Hamlet - Hamlet 5 - The Cloud

At the end of Act 3, Scene 2, Hamlet makes some remarks about a cloud in the sky. He first states that the cloud is "almost in shape of a camel," but then that "it is like a weasel," and finally concluding it to be "like a whale" (III.ii.406-411). Polonius looks towards the cloud and after every statement of Hamlet's, he acknowledges that the cloud does looks like the animal in question even though all three of these animals are quite different from one another. The animals may have been meant as symbols. Camels are said to symbolize the "type of people who would not forgive or forget an insult or a mistake easily and he would wait for the right chance to burst and take revenge , keeping grudge & malice deep in the heart" ("What Does a Camel Symbolize?"). This description fits Hamlet well as a man who is hiding behind a mask of insanity and therefore not revealing his true intentions of revenge. Weasels are symbols of stealth, cleverness, and confidence. This also relates to Hamlet, for he is seeking out the truth of his father's murder in a clever and undercover way. He can see through all spies and therefore he is confident in his ability to find the truth. Whales are symbols of life and death. This is a prevalent topic in Hamlet, for The Ghost comes to Hamlet after death to tell of knowledge of life.


"What Does a Camel Symbolize?" WikiAnswers. Answers, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_a_camel_symbolize>.

Hamlet - Hamlet 4 - Polonius' Long-Winded Style of Speech

Polonius is the chief counselor to King Claudius and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. He speaks in a slightly confusing, bumbling sort of way where he never means to speak long, yet always ends up being long-winded. An example of this is when Polonius says: "My liege, and madam, to expostulate / What majesty should be, what duty is, Why day is day, night night, and time is time / Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time" (II.ii.92-96). This sentence, which is supposed to express how short Polonius wants his speech to be, is in fact long and unnecessary. While he speaks of how "[wasting] night, day, and time" is bad, he wastes more time explaining himself elegantly than by simply saying what he means straight out. Polonius is also using this sentence to speak of "what majesty should be," therefore comparing showy speech and over exaggerated words to what it means to have stateliness. This juxtaposition displays that Polonius is not as stately as he believes himself to be. Another example of this sort of speech is when Polonius is talking to Hamlet about the troop of actors that are coming. He states that they do "tragedy, comedy  history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral , tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastorical, scene individable, or poem unlimited" (II.ii.421-424). Reciting all of these types of plays all at once takes a while and is almost like a tongue twister. Polonius goes to the extremes with his long speech, even if he does not realize it himself.

Poem - Chapter 14

Three steps forward,
two steps
back.

Charging ahead just
to fall
behind.

Getting closer then
replacing some
distance.

Just give me
a bit
longer.

I'll catch up
in due
time.

Poem - Leaving for College (Parent's Perspective)

Keep these things in mind while
you are at school:
Study hard, but not too hard.
Have fun, but don't neglect your work.
Stay strong when times get tough.
Be safe always.
You won't be too far away, so visit.
I love you.
Good luck at college.

Hamlet - Hamlet 1 - Oxymoronsin Claudius' Speech

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the character of Claudius is Hamlet's uncle who has just usurped the throne by marrying Hamlet's mother very soon after the death of Hamlet's father, King Hamlet. There are many controversies at one time: marriage after a funeral, marrying the widow of his brother, taking the throne instead of the last king's son. Throughout all of this, Claudius speaks using oxymoronic language such as "defeated joy," "auspicious and a dropping eye," "mirth in funeral," and "dirge in marriage" (I.ii.10-21). He seems to be trying to blur the line between happy and sad, making his new subjects feel a sense of correctness and stability. These oxymorons are also trying to link together the idea of death and marriage, which is a strange and unnatural concept. There is not a cycle there like there is for life and death.

While not an oxymoron, Claudius also says that Hamlet is "unschooled," but then tells him not to go back to school and to instead stay in Denmark (I.ii.101). These opposing statements are strange and there is a hint of something fishy going on in Claudius' intentions.

Othello - Othello 7 - Iago's Final Presence

In the final scene of Othello, the antagonist Iago only speaks for a few critical lines. While blame is starting to form around him, he merely reverts to his original plan of trying to play it off as if he is not the villain by stating: "I told him what I thought, and told no more / Than what he found himself was apt and true" (V.ii.212-213). The one factor that Iago did not account for was Emilia's betrayal, or, even if he suspected she knew, he did not believe she would disobey his orders: "Go to! Charm your tongue" (V.ii.219). Many of Iago's last amount of lines are repetitive way of him telling his wife to be quiet, to go home, or that she is a whore. Iago's facade of bystander crumbles completely when, in his heated temper, he stabs Emilia, killing his own wife in front of everyone in the room.

Iago's last lines in the play are: "Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. / From this time forth I will never speak a word" (V.ii.355-356). This greatly juxtaposes Iago's plan to bring down Othello, which consisted of luring Othello to ask questions that made it seem as if Iago was trying to hold his tongue as to not hurt anyone. Now Iago no longer wishes to be asked anything at all, for he sees how everything has turned against him. "What you know, you know" adds on the idea that Othello can now decide to see things the way he sees fit to, not to always as Iago what he thinks. The way that the play ends with a silent Iago is an odd end, for Iago speaks to the audience so often in the play, and just speaks a lot in the play in general, that it is strange for him to no longer have lines. Iago also used words to his advantage, such as how he enraged Othello with sexual innuendos and baited the hook that pulled Othello to ask questions. This speechlessness is the last straw of Iago's defeat, leaving himself without his last weapon, his words.

Othello - Othello Interlude - Othello's Soliloquy at V.ii.1-24

At the very beginning of Act 5, Scene 2, Othello has a soliloquy that expresses his views on how he is about to kill his wife, Desdemona. Othello starts by repeating to himself "it is the cause" three times, addressing this idea to "[his] soul" (1). It seems that this repetition may be to convince Othello that the act of killing the woman he once loved must be done, even when his "perfect soul" is telling him not to, for it would forever be stained I.ii.36). Othello then speaks of how he is going to kill Desdemona, saying that "[he'll] not shed her blood, / nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, / and as smooth as monumental alabaster" (V.ii.3-5). This line foreshadows that the death of Desdemona will either be by strangulation or poison of some sort, for these methods would  be the most likely to not shed blood or hurt Desdemona's looks. The line also speaks to how Othello still finds Desdemona to be pure, for snow and alabaster are pure white objects; However, snow in literature is often used as a symbol of death and obscurity, which again foreshadows Desdemona's demise, while alabaster is known as a symbol of purity and honor.

Othello compares Desdemona to firelight, stating: "put out the light, then put out the light" (V.ii.7). The first "light" refers to the actual firelight that is in the room, for it is night time and Othello and Desdemona are supposed to go to sleep, but the second "light" refers to Desdemona. At this moment, this firelight can be viewed as not only another praise to her purity, but also as a a symbol of cleansing and purifying,  for Othello wishes to "restore [Desdemona's] former light" by first putting it out (V.ii.9). Othello does not understand how he will restore her, though, for he "[knows] not where is that Promethean heat / that can [Desdemona's] light relume" (V.ii.12-13). "Promethean heat" is an allusion to the Greek myth of Prometheus, a Titan known for intelligence who created humans and then stole fire for them to use. The heat from this first human fire is supposedly what lights Desdemona's life force, which is no longer able to be attained in Othello's time. Desdemona is simply one of a kind, unable to be replicated.

Othello then compares Desdemona to a rose that he has plucked and cannot "give it vital growth again, / It needs must wither" (V.ii.15-16). Roses, depending on the color, can symbolize romance, youth, purity, or death. This rose that Othello compares Desdemona to could be used to symbolize any of these things. All roses, however, are sweet and seemingly innocent; Yet their stems rooting them to the Earth have sharp, hurtful thorns that sometimes go unseen until it is too late. This relates to how Othello thinks Desdemona is cheating on him and so in his mind the sweet, flower-like girl has been keeping a secret hidden and that idea sticks him like a thorn, a thorn that he did not believe Desdemona would ever have. Yet Othello believes that he has found out the hard way that every rose has it's thorn, and this thorn dug deep enough as to stir him to murder.