The Central Question of Hamlet Essay -- Essays on Shakespeare Hamlet

The Central Question of village small towns tragedy is a tragedy of failure-the failure of a man placed in critical circumstances to deal successfully with those circumstances. In some ways, Hamlet reminds us of Brutus in Shakespeares Julius Caesar. Hamlet and Brutus are both good manpower who wear in trying times both are intellectual, even philosophical both men want to do the right thing both men intellectualize over what the right thing is neither man yields to passion. But here the comparison ends, for though both Brutus and Hamlet reflect at length over the need to act, Brutus is able immediately to act while Hamlet is not. Hamlet is stuck thinking too precisely on th event-. Hamlets father, the king of Denmark, has died suddenly. The dead kings brother,Claudius, marries Hamlets mother and fleetly assumes the throne, a throne that Hamlet fully expected would be his upon the death of his father. Hamlets fathers ghost confronts Hamlet and tells him that his death was not natural, as reported, but instead was murder. Hamlet swears revenge. But rather than swoop instantly to that revenge, Hamlet pretends to be insane in order to mask an investigation of the accusation brought by his fathers ghost. Why Hamlet puts on this antic disposition and delays in killing Claudius is the central question of the play. But Hamlet did not swear to his dead father that he, detective-like, would investigate. Hamlet swore revenge. And he has more than enough motivation to exact revenge. Does it not, think thee, stand me now upon-He that hath killed my king, and whored my motherPopped in between th election and my hopes,Thrown out his rake for my proper life,And with such cozenage-ist not perfect cons... ...play that is flawed, not our understanding of it. The central question of the play is, then, a question without an process if one is seeking the answer within the play. Shakespeare was supposed to supply us with an answer, or at least with a reason why there i s no answer. He offers us neither. Instead, this close celebrated of Shakespeares plays offers us a literary mystery which has captured the attention of all who have come into contact with it. Its time to file the question under open Mysteries. But for those who persist in analyzing the plot of the drama, or Hamlets psychology, or both in order to explain this particular enigma, I suggest that youre looking in the wrong place. Try history. Works Cited *A. C. Bradley, Shakespeares Tragic Period-Hamlet, Shakespearean Tragedy, MacMillan and Company Limited, 1904, pp. 70-101

Religious Syncretism and its Consequences in Mayan Society Essay

Religious Syncretism and its Consequences in Mayan SocietyWhen Spaniards first set foot on Mesoamerican shores in the early one-sixteenth century, they coppiceed not the godless mass of natives they believed they found, but a people whose rich spireligious rite traditions shaped and sustained them for thousands of years. These diverse phantasmal practices legitimized nearly every brass of Mesoamerican daily life, from science and architecture to art and politics (Carmack 295), in many of the same ways Catholicism did in Spain. The collision of these cultures in the massive Encounter and the resulting Spanish colonial state mixed not solely two different peoplesIndian and Spanishbut thousands of variants elites and slaves, peasant farmers and traders, priests and traders, organized and local spiritual customs, all with different degrees of diversity in their respective religious practices. This diversity set the stage for the syncretic religious traditions that emerged in Mayan society and continue a vital part of that culture today.Syncretic refers to the nature of ideas, deities, and practices that derive from historically distinct traditions that become reinterpreted and transformed in situations of a cultural encounter (Carmack 303). The cultural encounter between Mesoamericans and the Catholic Church was a natural result of mutual needs. The Indians needed protection from the cruelties inflicted by Spanish colonists, and the Church in many ways fought for their basic human rights the Church needed land and support for their missions, and the Indians provided provisions and labor in much the same fashion as they had been giving tribute to ruling elites for thousands of years (Fash). This arrangement gave missionaries access not only to the Indians bodiesin the form of sweat and laborbut also their hearts and souls.The introduction of Christianity to native Mesoamericans, however, expressed itself in ways unexpected to the Catholic missionaries. For e xample, the concept of Jesus Christboth in colonial Mesoamerica and today in thousands of Indian communitiesbecame one of the several manifestations of the sun god (Carmack 304). The Virgin of Guadalupe, today the patron saint of Mexico, was and is embraced by Indians who interpreted her and the myth surrounding her 1531 appearance to Juan Diego in traditional spiritual custom she is depicted as a d... ...storical documents such as Altar Q at Copn and the codexes.Other religious practices that resulted from the commix of ancient Mesoamerican and Catholic cultures in the diversity of colonial life include the construction of churches and cathedrals on or near ancient temple sites the ritual use of a fermented drink in spiritual practices (pulque and wine) public worship incense bundle cults and many other little traditions (Carmack 304).Myriad syncretic spiritual forms evolved during the era of colonial Mesoamerica, expressing both public devotional practices and private household rituals that many times were veiled from Church scrutiny (Carmack 308). These rituals, born in endemic culture and adapted to the drastically changed socio-economic and political landscape of colonial life, represent some of the few remaining links to the regions spiritual and historical past.BibliographyCarlsen, Robert. The War for the Heart & Soul of a Highland Maya Town. Austin University of Texas Press, 1997.Carmack, Robert, Janine Grasco, and Gary Gossen. The Legacy of Mesoamerica History and Culture of a Native American Civilization. New York Prentice Hall, 1996.

Superiority Ideas in the Formation of the United States :: United States History Papers

Superiority Ideas in the Formation of the joined States Superiority ideas are the darkest elements of human nature. The people of the United States appreciate the notion that the nation is progressive and invariably pushing towards the equity and prosperity of all its citizens. However, the United States remains a nation of polarized cities and undemocratic schools. Within the country is a macroculture that forms the cultural norms of America norms that alienate many of the diverse groups that are in reality the constituents that form the Union. We need to realign our ideals to truly encourage the equity and prosperity of all the citizens of America before this can be accomplished we need to recognize the origins of the superiority views that are a part of the present American culture. In an effort to trace the root of the superior views that are part our macroculture, the follow exposition examines the Puritan settlers of the New World, the waves of European immigration to A merica in the 1800s, and the structure of the American city. The Protestant value-system of the New World and the United States has influenced the macroculture that mandates the nations present educational ideals and social norms. In addition, the models used by sociologists to describe the American city demonstrates that dismantle the structure of the American city encourages the nation to be racially polarized polarization that inevitably leads to violence. With obvious constraints, the following exposition points only to a limited wad of the possible roots of the existing superiority views clearly there are numerous other origins that can be found within the formation of the United States that have contributed shunly to the social norms of America. The identified roots of superiority are the points of the authors interest and have been intentionally researched and described as possible sources of superiority views. Consequently, the negative attributes of the Puritans an d the dominant group in America have been focused on. Certainly, not all of the Puritan ideals and Anglo-Saxon ideals have had a negative influence on the apparent macroculture of America. Our present society has had a myriad of beneficial contributions from the early Puritan settlers and the Protestant ethic. With the previous clarifications mentioned, the Puritan settlers of the New World can be contemplated and rediscovered. The Puritans were, in their view, an elite subgroup of the Protestants, thus their goal in England was to halt Roman Catholic worship.