...Chasing down Allusions in Hamlet “Look here upon this picture, and on this,— The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. See what a grace was seated on this brow; Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself; An eye like Mars, to threaten and command; A station like the herald Mercury New lighted on a heaven-kissing hill: A combination and a form, indeed, Where every god did seem to set his seal, To give the world assurance of a man; This was your husband.” (3.4, 61-71) So excellent a king; that was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother, That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth! (1.2, 139-142) Act III is abounding with allusions. During Scene IV, Hamlet confronts his mother and candidly expresses his dismay with his mother’s irreverence to his father. He uses a multitude of allusions to describe his father. In particular, Hamlet references his father twice to Hyperion, the Greek god of the Sun. Hamlet illustrates his father as god-like, possessing their finest features like Hyperion’s curls. He also represents his father as the sun god Hyperion. The sun represents a central body around which the earth and planets rotate and are held in orbit. The sun also sustains life. Hamlet is alluding to the fact that his father was a great king, a strong and dynamic leader that cared for his family and populace. The sun symbolizes warmth, glory, triumph and inner light, all fine qualities reflected upon...
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...Essay Allusions to Hamlet in Modern World As everyone knows, Hamlet was written by William Shakespeare over 400 years ago, but, however, it continues to reign as one of the most imitated and relevant plays of our time. Interpretations of Shakespeare’s classic tale of revenge have turned up in some surprising places: children’s television programs and films, a popular television series about a corrupt motorcycle gang and other well-known shows, motion pictures, and best-selling contemporary novels. Perhaps one of the most interesting Hamlet interpretations is a film for children called Green Eggs and Hamlet. The live-action film, released in 1995 and written by Mike O’Neil, retells the tragic tale in classic Dr. Seuss rhyme. The film follows Prince Hamlet as he seeks to avenge his father’s murder, while his servant, Sam Iamlet, encourages him to sample a new food dish. The Disney classic, The Lion King, is also fully based on Hamlet. Released in 1994, The Lion King contains some direct parallels to the play, including the death of King Mufasa at the hands of his scheming brother, Scar. Mufasa’s young son, Simba, is visited by his dead father’s ghost, and there is even comic relief provided by two supplemental characters – Timon and Pumba. Although there is some debate over whether the references to Hamlet were intentional, this is where the similarities end, as The Lion King has a much happier ending and far fewer deaths. Sesame Street also took on the almighty play. Monsterpiece...
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...The Effect of Allusions in Hamlet Sometimes it takes a clearly conveyed comparison to fully understand a difficult concept. The greatest authors of all time create novels with important points that are not quite so obvious, and the reader has to do a little digging to grasp the intended meaning. When regarding Shakespearean plays, readers will surely notice that they are riddled with enigmas. How does Shakespeare give the reader clues to help grasp the novel? He uses allusions, carefully-placed references to something else. One of the finest places to look for Shakespearean allusions is Hamlet, a tragedy about the negative effect of ambition and revenge. The result of William Shakespeare incorporating allusions into Hamlet is the readers have a more sophisticated understanding of themes, characters, and conflicts. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, he uses allusions in order to develop themes in the play. One of the major themes in the play is action vs. inaction. In Act 1, Scene 5, Hamlet talks with the ghost of his father about the cause of his death. The ghost informs him that it was his uncle Claudius, as he suspected, and that it is imperative that he seek revenge at once. The ghost says, “I find thee apt. And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed that roots itself in ease on Lethe Wharf, wouldst thou not stir in this.” The ghost sees that Hamlet is eager to get revenge, but little does he know, this allusion is a prediction of what is to come. The ghost’s statement...
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...ENG4U Modernizing Allusions in Shakespeare's “Hamlet” Umair Mohammad Mr. Scarrow Would most teenagers understand allusions written in the Elizabethan era, roughly four hundred and fifty years ago? The simple answer is probably not. The mundane lifestyle of the average modern teenager is not similar to that of a teenager that was born and raised during the Elizabethan era. Therefore, the text in many of the Shakespearian plays read in modern high schools should be updated to include modern versions of allusions. Furthermore, an act such as this would inhibit major benefits such as, students gaining a better understanding of the literature as a whole by being able to make connections due to the allusions. Transforming the allusions first made by Shakespeare in the Elizabethan era would not only be rather simple, but it would benefit teenagers. Many allusions created by Shakespeare in his play “Hamlet” can be recreated to suit the lifestyles and languages of modern teenagers. For example, “It out-Herods Herod. Pray you, avoid it.” (III, ii, 14) is an allusion referencing a very old biblical king that is very similar to Claudius from “Hamlet”. The majority of modern teenagers will not have any knowledge of this king, and thus a more modern allusion is in order. It could be done by researching a different person that can be compared to Claudius in this allusion. For instance, we could use Scar in Herod’s stead. This is because Scar is a character in “The Lion King”,...
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...Hamlet is intriguing play that was written by Shakespeare in the Elizabethan era. The play greatly exemplifies Elizabethan Culture and it is clear that the play was targeted towards the Elizabethan Audience. The various references to the Elizabethan culture might have been effective in that time period, but in modern society students can not relate to the references made in the play. That being said, how can one update the play Hamlet to appeal to modern teenage culture. One way is by changing the play's allusions to target modern audiences. There were many allusions in the play but the one that should be updated are the references to Herod and Hecate. Updating these two allusions in Hamlet would effectively target modern teenage audience....
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...books should all be available at your local library or bookstore (you may also order online). *If you do not already own a copy of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, you should get a copy. We will be referring to it throughout the year as we dissect and discuss literary works. ^^I have provided .PDF copies of these works through Edmodo. Please do NOT print copies of these works. #This book is a great resource to have for college, particularly if you are going to be an English major. To help you retain the content of the summer reading, annotate each work thoroughly and take analytical notes using whatever method works best for you. There will be a summer reading test at the start of the school year based on the Mythological Allusion list provided for you as well as on the plot and characterization found within MacBeth (it will be...
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...Drew Hayden Taylor, an Ojibway writer, achieves the role of literature by challenging the common beliefs of society in his essays. He takes the role of defending First Nations from the common criticisms and assumptions of Canadian society, in an attempt to change people’s perspectives. This is the purpose of many of his essays, each having their own problem or question. These essays raise the problems and issues First Nations people face that society may be unfamiliar with. Throughout his essays, he uses multiple logical strategies in his writing to support his arguments. Many of his essays deal with the concept of stereotyping. Taylor argues against these stereotypes and issues directed at First Nations people by using allusions, factual evidence,...
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... This corruption of nature, of faith is possibly the greatest crime, as stated by Shelley in her introduction to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein; “those who endeavour to mock the mechanism of the creator” will suffer grave consequences. This concept is a main idea of the novel, and the graphic consequences of Victor’s hubris are evident. The monster he creates is eloquent and rational, but corrupted by his lack of compassion is ravages his friends and family. This shirking of responsibility is most evident in the creature’s biblical allusion, “I ought to be thy Adam but I am rather thy fallen angel.” By referencing Lucifer, the creature has isolated the source of his violence, the irresponsibility of his creator. This relationship between creator and creation is mirrored in Blade Runner during the meeting between Tyrell and Roy. The awkward detachment of Roy from his masterpiece is shown through formal, scientific language and biblical allusions are also used, “nothing the god of biomechanics wouldn’t let you into heaven for.” This statement is suggestive of both Tyrell’s status as a god in this new society and of the decline of morality evident by this usurping of the creator. By examining this lack of responsibility, we can view it as a metaphor for any scientific development, its implications for both humans and nature. This reflection on the dangers and pitfalls of science on morality and humanity is evident, and serves as...
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...Figures of Speech (Stylistic Devices) What are stylistic devices? In literature and writing, a figure of speech (also called stylistic device or rhetorical device) is the use of any of a variety of techniques to give an auxiliary meaning, idea, or feeling. Sometimes a word diverges from its normal meaning, or a phrase has a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it. Examples are metaphor, simile, or personification. Stylistic devices often provide emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity. A simile is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things, often introduced with the word "like" or "as". It takes the form of: * X is (not) like Y * X is (not) as Y * X is (not) similar to Y Examples of simile: * He fights like a lion. * He swims as fast as a fish. * He slithers like a snake. * "My dad was a mechanic by trade when he was in the Army, When he got the tools out, he was like a surgeon." What is a metaphor? Unlike simile, metaphor (from the Greek language: meaning "transfer") is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that compares two or more things not using like or as. In the simplest case, this takes the form: X - is - Y Examples of metaphor: All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; (William Shakespeare, As You Like It, 2/7) Example: “Henry was a lion on the battlefield”. This...
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...Figurative Language The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, has quite a bit of figurative language, which contributes to its popularity. Examples include figures of speech, symbolism, allusions, imagery, similes, metaphors, personification and hyperboles. These elements are of my group’s interest. The first figurative language example I’d like to explain is the figure of speech. Lee uses many figures of speech throughout the book. One example which captured my interest was on when Atticus finds the flaw in Mayella’s account of the Tom Robinson case. “Somehow, Atticus had hit her hard in a way that was not clear to me, but it gave him no pleasure to do so” (188). Here, Atticus discovers the hole in Mayella’s testimony, and proves that...
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...Shelley condemns humanity’s intrusive assumption as creator. Similarly, Scott responds to Shelley warning by also spurning man’s ruthless ambition. However, the film’s 20th century context of capitalist greed and mass industrialisation shifts the criticism onto the pursuit of commercial dominance. Both texts employ techniques such as allusions and characterisation to depict similar dystopian visions ensuing from man’s dereliction of nature. Composed during the Industrial Revolution and radical scientific experimentation, Shelley typifies the Romantic Movement as she forebodes her enlightened society of playing God. Her warning permeates through the character of Victor, whose self-aggrandising diction “many excellent natures would owe their being to me” represents a society engrossed with reanimation. Shelley moreover questions the morality her microcosm’s pursuit of omnipotence through Victor’s retrospection “lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit”, as the juxtaposition of “all” and “one” emphasises Victor’s cavernous obsession to conquer death; akin to scientists of her time such as Erasmus Darwin. Moreover, recurring mythical allusions to Prometheus, “how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge” further portray Victor as an Aristotelian Tragic Hero; a noble character whose hamartia of blind ambition foreshadows his own downfall and dehumanisation, “swallowed up every habit of my nature”. In addition, Victor’s impulsive denunciation of his grotesque creation,...
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...In the late 1700´s Patrick Henry delivered a speech called ¨Give Liberty Or Give Death¨ in Virginia in which he asked to fight back against Britain that had been defecting on promises of helping their citizens with all their needs for a long time. Henry was able to persuade the men around him to believe that the United States’ liberty was a cause worth fighting for. Throughout his speech, he appealed to the emotions of his audience giving it some diction and allusions. Henry used a lot of emotional appeals through diction during his speech in order to persuade more and more his audience. At the beginning of his speech, he captured the attention of the people in the convention by saying “Should I keep back my opinions at such a time through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country’’ (line 15). This authorative tone made the audience fearful and anxious about what he was going to say. The emotional appeals in this speech are also formed with the use of figurative language which made his diction different from the usual. The audience can see this when he said, “We must fight! I repeat it sir, we must fight!”. His use of repetition and hyperbole emphasized that no matter what they will fight and they should be prepared. Also Henry took advantage of the feelings of his audience by using rhetorical questions, for example, in line 23 he asked that if the citizens should act like those who have eyes and don’t see, have ears and...
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...The Relationship Between Good and Evil Torben Grodal talked of art film as possessing two basic elements, transient and permanent, but they are also seen in the novel East of Eden. Steinbeck creates scenes that at first have a transient quality, and then purposefully connects to a permanent nature. These permanent qualities, grappled with by the Trask’s and Lee, examine the never ending battle between good and evil. In the novel East of Eden, John Steinbeck constructs scenes that have an initial transient quality, but then persistently associates these with a permanent nature that examines the conflict between good and evil. Steinbeck portrays Cathy as a very evil character, someone who is just inexplicably evil and makes several allusions to her being a monster and devil. When first introducing the reader to Cathy, Steinbeck writes about the creation of monsters, an obvious parallel. He goes on to say that, “monsters are variations from the accepted normal to a greater or a less degree. As a child may be born without an arm, so one may be born without kindness or the potential of conscience” (72). He wastes no time in comparing a monster to Cathy. He believes that Cathy is not an ordinary evil either, but that she is a very abstract form of evil, the exact idea of evil and that she has no good in her body. Steinbeck does not only believe that Cathy is a monster, but also uses Cathy to show that evil can and will exist in the world without having a reason to exist. Cathy...
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...Unseen Analysis on the poem ‘Lament’ The poem ‘Lament’ can be seen as a series of things, which the poet is grieving for as a result of the destruction of war. The poem begins every stanza with the word “For” in order to suggest all the things, which the poet thinks the reader should feel sorrowful towards. The poem has a regular structure and comprises seven stanzas, all of which are three lines long. This regular structure allows the poet to explore specific things, in each stanza, which he believes are being impact upon by the destruction of war and the pollution it causes. Each line of the poem is end stopped and this disciplined form can be seen as paradoxical with the almost dystopian level of destruction, which is being described. The first stanza of the poem begins with the word “For,” in order to suggest the things, which the poet believes the reader should be lamenting for. The use of the present participle of the word “pulsing,” conveys to the reader a sense of the desperation of the turtle, by suggesting the energy with which it searches for a breeding ground. The personification of the word “burden,” suggests the distressing reality of the experience for the turtle, as she searches for a breading ground. The visual image of eggs laid in their “nest of sickness,” conveys a juxtaposition in the vitality and life fullness suggested by “eggs,” in contrast with the word “sickness,” which alludes to the unhealthiness of the turtle’s environment. Structurally...
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...Shelley condemns humanity’s intrusive assumption as creator. Similarly, Scott responds to Shelley warning by also spurning man’s ruthless ambition. However, the film’s 20th century context of capitalist greed and mass industrialisation shifts the criticism onto the pursuit of commercial dominance. Both texts employ techniques such as allusions and characterisation to depict similar dystopian visions ensuing from man’s dereliction of nature. Composed during the Industrial Revolution and radical scientific experimentation, Shelley typifies the Romantic Movement as she forebodes her enlightened society of playing God. Her warning permeates through the character of Victor, whose self-aggrandising diction “many excellent natures would owe their being to me” represents a society engrossed with reanimation. Shelley moreover questions the morality her microcosm’s pursuit of omnipotence through Victor’s retrospection “lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit”, as the juxtaposition of “all” and “one” emphasises Victor’s cavernous obsession to conquer death; akin to scientists of her time such as Erasmus Darwin. Moreover, recurring mythical allusions to Prometheus, “how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge” further portray Victor as an Aristotelian Tragic Hero; a noble character whose hamartia of blind ambition foreshadows his own downfall and dehumanisation, “swallowed up every habit of my nature”. In addition, Victor’s impulsive denunciation of his grotesque creation,...
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