Friday, December 14, 2007

Hamlet Finale Fishbowl Question!

Hey everyone...

What message(s) do you think Shakespeare was trying to reveal in Hamlet?
After reading the play, do you think the ends justifies the means?

Good luck on finals and have a super fun break

13 comments:

brooksk said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
brooksk said...

I think the message of Shakespeare for us was that we need to value the relationships and connections we have in families and to avoid any potential turmoil that can arise. As in this play, those that acted upon their compulsive emotions suffered their "deserved" penalty in the sense of Shakespeare's mind; the end did justify the means...

samt said...

Personally, I can't really see that this play really was meant to show a deeper meaning, but rather to entertain the audience with a cool, twisted story line. I do think that the biggest thing seen throughout the play was how destructive jealousy, anger, rage, pride, and selfishness can be to a family.

Yes, I do think that the end justified the means. I think at the end of this play everyone deserved death because of all of the "sins" they had committed. Every single main character ended up wronging or hurting someone physically or emotionally. Also, there would have been no closure between each character if anyone of them stayed alive. Everyone's death brought peace and allowed a fresh start.

Charliep said...

I think the main message was to show how selfishness leads to the downfall of people. This play had almost every character doing everything for themselves. Hamlet just wanted revenge, Polonius wanted to keep his reputation, and Cladius wanted to have the throne. We see this develop throughout the whole play and get progressively stronger. Almost every main character dies at the end of the play showing what happens when people are selfish. I believe that is what he is trying to show.

michaelm said...

I believe the message conveyed to Hamlet was, don’t let your actions be solely run by your emotions. Hamlet was so set on getting back at Claudius, that he was unable to see who he was hurting in the process, including himself. Because of his actions, Hamlet lost Ophelia. At the time he didn’t care, but toward the end, when he lost her, he realized that he loved her.
I also believe that the end justifies the means, because everyone deserved what their actions brought. Gertrude was blinded by the whole relationship of her and Claudius and because of that, she was killed by her own carelessness. Hamlet obtained enemies from his actions including Laertes who killed him. Claudius killed Old Hamlet, so his past crept up on him, and Laertes too, got in over his head.

MilendaN. said...

I think the message that Shakespeare was trying to reveal Hamlet is to only trust in yourself. Because even your loved one, your family and your friends can betray you and stab you in the back. Which his family, friends and loved one did right.. Your probably asking how did he live without trusting anyone...Well I believe that he trusted himself.
I definately think that the end justifies the means because the sinners died that signifies how they lived. Like what we talked about in class how Horatio had been pretty good that is why he didnt die. But Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia and Hamlet died because they have all sinned at one point. Like the saying, if your good you will have a chance to live longer but if your bad you wont have a chance to live longer.

alliem said...

I think that the message Shakespeare was trying to reveal is that things such as murder, selfishness, and greed only lead to more murder, selfishness, and greeed. It is like a cycle. Yes, I think that the end did justify the means. I think that each character did preform an act or acts that did lead them to their often deadly end. Shakespear's was trying to show the destruction of selfishness and murder.

Kyle B. said...

I definitely think that, in this particular scenario, the end justified the means. Claudius died, the evil mastermind that could be seen as the root of the chaos that followed his murder of his brother, and Hamlet, the heroic son of the fallen king, was the one who was fit to bring justice down upon him. Quick side note...I just realized that there was no earthly being that gave Hamlet any "permission" to kill Claudius. Even if it was fated for him to do this through the might and wisdom of God, no person on earth gave him any semblance of authority. I don't think it matters that no one expressly knew about the murder. Hamlet was not given any responsibilities after his father's death and was seen as a fly on the wall by everyone...Anyways, random thought. Hamlet felt he was given this task by the ghost of his father and he felt that he knew what he should do. But we all know what happens with the best laid plans of men, especially in Shakespearean tales. Hamlet killed Claudius honorably with the thrust of a sword. He had a wonderful plan and every step, that is, the steps exclusively included and accounted for in the plan, was purposed with a specific outcome. Hamlet and his name deserved honor and therefore, the end justified the means. His actions were also paid for through his death. Everything evened out. Wow, that was kinda long.

kmckeon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kmckeon said...

I think Shakespeares message was that every one is out for themselves and you can't really trust anyone 100%. Hamlet was betrayed by just about everyone he trusted and thought cared about him; for example: Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, his mother, and his uncle. ALl these people were supposed to be caring and affectionate to Hamlet yet he was betrayed by each and every one of them in different ways. Every one some time or another gets hurt and life; the story of Hamlet is the perfect example of that. As much as you love someone they can't always be perfect person you want to put your trust in.

mattw said...

i think the message of hamlet was simply that selfishness only leads to problems. Everyone in the play that was selfish ended up dying and it could have all been avoided if people had just been content with what they had. Does the end justify the means? I believe they do. While the death of gertrude was unfortunate, as was that of laertes, in the end hamlet accomplished his goal. And he handed the kingdom over to a better ruler than Denmark could have provided. In the end, the kingdom was better off thanks to halet, so yes the means did justify the ending.

Samantha E said...

I think the meaning of this play is what comes around goes around. Things are brought upon you by your own actions. It doesn't matter if they are actions to stick up for yourself or for someone else. Everyone knows what is right and what is wrong, if you miss that concept (like Hamlet did) and do the wrong thing for someone else it will still turn around and come back at you. To truely be successful you need to always be doing the right thing. I think this is portrayed largely in the end. Everyone who died had done somehting that could be considered wrong. The pure ones lived in the end.

ryan said...

Personally, I think Shakespeare was trying to convey the importance of relationships, and the trust that comes with it. Everyone interprets things differently, and I think that was Shakespeare's intent was when writing Hamlet. Some may argue that you can never fully trust some people in this world, but I believe that everyone deserves a chance, and I infered that Shakespeare would feel the same because of the relationship he developed between Hamlet and Ophelia. But the most important thing that Shakespeare was trying to reveal, was the value of relationships. Yes, Hamlet was betrayed by everyone, but how strong were his relationships? I think that if Hamlet had better family and personal relationships with people, everything wouldn't have gotten to be such a big problem. Better relationships would resolve so many problems that Hamlet dealt with, including trust.