Hamlet Appearance vs Reality Essay Example for Free

Hamlet Appearance vs Reality Essay Appearance vs. reality in Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, is a jaded yet common theme. This play is teeming with characters that play their roles behind a veil of duplicity. They often appear to be one way when they really are something entirely different. Things within the play appear to be true and honest but in reality are polluted with evil. Many of the characters within the play hide behind a mask of dishonesty. Four of the main characters that hid behind this mask are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and King Claudius. From behind this mask they give the impression of a person who is sincere and true, in reality they are overwhelmed with lies and evil. One of the most obvious examples of appearance vs. reality in Hamlet is the character of Claudius. Claudius longed to be king, rule the land and crown his queen. He gave no regard to the feelings of the family. He was jealous and ruthless in pursuing his dream†¦ruthless to the point of murder. He pretends to be concerned and upset with the actions of Hamlet and his well being, when in reality he is frightened that Hamlet is aware of his deadly secret. It was as if he cast a spell on the whole kingdom for his own self-fulfilling interest. Our â€Å"innocent† Claudius even summons spies to investigate the origin of Hamlet’s madness†¦not for the good of Hamlet but for himself. He is indeed a jaded character, whose kind aura masks the face of a selfish murderer as he says â€Å"whose whisper o’er the world’s diameter, as levels as the cannon to his blank transports his poisoned shot, may miss our name and hit the woundless air. Oh come away! My soul is full of discord and dismay! †- Claudius, act 4 scene 1, lines 42-46. This quote demonstrates how Claudius seems to be worried about Hamlet and his actions when he is really fearful of him discovering the truth. In addition, the king’s royal associate, Polonius, appears to be a loyal and trustworthy servant to the kingdom throughout the play, willing to take on tasks and burdens requested by their majesties. However, in reality Polonius is an evil, greedy selfish man, who serves not his kingdom but himself. One example of this is how Polonius appears to be happy, concerned and supportive of his son, Laerte’s, journey to France. He seems to be supportive of his son until he sends Reynaldo as an emissary, in order to detect what sort of mischief he stumbles upon in France. In addition, Polonius, again, displays his devious characteristics when he spies on Hamlet and Ophelia in an attempt to analyze Hamlet’s madness. He soon orders Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet, as he brainwashes her with lies about Hamlets motives, when in reality Hamlet is truly in love with Ophelia. Once again, Polonius proves his scheming behavior when he listens in on Hamlet and Gertrude’s conversation while in the bedchamber. Hamlet finally teaches him his lesson when he unexpectedly murders the â€Å"rat. † In reality Polonius is anything but a loving father watching out for his children, he uses everyone to his advantage and for his own purposes; this proves as evidence for his sneaky demeanor. Even two of Hamlet’s childhood friends are victims of the appearance vs. reality theme. They were sent and bribed by the king and queen to try and determine the cause of Hamlet’s insanity. They approach Hamlet as long-lost pals when they are really anything but. They were there not as friends but hired help for Hamlet’s condition. In act 2 scene 2 line 299, Guildenstern quotes â€Å"What should we say my lord? † Completely denying the fact that they were sent for by the king and queen. Hamlet quickly reveals the truth and says, Were you not sent for/ And there is a kind of confession in your looks, which your modesties have not craft in color. (Shakespeare 2:2:278) From these words he is demanding an answer from his schoolmates as to their unexplained arrival. At the end he tells them nothing. As the play continues his friends are asked again by the king to go to Hamlet and try again to find the real reason for Hamlet’s behavior. Hamlet insults them at every chance knowing that they are lying to him about their purpose of the visit, ’Tis as easy as lying: govern these ventages with you finger and thumb, give it breath with your mouth (Shakespeare 3:2:348) The twins show their appearance of being Hamlets friends but in truth they have a hidden reason for visiting with Hamlet. Both show that it will be very difficult for Hamlet to uncover the reliability hidden within the lies. Throughout the play, characters help to show the theme, which is appearance verses reality. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and the king all appear to be good and honest. As Hamlet finds out, all contain lies and have hidden intentions within them. As each character is presented in the play all appear to be good and honest making it a hard for Hamlet to uncover the hidden truth about the nature of each character. Throughout the play everyone puts up a front so to speak, for different reasons. Hamlet believed that the world was corrupt and deceiving, this led him to become violently ambitious. Claudius was manipulative and cunning, and used his greed to achieve what he desired. Deception is a major theme of the play. Obviously throughout the play there are many discrepancies between appearance vs. reality. It seems everyone is jaded and full of deception or ulterior motives. With such controversial people in the kingdom, it is quite appropriate to state that there truly is something rotten in the state of Denmark.

English As The Official United States Language Essay -- English Langua

America is a country that, from its very founding, has a distinguishing quality that no other country in the world shares. This quality was the willingness to accept people of all different cultures as citizens of the country. This acceptance drew nearly every imaginable kind of person to the country, a country with just one primary language, English. With all this diversity came hundreds of new languages spoken by the immigrants. To this day there are still pockets of isolated ethnic groups that cannot speak English, the most prevalent language used in America. Every citizen of the United States should be able to speak English because it provides a medium by which people of all different cultures can communicate, interact, and thus co-exist peacefully. If English was spoken by all the citizens of this country it would allow differences to be set aside and would give everyone the opportunity to feel like they belong. This is not to say that English should be the only language spoken in the United States. It is very important for people to speak their original language, but communication among all citizens would allow Americans to unite. For many immigrants that now live in America, the most challenging aspect of the move was fitting into the new environment. For immigrants that cannot speak English this transition from old to new is often very difficult because they feel socially isolated. For a Mexican immigrant named Richard Rodriguez, assimilation into the American society was unachievable without learning to speak English. At first, Rodriguez resisted to learn English because it was uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and he felt that he would loose part of his family bond. At the same time, Richard was separated from ... ...ndence, of Washington’s Farewell address, of Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech and second inaugural.† (p.457) These feelings are very drastic and are though of by many people as beliefs that belong to insecure and even racist people. In a country where difference and ethnicity are welcomed there is no way that a belief such as Roosevelt’s could ever be made a rule. A common form of communication such as the English language is a very valuable and often a necessary attribute for a country to have. This is even more magnified in America where there are over 300 different languages spoken. Without a common language that everyone speaks many simple day-to-day situations would become extremely complicated and frustrating. If every citizen of the United States spoke English then everyone could have their own individuality and many conflicts could be avoided.

American Novelists and Motherly Speaker Figure Essay

And today in the wide world of Literature, well maybe just short stories, we will be going over Rick Moody’s â€Å"Boys† and Jamaica Kincaid’s â€Å"Girl† and discerning the way in which Moody chose to make his story very quick paced to the reader and in a way difficult to read, but with a purpose. Also how that affects the way the reader may read, perceive, or understand the story in a different way. And comparing how the similar writing style of Kincaid compares to Moody’s use. In â€Å"Boys† we are immediately introduced to a recurring theme, event, or phrase, if you will, that pops up throughout the story many, many times. â€Å"Boys enter the house, boys enter the house† (Moody 579). Moody starts his story off with an action already taking place, he chooses not to setup a scene for the reader to immerse his or herself into. We are immediately drawn into the story on what seems to be a roller coaster ride of events and emotions through the years of the boys’ lives. He accomplishes this rushed, almost crazed reading by writing very quick short sentences all in one paragraph, literally making it very difficult for the reader to take their eyes away without losing their place and thus missing out on the action. In â€Å"Girl† the motherly speaker figure rapidly lists things a proper woman of their society should do, such as how to clean and cook. The list goes on and on and has a theme related to what must be done as a grown-up essentially that also gives this sense of following the steps taken over time growing up to be a better person. This quick pace in which the stories progress is similar to Susan Minot’s â€Å"Lust† in that each story told different excerpts from the speakers’ lives that helped mark the growth of the speakers as the stories progressed.

William Quantrill and Jesse James

It wasn’t always possible to determine on which side certain individuals fought for during the U.S. Civil War, especially when Confederate guerrillas were involved in the State of Missouri. Although Missouri was a border state that stayed neutral during the Civil War, the state provided more than 150,000 troops who fought during this conflict—40,000 on the Confederate side and 110,000 for the Union.   In 1860, Missouri held a Constitutional Convention where the main topic was secession and the vote was to stay in the Union but to remain neutral. In the 1860 Presidential election, Missouri was one of only two states that the Democratic candidate, Stephen A. Douglas, carried (New Jersey being the other) over Republican Abraham Lincoln. The two candidates had met in a series of debates where they discussed their individual beliefs. Douglas had run on a platform that wanted to maintain the status quo, while Lincoln believed that slavery was an issue that needed to be dealt with by the Union as a whole. The Rise of William Quantrill After the onset of the Civil War, Missouri continued its’ attempt to remain neutral but ended up with two different governments that supported opposite sides. This caused many instances where neighbors were fighting neighbors. It also led to famed guerrilla leaders like William Quantrill, who built his own army that fought for the Confederacy. William Quantrill was born in Ohio but eventually settled in Missouri. When the Civil War started Quantrill was in Texas where he befriended Joel B. Mayes who would later be elected as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1887. It was during this association with Mayes that he had learned the art of guerrilla warfare from Native Americans.   Quantrill returned to Missouri and in August 1861, he fought with General Sterling Price at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek near Springfield. Shortly after this battle, Quantrill left the Confederate Army in order to form his own so-called army of irregulars that infamously became known at Quantrill’s Raiders. At first, Quantrill’s Raiders consisted of just over a dozen men and they patrolled the Kansas-Missouri border where they ambushed both Union soldiers and Union sympathizers. Their main opposition were  the Jayhawkers—guerillas from Kansas whose loyalty was pro-Union. The violence got so bad that the area became known as Bleeding Kansas.   By 1862, Quantrill had approximately 200 men under his command and focused their attacks around the town Kansas City and Independence. Since Missouri was divided between Union and Confederate loyalists, Quantrill was easily able to recruit Southern men who resented what they perceived to be the harsh Union rule. James Brothers and Quantrills Raiders In 1863, Quantrill’s force had grown to over 450 men, one of whom was Frank James, older brother of Jesse James. In August 1863, Quantrill and his men committed what became known as the Lawrence Massacre. They torched the town of Lawrence, Kansas and killed more than 175 men and boys, many of them in front of their families. Although Quantrill targeted Lawrence because it was a center for Jayhawkers, it is believed that the terror that was imposed on the cities’ residents stemmed from the Union imprisoning family members of Quantrill supporters and allies, including the sisters of William T. Anderson – who was a key member of Quantrill’s Raiders.  A number of these women died, including one of Anderson’s sisters while imprisoned by the Union.  Anderson who was nicknamed Bloody Bill. Quantrill would later have a falling out that caused Anderson to become the leader of most of Quantrill’s group of guerrillas which would include sixteen-year -old Jesse James. Quantrill, on the other hand now had a force that only a few dozen. The Centralia Massacre In September 1864, Anderson had an army that totaled approximately 400 guerrillas and they were preparing to assist the Confederate Army in a campaign to invade Missouri. Anderson took about 80 of his guerrillas to Centralia, Missouri to gather information. Just outside the town, Anderson stopped a train. On board were 22 Union soldiers who were on leave and they were unarmed.  After ordering these men to remove their uniforms, Anderson’s men then executed all 22 of them. Anderson would later use these Union uniforms as disguises. A nearby Union force of approximately 125 soldiers began to pursue Anderson, who by this time had rejoined his entire. Anderson set a trap using a small number of his force as bait which the Union soldiers fell for. Anderson and his men then surrounded the Union force and killed every soldier, mutilating and scalping bodies. Frank and Jesse James, as well as a future member of their gang Cole Younger,  all rode with Anderson that day. The Centralia Massacre was one of the worst atrocities that occurred during the Civil War. The Union Army made it a top priority to kill Anderson and only one month after Centralia they accomplished this goal.  In early 1865, Quantrill and his guerrillas had moved on to Western Kentucky and in May, after Robert E. Lee had surrendered, Quantrill and his men were ambushed. During this skirmish, Quantrill was shot in the back causing him to be paralyzed from the chest down. Quantrill died the following as a result of his injuries.