Hamlet's Soliquy

— To be, or not to be, — that is the question: —

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them? — To die, — to sleep, —

No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, — 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, — to sleep; —

To sleep! perchance to dream: — ay, there's the rub;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause: there's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life;

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,

The pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,

To grunt and'sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death, —

The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn

No traveller returns, — puzzles the will,

And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; And enterprises of great pitch and moment, With this regard, their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. — Soft you now! The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remember'd.

Claudius understands that Hamlet knows his se­cret. He sends old Polonius to play the spy on Hamlet. During Hamlet's talk with his mother about what he is thinking of her, the young man notices somebody behind a screen. He thinks it is Claudius and stabs him. But it is old Polonius. He dies. The death of Polonius gives the king the right to send Hamlet out of the kingdom. Her father's death is a hard blow to Ophelia. She becomes insane and one day she comes to a willow, which is growing over a brook reflected in the water. To this brook Ophelia comes when she is unwatched and drowns herself. During her funeral Hamlet arrives. He knows nothing. Hamlet does not interrupt the ceremony. His love for Ophelia comes back to him. Ophelia's brother Laertes notices Hamlet whom he knows is the cause of his sister's death and wants to attack him.

Claudius decides to arrange a duel between Ham­let and Laertes and prepares a poisoned weapon. All the court is present at the match, during which Hamlet is deadly wounded by that weapon. At this moment the queen shrieks out that she is poisoned. She has drunk out of a poisoned bowl which the king

I us prepared for Hamlet in case that being warm in fenc­ing he will call for drink. But ho has forgotten to warn the queen of the bowl, which she drinks of...

Hamlet. The final scene

The end is certain and unavoidable. Hamlet suspects some treachery and suddenly turns upon his uncle the poi­soned point of his weapon and kills him. He carries out his useless revenge, he kills the king and seems to have won the contest. His end is obvious. He turns to Ho­ratio, who is a spectator of his tragedy, and asks him to tell his story to the world.

KING LEAR

King Lear

Shakespeare was a great master of plot. In his tragedy "King Lear" we can distinguish several impor­tant themes. Old King Lear decides to share the British

kingdom between his three daughters on the condi­tion that they declare their love for him uncondition­ally. Cordelia, his youngest daughter, refuses to do so ] and is banished.

Thus the kingdom is divided between his two older daughters. The two sisters divest Lear of his remaining I power and eventually turn him out into a stormy night

Meanwhile, Lear's loyal friend, Gloucester, is abused by Edmund, his illegitimate son, who has turned him against Edgar, his legitimate son. When Cordelia returns from France with an army to con­quer England for her father, the tragedy reaches its terrible climax. King Lear goes mad.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-07