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HAMLET PAPER

The complexity of Hamlets character prevents the audience from understanding him; we must
decide for ourselves how to define him depending on how we interpret this words and actions.
The self is an embodied subjectivity (Descartes). To each our own Hamlet just as to each our
own identityexemplified by Yorick.
We make order out of the constant flow of perceptual experience to make sense of
ourselves/identity, which is what we do when watching Hamlet to make sense of the play, so we
all answer the unanswered questions differently depending on who we are/our perception, which
means we each have our own Hamlet just as we each have our own identity, which is why there
are so many different ways to interpret/adapt Hamlet, and R&G shows that since the two
characters are trying to understand themselves by understanding whats happening in the play
Yorick: shows Hamlet unreliable and incomplete
Something Rotten
Horatio makes it seem like theres closure but there never really is; think its over but its never
over, keep adapting
Concern about the self is concern about how we put the diverse parts of our personal being
together into some kind of whole. (17)
We make order out of the constant flow of perceptual experience (18)
Knowledge depends on sense perception
Sensory intuition is the basis of whatever objective understanding we can acquire (19)
Ontology: philosophical study of nature of being, becoming, existence, or reality as well as basic
categories of being and their relations; what is existence? What are the meanings of being? What
can be said to exist?
The more complex and apparently contradictory the character, the greater the possible
interpretations Perhaps thats why we like it. To each our own Hamlet
Every time we see/read the play its different since we are different, and the uncertainty the play
creates by leaving questions unanswered means that our conclusions will always be different and
changing due to the complexity and uncertainty of the character & play. The play is endlessly
changing and indecipherable. Adapted over and over because so open-ended and never given
final answers except that people have died.
Literature is a mirrorget out of it what you see in it, and see in it who you are.
Embodies struggle to understand identity because make order out of ourselves out of constant
flow of perceptual experience and must do that in Hamlet and therefore all have own opinion of
Hamlet since make our own decisions about what answers to unanswered questions are.

make sense out of what must sometimes appear as a fluid and unstable mass of perceptions and
experiences. (23)
Every person is a self-in-formation, living in the space between what it has been able to become
and what it or others think it might be. (31)
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ricoeur/#3
Personal identity always involves a narrative identity: narrative draws together disparate and
somehow discordant elements into concordant unity of a plot that has a temporal span plots
relate the mutual development of a story and a characterevery character both acts and is acted
upon
The narrative constructs the identity of the character, what can be called his or her narrative
identity, in constructing that of the story told. It is the identity of the story that makes the identity
of the character.
Knowledge of the self is an interpretation
Make sense of our own personal identity similar to how we do identity of story characters
Come to understand characters by way of the plot that ties together what happens to them, the
aims and projects they adopt, and what they actually dothese identities are mobile: Narrative
identity takes part in the storys movement, in the dialectic between order and disorder. Until
story finished, the identity of each character or person remains open to revision.
Characters in a play or novel are similar entities to ourselves in that they act, suffer, think, and
die.
our own livesare saturated with experience, artfully shaped.
Because every readers experiences are different, each book is unique for each reader.
Who can read this mournful play without the profoundest emotion? And yet what is it but a
colossal enigma? We love Hamlet even as we love ourselves. Yet consider his character and
where is either goodness or greatness?
R.L. Trotman The Views About Hamlet
Robert Bridges The Influence of the Audience on Shakespeares Drama
Dont know anything about Ophelia and Hamlets relationship beforehand so cant judge his
actions as mad or cruel or purposeful or hurt.
As we watch or read Hamlet, we encounter numerous discordant events and elements of
Hamlets character that we must reconcile into the plays plot and Hamlets identity. The process
of understanding Hamlet mimics that of understanding ourselves: making order out of the
constant flow of perceptual experience (CITE).

Hamlet misexpresses himself in action and wordsreally never acts nor speaks except in
soliloquiesbut largely inferred through the misexpression which in effect fills the rest of the
play.
Hamlet reflects on the world and on himself: we reflect on the play and on his character
G.S. Gordon Hamlet
All enjoy Hamlet since find something of Hamlet in ourselves and give him rest of our
personality. Everyone has his own Hamlet. What Hamlet means to us is obviously the greatest
meaning. What if the greatest meaning is that we can each have our own? Play pestered with
meanings and as many interpreters as there are critics since each critic inherently interprets
differently. People not only differ over meaning but also about the events of the play and what
really happened. Was Hamlet mad or was he only pretending? Where was he when the murder
was committed? Did he really love Ophelia? How much did his mother know? There is no end to
these questions. They are part of the study of Hamlet.
Commonly held idea: Hamlet meant to exhibit a character in which reflection fatally prevailed
over the principle of action. False opinion.
We never see the normal Hamlet. See him after fathers death, so already broken hearted. Cannot
take his self-reproach seriously.
*Examine how we dont have enough character evidence to judge his statements about himself
or others statements about him
Narrative identityimplies we have finished the play and now looking back on events that have
happened to decide our opinion on each of them and by doing so re-interpret them
Endlessly adapted and explained in nuanced ways, the play evades a definite
interpretation. Examine this through lens of madness and identity: two central ideas in Hamlet
that lend themselves to the study of this evasive, enigmatic play. Since character Hamlet
obviously the focus of the play, his indeterminate character has implications about the plays
meaning itself. Its a narrative focused on Hamlet, so our understanding of his identity is the
main way we should examine the plays meaning.
Incidents in play not clearly explained so have to apply what we know to what we hear to
draw conclusions: Ophelias suicide, Hamlets indecision (action vs. inaction; madness),
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Yorick, Something Rotten
Play: to handle anything carelessly or treat anyone lightly, to trifle; to perform on a
musical instrument; to act in a specified way; to act in or as in a drama, to perform on the stage;

to be performed in a theater; to move freely within limits; to play at: to participate in, to pretend
to be engaged in, to perform or work at halfheartedly; to play off: to pretend, to stimulate, to
show off, to display; to play on: to make unscrupulous use of for ones own purposes; to play on
words: to pun. To take part in, to do something to deceive (play tricks), to cause to
move/act/operate, to put into or keep in action/to wield/ to ply, to cause/effect; to perform; to act
the part of; to pretend; to play out: to play to the finish, to end. Freedom or scope for motion or
action
Put: a clown, a silly fellow. To place, set, lay, bring, or cause to be in any position, place
or situation; to bring to, or place in any state or condition; to apply use; to oblige, to force, to
constrain, to push to action; to impose; to set before one for consideration, deliberation,
judgment, acceptance, or rejection, to propose, to offer; to state, to express; to lay down, to give
up/surrender; to push, to drive, to impel; to attribute, to ascribe; to place in estimation, to
appraise; to adapt or fit; to be; to put an end to: to stop, to bring to a conclusion; fixed (stay put)
Assume: to take, to put on; to take; to appropriate; to pretend to have, to feign
Act: to perform on the stage, to play a role; to be suited to performance; to behave; to do
a thing, to function; to have an effect; to seem or pretend to be; to perform the functions of; to
simulate or play; to do or perform; to put in motion; personate, simulate, perform, feign, work,
make, move, execute, effect, do; the exertion of power; a thing done (a deed, exploit, or
achievement, whether good or bad); an action; a state of reality or real existence as opposed to a
possibility; action completed; a piece of affected or feigned behavior; a decision, law, judgment,
resolve, award, etc; the book, record, or writing containing the laws and determinations

Action: the doing of something; the effect or influence of something; an act or thing
done, a deed; the moving parts or mechanism; habitual conduct, behavior, demeanor; the series
of events in a story or play; the posture, gesture, gesticulation;
Mad: mentally ill, insane, crazy; frenzied, wildly excited; showing or resulting from lack
of reason, foolish and rash, senseless; infatuated; angry, enraged, furious; a maggot or an
earthworm; madness: wild excitement, dementia, great anger or fury

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