Hamlet views Essay

The essential component to any Elizabethan tragedy is a protagonist with a fatal flaw. In Elizabethan tragedy this is called hamartia. This Latin term translates directly into the word â€Å"flaw† but is usually used to describe an excess of a personality trait – virtue or vice. The protagonist’s fatal flaw pushes the the plot and action of the tragedy forward. It is this tragic flaw, which leads to the eventual downfall of the character, his circumstances, and the denouement of the drama. In examining the bulk of the literature’s protagonists, no other character embodies the essential role of the flawed protagonist like Hamlet. Hamlet’s fatal flaw is his idealism. Only once Hamlet overcomes his idealism is he able to seek his revenge. The climax of the play occurs with Hamlet’s realization that the world is not as it seems and that he must shrug off his idealistic values and avenge his father’s murder Act 3, scene 4. It is within Act 4, that Hamlet carries out his revenge. The issues of love, hate, jealous, incest, power struggle, revenge, and most importantly maturation of the protagonist. These themes are all present in Hamlet, and were theater elements there were not just enjoyed by Elizabethan audiences but also expected. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, act 4 scene 4, are pivotal within the play. The scene centers around Hamlet’s speech (lines x-x). Hamlet is left alone on stage and reviews the events that occurred to this point in the play and what he must now do. Hamlet begins â€Å"How all occasions do inform against me, / And spur my dull revenge! † He clearly knows that he must, now, take his revenge. He asks himself, and the audience, â€Å"What is a man† and continues that a man should be â€Å"a beast, no more† and exhibit â€Å"god-like reason†. Hamlet holds on to his idealism much of the play but in the end, being born and raised as an Elizabethan, he knows he must not be â€Å" one part wisdom / And ever three parts coward. â€Å" It is honor that is most important to him. He continues â€Å"When honour’s at the stake. How stand I then, / That have a father kill’d, a mother stain’d, / Excitements of my reason and my blood, / And let all sleep? † Hamlet understands that to be a man he must seek carry out his revenge and he does. Act 3 centers around Hamlet speaking like a jealous lover chastising his girlfriend for sleeping with a different man and making their bed â€Å"enseamed†. The Queen is extremely upset and actually asks Hamlet to help her figure out what to do. At this point when Hamlet should have told her to confess, he urges her to stop her relationship with Claudius, â€Å"Not this, by no means, that I bid you do: Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed† (Act III, sc iv). It is in the moment that Hamlet allows his emotion to dominate over his intellect that Claudius was killed. He is consumed by the thoughts of his father’s demise and is haunted by the knowledge that his father’s soul will not be able to rest until his death is avenged. Hamlet willfully concludes, â€Å"My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth† (Act IV sc iv). It is then that Hamlet finally had the ability to suppress his idealistic nature, and do what is right. The murder is not a well planned scheme and occurs in the heat of the moment. Hamlet, after the murder of Claudius never once wavers in his decision. He has done what is right and believes that â€Å"There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow† (Act V sc ii). Hamlet is able to do anything but take vengeance upon the man who did away with his father and has taken his father’s place with his mother. The pain which should have caused him to take immediate revenge was replaced by pity for himself. It is Hamlet’s idealistic nature that creates the ultimate theme and driving force behind all the rising action, falling action, and resolution of this tragedy as well as the death of his mother. The way in which Hamlet views his mother, father, and Claudius is finally revealed in Act IV. Once Hamlet is able to be honest about his feelings, he is able to finally seek revenge for his father’s murder. This scene is pivotal to denouement of the play and essential to Hamlet’s transformation from a boy to man who embodies the important qualities which were cherished and expect by an Elizabethan audiences. In Shakespearean tragedies, the protagonist must die and on the way to his death many people die with him. It is the ultimate act of revenge which appeals to the Elizabethan audience and has made Hamlet a timeless classic.

American Jews and their religion

The word Jew is used in a number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, the offspring of a Jewish mother or someone of Jewish origin with roots to Jewish culture or ethnicity. A combination of all these attributes make one a better Jew. Jews are an ethnic group who refer themselves as a people and members of a nation descending from ancient Israelites including those who joined their religion at various times and places. This term is associated with the split of the kingdom of Israel between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.Of late, the term is used to refer to those Jews actively practicing Judaism and those, although not practicing Judaism as religion still refer themselves as Jews by virtue of their family’s Jewish heritage and their own cultural identification. Judaism as the Jews popular religion has many characteristics, of a religion , a nation, an ethnicity and a culture, making the definition of who is really a Jew vary slightly depending on whether a religious or national approach to identity is used.As he popular religion among the Jews, Judaism guides its adherents in both practice and beliefs, it has therefore been called a religion and also a way of life. It is due to this reason that the difference between Judaism, Jewish culture and Jewish nationality is very thin. Many times and places such as contemporary United States and Israel, cultural practices have cropped up that are characteristically without being religious at all. These practices have been brought about by factors like interactions of Jews and others around them, the Judaism it self and even from the inner social and cultural dynamics of the community,Jews have been subjected to countless mistreatments all over the world leading to their migration from their original homeland e. g. the famous holocaust led by Adolph Hitler and his Nazi regime in German. These mistreatments, which led to their regular migration, have sha ped Jewish identity and Jewish religious participation in many ways. Jews also have a number of ethnic divisions, which includes, the German based Jews, the Spanish – Portugal Jews, Gruzim, and American based Jews, Telegu of India and Buchanan Jews of central among many others.Due to the above-mentioned mistreatments, Jews migrated to many places of the world. Today the Jews in Diaspora make up a large number of the total Jews of the world with United States having 5. 5 million Jews (Jewish people policy institute). The effects of conditions of â€Å"freedom† to Jews in general The book, Social foundation of Judaism by Calvin Goldscheider and Jacob Neusner chapter 8 pages 114 to 145. The social crisis of the freedom seeks to answer the question about the ways in which condition of freedom affects Jews as a group.This book talks about the migration fro Europe origin of (German, Poland and Russia) to thaw United States of America. From the introduction part a number of t his migration. The Jewish immigrants to US firstly settled in enclaves in large cities. This is because they considered themselves as nation within other nations and with time, they would one-day return to the holy land with the coming of the Messiah (Neusner, 125). The first immigrants’ to US formed the first generation of Jews. This first generation was characterized by the speaking of the Yiddish language and limited occupation.The second-generation embraced the notion that Jews like other immigrants must become American and therefore this prompted the de-judaization of all its children. This de-judaization brought about the definition of life as a set of contrasts between ways of Jewish ways of living and everything else on the other side. The second generation did not need schools or youth groups to explain what being a Jew meant instead two educational instruments i. e. memory and experience (Neu, 118). The third generation was contesting to the second generation since they tried to remember what the second generation had wanted to forget.The Jews were affected the anti-Semitism which was taking place around the world and they were made to learn on how and why they were Jews (Neu, 119). The renaissance of articulated and self-conscious Jewish ness along with the renewed search for Judaism was reignited by first, the rise of the state of Israel. The discovery of holocaust and lastly the resurgence of ethnic identification among the grandchildren of immigrant generation. The freedom of Jews was conditional and not only to Jews living in other nations but also Jews living in the homeland of Israel.In 1967, Jews of Israel were threatened by war from the Arab neighbors (pg120). This war popularly known as, the war of â€Å"all ageist one†. Jews all over the world lived under great because experiences of Jewish persecution especially during the holocaust were still fresh in their minds. Worst still the international community seemed not to interf ere to offer any avenue for escape. The effect of all the above freedom conditions led to the assimilation of the Jewish culture and Judaism to cultures of the respective nations offering asylum.The Jewish method of worship changed drastically with new generation members choosing on whether to remain loyal to their Judaism religion or to be loyal to the Jewish culture. In classical Judaism every member of the Jewish culture was expected to live a holy life; saying prayers, learn more about the traditions and do good deeds but. due to conditional freedoms all this changed, with the only requirement of being a Jew being just joining an organization but not personally to effect its purpose (Neus, pg 121) therefore it can be said that as a result of this freedom modernity has overtaken Jews.Even the powers and responsibilities of rabbi have changed from administrators to strictly religious (pg123) rabbi who was formerly a judge, administrator and a holy man has now been left with duties of presiding over religious ceremonies like marriages and funerals. Another very conspicuous effect of conditional freedom was the reconsidering of women as rabbis. Generally, the overall effects of condition of freedom have led to the entry of western European Jews into the society of other nations among which they had lived for generations.This has resulted to the question, what is Jew? Who is Israel? What makes a person a Jew? Are the Jews a religious group? Are they a people or a nation? Thus conditions of have condemned Jews into lingering crisis of group identity (pg125). What is of more importance to America Jews, religion or ethnicity. From the book, it is very clear to me and any other reader of the same book that American Jews like their other counterparts in Diaspora are much more obsessed with ethnicity than religion. This argument can be made meaningful by first defining these two terms.Whereas religion is defined as a set of beliefs and practices, often centered about reality and human nature and often conditioned as ritual or religious law. Ethnic group on the other hand is a group of human beings who identify with each other, usually based on perceived common genealogy or ancestry. Jews whether in US or whichever place initially considered themselves as â€Å"Israel† the people to whom torah had been revealed, now living in exile from their homeland. (pg124). Judaism was their religion.When they came to US, they practiced this religion with utmost faithfulness since wanted to assert they both spiritually and religiously to their newfound society. The classical Judaism demanded that all men and women conform to the will of God. No one was exempted from from following the holy way of living (pg121). Every one was under obligation t observe the Sabbath, say their prayers individually in other words t be a Jew demanded one to perform a hundred holy actions every day. Contrastingly, in modern America to be a Jew requires only to join an orga nization and only be submitting monetary contribution.These funds are used to lure professionals who carry out the duties of the organization. This has prompted the birth of what preachers call â€Å"check book Judaism†. The formation of thse orgaiztions tends to obliterate the effective role of an individual. People join these organizations because they have been convinced that what â€Å"Judaism† expects of them. Jews in America seems to have lost touch with their fathers. His is because initially they saw themselves as anything but holy, they interpreted the things that make them Jewish negatively. They therefore seem to have forgotten why they came into being (pg126).All these differences in their religious approach have been brought abut by modernity. This modernity has been catalyzed by necessity and choice due to the Jews not looking back to inculcate long time virtues. It is true that modern Jews n America are eager to be Jewish – but not too much so. Th ey continue to confront a crisis not merely of identity but commitment, for they do not choose to resolve he dilemma of separateness within an open society (pg127). Of importance to them is that they are standing in the threshold of a long period assimilation into modern culture and facing a lingering identity crisis.The importance of ethnicity to Jews is confirmed by their joining of Zionist movements. This movement enhanced the unification of Jews as a people whose foundation lies in the unity of their concern for Zion, devotion to building the land and establishing Jewish sovereignty in it. Their destiny was shaped with their confirming emotional and social commitment to Jewish group hood or separateness and therefore the subsequent creation of a nation. The holy people of Israel who migrated to US because the â€Å"American Jewish community† who in the first place were unsure of what Jewish meant.This lingering crisis of self-definition, characteristic of modern men and w omen marks the Jews a utterly modern and secular and thus not religious (pg132). The archaic â€Å"holy people† has been rendered obsolete by events, its place stands rather different phenomena that manifests into Jews, a different, separate group, and they claim that difference is destiny. American Jews therefore are much engrossed with reasserting themselves in a society whereby they are perceived as a minority group. Ethnicity is what matters to them now and religion follows later. references: Social foundations of Judaism, by Calvin Goldscheiner and Jacob Neusner.

Egypt s Dynastic Period Of Egypt - 3486 Words

There are so many fascinating facts about Egypt’s history, from the early years to modern day. Egypt is located on the African continent. Before it became a roman province during the 1st century B.C. it was ruled by 30 dynasties often called pharaohs, this was called Egypt’s dynastic period or ancient Egypt. The dynastic period lasted more than 3000 years which was longer than any other civilization known. From 3500 B.C. there were two kingdoms in Egypt, Upper, ruled by pharaohs wearing a red crown and Lower ruled by pharaohs wearing a white crown, these two kingdoms were united by King Horus Narmer, he is the first known king of Egypt, he can be seen in ancient Egyptian paintings wearing both a red and a white crown. There is not much known about King Narmer, but his name has been found throughout Egypt and even in Syria-Palestine, this evidence indicates that there was an active trade going on between Egypt and parts of the Ancient Near East. There was a King named Sc orpion who was either Narmer’s predecessor or a rival king who ruled the south of the country, his tomb was not far from where King Narmer’s tomb was found. From the lack of evidence we cannot get a clear picture of who these two kings were nor what their relationship is to each other. The last pharaoh of Egypt was Cleopatra, she was Greek not Egyptian. Ancient Egyptian life was centered on agriculture. Farming wheat, fruits and vegetables were a means of living, there were some raising of cattle, sheep, pigs,Show MoreRelatedDating From The Dynastic Period Of Egypt1207 Words   |  5 PagesDating from the Dynastic Period of Egypt (3000-2938 BCE), the Narmer Pallet is one of the most important archeological findings to date. Previous to king Narmer, Lower and Upper Egypt were divided and frequently at war with each other. 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