Please choose one of the following prompts and write an essay in response, using passages from Shakespeare's plays to support your views.
TWO MONOLOGUES IN HAMLET
Although many statements by Hamlet seem definitive, two are especially powerful with respect to profound questions about life and death. One is the iconic "To be or not to be..." soliloquy (III, sc. 1). Less well known yet equally profound in its way is a section of prose dialogue near the end of the play (see, especially, the text in bold type), from Act V, sc. 2:
HORATIO
You will lose this wager, my lord.HAMLET
I do not think so: since he went into France, IHORATIO
have been in continual practise: I shall win at the
odds. But thou wouldst not think how ill all's here
about my heart: but it is no matter.
Nay, good my lord,--HAMLET
It is but foolery; but it is such a kind ofHORATIO
gain-giving, as would perhaps trouble a woman.
If your mind dislike any thing, obey it: I willHAMLET
forestall their repair hither, and say you are not
fit.
Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special
providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now,
'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be
now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the
readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he
leaves, what is't to leave betimes?
Think about Hamlet's philosophy. Is it life-affirming? Death-affirming? How do these statements help to define Hamlet's evolving understanding of life and death?
THE ROLE OF MONOLOGUES AND SOLILOQUIES IN TRAGEDY
The Greek philosopher Aristotle defined tragedy, at least in part, as rising action: a tumult of events, complicated or crushing, that rises to a feverish climax. But if we accept Aristotle's action-based view of tragedy, how do we, as audiences or readers, accommodate the many interruptions of the action in Shakespeare in the form of monologues and soliloquies? How do these breaks in the action ultimately contribute anything to the theatrical force of rising action? Choose at least two monologues from Shakespearean tragedy and discuss them in relation to rising action.
HAMLET AND IAGO
Arguably, Hamlet and Iago are two of Shakespeare's most intelligent characters. How does their intelligence reveal itself in Hamlet and Othello? And how does Shakespeare expect us to value human intelligence in these two great plays? Is intelligence a virtue or a character defect? A friend or an enemy?
or...
FATHERS & SONS IN Henry 4, Pt. 1 (1599) and HAMLET (1600-'01)
Shakespeare clearly wanted to explore the theme of fathers and sons in his turn-of-the-century plays. In a typed essay of 2-3 pages, compare and contrast the theme of fathers and sons in these two plays. Consider "fathers" who are not necessarily blood relatives to their "sons" -- Falstaff, Yorick, others. Also, consider the roles of father-and-son foils -- contrasting pairs such as Hotspur/Northumberland in Henry 4, Pt. 1, and Laertes/Polonius or Old Fortinbras/Young Fortinbras in Hamlet.
