Hamlet's Sense of Humor
Well aware that several hours of unrelenting angst would be a bit much for his audience to take, William Shakespeare strategically placed several humorous scenes throughout his masterpiece, Hamlet. In particular, the character of Polonius fills the role of the comic fool; he is in two essential comedic scenes, one with his own children and then one with Hamlet. Shakespeare's acute ability to weave humor into this very heavy play is noteworthy, as his use of comedy goes beyond merely providing much-needed comic relief. In fact, the rather numerous comedic scenes serve as a foils to, as well as reflections of, the intense action of the play. In every case where humor is used in Hamlet, it is juxtaposed with some profound observation on the human condition. Moreover, in his use of comedy, Shakespeare intensifies, rather than dilutes, the experience of the human tragedy that accompanies it.
In the first comic scene of this play, Polonius's advice to his children is primarily funny because Polonius himself is funny. Naturally wanting to have a few last-minute words with his son before he goes to France, Polonius is excessively long winded, and a few last-minute words turn into a list of nearly every platitude in the English language. Polonius drones on and on: " To thine own self be true, /And it must follow, as night the day, /Thou canst not then be false to any man" (I, iii, 78-90). These lines are comical, when one considers how cliché they are, and that in no way does Polonius adhere to his own guidelines. As soon as his son leaves, Polonius starts into a long dissertation on Ophelia's lack of experience in love, but Ophelia protests that Hamlet "hath,...
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...ral meanings you find jolly enough nonsense, in perfect keeping with the title, you must still not be deterred...but must interpret in a more sublime sense what you, what you may possibly have thought, at first, was uttered in mere light-heartedness." (Garagantua and Pantagruel 38) In Hamlet, it is important to realize this: that deep tragedy lies just beneath the surface of the humorous. In conclusion, Shakespeare was insightful enough to recognize that humor and tragedy are not antagonists; they are manifestations of the same truths.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Wofford, Susanne L., ed. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism, William Shakespeare: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1994.
Shakespeare, William. The Tradegy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Jib Fowles “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals” discusses the need for prominence. In the ad Portfolio there is an advertisement for Cadillac’s that depicts a man in a car with multiple women and men. This advertisement can be interpreted by an individual that if a man buys a Cadillac that he will gain popularity from both men and women. In contrast to this, other car ads from this period show mostly women. They mostly can be interpreted as a need for attention. They seem to be tailored towards a changing America, from a male dominate environment to equality. A 1966 Corvette add shows a women standing...
To signify masculinity, this Chevrolet advertisement portrays many hegemonic male ideologies, such as the ability to be attractive to women, love of the outdoors and extreme sports, and confidence. The advertisement compares these ideologies to an average, shy guy, who through using a Chevrolet truck can obtain all of these hegemonic male ideologies. The advertisement utilizes the “Lynx Effect”(Feasey,2009) and sought after hegemonic male ideologies, to suggest that men strive to increase their masculinity through consuming products that reflect male hegemonic ideologies.
Humor was added to Hamlet by two major scenes, along with Hamlet's use of his antic-disposition. These two were: the scene between Hamlet and Polonius in the library, and the scene with the grave diggers (the clowns).
Shortly after the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks, the US congress enacted a law, commonly known as The Patriot Act. This law enlarges the power of government and administration allowing them to obtain the personal records of any person of suspect in hopes of preventing any future terrorist act. Many of its provisions were going to expire in 2005, but Congress passed another bill named “US PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act in 2006” to reauthorize those.
South University Online. (2013). HUM 1002: History of Art from the Middle Ages to Modern Times: Week 1: Elements of Design. Retrieved from myeclassonline.com
...nes, and television—essentially everywhere. It subconsciously teaches children what is “good” and what is “bad.” Art no longer only reveals the changes in society, but also encompasses the role of a parent—it too shapes the world.
Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The. “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Eds. X. J. Kennedy, Dana. Gioia.
After the devastating attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, this country scrambled to take action to provide future protection. New techniques had to be developed to protect the nation from the menace of terrorism. Along with the new techniques came the decision to enact laws that some believed crossed the threshold of violating civil liberties this county and those living in it were guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. “On October 26, 2001, the Public Law 107-56, Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, also known as the USA Patriot Act, was signed into effect” (Stern, 2004, p. 1112). While speaking to Congress, President George Bush stated, “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorist” (Stern, 2004, p. 1114). Congress knew by signing the bill, they were expecting each American to give up a part of his or her guaranteed rights. Rights such as the right to privacy, free speech and the right to know when a citizen is being investigated by the government were just among a few. The act has been described as a “law enforcement wish list” (Stravelli, 2003, p. 1). The wish list allows law enforcement to “obtain people’s personal information and conduct surveillance, and in some cases impose secrecy on their law enforcement activities” (Update: USA Patriot Act, 2007, p. 1).
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2012. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The New Cambridge Shakespeare: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Philip Edwards. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1985.
Katai may be saying that once things modernize, one must become entirely modern to survive in society. Sugita lives in a modern house, wears western clothes (considered modern at the time), but he does not live a modern life: “he was coming out …in his same old way along his same old route, wish his same old hat…” (Katai, 170).
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
In 1950s, it was very normal that sexism against women and showed in the advertising, and some of them are very offensive to abuse women, female were expected to do a role like cleaning and cooking and the image of wives being completely controlled by their husband. I will demonstrate two pictures of advertising during 1950s to 1970s to describe male and female roles in the advertisement. I chose two advertisements from completely different two industries area, although they are two different categories of advertising, but they were all conveying the same message which is women status is lower than men. Regardless of how insulting or offensive advertising were towards to women, people’s attitude was tolerate and accept some female stereotype because masculinity taken the main position during that time. The first campaign is Doyle Dane Bernbach did the Volkswagen campaign launched in post-war
Welcome to the automotive world, the last holdout in the battle against political correctness. This is one of the few places left where one can make a statement about women and men and not be assaulted with court cases or be accused of being a bigot. In the automotive media, it is still acceptable to represent men in business suits driving luxury vehicles, and to show mothers driving their kids in a minivan. There is one simple reason that the automotive media has remained unadulterated by political correctness—money. As a private industry, both car manufacturers and aftermarket companies have one goal, to sell cars and car related products, and to make money while doing so. As such, these companies use marketing techniques that will most effective reach their target market, which is the true populace, not the world envisioned by political correctness(hereafter to be referred to as PC). For this reason, the marketing techniques used by the automotive industry give us a more realistic view of society and how men and women view themselves.