What Makes Shakespeares Hamlet Popular?

What Makes Shakespeares Hamlet Popular? The Enduring Popularity of Shakespeares Hamlet Why is Hamlet so popular? Shakespeare wrote countless masterpieces, many of which are debatably more exciting (The Tempest), momentous (Macbeth), intriguing (Othello), romantic (Romeo and Juliet) and profound (King Lear). But not only has Hamlet been produced more by the Royal Shakespeare company than any other work, it is a favourite of troupes (and audiences) around the world. From the play’s inception in 1602, up until the National Theatre’s acclaimed production in 2000 (and beyond), Hamlet has captured the imagination. A close examination of the play, along with a careful focus on its themes, will shed some light on Hamlet’s 400 year old enthrall, with a special emphasis on its relevance to a modern British audience. Hamlet is a tale of revenge, murder and existential and spiritual angst. The title character is a young prince whose father, the King of Denmark, has unexpectedly passed away. His brother, Claudius, has inherited the throne and taken the former king’s wife as his own. Hamlet is visited by his father’s ghost, who informs him that he was murdered by Claudius, and that his death needs to be avenged. Instead of instantly doing so, Hamlet attempts to first confirm his uncle’s guilt by feigning madness, and later by staging a play of the murder, to which Claudius’ reaction essentially confirms his guilt. But even with the evidence in hand, Hamlet is still unable to enact his revenge. After accidentally killing the king’s councilor Polonius, he is deported to England, and upon his return enters into a duel with Polonius’ son, Laertes. However, the fight is a setup; Laertes’s blade is poisoned, as is the wine in a goblet from which Hamlet is t o drink. While Hamlet wins the duel and ends up killing Claudius, he too succumbs to the poison and dies. In the play, Hamlet is by far the major presence: his problem is central to the plot, and his public and private exultations and speculations dominate the action (Hoy, 1991). Furthermore, the role of Hamlet is far larger than any other in all of Shakespeare’s works. While the play is filled with ambiguities, the biggest of all have to do with Hamlet’s motivations and actions (Levin, 1959). There is always more to him than the other characters in the play can figure out. Part of this has to do with the way Shakespeare crafted him – his intense pensiveness, his uncertainness, the vagaries of his actions – but part of it is Hamlet himself, who actually tells other characters that there is more to him than meets the eye, notably his mother and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. In addition, when he speaks, he sounds as if there’s something important he’s not saying, maybe something even he is not aware of (Hoy, 1991). What separates Hamlet from other revenge plays is that the action we expect to see is continually postponed (Wilson, 1951). Instead of being based on activity, the play is all about character, and really only the character of Hamlet. Many people regard Hamlet as a play about indecisiveness, but more than this, it can be seen as an examination of action itself; that is, the conditions necessary for such, and the appropriate amount required, depending on the circumstances. The question of how to act is affected not only by Hamlet’s need for certainty, but by emotional and psychological factors (Halliday, 1964). Hamlet himself appears to distrust the idea that it’s even possible to act in a controlled, rational way. For when he does act, he does so swiftly and recklessly. This extreme shift from paralysis to impulsiveness further adds to his enigmatic nature. Without action to sustain the play, the plot instead revolves around Hamlet contemplating various questions, among them: Is the ghost what it appears to be, or is it really trying to deceive him? How can the facts about a crime be known without there being any witnesses? Can Hamlet know the intricacies of Claudius’s soul by studying his behaviour? Can we ever really know whether our actions will have the consequences we want them to have? Can we know what happens in the afterlife? (Levin, 1959). This last question is one of the most powerful throughout the play. There are times when Hamlet seems to feel that death itself may bring the answers to his deepest concerns (Wilson, 1951). The question of his own death plagues him, and he more than once contemplates whether or not suicide is a legitimate choice in an unbearably painful world. Hamlet’s grief is such that he frequently longs for death to end his suffering, but worries that if he commits suicide, he will be suffer eternally in hell. In his famous â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy, Hamlet concludes that no one would choose to endure the pain of life if they were not afraid of what will come after death, and that it is this fear which causes morality to interfere with action (Levin, 1959). In sum, Hamlet, is ambiguous, vague and mysterious, uncertain, indecisive and pensive, self-loathing and self-reflexive, simultaneously afraid to live and afraid to die. Is it any wonder then that people can relate to him? People enjoy Hamlet because he evokes their sympathy. His character is flesh and blood. He doesn’t just act; he thinks, he questions, he feels. Hamlet is extremely philosophical and contemplative, and takes the time to analyze difficult questions that cannot be answered with any certainty. His melancholy is in many ways endearing. Though his actual age is debatable, in essence he is the quintessential teenager, afraid to grow up and take on burdens and responsibility he knows he must and yet is not ready for. His urgency is contagious. Beyond this, there are the questions he deals with, primarily those of death and the afterlife, that haunt us all. It is extremely rare to not only hear such questions so well articulated, but to hear them articulated at all. These conversations are largely relegated to our own heads. They are intimate and personal, and are seldom expressed. To see them on stage is to bear witness to our own souls. But this only explains why the character of Hamlet is so popular. Though he dominates the course of the action (or lack thereof), there is another reason why the play itself has been so successful and so resonant, which has to do with the famous line: â€Å"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark† (Hamlet, I, iv, 90). Everything is related in Hamlet, including the health of the ruling royal family and that of the nation as a whole (Hoy, 1991). Throughout the play, there are explicit connections drawn between the two. Denmark is often described as a physical body made ill by the moral corruption of Claudius. While the dead King Hamlet is portrayed as a strong, noble ruler under whose guard the state was in good health, Claudius, is regarded as wicked, corrupt and out to satisfy only his own appetites (Wilson, 1951). Throughout history, similar correlations have been made, from Stalin and Hitler to Blair and Bush. While the latter pair are perhaps far less sinister, their po litical decisions have similarly shaped the perceptions of the citizens of the nations they lead, as well as the perceptions of those on the outside. Our leaders are responsible for the overall â€Å"health† of the state, and the war in Iraq and other actions are doing little at the moment to paint a picture of good health. Close observers of Hamlet, no matter of what time period, sense this parallel instantly. Modern society, specifically the UK, is still in Hamlet’s thrall. In today’s world, with so many problems and too few solutions, it is easy to feel powerless and paralyzed. There are choices to be made, and actions to take, but 1) which ones should be carried out and 2) will they even do any good? The modern person is at a crossroads, and in some ways Hamlet personifies this better than anyone else. Throw in the play’s description of the state as being deceased, and the work comes across almost as the poster child for modern malaise. This is evidenced in the 2000 production by the National Theatre, which is only one of many recent and successful incarnations of the play. The title role was played by Russell Beale, who prepared for the part by looking into himself in an attempt to bring out the â€Å"everyman quality† of Hamlet, along with his intense self-reflection and (albeit feigned) madness. To do justice to Shakespeare’s words, in this case gra vitating between wit, wryness and self-reflection, Beale decided not to force emotion, but to instead â€Å"get there slowly, to get the emotional arc right, and not find too many moments of crisis† (Beale, 2000). The actor, in perhaps a bit of method, decided to try and capture Hamlet’s grief by using his own, in this case the fact that his mother died a few weeks before the performance. He also used his frustration over â€Å"not being able to feel enough† to further cement and perfect his interpretation (Beale, 2000). By all accounts he didn’t disappoint. The Independent declared Beale’s Hamlet â€Å"not at all ‘Hamlet-like,’ and his performance â€Å"moving and crystal clear,† characterized by â€Å"an aching regret for the world that might have been rather than a seething contempt for the world that exists† (Taylor, 2000). When Hamlet returned from England, the reviewer found him emanating a â€Å"shyly gracious acceptance of the mystery of life and fate,† and in dying â€Å"moved towards the audience as if painfully and belatedly conscious of their presence, imparting an even more shattering sense of the waste of a noble life† (Taylor, 2000). The Evening Standard wrote that the performances illuminated the text in ways that made it fresh and accessible, and Beale’s performance of â€Å"clarity, humanity and humility held the audience spellbound†¦they could only suffer with his confusion, grief self-loathing and doubt† (de Jongh, 2000). The Guardian complimented Beale for being â€Å"everything one could hope for: witty, ironic, intelligent, ‘a Henry James who is also a swordsman’ to borrow Harold Bloom’s phrase,† and: â€Å"bookish, inward, reflective and intensely capable of self-scrutiny† (Billington, 2000). Furthermore, the paper admired his â€Å"capacity for surprise, moral sensitivity and parodic wit† and his ability to convey â€Å"the paralysis of the intellectual caught up in a world of realpolitik,† resulting in a â€Å"first-rate, deeply intellectual Hamlet whose weapons are primarily verbal and who understands that revenge cannot offer meaningful redress† (Billington, 2000). In the National Theatre’s production, along with countless others over four centuries, a central theme is constantly repeated: Hamlet’s self-loathing, specifically in regards to his lack of feeling, which, as much as his lack of action, makes him guilty. This aspect of his character is perhaps more relevant today than ever. The theme of powerlessness, along with the tangible frustration and guilt that comes with it, can easily find a home in the mind of a modern audience member. In addition, Hamlet’s intensely relatable â€Å"human all too human† qualities, his probing thoughts on the afterlife and the theme of the â€Å"nation as diseased body† are so universal and timeless that they shed much light on the play’s appeal. Perhaps there will come by a day when Hamlet fails to strike a chord with audiences. But for now, Shakespeare’s masterful creation and revolutionary character study is safely ingrained in our consciousness. Bibliography Beale, Russell. The Readiness is All. National Theatre, 2000. http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=2485 Billington, Michael. The Guardian, September 6, 2000. Crystal, David, and Crystal, Ben. The Shakespeare Miscellany. Penguin: New York, 2005. de Jongh, Nicholas. The Evening Standard, September 6, 2000. Halliday, F. E. A Shakespeare Companion 1564-1964. New York: Penguin, 1964. Hoy, Cyrus. Hamlet: An Authoritative Text, Intellectual Backgrounds, Extracts from the Sources, Essays in Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1991. Levin, Harry. The Question of Hamlet. New York: Oxford University Press, 1959. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Braunmuller, A.R., Orgel, Stephen (Eds.). New York: Penguin Classics, 2001. Taylor, Paul. The Independent, September 6, 2000. Wilson, John. What Happens in Hamlet. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1951.

A job or profession Essay

There are six domains in the content model starting with† worker characteristics† which talks about the abilities, enduring attributes of the individual that influence performance, also the occupational interest, the preference of work environments and also work values and work styles what is more important to you at work and how exactly you enjoy and feel more comfortable doing your job. â€Å"Worker requirements† which involves basic skill and cross-functional skill, basic skills are skill you already should know, and cross- functional are skills you tend to learn from moving from job to job. Knowledge and education are also needed in worker requirements knowledge is what you know of the job and education is any prior knowledge you already had coming in. â€Å"Experience requirements† involves experience and training, licensing and basic and cross- functional skills, which is everything needed for you to get started on the right track with your job, basic and functional skills to help you in your everyday life and also in your work environment, also licensing and training are requirements because jobs need to know that you are legit and know what you are doing. â€Å"Occupation specific information† also involves tools to help with your job and also technology as in machinery equipment, things to make your job a less of a hassle. â€Å"Workforce characteristics†, variables that define and describe the general characteristics of occupations that may influence occupational requirements. â€Å"Occupational requirements† a comprehensive set of variables or detailed elements that describe what various occupations require. There are many careers in career cluster but there is one that really interests me which is teaching the reason for this is because teaching has always been a dream of mine simply because I would love to influence a child’s life in a good way. For good teachers, teaching is a vocation rather than a job something they can’t refuse. Teaching is a call to service; a way to change the world. There’s so much potential in a classroom. Teaching is the profession that makes all other professions possible. There are a lot of great reasons to teach and none of them are better than the others. The reasons why you want to teach depend on your personality and beliefs. Some teachers want to make a difference and some people love working with children or adolescence and some people want to make a big contribution to society. As long as you’re intentions are good and you’re not going into teaching for the wrong reasons, you should pursue your passion and desire to become the teacher with all the right reason .You could be that teacher that influence a kid to be anything from a hero to the president of the united states because lets be totally honest kids look up to teachers and you setting a good example could do so much for children . Teachers do more than make a small difference, they touch their students’ lives forever. I want to teach because I want to make a difference in the world. A lot of teachers want to teach because they have the power to do good things for their students. Students do more than learn academic things from teachers, they learn about morals and ethics, they learn about confidence and self-esteem, and they learn what having someone who cares about them is like. I want to teach because students deserve a teacher who really cares about them and wants them to do their best. A lot of people want to teach because of the rewards that come with teaching like pay and vacations. I want to teach because I love working with students and being a part of their lives. I care about the youth of the world, and I want to help them learn and prosper in any way I can. I also want to teach because I honestly can’t see myself doing anything else with my life than teaching. As reported in yahoo the salary for teachers in Texas can vary on location, experience and whether or not they have a master’s degree. In Lubbock, teachers employed by the Lubbock Independent School District in 2011 earn a starting salary of $37,750 if they have a bachelor’s degree. If they have a master’s degree, their salary begins at $39,250. An LISD teacher with 20 years of experience, but only a bachelor’s degree, will earn $48,635 per year, this is how much I could expect to earn. Another job I have always been interested in is being a personal trainer simply because you get to motivate and help people get physically fit. Some reasons may be to help people become healthier or let athletes maximize their performances; other reasons may include sharing with others the gift of health or it could be that you just like hanging around the gym and want to make some money in the process. There is no â€Å"wrong† reason, just as there is no single â€Å"right† way to train people. I feel the best part about being a personal trainer is having the opportunity to transform not only my client’s body, but their mind as well. Being a personal trainer means being there for my client through the good and the bad, answering emails and being on-call if a client has questions from muscle soreness to protein powder. I chose this profession merely on the basis of having a healthy physique, to train people and inspire them to be aware of health and not only that but to have a great body too has been something I would love to teach. When you market yourself to potential clients, you subtly make them a promise that you’ll get them looking and feeling how they’ve always dreamed of. Some of them expect you to hand them results, barely making an effort in the gym, my job is to push them to the limits and make them earn their results. These results are all the right reasons to pick this profession. Salary for a trainer is ranging from 20-100 dollars a hour per person. One main job I would love to be is a doctor I just wish I would be smart enough to peruse that career. Becoming a doctor is no easy task. Just getting into medical school is a daunting task let alone the amount of studying, time spent in residency and the grueling hours one spends training. I personally have many reasons why I want to become a doctor. Yes my first answer is I want to help people, and yes it is true that you can help people in many ways but I think a doctor provides the most direct and critical type of help. I mean how many times have you been in pain and you’ve gone to see your doctor and after he’s treated you, you want to just get up and hug him. The healing power of a doctor is almost godly. I don’t think any other profession is more appreciated than a doctor because of that fact. We as humans seek help and relieve from pain and suffering when we are going through such a time and the most critical pain and suffering is physical pain and when that pain is relieved we are most grateful. This is why I would also enjoy being a doctor; there is no greater gift you can give. Annual salary of a doctor is, depending on the area in the U.S.A. the average yearly salary of a doctor is around $120,000-$160,000. What I have learned from these careers and what u has put into conclusion in my own mind is that no matter what career you are looking for, the annual salary will not make you happy, what will make you happy is how much you will enjoy the job. Enjoying your job is the main part of being happy in life; having a job you enjoy waking up to every day will make your life so much less complicated. Which is why I no longer look at the pay of jobs , but end up asking myself would I enjoy this?

Cosmetic Dentistry

Cosmetic Dentistry This morning I woke up and looked in the mirror and noticed that my teeth were not as white as I like them to be. I think to myself, I need to call and make an appointment to get my teeth whitened with my dentist. Teeth whitening is an example of Cosmetic Dentistry. Cosmetic Dentistry is different than regular dentistry in the sense that regular dentistry deals with oral hygiene and the prevention, diagnosing and treating of any oral diseases. Cosmetic dentistry however focuses on improving a person’s teeth, smile, and mouth. General dentistry deals with what needs to be done whereas Cosmetic dentistry is what you desire to be done. Cosmetic dentistry takes a lot of extra time and special training on the materials used. So therefore only dentists who are truly passionate about improving the teeth and smile take the time and extra money to do it. Cosmetic dentistry can also be used to restore a cavity. This is because cavities are mostly fixed by digging out the debris and filling them with a material. There used to only be gold, amalgam and other dark materials that left visible spots on the teeth. Now they have things like porcelain that are closer of a match to your tooth color. This makes it cosmetic dentistry because of the tooth color match. People tend to use porcelain or composite in fillings that they get and they even have their present fillings filled with these resins. In this essay I will go into detail about three different treatments of Cosmetic dentistry. I will explain to you first about how to fix a chipped tooth with dental bonding. Then I will explain to you how to improve that not so beautiful smile to an extraordinary smile by the use of veneers. And last but definitely not least I will explain to you about teeth whitening and the great effects. So sit back and get ready to enjoy learning about three amazing things we have in this world to make us look and feel amazing. DENTAL BONDING Your riding your bike for a nice trail ride but its starting to get dark and you don’t notice the rock on the ground your about to hit. You Fly off your bike and hit your front teeth on the ground chipping both of your beautiful front teeth. How are you going to fix this? I have a solution. Dental bonding is a type of cosmetic dentistry that permanently attaches dental materials to the teeth by using adhesives and a special curing light. Dentists use tooth colored composite to restore chips or cracks. Also to fill cavities, close gaps between your teeth and repair worn down edges of your teeth. Dentists are the ones who do the direct composite bonding which means that the procedure is usually done in one dental visit. Dental bonding does not require any impressions or temporaries. First the dentist will place a plastic coating on the front of the teeth. Then they will place a bonding agent, colors it according to the color of your teeth, and shapes it. Then a light called the curing light is shined through the plastic that causes it to harden and makes the surface look shiny and polished. Then a thin layer of etch is placed on your teeth to make little fine holes in the enamel of your teeth. This is so the resin can stick to your teeth very well. Then many coats of composite resin are placed on your teeth and after each coat the curing light is used to harden that coat. Finally when the final cure is done, the tooth is sculpted to match the ones around it. The cost of dental bonding depends not only on the location, it can also depend on the bonding process and how small or big the procedure you had done was. The average cost of dental bonding is $300 to $600 dollars per tooth. Dental insurance sometimes covers the procedure depending on if it is used for structural purpose. Let’s say that you are a ex-smoker, and after 5 to 10 years of smoking your teeth are just not as white as you like them to be. An easy fix for your tooth discoloration are Veneers. Veneers commonly known as porcelain veneers are thin sheets (half a mm thick or about as thick as a fingernail) of tooth colored porcelain that cover the front and sides of your teeth. They are used to fixed severe discoloration, chips, and cracks. They are also to help fix the gaps in your teeth. The placement of veneers usually takes two appointments. At the first appointment your tooth is prepared. The dentist does this by removing a thin layer of the surface of your tooth (about 0. 5 mm) so that the veneer can fit on the tooth. Next a gingival retraction cord is placed so that the dentist can get a good impression. Then an impression is taken so that the Lab Tech can create your veneers. Since your teeth feel rough after this preparation, the dentist will usually place temporary veneers. If he doesn’t it is ok because they are not always needed. They are easier to stain while in this state though, so you should keep your teeth very clean. At the second appointment you will first have a try-on. The dentist will place a temporary bonding agent on your teeth and place the veneers on to see if the shape and color look good. If they do the dentist will then clean the veneers. A thin layer of acid etch is placed on the teeth to roughen the surface for a extra good hold. Then cement is placed on your teeth, followed by the veneer. Then the tooth is light cured and the cement dries and hardened within seconds. Finally the edges will be trimmed and the tooth will be polished. These veneers will provide you with a beautiful smile. Although veneers are amazing for smile improvement they are also a bit pricey. The type of veneers you get determines your price. Porcelain veneers are higher in price. They average at $925 to $2500 dollars per tooth but last for 15 to 20 years. Composite veneers average at about $250 to $1500 dollars per tooth, but only last 5 to 10 years. Dental insurance doesn’t cover veneers. TEETH WHiTENiNG If your teeth are looking yellow and you just want them white, you could get teeth whitening. Teeth whitening is the most common cosmetic dentistry procedure there is. There are many forms of teeth whitening. You could do an hour under a light in the dental office or use one of the at home teeth whitening kits or even over the counter whitening solutions. They all have effects though some work better or faster. In the office dental whitening procedure they start by first protecting your gums with a rubber dam. Then they apply a high concentrated peroxide gel. After applying the gel they put you under a light for 15-20 intervals for up to an hour but no longer than that. People with very high amounts of staining may have to return for a second time. The average cost for an in office whitening is $650 dollars. The at home whitening that the dentist may send you home with a lower concentrated peroxide gel that is placed in a custom tray that fits your teeth. It is left on for an hour at least but sometimes the dentist will tell you to leave it on overnight. It has the greatest effects but takes longer to achieve the whiteness you want. The average cost of the professional take home kits average at $100 to $400 dollars. The last kind of teeth whitening I am going to tell you about is over the counter whitening kits. These kits have the same kind of gel that the professional take home kits have but it is at a even lower concentration. They also have one size fits all trays, strips, or paint on gel. This may only whiten the anterior teeth because they are not custom fit trays. The average cost of over the counter whitening is $15 to $100 dollars. I have taken you through three amazing cosmetic dentistry procedures. Although they may be pricey they all have payment plans. So if you have a chipped tooth, remember there is dental bonding to fix it. Or if you have a smile that you want to add some beauty to that there are veneers. And the most popular of all if you have some yellow teeth you want to get rid of, there is teeth whitening you can turn to. Cosmetic dentistry is an amazing thing we have to improve your teeth and smile with.

Galapagos Wildlife Pictures