED Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999. Boklund, Gunnar. â€Å"Hamlet.† Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965. Burton, Philip. â€Å"Hamlet.† The Sole Voice. New York: The Dial Press, 1970. N. pag. http://www.freehomepages.com/hamlet/other/burton-hamlet.htm Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Lectures and Notes on Shakspere and Other English Poets. London : George Bell and Sons, 1904. p. 342-368. http://ds.dial.pipex.com/thomas_larque/ham1-col.htm Kermode, Frank. â€Å"Hamlet.† The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.

Quarrel De La Rose :: essays research papers

Christine de Pisan in her Querrel de la Rose criticizes Roman de la Rose, which is a love poem. This poem â€Å"describes the ultimately successful quest of a lover for the mystical and fleshly Rose†. Christine is totally against the poem and attacks of strongly. It is marvelous how Christine de Pisan starts her writing in Quarrel de la Rose. She starts showing you modesty of her self, and appears very calm. She stings you then in a sweet style illuminating why is she against the work she is criticizing. Her modesty can be seen, or better to call her understatement, in page 125. When you continue reading and you reach the middle of it, you will see how gradually transforms from calmness to showing strong protest, which is covered up with polite style. Still the ironic tone she uses exposes her disapproval. An example for her emotional ironical tone would be seen in page 128, which she dedicates to discuss the issue of women in the work she is criticizing. I agree with Christine de Pisan on condemning the poem, but I disagree with her in the way she represents her disapproval and the way she protests against the work. She expresses her refusal to such a poem by the way she chooses words. It is seen in her using the language, which reflects her feelings towards the work mentioned, such as in page 127. When the page is read, it will be clear that her emotions control her style. She is not being objective, but she has a very good case against the work she’s criticizing as I believe, Further more, another matter I disagree with her in that she should have read the book she is criticizing with carefulness and patience. In page 126, she admits that she read it with rush. In my opinion, any one who criticizes, or even protests against any work, which is in this case a

Hemmingway’s Lady Brett Ashley

â€Å"A Woman’s Torn Asunder† The eighteenth century novelist Laurence Stern wrote, â€Å"no body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time. † Hemingway’s Lady Brett Ashley, a divorced socialite, experienced conflicting desires, prompting her to lead an unhappy and confused life. Brett desired to be a self-reliant woman who had complete control over her own life but others were required to meet her physical and emotional needs.Throughout the entire novel, Brett Ashley pushes people away when they get too close in order to insure her freedom and power. This conflict alone illuminates Hemingway’s idea that no one can be entirely independent, occasionally people have to let themselves become vulnerable and let others in. The two painful marriages Brett had already experienced force her in the controlling and independent mindset depicted in the novel; one spouse treated her terribly and the other died tragically. Lord Ashley, which Brett was in the process of divorcing in the story, treated her horribly.After the war he became crazy, slept with a gun underneath his pillow and threatened to kill her. Her other husband died dreadfully and painfully from dysentery, scaring her forever. Brett realized in order to never feel the pain and inferiority again she would never be able to depend on another man, nor could she get close enough to let him hurt her! But still, the want for love, physical satisfaction, and emotional fulfillment still lingered in her mind, creating her clashing outlook.Moving on from her prior marriages, Brett Ashley meets Jake Barnes, the protagonist in The Sun Also Rises. Although Brett loves Jake (as much as she could love anybody), she clearly manipulates him and uses him throughout the story. She plays upon his deep, obvious feelings for her to ga in sympathy, unconditional love, and emotional support while still keeping complete control over their relationship. With Jake, she is emotionally fulfilled and still feels independent because she knows she can be with someone else whenever she wants. But still, whenever she starts to feel stronger feelings or Jake, she separates herself and has sex with someone else. For example, when Jake confesses his love for her she dismisses him, and exclaims that he should hook her up with another man, Pedro Romero the beautiful bullfighter. She refuses to let herself recognize the true emotions she feels for Jake since that would make her defenseless. She also denies Jake because of his casualty of the war; Jake was left impotent. Because of this, Jake and Brett cannot be â€Å"lovers,† and all attempts at a sexually fulfilling relationship are futile.Brett is a passionate, lustful woman who is driven by physical pleasures, something that Jake cannot provide her with. She indulges in her passion for sex and control but still seeks true love, with emotional and physical fulfillment. Unconditional love involves putting another being’s needs before your own, and not always having control. Brett cannot fulfill her dreams of true love because of her equal need for control and independence. Again, proving Hemingway’s thought that no one can be completely self-sufficient and still fulfilled (physically and emotionally).

Comparing Two Different Styles. Two Stories. Both Of Which

Comparing Two Different Styles Two stories. Both of which were written on the grounds of the controversial subject of abortion. Two stories. There is nearly an eighty year difference in publish dates. T. Coraghessan Boyle’s story—The Love of My Life—and Ernest Hemingway’s story—Hills like White Elephants—are both short stories about abortion. However, the stylistic techniques that both writers exhibit are entirely different. These two well-known authors both write entirely different from each other; moreover, some of the writing choices made would strike a disagreement between Boyle and Hemingway. Therefore, this begs the question: if Boyle were to revise Hemingway’s story, what would he modify? If this were to happen, Boyle would mainly†¦show more content†¦On the contrary, Hemingway’s short story does not establish a presence of Pathos. Hemingway does very little in describing Jig and the American and both of their ba ckgrounds. In fact, there is no textual evidence regarding anything about these two characters. In Boyle’s story, however, there is an ample amount of background information supplied; this accomplishes the task of getting readers to empathize for the characters which drives Pathos home to the heart. For example, when Boyle expounds upon the future endeavors of the couple, he builds a relationship with the characters and the readers; â€Å"He’d been accepted at Brown†¦ †¦own G.P.A. would put him in the top ten percent of their graduating class.† (para 13) Boyle further explains how China and Jeremy are both gifted students; he also insinuates that they will go off and do remarkable things. Of course, this never happens. However, the reader’s want of success for the couple is present. This paves way for an emotional connection. 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