Melancholy And Hamlet Essays - English-language Films,

Melancholy And Hamlet Melancholy and Hamlet In the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is greatly affected in his thoughts and his actions by his ever changing state of melancholy. Melancholia is a medical term categorized by extreme depression, apathy, and withdrawal. Hamlet gives in to this illness and throughout the play he shows several characteristics of it. Hamlet being so self-centered steers him away from performing the vigorous duties he has been chosen to do by the ghost of his father and also himself. Hamlet develops a wariness of family and companions that keeps him from incriminating himself and destroying his plans for revenge. In the end, it is Hamlet's perseverance and determination that keeps him focused on his plan and gives him a relentlessness with which he pursues his goal. The conduct of Hamlet causes him to become the exact definition of melancholy, as defined by the medical field over the years. The time in which Shakespeare lived and wrote this play was a time where the medical profession was just beginning. The people depended on ancient theories and practices that are no longer used in the medical field today. It was believed that black bile was a fluid found in the body. Any person with an excess amount of blood or fluids was believed to be in the state of melancholy. Hamlet was viewed as being composed of too much black bile which placed him as melancholic. Skepticism, a stubborn outlook and attitude about life, self absorption, and excessive gloomy response to recent events are all symptoms of melancholy. All of these symptoms apply to Hamlet during the course of the play. It is the fulfillment of these symptoms that proves Hamlet is in fact melancholic. Hamlet's constant thoughts and feelings about himself come from his state of melancholy. His continuos introspection as to how he is thinking, behaving, and feeling at any given time keep him from acting swiftly on the commands given to him by the ghost of his father. During all this time Hamlet still shows occasional signs of intelligence as he should. Hamlet is after all, an educated man. He refuses to perform his given duty without first questioning each area of the task at hand. He ponders the consequences of the task then he questions his very own position on the issue. Because of this, his ?thinking too precisely on th' event? (IV, iv, 41) has taken so long that he misses the opportunity to complete his responsibility. Hamlet is led to even more contemplation before he is able to move on to the secondary plan of action resulting from the failure of the first. You can see that Hamlet is able to recognize his pattern of behavior when he says, ?I do not know why yet I live to say ?This thing's to do:' sith I have cause and will and strength and means to do ?t? (IV, iv, 43-6). By seeing the source of his inability to act, Hamlet is now capable of correcting it. Now Hamlet gives in to his passions rather than debating them, which in turn brings more positive actions than lengthy excuses for his failure to act. Hamlet's melancholy is also displayed by his overwhelming emotion for any mood he is currently in. Biggest of all is the death of his father, after which he sinks into a great depression that traps his mind and spirit for the rest of the play. It is more complicated than a simple state of mourning. Hamlet has become obsessive about preserving the memory and integrity of the former king. Hamlet is the last person in the kingdom to continue mourning for his father, and shows his sadness by dressing only in ?nighted color? (I, ii, 68). While his mother sees his choice of clothing as showing his complete emotion, Hamlet tells her that it ?does not denote me truly? (I, ii, 83). His real emotions are much stronger than the simple decision of what to wear. The players come to put on a play and Hamlet focuses all of his time and energy on the performance. He wants to achieve his goal of catching ?the conscience of the king? (II, ii, 548). Hamlet has once again forgotten everything he was concerned with and is now only interested in one small part of his life. Hamlet's behavior shows that he is wrapped up in the mood

Gap Year College Essay Tips

Gap Year College Essay TipsA secondary essay is a great way to improve on your grades or if you are just in need of some extra college experience, but the advice in this sample gap year activities should prove useful. If you are an adult who has never been a student, consider participating in one in order to gain some college knowledge and experience.Before you begin writing the essay, decide on the essay topic. You can choose this topic of interest yourself or if it is a topic that you have been studying for the past two years, you may want to ask the guidance counselor for assistance. After you choose the topic, get out your notepad and pen. Put down what your idea's will be as well as any questions that you have. Having a list of topics will help you to be organized and to narrow down your options.When you have your topic and your questions ready, pick an essay writing software program and start taking some practice tests. This helps to familiarize yourself with the software, as w ell as make sure that you are comfortable with the keyboard layout, typeset, and all of the other elements that go into a good writing assignment. It also helps to practice with different essay topics.A secondary essay tip that I always consider when writing a college essay is to think about my life experiences. If you are having trouble coming up with things to write about, try to use your real life experiences. These include events from the past year or maybe even from your whole life. Have you been to this place, heard this event, eaten this food, worked this job, seen this scenery?If you are still not sure what you want to write about, you can try finding the primary subject and try to match it up with your life experience. If you have ever lived in New York, think about how that would fit in with your life experiences. Try to connect the two by using a colloquialism or a personal memory that relates to your primary subject.Secondary topics should not be too outlandish or too pe rsonal, but should be relevant and of interest to the reader. Using your primary subject is a good way to start a secondary topic. One thing to keep in mind is that your primary subject does not have to relate to your secondary subject at all, but if your primary subject seems to fit into the secondary subject, that's a good point to bring it up.Another secondary tip is to include more than one point in the essay. While it may seem obvious, it helps to consider why one point is relevant to another point. So, if your main point is about how New York students work hard in order to succeed, but your secondary point is about how students in New York succeed because they have a sense of humor, then include both points in your essay.Lastly, always use this secondary tip. It is helpful to write a secondary fact so that the readers can see where you learned something, or it is a bit of information that relates to your primary information. This secondary tip is important for two reasons.