So, Here Are Some Translations (of Mine) to Hamlet

DESCRIPTION: Mind you, please just read the title of this post.

p. 58-59 Hamlet

Now I am alone.

Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!

Is it not monstrous that this player here,

But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,

Could force his soul so to his own conceit

That from her working all his visage wanned,

Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect,

A broken voice, and his whole function suiting

With forms to his conceit? And all for nothing—

For Hecuba!

What’s Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba

That he should weep for her? What would he do

Had he the motive and the cue for passion

That I have? He would drown the stage with tears

And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,

Make mad the guilty and appall the free.

HAMLET: Oh, I am finally alone! Ah, blissful solitude! Now, what kind of humble little servant am I? How low however in this cruel, cruel society! How am I, royal Prince of Denmark, now forced to play this role of madness? But, the course of life never did run smooth, did it? Ah, for I am now only playing this character, this role, this thing not myself. Who is the real Hecuba to the hero? How does he weep for her loss, for her, for his dear fair sweet Hecuba? What is she to him? Am I worth for all this foul murder, all this cruel torment? Am I, Hamlet, avenger of my father, worth it? At last, finally, just for Hecuba! For Hecuba!

p. 82-83 Claudius

Oh, my offence is rank. It smells to heaven.

It hath the primal eldest curse upon ’t,

A brother’s murder. Pray can I not.

Though inclination be as sharp as will,

My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,

And, like a man to double business bound,

I stand in pause where I shall first begin,

And both neglect. What if this cursèd hand

Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood?

Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens

To wash it white as snow? Whereto serves mercy

But to confront the visage of offence?

And what’s in prayer but this twofold force,

To be forestallèd ere we come to fall

Or pardoned being down? Then I’ll look up.

My fault is past. But oh, what form of prayer

Can serve my turn, “Forgive me my foul murder”?

CLAUDIUS: Oh, no! My mistakes! Those rogue, foul mistakes! I found a path, an easier path out of the labyrinth of life. I have found a way to live with the blood on my hands. His blood. My brother’s blood. I found a way to live with the guilt, the shame. I’m so sorry! Oh, God! I’m so sorry! I am cursed! But, I am sorry. I am deeply guilty with all this business, all this blood spilled for murderous reasons. I’m so sorry, brother! And, God, how could your own peaceful might, your right reasons, possibly save me? No one can save me now- I am incurable. I may as well be an illness, a plague, hidden behind this foul fog of poisonous thick smoke. But now, as I look up at the skies, can I be forgiven? I am so sorry. I assure that my fault, these shameful mistakes, are beyond me now. I shall stop. Can I be forgiven for all I’ve done to get here? I don’t know, I don’t know. Please. Forgive me, God! Forgive me, brother!

p. 131-132 Osric VS Hamlet

OSRIC Your lordship speaks most    infallibly of him.
	HAMLETThe concernancy, sir? Why do we wrap the gentleman in our more rawer breath?
	OSRIC Sir?
	HORATIO (aside to HAMLET) Is ’t not possible to understand in another tongue? You will do ’t, sir, really.
	HAMLET What imports the nomination of this gentleman?
	OSRIC Of Laertes?
	HORATIO (aside to HAMLET) His purse is empty already. All ’s golden words are spent.
	HAMLET Of him, sir.
	OSRIC I know you are not ignorant—
	HAMLET I would you did, sir. Yet in faith, if you did, it would not much approve me. Well, sir?
	OSRIC You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes is—

OSRIC: You, Prince of Denmark, your presence calms him and me both. Your lordship, kind sir!

HAMLET: I’m afraid, Mr. Osric, that I do not understand your ways of speaking. Pardon?

OSRIC: I… I beg your pardon?

HORATIO: Is it certainly not possible to communicate through other ways, other “languages”? You shall, sir, seriously.

HAMLET: So, what brings you to our humble cottage?

OSRIC: Ah, castle, sir, not cottage. Eh, I come for Laertes.

HORATIO: Well, there’s not much more to say about him, yeah? He’s as good as spent, no golden words now that cat’s got his foul tongue.

HAMLET: Mind you. Of Laertes.

OSRIC: I am very aware that you are not stupid. Please don’t play dumb at me.

HAMLET: Ah, but I know you know, sir. Surely you don’t know how I know you know? Yet, if most truthfully, if you did doubt me, I would not approve of your behavior.

OSRIC: You are not certain of who Laertes really is. You do not know his other side. You are not aware of the things he’s done. You have no bloody idea what Laertes is capable of.

Hamlet's (Famous?) Dying Words

Original

HAMLET:

Heaven make thee free of it. I follow thee.—

I am dead, Horatio.—Wretched queen, adieu!—

You that look pale and tremble at this chance,

That are but mutes or audience to this act,

Had I but time (as this fell sergeant, Death,

Is strict in his arrest), O, I could tell you—

But let it be.—Horatio, I am dead.

Thou livest. Report me and my cause aright

To the unsatisfied.

Translation(My Version)

HAMLET: Horatio, you shall go to the graceful, peaceful heaven. It’s alright, my brother; God will not blame you for this blood-spilling massacre and nor will I. I’ll soon follow you to heaven. I believe that there is a river between life and death, and I will wait for you on the brink of the edge. Come, good Horatio, to the banks of the river of humanity. Me, Hamlet, I’m dying. I’m dying, Horatio. All of you, watching, shivering at the sight of so many dead, so many foul murders, I’ll explain it all- if I had the time. I know very well that I don’t, so Horatio shall straighten things out. Tell them, my honorable Horatio. Tell them the truth behind all this madness and confusion, for Death does not allow me much time to myself. Horatio, I’m dying. I’m really dying. But you’re alive, my loyal friend. Meet me at the banks of our river, our river which commenced to fall apart- but shall wait for you, even for eternity, for our friendship cannot be severed. I’m dying. I shall be dead soon. Goodbye, my mother, my queen. Goodbye, Sir Laertes. And for the last time, farewell, you traitorous King of Denmark.

Hamlet Quote

As you (probably?) know, one of William Shakespeare's greatest literary works, Hamlet, discusses the meaning of life and the sweet bliss of euthanasia. Now here's a quote from the brilliant character Hamlet himself:

“To die, to sleep - 
To sleep, perchance to dream - ay, there's the rub,
For in this sleep of death what dreams may come...” 

Hamlet, hovering on the brink of his existence, questions the meaning and purpose of life. He has been driven half-mad, and he compares death to sleep. In his monologue, Hamlet thinks of the easy death, a way out of all the suffering and madness. He figures that suicide is a blessing, and considers killing himself. But yet he fears of the dreams that come after sleep/death. 

Laertes Dialogue (Hamlet)

Here's a line from the Shakespeare play Hamlet-

LAERTES: How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with:
To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil!
Concience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
That both the worlds I give to negligence,
Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged
Most thoroughly for my father.

Laertes was stunned by grief of his father Polonius's death. This was the most emotional emotional point for him in the play. Laertes was saying that, since his father the lord chamberlain was killed, he would break the oath that he sweared to protect the royal family. He did not want to serve his country (Denmark) anymore. All he wanted to establish was that he would seek revenge for his father and hunt down the murderer. (The murderer, in case you did not know, is Hamlet.)

Here's my way of translating the above dialogue into modern language-

LAERTES: How did my father end up dead? How is all that is left of him a stiff, unyielding body of cold flesh? I won’t be played around with; to hell with all our vows of allegiance and loyalty! To hell with the damned honor of keeping promises! Conscience, grace, all to the deepest, darkest pit of Tartarus! I don’t care if I wound up dead in the end of the cavern, afflicted by suffering. I don’t care if I’m cursed for all these cruel means. I don’t care if I’m damned to hell now- I don’t care. Anything that should happen shall happen; I don’t care as long as I gain revenge for my father’s vile murder.

Quote Of the Day

Hi all,
Here's a beautiful quote from William Shakespeare that you should really check out:

"What greater punishment is there than life when you've lost everything that made it worth living?"- 
Romeo, Romeo and Juliet

Now read that again. Read it again, let it sink in. Isn't it just amazingly accurate? It's utterly fascinating.  It's so true and insightful.

2000 PAGEVIEWS!

YESSSSSS! 2000 PAGEVIEWS! I just want to say: Thank you! You guys are awesome!

The Question That Has Haunted Everyone For Centuries......

Let's just get right to the point, shall we? Here's the great question...

How did Shakespeare die?

No one knows for sure. No one. However, historians have been able to determine that Shakespeare had died in the year 1616- the same year a serious plague (typhus) broke out in England. Perhaps he died from the disease. Or did he?
The vicar of the Stanford Trinity Church (the church in which William Shakespeare was buried), John Ward, had written a diary entry about how he came to the conclusion of Shakespeare's possible death from typhus fever.
Unfortunately, we have no other proof to be sure of this theory. William Shakespeare's death at age fifty-two will still be a mystery. However, we do know that most Londoners back in Shakespeare's time died before age thirty, so Shakespeare was considered lucky to live such a prosperous and long life.

REST IN PEACE, WILL SHAKESPEARE.


Typhus fever bacteria (This is probably the first Shakespeare blog that has a magnified photograph of bacteria.)


William Shakespeare's final resting place.

Laertes: Mysterious, Revenge-Seeking, Honorable

Okay, let's face it. Hamlet is one of the best, most awesome piece of  work ever in the history of human literature. The legendary Will Shakespeare's talents are clearly expressed on this fabulous work of art. Hamlet is a story full of cheats, secrets, insanity, and small actions that may seem like nothing but then lead to a huge blowout- Just as the famous literary genius John Green has written on one of his greatest, most insightful works (Looking For Alaska), "If only we could see the endless string of consequences that result from our smallest actions."  
In Hamlet, melancholy and revenge play a huge role. Today we're gonna talk about revenge.
Laertes, one of the main characters in Hamlet, is a character who makes use of important revenge and justice. Laertes is a honorable son and a loving brother, and he is willing to do anything- and everything- to protect his family. He blames Hamlet for both the death of his father, Polonius, and his sister, Ophelia's suicide.  Of course he would. I don't blame him. I sympathize the dude. I mean, Hamlet killed Polonius without regretting it, and Ophelia attempted suicide because she couldn't get over Hamlet. What a hopeless romantic.
Anyways, back to Laertes. He plots revenge with Claudius, Hamlet's stepfather who has murdered his own brother (Hamlet's father) to get the throne of Denmark. Laertes decides to kill Hamlet and make it look as if it were an "accident" by challenging him to a duel. However, the young prince is a lot better than Laertes is, so Laertes selected a sharp blade and dipped it into poison. He murdered Hamlet in the end and got his sweet bliss of revenge, but only after Hamlet stabbed him. So Laertes dies, Hamlet kills Claudius, Claudius unintentionally kills Gertrude (the Queen), Hamlet dies.
Ophelia died, Polonius died, Rosencrantz (soldier) and Guildenstern (soldier number 2) died.
SHORT (and by that I mean agonizingly short) SUMMARY FOR ONE OF THE BEST LITERARY WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE: ........................... EVERYONE DIES.
That's right, everyone dies. Oh wait, no. The homeless guy who collected the trash didn't die. Or did he?

Insane (Yet Darkly Brilliant) Quote From An Insane Character

"Off with his head!"

The above expression has been used in so many movies, books, and TV shows. This quote is actually from the Shakespearean play King Richard III. It actually makes sense if you think about it. Richard III was a very INSANE and BLOODTHIRSTY character. He yearned for power, and he was willing to do anything to attempt the throne. He literally killed everyone: from courtguards to soldiers to servants to the janitor next door (kidding, kidding) to the royal family. YES, that's right, the ROYAL FAMILY. He cold-heartedly murdered the king and took the throne. Now back to this fascinating quote. No quote may be more straightforward than this one. I mean, come on. "Off with his head"? Brilliant. Pure genius. So straightforward. "Off with his head!" swish, poof, plop, splat. Okay, even I have to admit that that impression was just gross. But the quote was spectacular. William Shakespeare was an utterly incredible writer. He would just be sitting on his couch, playing with his quill-pen, and then be like, "Woah! Yes! Eureka (did the people in Will's time say 'eureka"?)! I did it! I found the perfect words to describe chopping a prisoner's head off!" And Anne Hathaway (his wife, not the celebrity) would be like, "Honey, calm down. Please calm down." And, of course, his children would be like, "Daddy's having one of his moments. Don't mind him, mom." And our dear friend Will would be like, "What do you think, kids? 'Off with his head'! Pure magnificent-ness!"
So yeah, that's it. (saying goodbye is awkward.)