Literature of Hamlet

One of the greatest play writes of all time William Shakespeare grew up in Stratford near London. He was born 1564 to mother Mary, and father John Shakespeare. William was baptized Christian shortly after birth. This was a very common practice as Christianity was spread throughout Europe, and was considered very important in the daily lives of people. It is thought that Shakespeare had a general education in his youth. When William grew up he married Anne Hathaway. Anne was a few years older than William, and was thought to be pregnant at the time of the wedding. William began to work on his poems and produce his plays. He fathered three children, and only two girls survived to adulthood. William made several financial endeavors in real-estate that helped ensure his wealth. William Shakespeare died in the year 1616. He was buried in his home town of Stratford. Many believed that the plays and poetry that have been credited to Shakespeare was not his. These people argue that Shakespeare was just a business man and acquired these works in some other form of creating them himself. In Shakespeare’s will he left the majority of his estate to his son-in-law, as it was not uncommon for one to do with their estate. Facts in this article have been acquired from http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/biography/shakespeare_biography.htm

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet tells the tale of the prince of Denmark, Hamlet, and his journey for the truth and the revenge of his father’s murder. This is an interesting plot. It is still seen in a round about way in modern television. Hamlets late father had recently died, and his brother Claudius had taken his place on the thrown. Claudius married the newly widowed Gertrude, mother of Hamlet. The play starts out with the night watchmen of the palace; Marcellus, Horatio, and Bernardo; spot the ghost of the dead king. The ghost does not reply to the watchmen when they cried out to him. The watchmen were friends of Hamlet who is the late Kings’ son. The watchmen came to Hamlet with the news of the spotting of his father. He went the next night to watch to see if the ghost returned. When it did Hamlet spoke to it, and in return the ghost answered back. Hamlet learned from the ghost of his father that his uncle Claudius had in fact killed the late King. The ghost had come back to ask Hamlet to seek revenge on his Uncle for the murder of his father. The news is quite alarming to Hamlet. He begins to come off to people as he is losing his mind. He is pushing his great love Ophelia away. After much talk of the kingdom, his mother and uncle become concerned. They assign Hamlets friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to follow Hamlet around. Hamlet accidentally kills the house chamberlain, and father of Ophelia. Now everyone is convinced that Hamlet is crazy, and he is sent off to be punished in England, . Claudius gives orders to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to kill Hamlet. Fortunately they do not make it to England. In this time, grieving Ophelia accidently drowns herself over the loss of her father. Ophelia’s brother Laertes blames Hamlet for the death of his sister and father. King Claudius sees this as an opportunity to kill off Hamlet. Claudius gets Laertes to challenge Hamlet to a duel. Claudius put poison on Laertes sword, so when he hits Hamlet he would be sure to die. If the poison on the sword does not work Claudius has a poisoned drink on hand. The queen accidentally drinks the poison,and Laertes is cut by his own sword. Hamlet is cut by the sword, but he does not die until he has forced Claudius to drink the rest of the poison after he stabbed him with Laertes’ poisoned sword. The only thing that disappoints me with this play is that everyone dies at the end. That is Shakespeare for you, he always has a flare for the dramatic. The play could use less tragedy, and a happy ending.

William Shakespeare wrote a tragic love story which he named Romeo and Juliet. In this play we see two young lovers who are torn apart by their families’ long time hatred for each other. Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet, and these two beat all odds and fall in love. In the 2006 movieRomeo and Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss, directed by Phil Nibbelink, there is a lighter take to this tragic love story. The characters have changed a little. Instead of people the characters are seals, and the movie is done in full animation. It is filled with sing and dance numbers, and a great deal of comic relief. Romeo and Juliet come from two different seal families. The white seals are the Capulets, and the brown Montague. These two lovers face many obstacles to be together. The plot line is very similar to that of the original Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare nearly five hundred years ago. In my opinion this movie had a better ending than the original because the characters do night die at the end. Juliet drinks a sleeping potion to fake her death to avoid marrying a prince. Romeo discovers her, thinks she’s dead, kisses her, and the potion is transferred to his lips. Romeo falls into a deep sleep next to his dear Juliet. The families think these two have died, and begin to grieve. Their grieving brings these two families together. As the sun rises the two lovers wake to find that their families were getting along. Now they can live happily ever after.

George Herbert was born in 1593 in Montgomery, Whales to father Richard, and mother Magdalen Newport as one of their five sons. His mother was a patron of the arts. One of the most known she supported was John Donne, who dedicated to her his Holy Sonnets. George Herbert was a highly educated man receiving two degrees by 1616. He was an orator of the college library, and could have easily gone into politics but didn’t. In 1629 Herbert married Jane Danvers, a cousin of his step-father. By 1630 Herbert had found his calling as a deacon. During this time he wrote many of his poems. Herbert was devoted as a deacon. He took money from his own pocket to rebuild a new church for his parish that he so loved. His life as a priest can be read about through his many poems. Along with his many Latin and Christian poems, he also composed the book Proverbs from the bible. Herbert lived in the same era in time as John Donne, and he as well was part of a Christian reformation. Until Herbert’s death he continued his job of deacon, and wrote more of his famous poetry. The facts in this passage can be found at www.georgeherbert.org or http://www.georgeherbert.org/life/bio.html

Christmas by George Herbert is a beautiful poem. Herbert speaks of coming across the new born Jesus in the middle of night. He refers to him as coming into this world so that we may have a better place to go, when we die. As if he was telling the world here lies your savor who has come into the world to die so that your soul will one day make it to heaven. Please see line 14 in the poem. Herbert speaks of the baby lying in the manger. This reminds me of my favorite Christmas songs, such as Holy Night, Away in Manger, and Noel. The entire poem almost seems like a retelling of one of the three wise men’s journey to find the baby Jesus, while following the north star. In the first stanza Herbert talks about riding in on a horse and being very tired. He is looking for a place to rest, and looking for the baby Jesus. It is a very moving poem, and reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas. It is not about presents, but it’s about the baby boy born in a barn, and laid in a manger full of hay. The child was born to bring the word of God to the world. To see George Herbert's Christmas go to http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herbert/christmas.htm