Read Act I, Scenes I and II of Hamlet and post responses to the following questions. These will be recorded as homework grades...15 pts. each if you do them reasonable well, 0 if you have not posted by the beginning of class Monday.
1. What portents appear in Act I Scene I? What does Horatio think these signs mean? What portents appeared in Moby-Dick? Do you think Shakespeare influneced Melville in this regard? Why or why not?
2. In his soliloquy, Hamlet uses the image of an unweeded garden. What is Hamlet comparing to a garden? What are the weeds? Who is responsible for tending the garden? If Hamlet were the chief gardener, how do you think he would go about restoring the garden?
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1. The main portent is the ghost of King Hamlet wandering around the sentries. Horatio believes this ghost “bodes some strange eruption to our state.” He compares the appearance to the strange happenings that occurred when Julius Caesar fell from the throne of Rome. The portents of Moby-Dick are Elijah, the names of the inns where Ishmael stays, and Ahab. I think a lot of people influenced Melville since there are so many allusions and footnotes in his novel. Shakespeare probably had influence but he was not the first to use foreshadowing or portents (just look at Oedipus Rex, that was centuries before Shakespeare).
2. Hamlet compares the world to a garden that is “unweeded” and “things rank and gross in nature possess it merely.” The weeds are all the woes like the death of his father and the quick re-marriage of his mother; God is responsible for tending the garden. If Hamlet were gardener he would separate his mother’s weed from that of Claudius and try to re-nourish his father’s weed back to life. He wants the garden to be as it was before; beautiful and lush as it was when his father was the king.
1.The signs of the ghost of King Hamlet in full armor with a look of sadness and anger on his face. Also the fact that when Horatio attempted to talk to the ghost, and he tried to speak, the rooster crowed cutting him off, and the ghost was so frightened he disappeared. These signs all present foreshadowing that makes the reader suspicious of what is to come.
2.Hamlet compares the world and how unkept and unprofitable it had become to the unweeded garden. The garden is society and the kingdom and since King Hamlet died, it has become unruly, and unprofitable. The sadness that enveloped the kingdom, and the hastiness that Hamlet's mother married his uncle creates a garden that has become full of weeds. The king is responsible for tending to the garden, therefore, the "weeds" or the town, has become unruly and uncontrollable because the king has just died and an incestuous head was placed on the throne. He would restore the garden, by putting himself on the throne, or forcing his uncle off of the throne and restoring the way his father ruled. Hamlet is full of sorrow over his father's death and he believes that his mother married his uncle too quickly and did not grieve long enough. His uncle does not support hamlet's desire to return to school, therefore, he would return to the discipline and way of ruling that his father had created, and his way of conquering other lands.
1.The ghost "comes armed through our watch so like the king that was". Horatio thinks that this ghost is the sign of impending war and violence. Elijah, would be the equivelent figure to match the Ghost, however Elijah speaks and the Ghost does not. I can not say definatively that Shakespeare influenced melville,however there were definately parts of Moby-Dick that wre supportive to the fact that Melville was influenced by Shakespeare. There are so many outside influences to "Monby-Dick" that you can only say he may have.
2.I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that Hamlet is comparing life to the unweeded garden and the weeds are formed by the prompt marriage of Claudius and Gertrude,and I would hazzard a guess that God or the gods are the ones supposed to be tending the garden. If Hamlet were the gardner i think he would get as far out of Dodge as possible and/or try and become King himself.
1. The main portent in Act I Scene I is the ghost of King Hamlet. Horatio, after the ghost disappears, states that "this bodes some strange eruption to our state." The second time the ghost appears, Horatio begs it to speak and tell him of anything that may reveal the country's fate. Once again the ghost does not speak. In Moby Dick, one of the main portents is Elijah. I do think Shakespeare influenced Melville, but he is among many others responsible of doing the same thing.
2. Hamlet compares the world to this unweeded garden, maybe his own life in particular. The weeds are "all things rank and gross in nature," and it is the Everlasting who is responsible for tending it. If Hamlet himself were the cheif gardener, he would certainly try to restore it to what it once was. if his mother was not married to his uncle and if his father was still among the living, Hamlet would view this garden as healthy and lush, and he would look upon with felicity instead of scorn.
1. The most obvious portent in Act I Scene I is the king’s ghost appearing. The fact that he is armed head to toe bodes ill and suggests violence to come. The cock crowing has always been one of the things that dispels evil presences, as a symbol of the day. The fact that the ghost shies from it is another sign of bad things to come. Similar portents in Moby Dick include the prophecies made by “madmen” such as Elijah and Pip, and the illness of Queequeg. I think Melville could have been influenced by Shakespeare, but I also think that the use of portents and omens is a common practice in literature and cannot be singularly attributed to anyone.
2. The garden of Hamlet’s soliloquy is the world/his life. The weeds choking out the neglected plants are the ills of his life: His father’s death, Claudius as king, his mother’s betrayal, etc. God/fate is meant to tend the garden, but has left it to rot. Hamlet would pluck the weeds and roots of evil that Claudius has become, and would nourish the plants of his life back to health.
The ghost of King Hamlet is the portent in Act 1. Horatio thinks that it means a sign of danger when he says, "It started like a guilty thing upon a fearful summons." Later, Hamlet believes that it is a sign of a crime against his father and that is why his soul will not rest. The portents that appear in Moby Dick are elijah's first warnings to Ismael when he is "signing" his soul away to Ahab and doom. Also Gabriel and fedallah's warnings and the name of the inns Ismael and Queequeg stay in. Yes, it is possible Shakespeare influenced Melville because the signs are at the beginning of the play and novel and they show some sort of forshadow or unsettled affair.
The unweeded garden is the kingdom that was flourishing when King Hamlet reigned over it. But now that Claudius is king, the "weeds of society" have taken over. The incestual marrige that Hamlet feels so strongly against also adds to the weeds of society. The person responsible for tending the garden would be Hamlet perhaps because he follows in the steps of his father and is most like him to make the garden blossom again. Hamlet would restore the garden by fixing the tension with fortinbras in Norway and trade conflicts.
1. In Act I Scence I, the ghost of King Hamlet is a portent. He appears only at night dressed in armor with a pale look on his face. Horatio things this is a forewarning: "This bodes some strange eruption to our state." ...Things are about to explode. In Moby Dick the prophet Elijah, the two captains, and Ahab act as portents. Throughout the book each of these characters spell out the demise to happen in the end. It can certainly be said that Melville read Shakespeare because he was wildly well-read in general. To say that Shakespeare heavily influenced Melville implies S. invented the idea of a portent which isn't true. I believe that ideas are always reinvented to be deemed "orininal" and that stands the case in Moby Dick (and Hamlet for that matter).
2. Hamlet expresses deep emotion in his metaphor. The "unweeded garden" is the world and the weeds are seeds planted of things "rank and gross in nature." Hamlet is still mourning the loss of his father whom he looked up to very much, his Uncle claiming the throne and marrying his mother, and (perhaps just a little) the fact he will not return to school. Hamlet believes God is responsible for controlling the garden, but if he were the chief gardener he would pesticide the weeds of his mothers lost mourning, their expedited marriage, and even his fathers death. But of course, nothing is this easy.
1. The main portent in act one: scene one is the ghost of the king of Denmark. That's wehre all the drama begins, because (even though it doesn't happen in scene one- sorry, read ahead while babysitting) eventually, the ghost poses question about whether the death of the King was really an accident, which leads Hamlet to the search for what really happens, which sets the scene for the rest of the story. Another portent is the rooster crowing. Actually its kind of a reverse-portent. He crows before the dawn when Horatio tries to get the ghost to speak. Its almost a religious reference. The light (dawn) chases away any signals of evil or the supernatural. Like in a way "The night is always darkest before the dawn" type of thing. Horatio thinks that its an important signal because the ghost was trying to speak to him and tell him something and was cut off. In Moby Dick, the most importent portent (haha, that sounsd amusing) was Queequegs coffin. It introduced a looming idea of imminent death for the crew. Shakespeare influeced Melville in many ways (note the ridiculous amount of footnotes; most of which i actually read). I'm sure the idea of portents showing death, and ominous things was a rub off from shakespeare to Melville.
2. The unweeded, untended garden i believe is a symbol of life. Hamlet is comparing his life to the garden. He is overwhelmed by things in nature that take over (like the weeds: His fathers death, the newfound mystery surrounding it, his mother's remarriage, his fathers ghost, pressure as the prince of denmark, etc.) Technically Hamlet should be responsible for tending his own garden, but i think in the soliloquoy he is referring to it as anyone else's responsibilty. God, his mother, the guards, horatio, so on and so on. He tends to place blame and responsibility on others. However, i think if he truly believed things were in his control, and he were the "chief gardener" (nice Dalton, what is he? Groundskeeper Willie?) I think he would try and find more ways to 'tend the weeds', which he ultimately does do.
1)The portent is the recently deceased king's ghost. Horatio believes this a forewarning of terrible things to come upon the kingdom. Portents contained within Moby Dick are Ishmael, named in reference to the biblical, wandering Ishmael, Peter Coffin, foreshadowing the Pequod's fatal fate, and the evil represented in Ahab. I believe Melville was greatly influenced by Shakespeare as he compiles multiple references to Shakespeare plays within his text and even models certain structural portions of his piece after Shakespearian style. Furthermore, the footnotes are filled with references to Shakespeare.
2) Hamlet's "unweeded garden" is in reference to the "world", the kingdom, which has evolved since his father's death. He is comparing the current state of the garden to the royalty which now head the kingdom. The "things rank and gross in nature [which] possess merely" are the "weeds" of the garden. These weeds are most namely Claudius, Hamlet's uncle and new stepfather,and possibly Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, as she has married her husband's brother just one month after her husband's death. Although, when contemplating how Hamlet would restore the garden, I begin to question my postulate regarding Gertrude. I believe that Hamlet would kill off the "weeds" of the garden which are leaving the city rank. Therefore he would either kill or, less extremely, dethrown and take Claudius' thrown over.
1) A ghost appears in the image of King Denmark. The sentries and Horatio discuss what this could mean. Horatio believe it may be a warning of war or an attack from Norway. They go to warn Hamlet because they fear the ghost will visit him next. One example of a potent in Moby Dick is the prophesies of Elijah. Melville definitely was influenced by Shakespeare. He follows the same format of a mysterious man warning about the future. Melville continues to reference several of Shakespeare's work, like the Tempest, which shows his influence over Melville.
2) Hamlet compares the unweeded garden to the unnatural or impure things that are in his life. Hamlets uses the garden to explain his feelings of his mother's marriage. He thinks that his mother's quick remarriage to Claudius is impure and leaves him in a state of sullen depression. In this case his mother and Claudius are the weeds. God is responsible for tending the garden. He thinks that God would have the rationality to wait and mourn over the death unlike his mother. If he were chief gardener then he would restore the garden by not permitting incest, especially separating the marriage. He would undo the death of his father because of his emotional depression in his absence.
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