ghost

Hamlet- Shakespeare

Act I, scene 5. Enter ghost. A very important character that drives Hamlet to revenge, but who, or what, exactly is this creature? A “spirit of health”? A “goblin damned”? Or maybe neither? In my humble opinion, the ghost is neither, merely the remnants the former King. He even says that he is doomed to be a ghost for a “certain term” until his sins are “purged away,” a description that seems to perfectly describe Purgatory.

So the ghost is neither devil nor angel but a soul in Purgatory, no more evil or good than King Hamlet was. That being said, the ghost does seem quite selfish in his requests. He commands his son to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder,” but he gives little thought for the consequences. Denmark has just lost its King and is learning to adjust to a new one. Such a process is hard enough without a fight for the throne to confuse and tear apart the nation. If such a thing were to occur, the rebels that Fortinbras gathered, already a threat to the nation, would be able to seize the chance to overthrow the government and throw the state into even further chaos. Even is that wasn’t a concern of the ghost’s he should at least consider his son. Instead of allowing his son the liberty of deciding what to do for himself, he essentially commands him to revenge, telling him he’s worth less than a “fat weed” if he does not follow his father’s instructions. If Hamlet were to attempt revenge and fail, his life would certainly be in danger. Claudius would not simply sit back and allow his nephew to threaten him life, especially if he’s aware that Hamlet knows of the murder he committed. Even if Hamlet were to succeed, would he truly be able to continue to keep the nation united? Would the nation be able to trust him after so much conflict surrounding the throne? Even with success, Hamlet’s future is questionable. Despite this danger, the ghost sends Hamlet forth on a journey of revenge.

So why does Hamlet accept? Hamlet doesn’t exactly seem to be jumping for joy that he’s been entrusted with this mission. As the scene ends, he even says, “O cursed spite/That ever I was born to set it right,” lamenting the fact that he’s been commanded to revenge. This makes it clear that Hamlet is not going through with his father’s command due to genuine desire for revenge, but rather due to a sense of duty, perhaps a sense of duty towards his father. Considering his praise of his father in scene 2, likening him to Hyperion, Hamlet seems to hold his father in very high regard. Since Hyperion is a god, one can almost say that Hamlet worships his father. This makes it very likely that Hamlet feels a need to impress his father or rove to his father that he is worthy of calling King Hamlet his father. He has even been spurred on by his father comment that, unless he seeks revenge, he’s a “fat weed.” For a son seeking a father’s approval, such a comment seems enough to prod Hamlet into seeking revenge against his wishes. This certainly says a lot about Hamlet’s character, perhaps making him more endearing than his previous actions do, but it also says a lot about the former King. This man was worshiped by his son, yet he doesn’t even consider his son’s future when plotting his revenge? Yes, he was murdered by his own brother, and he is a victim, but one begins to wonder how much of a Hyperion he truly is.

isolation

Hamlet- Shakespeare

As Hamlet opens, Shakespeare goes to great lengths to isolate Hamlet from the other characters from the moment he appears onstage. Surrounded by the colorful festivities of a wedding, Hamlet is set apart by his somber clothes of black. Although Claudius claims that the whole kingdom still mourns for the recently deceased king, he leads the court in the celebration of his wedding in colors presumably very bright and joyful. Hamlet alones stands in memory of the old king in his uniform of black mourning, yet in doing so, he clearly sets him apart from everyone else. But his separation is not just physical. Of course, his mourning is clearly contrasted with the celebration of the others, but the black he wears amid the festivities also brings to mind a more sinister idea. Perhaps he, the darkness among happiness, represents a threat to the reign of Claudius or on a broader level, the happiness of the kingdom in general. Or perhaps the dark colors represent to lack of clarity as Hamlet is mired in confusion, torn between treasuring the living and honoring the dead while everyone around him has already clearly chosen to move on.

His isolation shows through in his relationships, particularly in his relationship with his mother and uncle. When his uncle first addresses him, Hamlet clearly separates their existences with the phrase “a little more than kin and less than kind.” Noting that technically they have a two-fold relationship, that of uncle and nephew as well as father and son, but at the same time stating that their relationship is unnatural and he hardly sees him in a positive light. Even in acknowledging their relationship, Hamlet separates himself from Claudius by discrediting the legitimacy of their relationship. Later he continues to separate himself from his uncle by refusing to heed his counsel and cast away his clothes of mourning. Even when he finally agrees to one of Claudius’ requests, he makes clearly that he does it not for Claudius but rather for his mother. But even Hamlet’s relationship with his mother is sour at best as he cannot understand how she agreed to marry Claudius so quickly after King Hamlet’s death. Although he agrees to her request to not go to Wittenberg, he says he will “obey” her, as if it’s his obligation and not due to his love for her. Hamlet even implies that she is “common,” vulgar, when she tries to convince him to stop mourning his father. Reaching the point of insulting his own mother, it’s clear that he no longer feels a deep connection with his mother, and it seems he didn’t have a close connection with his uncle to begin with. Isolated from his immediately family, Hamlet has no one to whom he can freely express his thoughts.

Cursed with such isolation, would Hamlet be more likely to trust the ghost of his father that appeared to him. Because he knows that he cannot freely speak to anyone among the living, the sight of his father must have excited him beyond imagination as he recklessly decides to follow it wherever it goes despite warnings from his friends, lured by the ability to confide that he associated with his father. This trust was clearly not present in everyone as Horatio frantically warns Hamlet that the ghost might kill him. However, Hamlet trusts. When the ghost claims that the queen had an affair, Hamlet easily believes him because he himself has become isolated. This isolation has led his to rash decisions that do not match his previously displayed cleverness. Even someone who considers himself high enough to judge others can be influenced by emotion.

treasures

Those Winter Sundays- Robert Hayden

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he’d call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love’s austere and lonely offices?

An experience that most have had: the parent sacrificing for the child. Yet Hayden does not simply dismiss this occurrence as a common part of daily life. Instead he delves into the experience to pull out a revelation so often overlooked in such a mundane scene. Hayden uses the poem “Those Winter Sundays” to emphasize the extent to which humans can sacrifice for a treasure while at the same time bringing to light a human tendency to overlook the treasures we possess until they are no longer in our possession.

The very first line of the poem opens with hardship: “Sundays too my father got up early.” The fact that the speaker emphasizes “too,” clarifying that his father was subject to the same fate on a regular basis, suggests a life of hard work and little rest, possibly physically as well as mentally. It also creates an atmosphere of repetition, as if the father has no escape for this daily toil. This is highlighted by the fact that even on a Sunday, a day typically reserved for rest, the father still adheres to his normal schedule of work. The father’s emotions are hinted at by the “blueblack cold” in which he dresses, mixing together the blue of sadness as well as the black of the unknown, as if the father himself has lost sight of his goal. The “cold” around him illustrates the fact that there is no one providing body heat around him, bringing up the loneliness of the old man. However, that very man is the one that made “fires blaze,” symbolizing the companionship he provides for the speaker despite his loneliness.

The speaker, on the other hand, did not endure nearly as much suffering as his father, dressing himself in rooms that were “warm” due to his father’s work as opposed to the cold that his father was forced to change in. Despite this, it is the speaker “fearing” of what could happen to him, displaying a very self-centered view which emphasizes all the more the lack of consideration the speaker has for his father. This is made even clearer in the speaker’s tone toward his father, as he speaks “indifferently,” indicating ignorance as to the extent of suffering that his father has gone through for him.

This lack of appreciation is made all the more hurtful when considering the fact that the father has not just suffered through cold to warm the speaker, but he has sacrificed his life in order to help the speaker achieve a higher position in life. The father has worked so much for the speaker that his hands have already become “cracked” from diligence. He was willing to protect the speaker from the “angers of that house” which may not only be the physical building around them but the society around them that the speaker cannot deal with himself, leaving it to his father instead. The speaker’s father even “polished [his] good shoes,” suggesting that the speaker must soon go on a journey, possibly the journey of life, that the father has prepared him for. Unfortunately, the father’s efforts are met with ungrateful words, displaying the child’s tendency to overlook the essential part played by parents, causing them to look down on the parents instead of treasuring their contributions.

However, the speaker makes his regret very clear. “What did I know,” he laments of his ignorance. Throughout the poem this feeling of regret is emphasized through the contrast between the speaker preoccupation with self and the speaker’s acknowledgement of his father’s sacrifices. However, the past tense used throughout the poem makes it clear that the regret that the speaker feels cannot be changed because his mistakes were in the past where he clearly no longer has influence. The acknowledgment of his mistake as well as his inability to correct it emphasizes Hayden’s message that what we should treasure we often do not until it is too late.

decisions

The Age of Innocence- Edith Wharton

碧血剑 (Sword Stained with Royal Blood)

I was recently browsing through a few of the dramas I had watched when I came upon the revelation that one of them, Sword Stained with Royal Blood, had one aspect that was strikingly similar to The Age of Innocence, and not in a good way. They both had a protagonist that simply could not decide between two women. Of course, if that was the only aspect I needed to declare a strong similarity, then there would be countless dramas that fall into that category. But these two works had more than just the mutual ability to frustrate me beyond my wits with the protagonist’s indecisiveness (though that was the main reason why I noticed the similarity). The relationships of the protagonists and the women they struggle between begin to draw in the influence of society’s expectations.

On one side we have Newland Archer struggling between May, his soul mate in society’s eyes, and Ellen, the girl that he truly desires. May represents everything that society loves- a soft-spoken, innocent, conforming girl- and everything that Newland has begun to hate. He’s tired of society’s “sameness” which is why he looks to Ellen, the essence of uniqueness, with such desire. Yet she’s another man’s wife, a woman who has even been accused of running away with another man. It would be impossible for society to approve a relationship between her and her cousin’s fiancé, thought of as an exemplary member of New York’s upper class, almost as if it refused to let him pursue his desires.

Yuan Cheng Zhi is in a very different yet very similar position. The leader of an alliance seeking to help bring down the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Cheng Zhi’s life is far from the passive existence that Newland Archer leads, but he’s torn by the same romantic troubles. Wen Qing Qing was given to him to take care of by her mother and is a fellow rebel, a seemingly perfect match for Yuan Cheng Zhi. Yet his interest lays with Ah Jiu, a princess of the Ming Dynasty and the daughter of the man he’s trying to kill. For obvious reasons, those around him would not be very approving of such a union.

Initially, both protagonists seem to cave to the opinion of those around them. Newland Archer goes through with his marriage with May while Yuan Cheng Zhi avoids Ah Jiu and reassures Qing Qing of his feeling for her. But in both cases the harmony does not last for long. Newland “[begins] to fear” his penchant for noticing the undesirable aspects of his wife, almost as if they drive him away from being perfect husband that society expects of him. Yet ultimately, he decides to break away from expectations and pursue his desires, and he once again begins to see Ellen, even beginning to think of running away with her. Through this desire, Newland is able to taste a freedom, a hope, that he cannot get from May. Yuan Cheng Zhi also tries to escape reality with Ah Jiu, although his reality isn’t just the disapproval society but also the death and destruction that results from the clash between her father’s men and his men.

However, neither man finds much success in his pursuits thanks to reality’s interference. May reveals that she’s pregnant, causing Ellen to leave after recognizing the hopelessness of her relationship with Newland. Ah Jiu realizes that even with Yuan Cheng Zhi the despair of reality won’t despair and decides to become a monk while Qing Qing reminds Yuan Cheng Zhi of his promises to stop him from following Ah Jiu. Ultimately both Newland Archer and Yuan Cheng Zhi make the decision to stay with the women that society approves of, but in both cases, the result is stagnation. Newland Archer looks back on his life and sees he’s fallen into a “deep rut” stuck in one place and unable to move on to become the accomplished man he once hoped to be. Yuan Cheng Zhi gives up fighting for a just government and decides to run away from the result of his actions to find a less eventful life elsewhere. They have finally chosen a woman and accepted society’s expectations, but in doing so, they seem to have given up their dreams.