Do Now: What similarities or contrasts between PS2 and PS3 do you find most interesting? Why?
Today's Learning Target:
I will be able to define synthesis and practice crafting synthesis assertion based on soliloquies from Macbeth and Hamlet.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can list similarities and differences between the two speeches.
-I can draw a conclusion based on these similarities and differences and express it in synthesis statement form.
1. Synthesis Practice (sit with your group and post your statement as a "comment")
2. Revisiting posts for PS2 and PS3
3. Ideas for synthesis
4. Exit Ticket: What new insight do you have about your two novels?
HW: Read I.iii. Also, using the Hamlet/Macbeth synthesis practice as a model, write a sentence or two about PS2 and PS3.
Links to some online versions of Hamlet:
Folger: http://www.folgerdigitaltexts.org/html/Ham.html
MIT: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/
Shakespeare Online: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamletscenes.html
Sample synthesis from No Exit and "Five Characters in Search of an Exit"
As versions of absurd universes, the oppressively minimal settings of No Exit and "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" seemingly force the characters to self reflect without environmental distractions. In actuality, the bare settings create a situation in which the characters develop a dependence on the others in the room. The tension between these external influences emphasizes the detrimental consequences of relying on others to inform one's choices instead of seeking within.
Both Macbeth and Hamlet suffer an existential crises when they feel like they lose control over their lives in a way which causes nihilistic beliefs to form, shedding light on Shakespeare's thoughts on the origins of despair.
ReplyDeleteCould you explain the connection between an apparent loss of control over life and despair?
DeleteBoth Macbeth and Hamlet suffer an existential crisis when they feel like they lose control over their lives. This recognition of the futility of trying to control one's life serves as an explanation as to why they won't assume responsibility for their actions, since they feel that they have no way of changing anything about their situations.
DeleteBoth Macbeth and Hamlet suffer an existential crisis with the realization that life is meaningless because they both realize that death is a component of life. Macbeth thinks that everything in life leads to death; therefore, signifying nothing. On the other hand, Hamlet mourns at the immediate ignorance caused by death, thinking that there is no point in living.
ReplyDeleteAre their attitudes towards death too extreme? Why/how do they both arrive at a nihilistic view?
DeleteBoth Macbeth and Hamlet suffer an existential crisis by exaggerating that life is ultimately meaningless because they both realize that death is the purpose of life. Macbeth believes that his actions will always lead to death no matter what. On the other hand, Hamlet mourns at the immediate oblivion of life caused by death, thinking that living is pointless.
Delete(Ran out of time, sorry!)
Both Macbeth and Hamlet believe that life is meaningless because both characters feel despondent and that their actions have no impact on their respective situations. However, it is because they accept such nihilism that these characters are not able to control their lives, demonstrating the individuals who accept their ability to alter their reality are actually able to.
ReplyDeleteAre there any indications as to why the two are so quick to draw and accept their nihilistic conclusions?
DeleteBoth Macbeth and Hamlet believe that life is meaningless because both characters feel despondent and that their actions have no impact on their respective situations. However, it is because they accept such nihilism due to their respective losses of a close relative that these characters are not able to control their lives, demonstrating the individuals who accept their ability to alter their reality are actually able to.
DeleteMacbeth - "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,/ That struts and frest his hour upon the stage,"(Macbeth, 5.5 25-26)
DeleteHamlet - ""How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable/Seem to me all the uses of this world!" (Hamlet, 1.2 137-138)
ReplyDeleteHamlet and Macbeth both express their disgust with the world by showing the neglect and lack of respect that those who have deceased are given. In their soliloquies, both characters focus on the extravagant life of an individual who was cared for and loved while they were alive but postmortem they were forgotten and neglected, people quickly moved on and forgot about how special such deceased individuals were in their lives, exemplifying that a person's true feelings towards another are not apparent till after they are dead.
Is their irony in these perspectives that you could mine? Do they count themselves as among those who neglect and forget? If not, then how are they different?
DeleteFollowing the deaths of Lady Macbeth and Hamlet Sr. respectively, Macbeth and Hamlet both rage over the meaninglessness and baseness of life. In each case, the loss of an idealized moral figure in their lives creates a perceived loss of control over their own existence, causing them to become disillusioned with life itself. This suggests that the perception autonomy is more important than legitimate autonomy in creating individual satisfaction and sense of meaning.
ReplyDeleteIn gravitating towards perception over legitimacy (or could we say reality?), do the characters give us the impression that people prefer illusion to truth?
Delete(no revisions)
Delete"It is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/ Signifying nothing" (Macbeth, 5.5.19-28).
"But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue" (Hamlet, 1.2.164).
During their respective soliloquies, both Hamlet and Macbeth confront the insignificance of their lives, and come to the realization that the world is cruel and unruly. However, instead of embracing their uncertain destinies, they allude to their wish for an untimely demise, signifying that they would prefer the simplicity of death over the complexity and uncontrollability of living.
ReplyDeleteDoes this death wish come out of a flaw in the characters?
DeleteDuring their respective soliloquies, both Hamlet and Macbeth confront the insignificance of their lives, and come to the realization that the world is cruel and unruly. However, instead of embracing their uncertain destinies, they allude to their wish for an untimely demise, signifying that they would prefer the simplicity of death over the complexity and uncontrollability of living. This is used not to depict the characters as weak, but rather to criticize the unrealistic expectations of perfection placed upon them by society.
DeleteMacbeth: "And all our yesterdays have lighted fools / the way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle."
Hamlet: "... that the Everlasting had not fixed / His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God, / How weary stale flat and unprofitable / Seems to me all the uses of this world!"
Hamlet and Macbeth both express their disgust with the world by showing the neglect and lack of respect that those who have deceased are given. In their soliloquies, both characters focus on the extravagant life of an individual who was cared for and loved while they were alive but postmortem they were forgotten and neglected, people quickly moved on and forgot about how special such deceased individuals were in their lives, exemplifying that a person's true feelings towards another are not apparent till after they are dead. This can be ironic because the speakers of such soliliquys tend to move on rather quickly as well. Hamlet dwells much longer on his father after death but Macbeth on the other hand really wants the kingdom to move on for him to be king. For Macbeth, his quotation is much more accepting of a seeming truth that people don't matter in the end, letting us belive he accepts it as fact. "That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more," (no idea page number). Hamlet is different because he is still reeling from his father's death, even when his mother is not. "Within a month, Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had flushing in her galled eyes, She married," (AiSiiP11).
ReplyDelete