Do those who think or do those who act generally succeed more in life? In Hamlet, this question is brought forth by many different scenes and speeches. I especially like the speech by the King on page 231 where he states, "We should do when we would; for this "would" changes." In my essay, I would love to compare and contrast those who think, with those who act. A great pair of people to compare and contrast would be Fortinbras and Hamlet, both of whom have lost their father and share commonalities, but differ in their course of action. It seems, as if throughout the whole play, Shakespeare is attempting to make a statement that those who act always do better. This is quite ironic considering that Shakespeare himself was such a thoughtful person. I still don't know exactly all the parts in the play that I would like to use to back up my topic, but it interests me because it completely relates to my own life and that's why I would like to delve further into this topic.
Is it just coincidence, or did Shakespeare really mean to persuade his audience that thought is better? I think that through a comparison of Fortinbras and Hamlet, we can see that Shakespeare preferred action to thought and that is what I ultimately would love to write about.
I like this idea a lot. I think there is a lot of material to work from, also a lot of hypothetical thinking which is always fun. Shakespeare is definitly a thinker himself, and very clever in the way he words everything to bring on multiple interpretations. I also think Hamlet portrays action conquering thought because of the fact that Fortinbras (if you chose to mainly focus on him and Hamlet) ultimately wins in the end of the novel by capturing the kingdom. Hamlet is certainly a thinker himself, always contemplating his decisions and even the idea of suicide. However, I believe that thought cannot lead to success unless those ideas are put into action; action will always triumph thought. Well, I hope that helped some. You always write good essays so I'm sure this will be no different.
ReplyDeleteShelby,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jessi that you are very much on the right track. Not only are you already inching your way from topic to thesis, but the best part about this post is that you have already begun pointing to specific passages in the text. This is key. Claudius' speech that you mention is a good one, but go back and review as well Hamlet's speech in response to the player (oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I", and his speech in reaction to observing Fortinbras' army. And speaking of irony, consider that one of the rare times in which Hamlet DOES act, he acts rashly (and winds up compounding the tragedy by mistakenly killing Polonius).
Again, I think you're off to a good start. I'm anxious to review your first draft!
5 Years back – You and I had not even heard about it. Now you know it exists. Tomorrow it may happen that without twitter, we wont even know how to send sms. May be it is going to revolutionize the way we talk over http! Or May be tomorrow there would be something called as Chirper which would be the next big thing which organisations would flock to. The point i am trying to make is – we cant keep waiting to get the basics of Twitter or any other efficiency improvement tool for that matter right and then jump in. By that time, the world might have decided to just move away and on from where we are planning to start.
ReplyDeletehttp://shubhmindfire.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/what-is-the-right-time-to-stop-thinking-and-start-doing/