Personal Reaction Act V
Spencer Carr

Now this is what we've all been waiting for, finally some action! the King finally dies, but at a terrible cost, The Queen, Laertes, and Hamlet was slain in the process of Hamlet avenging his father. Also the fact that Fortinbras got more than his father's lost land, he controls both Norway and Denmark now.

Deaner personal reaction act 5

This is what I expected from a Shakespeare tragedy. Everyone dies in one scene, and it just leaves me with a sad feeling for about 5 minutes. But then I wake up from that jaded slumber and am happy in the fact that Hamlet can be at peace in a forever sleep whether in heaven or hell.  

The Asian Reacts to Act V

EVERYONE IS DEAD. However, I am quite glad that Hamlet got revenge on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in a hasty manner or else that might be a whole other play to be written. Hamlet FINALLY got to avenge his father. It took him 140 pages to do so and it finally happened!!! I found it ironic how the drink meant to poison Hamlet, poisoned his mother instead and in a way, Claudius ended up killing Gertrude. Fortinbras becoming King of Denmark: didn't see that one coming. But good for Horatio for staying true throughout the whole play. Maybe that's why he ended up living while everyone else around him dropped like flies.

xoxo, Kara

Sam Slug's Final Thoughts

And so it ends... Hamlet, as a whole, was better than I expected. I did enjoy Act V, especially in scene I at the graveyard, which I thought to be both humorous and then terribly sad. I did particularly mourn the death of Gertrude and Ophelia, since neither of them were truly to blame for their own fate and the conflicts in the play. This blog has been quite the journey, especially for a lowly sea slug! - Sam Slug

Personal Response ACT 4

Act 4 was very lengthy for me. It was tedious to read when someone was not getting killed. And I really just wanted to shake Ophelia and say, "what is your problem?!?!? Be okay already!"
I am not that fond of Laertes either. I get that he is Hamlet's foil, but I like Hamlet better.
I actually like this play, it is similar to King Lear in that everyone gets killed (eventually) which was the first Shakespeare play I saw.
Sincerely, DeAnna Slug

Asian Reacts to Act IV

I quite enjoyed Act IV. It just added on to the whole sense of a tragedy and kind of, I guess, organized chaos that Shakespeare creates. I'd first off like the state that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are such traitors! I mean, I thought they were supposed to be Hamlet's friends, but they sell him out to Claudius all willy-nilly. I was just like, come on now, have a bit more faith in your "friend." And Claudius is such a sleezeball. But we really see how much of a coward the king is when he knows that Hamlet knows the truth about the murder of King Hamlet, so he tries to send Prince Hamlet off to be murdered essentially. He can't even murder him himself! Poor, poor Ophelia. I was just like this is painful to see. Especially when we watched the film, it was just saddening to see it unfold before your eyes. She had pretty much lost everyone she ever loved: Hamlet and her father and her brother was away, so he was pretty much dead to her as well. Then she just drowned herself and I kind of just wanted to punch Hamlet for essentially doing this to her. THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS! And thankfully Hamlet has finally somewhat realized that he needs to get his tail into high gear and murder the snake!!!!!! 

xoxo,

Kara

Cantore Feels One Last Time (Act V)

Well, this has been quite the journey. Overall, I thought that it was okay; I liked doing our work on our blogs, but I didn't really like the way that we looked at them in class; I actually didn't like Hamlet as much as I like the other two pieces of Shakespeare's work that we've read, Romeo and Juliet and Othello. However, it was still pretty good and I enjoyed a great deal of it. A lot of the characters just got on my nerves. Everyone except for Hamlet did, really. And maybe Horatio. Everyone else, I was just like 

 

Act V was probably my favorite though because I liked the speeches that Hamlet made about death a lot and I thought the way that they all died was very interesting. Very Shakespeare-esque. Quite tragic, all of it. I think that Hamlet died honorably, which is all that anyone could ask, and I appreciated his friendship with Horatio, when Horatio tried to kill himself as well but Hamlet forced him not to, to stay behind and let everyone know what had happened. I mean honestly, I was really sad when Hamlet died, since he was definitely my favorite character and I had high hopes for him (even though I knew there was no way he could survive). At the end when Fortinbras says that they are going to honor him, it made me feel really good. 

  

So, all in all it probably wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it was far from favorite. The whole experience was just kind of ehhh to me. I did, however, like doing our work on the internet on blogs. That was extremely easy and helpful. So, Hamlet, since this is my final post, I bid thee adieu. It was a mild pleasure working with you.

 

xoxo, Cantore Slug

Personal Reaction
Act V
Lee Slug

This act was very quick; the tragedy was worse in the women's death because they were naive and innocent to all of the scheming that was taking place around them. However, the only part that I wasn't expecting was that Fortinbras would become the King of Denmark.

Personal Reaction For Act Four
Spencer Carr

After all the events that quickly proceeded in act three, act four slowed back down like acts one and two, I just wish that Hamlet would commit and kill his uncle. STOP STALLING.

Cantore Feels, Act IV

This Act wasn't as thrilling to me as Act III and I didn't find it quite as emotional, but that's probably just because I honestly didn't like Ophelia that much so it didn't bother me when she died. However, I did appreciate her madness at the end, that was a nice touch. I enjoyed the actual language and precedent of it, but I also liked the undertones that Shakespeare was attempting to put out through it. I'm starting to get a little nervous about things that are happening outside the castle because it seems that everyone is a little too caught up in all of these affairs rather than paying attention to the country. That makes me a little uneasy and I'm sure it's going to blow up in their face soon. Hamlet's letters were probably the best part of this Act for me because I just really love him and I can't wait to see what it is that's happened to him and what he has in store. Claudius bothered me a lot in this one because he kept acting like he was so pure when he really is a sleazy sleaze bag. He's only plotting revenge for Polonius's death for his own sake, not Laertes's. 

xoxo, Cantore Slug

Personal Reaction
Lee Slug
Act IV

This act was much more interesting for me to read; so much happens in such little time and the plot thickens tremendously. I felt so sorry for poor Ophelia, she was so attractive and then she turned crazy and died; it was a sad time. When Laertes came back and plotted with Claudius to murder Hamlet upon his return I just laughed because I knew that nothing happens the way it's supposed to.

Personal Reaction - Tevie Slug

PERSONAL REACTION

Act III is definitely my favorite act so far. First of all, I'm a sucker for beautiful, flowery language and this act was full of it. The suicide soliloquy has just got to be the most powerful 32 lines ever written about mankind's struggle with life and death and the meaning of it all. It just makes so much sense to me, despite some of the slightly unfamiliar language. Basically...

 

Also, I just have such a deep empathy for Hamlet and all that he's going through. I mean, can you blame the man for going crazy or pretending to under circumstances like these? I know I can't. His mom and uncle have just screwed him over and now he's dealing with such an intense moral dilemma, all after having to cope with his dear father's death. Maybe it's my intense appreciation for Kenneth Branagh and his beautiful face, but I really just hope Hamlet kills his stupid old uncle and makes up with Ophelia and lives happily ever after. And to Queen Gertrude:

  

So ye. 

Sam Slug's Feelings

I thought Act IV was very interesting because it allowed us to fully understand some of the relationships between the characters and the individual things that each person is plotting. Seeing how the King and Queen reacted to Polonius' death was very interesting. If Claudius is wanting Hamlet dead anyway, why not make more of a deal about his crime, regardless of the Queen and the public's opinion. This just serves to show how much he cares about his reputation as king and his genuine love for Gertrude. Ophelia's death was very sad and strange. I look forward to seeing it portrayed in the film. I enjoyed the short scenes in Act IV as they allowed the series of events to move quickly instead of dragging on and on. I look forward to to finding out more about Hamlet's fate in Act V, and wonder what will become of Laertes as he grieves over his father and sister's deaths. -Sam Slug

Personal Reaction to ACT 3 for Deaner

                              It just makes  me so mad that Ophelia can't express her true feeling of love to a suicidal Hamlet, and it breaks both of their hearts. Sad day!

The Asian Reacts:

While everyone seemed to enjoy this act, I was just sort of like ehhh. It was a lot better than Act II I must admit, and we are getting somewhere in this whole revenge thing, but I just didn't seem all that thrilled and found myself counting down the pages until I finished. 

But I think we can all agree upon the fact that POLONIUS IS DEADDDDD and we can just rejoice that we never have to hear him blab on anymore!!

What I can see from everyone is that they are all liars. You can trust no one and is this even real life? I mean, everyone is just so secretive and confusing and seems to be lost. Do they even realize what they are doing to one another?

Literally, Claudius sits on a throne of lies...

But I'm just quite excited that Hamlet decided to buck up and take action in something. He might not have killed the right guy, but hey, it's a start and I commend him for that.

And I am so ready to see this revenge thing that we have been speaking of for the past like 3 acts.

Asian out.

Sam's Thoughts

I truly enjoyed reading act III simply because everything in the story is starting to come together and become exciting. Hamlet's plan is now in the works, and he is directly confronting people about his father's death. The language is getting easier to process as the plot becomes more apparent and each character's own personality is becoming more defined. I am looking forward to the next act and hopefully finding out what happens next in the conflict between Hamlet and Claudius. -Sam Slug
                                                                                                                                                                    

Cantore Feels Act III

Now this Act is what I'm talking about! I didn't even notice when I was almost done with it because it was so interesting and brimming with action. Literally the whole time I was like

It was much easier for me to get through the language in this Act, even the play that Hamlet set up was easy to understand and I actually enjoyed it because I thought that it was parallel with Hamlet's own life. He obviously thought so too when he was talking to the Ghost and said that his passion had waned and therefore his previous promises. I got really angry, of course, when Hamlet almost killed Claudius but found an excuse to chicken out. Hamlet's exchange with Gertrude was probably the passage that confused me the most, for the sole reason that I don't understand why she was so quick to believe Hamlet's word. I guess if it was me I would want to find some evidence first or something. 

BUT THEN HAMLET KILLS POLONIUS AND LITERALLY THE WHOLE WORLD IS LIKE

HASTA NUNCA, POLONIUS. You will not be missed.

Also, I would just like to take a moment to talk about how clever and funny Hamlet is, and what a genius Shakespeare was for creating such a character. There is a point in this Act where Hamlet talks about how there are two types of people who watch plays: the groundlings and the nobles. He says that each one wants something different from the play; the nobles don't particularly care for stupidity and what is basically slapstick comedy and the groundlings don't really want to watch things that are sophisticated because they don't understand them. I find it interesting, and amusing, to see that Shakespeare has incorporated this into his own play. I just can't imagine that some people, like the groundlings, would get how funny and witty Hamlet is, and I also think that Shakespeare knew that. This man was such a genius. 

xoxo, Cantore Slug 

Personal Reaction For Act III

During most of act three I was in anticipation to see how the King would react to Hamlet's mimicking the death of King Hamlet in the play of Gonzago, I was disappointed to see that he was still unable to commit to avenging his father and letting Claudius live for the time being, but I was happy to see that I would no longer have to read anymore of more of Polonius's pompous banter in the play.

-Spencer

Personal Reaction
Act III
Lee Sims

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this act, so many different things happen that increase my anticipation for Hamlet's revenge. From my personal interpretation, I felt sympathy for Ophelia when Hamlet was making such rude comments towards her during the play, but I felt no sympathy when her father, Polonius, was killed by Hamlet for being a little rat. Shakespeare so creatively uses Hamlet' facade of ignorance to underscore the ironic theme of appearance versus reality. Ironically, Hamlet is not the ignorant one, but his mother and the rest of the characters are because they perceive Hamlet as being crazy when in actuality Claudius is the crazed man that murdered his brother for the throne.

Personal Reaction - Tevie Slug

Sooooo yeah, we all know getting through this Act was slightly painful, but that is to be expected considering the main purpose of this act was to set up what is to come in the following acts. Polonius was really getting on my nerves in this act and I have the feeling he will continue to annoy throughout the play. Also...Ophelia's just dumb. She needs to just go with her heart and run away with Hammy! And poop toast on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for going behind Hamlet's back and spying on him for the benefit of the evil King Claudius!! Some friends they are. Overall, this act inferred a lot about what's to come and built up suspense for me as a reader.

- Tevie Slug