Summary:
The story starts with a visitation from the ghost of Hamlet's father. The guards at Elsinore castle had seen the ghost twice, and, this third time, brought their skeptical, scholarly friend, Horatio, with them. The ghost refused to speak with them, so they decided to report the occurrence to Hamlet.
Hamlet had been grieving the death of his father for some time and was quite disgusted at his mother's hasty remarriage to Claudius, his uncle, and he made his opinion quite transparent to them in public. Horatio and the guards found him ranting about the feebleness of woman's love. Suspicious about the ghost's purpose, Hamlet decided to wait for its return. Later, the ghost of old Hamlet told Hamlet he had been murdered by Claudius. Hamlet immediately vowed to avenge his father's death and swore his friends to secrecy before pretending to go insane.
When Polonius, Claudius's right hand man, discovered Hamlet's "condition," he assumed it was a result of his daughter Ophelia's reduced interactions with Hamlet. He and Claudius then plotted to test the theory through Ophelia. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of Hamlet's childhood friends who had been enlisted by Claudius to spy on Hamlet, announced to Hamlet the arrival of his favorite group of actors. Upon their arrival, Hamlet requested the performance of a particular play with some additional lines added. His intent was to test Claudius, to prove he truly did murder old Hamlet, before he killed him.
Before the play takes place, Claudius and Polonius arrange for an accidental meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet. Hamlet ultimately figured out what was going on and dumped Ophelia because of her involvement in the scheme. Claudius began to doubt Hamlet was really mad and arranged to ship him to England to be executed quietly.
The day of the play arrived, and Hamlet and Horatio kept a close eye on Claudius throughout the play. The play was, in essence, a reenactment of the murder of old Hamlet. Claudius was unnerved at the sight of the murder scene and immediately stood up and left, leaving Hamlet overjoyed that he had confirmed the murder.
Gertrude summoned Hamlet to her room after the play for interrogation while Polonius hid in the closet. Hamlet heard Polonius and, thinking it was the king, killed him through the curtain. Then, after giving Gertrude a stinging lecture, he left and buried the body. Shortly afterwards, he was on the ship to Britain, accompanied by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Laertes, son of Polonius who had been studying in France, returned in a rage when he heard of his father's death. Ophelia went mad under all the recent stress, then drowned, infuriating her brother further. With some convincing, Claudius was able to direct Laertes's wrath at Hamlet.
Meanwhile, Hamlet discovered the letter for the English king was an order to kill him, so he changed it and sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths as he returned to Denmark. Learning of this, Laertes and Claudius devised a plan to avenge Laertes and kill Hamlet. A rigged fencing match is arranged and, in the process, Gertrude is poisoned and Hamlet, Laertes, and Claudius all killed, leaving poor Horatio to clean up the mess.
Narrative Voice:
As a play, Hamlet is almost completely made up of dialogue, so Shakespeare must use various techniques like soliloquies and asides to convey the thoughts of characters. The point of view, as a result, is of an outsider--a non-existent spectator of the whole story. The audience sees Hamlet's interpretation of the story most, but is still left to make up its own mind about what is going on. The tone and imagery, also, are not fixed, as they are, for the most part, determined by the director's interpretation of the play. Symbolism, then, is the strongest point of the play. For example, towards the end of the play, Hamlet recognizes that he is being lured to his death, yet is calm and submissive to it. In his death, he accomplishes his ultimate goal and sends his follower (a.k.a. disciple) out to spread his story. He is, as a result, a candidate for a "Jesus" symbol.
Quotes:
"This above all--to thine own self be true..." As a well known, yet widely misinterpreted phrase, this quote is one significant to remember. Polonius is, when he says this, giving his son Laertes advice that will be important should Laertes ever inherit his position as Claudius's right hand man. In a castle where deceit is the norm, it is important to be suspicious of everyone and to place oneself above everyone else. This is most certainly not supposed to mean "be yourself."
"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go." Claudius, guilt-stricken, recognizes his deplorable state. His statement is that of a man trapped by his own deceitfulness. He realizes that he only says things for his own benefit. In order to be freed of his guilt he has to give up everything he lived for, something he is not willing to do. This statement shows that, though Claudius is the "bad guy" of the story, he is not truly a bad guy. It makes Claudius more relatable to the audience in the midst of their dislike of him.
Theme: Hanging on to the past will ultimately lead to one's own destruction.
From the beginning of the play, this theme is stated loud and clear. Hamlet, unable to let go of his father's death, is chided by Claudius who says, "...but to persevere/In obstinate condolement is a course/Of impious stubbornness." Recognizing and understanding the past is important, even necessary to succeeding in the future, but dwelling in it rather than moving into the future is a mistake in itself. Laertes gets pulled into the same trap later as he is so focused on revenge that he goes so far as to kill a friend, losing his own life in the process.
Showing posts with label summary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summary. Show all posts
Monday, January 21, 2013
Monday, December 3, 2012
Summary & Analysis of The Death of a Salesman
The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller was, in short, a story of both the conflict between the dreams of a father and son and between man and society. Willy is a salesman who had high hopes about his future, aspiring to be a rich man simply by being "well liked." Needless to say, he was rather unsuccessful in his efforts due to his faulty philosophy. His failure leads him to look to his firstborn son, Biff, for his redemption. He insists that Biff take up his dream where he left off, to become a salesman and strive for wealth on the basis of being well liked. However, after a scandal is unearthed between Willy and another woman, the trust between Biff and Willy is broken, and Biff leaves to find himself in the West.
Arguably, Biff succeeds in discovering what he wants, to work with his hands, but Biff is too engrained with his father's desire for instant, painless gratification, resulting in a desperate frustration with both himself and his father. His return, the start of the play, began a period where old scabs were opened to bleed. Biff tries to explain to his father that their dream was incompatible, but Willy will have none of it, accusing Biff of ruining himself out of spite. After a climatic clash of wills, Willy realizes that Biff loved him all along, even after the incident between Willy and the whore. Enthralled, Willy comes up with a scheme to give Biff the money he needed to get started in the world. He figures he is worth nothing while alive, but his death was worth twenty thousand dollars in life insurance, and minutes later, he commits suicide.
It is very important to note that the play is from Willy's point of view. Willy is the only one reminiscing about the past and imagining his brother Ben. While driving, he thinks he is enjoying scenery that isn't there. While playing cards with Charlie, he speaks with his brother Ben, leaving Charlie confused. By writing from Willy's perspective, Miller is able to show the audience both Willy's unrealistically "perfect" dream he lived in his mind and the resulting reality to which he was bound. Willy was obsessed with a notion of being well liked, but that, rather than being the cause of the success he saw around him, was merely a side effect of being wealthy.
Miller creates a very tangible tone of despair in this play through multiple flashbacks where Willy is transported into the past where he once had hope, yet was living a lie that only just began to backlash on him. His flashbacks brought hope, but as Bane says to Batman, hope is the seed of despair. He continued to lie to himself, believing he was better than he really was, well known, and successful. However, every time he glimpsed a spark of hope--when his sons describe their idealized business plan to him, for example--it is instantly battered down again by yet another reminder of his failure, and he falls back into his pit of self pity.
Being a play, much of the imagery comes from director's decisions. However, on occasion, when Miller finds imagery important, he works it into the dialogue. For example, when Willy is bemusing the expansion of the city, he describes the loss of the elm trees where he had wished to hang a hammock, describes the apartment buildings that crowded out the sun, and describes the garden that he could never plant as a result. Otherwise, much of the imagery is left to the director.
One of the most important pieces of symbolism in The Death of a Salesman is that Willy himself represents us, the people living in a society where possessions are the mark of a successful person. Willy has fallen prey to this trap, even compromising relationships in an effort to maintain his perceptive status in the social order. Ironically, Willy seems to believe in the opposite end of the spectrum: that it is one's relationships with those around him that make him successful.
Charlie, Willy's foil, is the embodiment of the ideal businessman. He says little, is well respected, and is successful in life. He believes the opposite of Willy's "well-liked" philosophy--that one must be successful to be well liked, even bringing up an example: "Who liked J. P. Morgan? Was he impressive? In a Turkish bath he’d look like a butcher. But with his pockets on he was very well liked" (Miller n.p.). Being well liked is not as important to one's monetary success as Willy makes it out to be. However, Charlie has something wrong as well. One does not simply become well liked when he "puts on his pockets." The friends gained because of the money are really friends with the money and not the person.
"The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell" (Miller n.p.). There are two extremes in this respect. On one side, you have Charlie's view--a strict capitalistic perspective where possessions are everything. On the other hand Willy's point of view is that relationships are everything. Willy's perspective, however, is incompatible with the society he lives in, but he continues to try to jam it in and make it fit, trying to believe relationships result in possessions.
Arguably, Biff succeeds in discovering what he wants, to work with his hands, but Biff is too engrained with his father's desire for instant, painless gratification, resulting in a desperate frustration with both himself and his father. His return, the start of the play, began a period where old scabs were opened to bleed. Biff tries to explain to his father that their dream was incompatible, but Willy will have none of it, accusing Biff of ruining himself out of spite. After a climatic clash of wills, Willy realizes that Biff loved him all along, even after the incident between Willy and the whore. Enthralled, Willy comes up with a scheme to give Biff the money he needed to get started in the world. He figures he is worth nothing while alive, but his death was worth twenty thousand dollars in life insurance, and minutes later, he commits suicide.
It is very important to note that the play is from Willy's point of view. Willy is the only one reminiscing about the past and imagining his brother Ben. While driving, he thinks he is enjoying scenery that isn't there. While playing cards with Charlie, he speaks with his brother Ben, leaving Charlie confused. By writing from Willy's perspective, Miller is able to show the audience both Willy's unrealistically "perfect" dream he lived in his mind and the resulting reality to which he was bound. Willy was obsessed with a notion of being well liked, but that, rather than being the cause of the success he saw around him, was merely a side effect of being wealthy.
Miller creates a very tangible tone of despair in this play through multiple flashbacks where Willy is transported into the past where he once had hope, yet was living a lie that only just began to backlash on him. His flashbacks brought hope, but as Bane says to Batman, hope is the seed of despair. He continued to lie to himself, believing he was better than he really was, well known, and successful. However, every time he glimpsed a spark of hope--when his sons describe their idealized business plan to him, for example--it is instantly battered down again by yet another reminder of his failure, and he falls back into his pit of self pity.
Being a play, much of the imagery comes from director's decisions. However, on occasion, when Miller finds imagery important, he works it into the dialogue. For example, when Willy is bemusing the expansion of the city, he describes the loss of the elm trees where he had wished to hang a hammock, describes the apartment buildings that crowded out the sun, and describes the garden that he could never plant as a result. Otherwise, much of the imagery is left to the director.
One of the most important pieces of symbolism in The Death of a Salesman is that Willy himself represents us, the people living in a society where possessions are the mark of a successful person. Willy has fallen prey to this trap, even compromising relationships in an effort to maintain his perceptive status in the social order. Ironically, Willy seems to believe in the opposite end of the spectrum: that it is one's relationships with those around him that make him successful.
Charlie, Willy's foil, is the embodiment of the ideal businessman. He says little, is well respected, and is successful in life. He believes the opposite of Willy's "well-liked" philosophy--that one must be successful to be well liked, even bringing up an example: "Who liked J. P. Morgan? Was he impressive? In a Turkish bath he’d look like a butcher. But with his pockets on he was very well liked" (Miller n.p.). Being well liked is not as important to one's monetary success as Willy makes it out to be. However, Charlie has something wrong as well. One does not simply become well liked when he "puts on his pockets." The friends gained because of the money are really friends with the money and not the person.
"The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell" (Miller n.p.). There are two extremes in this respect. On one side, you have Charlie's view--a strict capitalistic perspective where possessions are everything. On the other hand Willy's point of view is that relationships are everything. Willy's perspective, however, is incompatible with the society he lives in, but he continues to try to jam it in and make it fit, trying to believe relationships result in possessions.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Summary & Analysis of The American Dream
The American Dream, by Edward Albee, starts with a seemingly typical conversation between a couple named Mommy and Daddy. They had an issue with their plumbing and had called someone to come fix it, but "they" were late. After a short discussion on how "people think they can get away with anything," Mommy suddenly changes topics to a new hat she bought, immediately losing Daddy's interest, though she constantly makes sure he is listening. She ends her story about her shopping when Daddy says, "That's just the way things are today; you just can't get satisfaction; you just try."
This statement by Daddy is quite characteristic of modern materialistic values. He seems to believe that "satisfaction" is an object he can obtain from what the world has to offer, though in reality, satisfaction is a state of mind where one feels that he no longer needs more. Albee satirizes this ludicrous behavior through Daddy's statement because, as we learn from both Mommy and Grandma, Daddy is quite a rich person, to the point where he was even looking to become the governor, yet satisfaction is beyond his reach. As a result, he adopts a tone of dejected frustration, and even submission to the fact that he can no longer get what he wants. Interestingly, Mommy follows his statement by saying she "got satisfaction," though her actions later prove her wrong.
Then, Grandma is introduced as a grouchy old lady and seems to be the only character with any sense of reason. Undoubtedly, then, she acts as Albee's spokesperson throughout the play, telling us what Albee wants us to think.
The conversation continues in a circular pattern, adding very little and coming back to the same topics repeatedly. Mrs. Barker, chaiman of the woman's club, arrives and nobody can remember why she was called, so the circular pattern of conversation continues.
All this circular, repetitive conversation is what makes this play classifiable as Theater of the Absurd. The characters can get almost nowhere with their talk and at times, make no sense. However, Albee breaks this pattern once he gives Grandma a chance to speak, bringing sense to the story and tying things together.
Eventually, once Grandma can get some time alone with Mrs. Barker, she explains that she was here because Mommy and Daddy, after a past experience with an adoption, wanted another child because they had killed the first one. Mrs. Barker leaves to find a glass of water and a young man, whom Grandma describes as "the American Dream," arrives looking for work. Grandma convinces him to help her move out of the house, and essentially out of the play, while setting him up for adoption into Mommy and Daddy's family through Mrs. Barker.
Finally, Albee has given us something serious to ponder aside from the petty absurdity of the lives of the modern family. The young man, the American Dream, is good looking on the outside, but has no talent or emotions on the inside. Albee uses his lack of usefulness to criticize the focus on outward appearance in society that ignores the inner being. In contrast, Grandma looks almost gender neutral because of her age, nothing pleasant to look at, yet she has much character and wit to share. She symbolizes the old American Dream, coming from a time when outward appearance wasn't everything.
Grandma ends the play with a short speech to the audience, saying, "let's leave things as they are right now...while everybody's happy...while everybody's got what he wants...or everybody's got what he thinks he wants. Good night, dears."
Grandma's final statement is almost a warning to the audience. By saying that, she implies that the new American Dream, the young man, can only give short-term satisfaction--the theme of the play.
One cannot gain satisfaction through selfish, materialistic means. Like Daddy said early in the play, these days, when everyone is driven by a strong sense of materialism, one simply cannot get satisfaction. Any feeling of content that comes from possessions is fleeting and meaningless.
This statement by Daddy is quite characteristic of modern materialistic values. He seems to believe that "satisfaction" is an object he can obtain from what the world has to offer, though in reality, satisfaction is a state of mind where one feels that he no longer needs more. Albee satirizes this ludicrous behavior through Daddy's statement because, as we learn from both Mommy and Grandma, Daddy is quite a rich person, to the point where he was even looking to become the governor, yet satisfaction is beyond his reach. As a result, he adopts a tone of dejected frustration, and even submission to the fact that he can no longer get what he wants. Interestingly, Mommy follows his statement by saying she "got satisfaction," though her actions later prove her wrong.
Then, Grandma is introduced as a grouchy old lady and seems to be the only character with any sense of reason. Undoubtedly, then, she acts as Albee's spokesperson throughout the play, telling us what Albee wants us to think.
The conversation continues in a circular pattern, adding very little and coming back to the same topics repeatedly. Mrs. Barker, chaiman of the woman's club, arrives and nobody can remember why she was called, so the circular pattern of conversation continues.
All this circular, repetitive conversation is what makes this play classifiable as Theater of the Absurd. The characters can get almost nowhere with their talk and at times, make no sense. However, Albee breaks this pattern once he gives Grandma a chance to speak, bringing sense to the story and tying things together.
Eventually, once Grandma can get some time alone with Mrs. Barker, she explains that she was here because Mommy and Daddy, after a past experience with an adoption, wanted another child because they had killed the first one. Mrs. Barker leaves to find a glass of water and a young man, whom Grandma describes as "the American Dream," arrives looking for work. Grandma convinces him to help her move out of the house, and essentially out of the play, while setting him up for adoption into Mommy and Daddy's family through Mrs. Barker.
Finally, Albee has given us something serious to ponder aside from the petty absurdity of the lives of the modern family. The young man, the American Dream, is good looking on the outside, but has no talent or emotions on the inside. Albee uses his lack of usefulness to criticize the focus on outward appearance in society that ignores the inner being. In contrast, Grandma looks almost gender neutral because of her age, nothing pleasant to look at, yet she has much character and wit to share. She symbolizes the old American Dream, coming from a time when outward appearance wasn't everything.
Grandma ends the play with a short speech to the audience, saying, "let's leave things as they are right now...while everybody's happy...while everybody's got what he wants...or everybody's got what he thinks he wants. Good night, dears."
Grandma's final statement is almost a warning to the audience. By saying that, she implies that the new American Dream, the young man, can only give short-term satisfaction--the theme of the play.
One cannot gain satisfaction through selfish, materialistic means. Like Daddy said early in the play, these days, when everyone is driven by a strong sense of materialism, one simply cannot get satisfaction. Any feeling of content that comes from possessions is fleeting and meaningless.
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