1.
Hamlet
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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare at an uncertain date between 1599 and 1602. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatises the revenge Prince Hamlet is called to wreak upon his uncle, Claudius, by the ghost of Hamlets father, Claudius had murdered his own brother and seized the throne, also marrying his deceased brothers widow. It has inspired many other writers—from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Charles Dickens to James Joyce and he almost certainly wrote his version of the title role for his fellow actor, Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of Shakespeares time. In the 400 years since its inception, the role has been performed by highly acclaimed actors in each successive century. Three different early versions of the play are extant, the First Quarto, the Second Quarto, each version includes lines and entire scenes missing from the others. The plays structure and depth of characterisation have inspired much critical scrutiny, the protagonist of Hamlet is Prince Hamlet of Denmark, son of the recently deceased King Hamlet, and nephew of King Claudius, his fathers brother and successor. Claudius hastily married King Hamlets widow, Gertrude, Hamlets mother, Denmark has a long-standing feud with neighboring Norway, which culminated when King Hamlet slew King Fortinbras of Norway in a battle years ago. Although Denmark defeated Norway, and the Norwegian throne fell to King Fortinbrass infirm brother, Denmark fears that an invasion led by the dead Norwegian kings son, Prince Fortinbras, is imminent. On a cold night on the ramparts of Elsinore, the Danish royal castle and they vow to tell Prince Hamlet what they have witnessed. As the court gathers the next day, while King Claudius and Queen Gertrude discuss affairs of state with their elderly adviser Polonius, after the court exits, Hamlet despairs of his fathers death and his mothers hasty remarriage. Learning of the ghost from Horatio, Hamlet resolves to see it himself, as Poloniuss son Laertes prepares to depart for a visit to France, Polonius gives him contradictory advice that culminates in the ironic maxim to thine own self be true. Poloniuss daughter, Ophelia, admits her interest in Hamlet, and that night on the rampart, the ghost appears to Hamlet, telling the prince that he was murdered by Claudius and demanding that Hamlet avenge him. Hamlet agrees and the ghost vanishes, the prince confides to Horatio and the sentries that from now on he plans to put an antic disposition on and forces them to swear to keep his plans for revenge secret. Privately, however, he remains uncertain of the ghosts reliability, soon thereafter, Ophelia rushes to her father, telling him that Hamlet arrived at her door the prior night half-undressed and behaving crazily. Polonius blames love for Hamlets madness and resolves to inform Claudius, as he enters to do so, the king and queen finish welcoming Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two student acquaintances of Hamlet, to Elsinore. The royal couple has requested that the students investigate the cause of Hamlets mood, additional news requires that Polonius wait to be heard, messengers from Norway inform Claudius that the King of Norway has rebuked Prince Fortinbras for attempting to re-fight his fathers battles. The forces that Fortinbras conscripted to march against Denmark will instead be sent against Poland, Polonius tells Claudius and Gertrude his theory regarding Hamlets behavior, and speaks to Hamlet in a hall of the castle to try to uncover more information. Hamlet feigns madness but subtly insults Polonius all the while, when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive, Hamlet greets his friends warmly, but quickly discerns that they are spies
2.
John William Waterhouse
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John William Waterhouse RA was an English painter known for working in the Pre-Raphaelite style. He worked several decades after the breakup of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, born in Italy to English parents who were both painters, he later moved to London, where he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Art. He soon began exhibiting at their annual exhibitions, focusing on the creation of large canvas works depicting scenes from the daily life. Later on in his career he came to embrace the Pre-Raphaelite style of painting despite the fact that it had out of fashion in the British art scene several decades before. The exact date of his birth is unknown, though he was baptised on 6 April, and his early life in Italy has been cited as one of the reasons why many of his later paintings were set in ancient Rome or based upon scenes taken from Roman mythology. In 1854, the Waterhouses returned to England and moved to a newly built house in South Kensington, London, in 1871 he entered the Royal Academy of Art school, initially to study sculpture, before moving on to painting. Waterhouses early works were not Pre-Raphaelite in nature, but were of classical themes in the spirit of Alma-Tadema, the painting was a success and Waterhouse would exhibit at the annual exhibition every year until 1916, with the exception of 1890 and 1915. He then went from strength to strength in the London art scene, perhaps due to his success, his paintings typically became larger and larger in size. In 1883 he married Esther Kenworthy, the daughter of an art schoolmaster from Ealing who had exhibited her own flower-paintings at the Royal Academy and they had two children, but both died in early childhood. In 1895 Waterhouse was elected to the status of full Academician and he taught at the St. Johns Wood Art School, joined the St Johns Wood Arts Club, and served on the Royal Academy Council. One of Waterhouses most famous paintings is The Lady of Shalott, a study of Elaine of Astolat and he actually painted three different versions of this character, in 1888,1894, and 1916. Like The Lady of Shalott and other Waterhouse paintings, it deals with a woman dying in or near water and he also may have been inspired by paintings of Ophelia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. He submitted his Ophelia painting of 1888 in order to receive his diploma from the Royal Academy, after this, the painting was lost until the 20th century, and is now displayed in the collection of Lord Lloyd-Webber. Waterhouse would paint Ophelia again in 1894 and 1909 or 1910, Waterhouse could not finish the series of Ophelia paintings because he was gravely ill with cancer by 1915. He died two years later, and his grave can be found at Kensal Green Cemetery in London, in total he produced 118 paintings. List of paintings by John William Waterhouse Moyle, Franny, Pre-Raphaelite art, simpson, Eileen, Pre-Raphaelites for a new generation, Letters,17 June, Pre-Raphaelite revival, The Daily Telegraph. Dorment, Richard, Waterhouse, The modern Pre-Raphaelite, at the Royal Academy – review, The Daily Telegraph
3.
William Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
4.
Polonius
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Polonius is a character in William Shakespeares Hamlet. He is chief counsellor of the king, and the father of Laertes, in Act II Hamlet refers to Polonius as a tedious old fool and taunts him as a latter day Jeptha. Polonius connives with Claudius to spy on Hamlet, Hamlet unknowingly kills Polonius, provoking Ophelias fit of madness, ultimately resulting in her early death and the climax of the play, a duel between Laertes and Hamlet. Father of Ophelia and Laertes, and counselor to King Claudius, he is described as a windbag by some and a rambler of wisdom by others. It has also suggested that he only acts like a foolish prating knave in order to keep his position and popularity safe. It is important to note that throughout the play, Polonius is characterized as a typical Renaissance new man, some adaptations show him conspiring with Claudius in the murder of King Hamlet. In Act 1, Scene 3, Polonius gives advice to his son Laertes and he finishes by giving his son his blessing, and is apparently at ease with his sons departure. However, in Act 2, Scene 1, he orders his servant Reynaldo to travel to Paris and spy on Laertes, Laertes is not the only character Polonius spies upon. He is fearful that Hamlets relationship with his daughter will hurt his reputation with the king and he and the king test his hypothesis by spying on and interrogating Ophelia. In his last attempt to spy on Hamlet, Polonius hides himself behind an arras in Gertrudes room, Hamlet deals roughly with his mother, causing her to cry for help. Polonius echoes the request for help and is heard by Hamlet, Polonius death at the hands of Hamlet causes Claudius to fear for his own life, Ophelia to go mad, and Laertes to seek revenge, which leads to the duel in the final act. The literary origins of the character may be traced to the Kings counselor found in the Belleforest, however, at least since the 19th century scholars have also sought to understand the character in terms of Elizabethan court politics. Polonius was first proposed as a parody of Queen Elizabeths leading counsellor, Lord Treasurer, israel Gollancz also suggested that Polonius might have been a satire on Burghley. The theory was often finessed with supplementary arguments, but also disputed, arden Hamlet editor Harold Jenkins, for example, criticised the idea of any direct personal satire of Burghley as unlikely and uncharacteristic of Shakespeare. Polonius is Latin for Polish or a/the Polish man, the English translation of the book refers to its author as a statesman of the polonian empyre. In the first quarto of Hamlet, Polonius is named Corambis and it has been suggested that this derives crambe or crambo, derived from a Latin phrase meaning reheated cabbage, implying a boring old man who spouts trite rehashed ideas. Whether this was the name of the character or not is debated. Various suggestions have been made to explain this, since Polonius is a parody of a pompous pseudo-intellectual, the name might have been interpreted as a deliberate insult
5.
Laertes (Hamlet)
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Laertes /leɪˈɜːrtiːz/ is a character in William Shakespeares play Hamlet. His name is taken from the father of Odysseus in Homers Odyssey, Laertes is the son of Polonius and the brother of Ophelia. In the final scene, he kills Hamlet with a sword to avenge the deaths of his father and sister. While dying of the poison, he implicates King Claudius. The Laertes character is thought to be originated by Shakespeare, as there is no equivalent character in any of the sources for the play. Before Laertes returns to France from Denmark, returning to Denmark only to attend the coronation of King Claudius, his father, Polonius, during Laertess absence, Hamlet kills Polonius in Gertrudes parlor. Laertes, informed of his fathers death, returns to Denmark, Laertes confronts the King, thinking he was responsible for Polonius death. The King explains to him who the killer was, and incites Laertes to kill Hamlet. When Ophelia appears in her mad condition, Laertes laments, saying if she had her wits she could not persuade him more to revenge. Later, Laertes is informed of her death and she had climbed into a willow tree that hung over a brook, and then fell into the water when a branch broke. Too insane to save herself, she drowned and his sisters death strengthens Laertess resolve to kill Hamlet. At her funeral, Laertes asks why the normal Christian burial ceremony is not being carried out for his sister and he leaps into her grave and begs the attendants to bury him with her. Hamlet, who was watching from afar, advances and himself leaps into Ophelias grave. When Laertes attacks Hamlet, the two have to be back to avoid a fight. In the next scene, King Claudius arranges a match between Hamlet and Laertes. Laertes uses his sharp, poisoned sword instead of a bated sword, the King provides a poisoned drink as a backup measure. Before the match begins, Hamlet apologizes publicly to Laertes for the wrongs he has dealt him, Laertes accepts the apology, so he says, but he proceeds with the scheme to kill Hamlet. Hamlet is eventually wounded with the poisoned sword, then, in a scuffle, the swords are switched
6.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
7.
Prince Hamlet
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Prince Hamlet is the title character and protagonist of William Shakespeares tragedy Hamlet. He is the Prince of Denmark, nephew to the usurping Claudius, and son of King Hamlet, at the beginning of the play, he struggles with whether, and how, to avenge the murder of his father, and struggles with his own sanity along the way. By the end of the tragedy, Hamlet has caused the deaths of Polonius, Laertes, Claudius and he is also indirectly involved in the deaths of his love Ophelia and of his mother Gertrude. The play opens with Hamlet deeply depressed over the recent death of his father, King Hamlet, one night, his fathers ghost appears to him and tells him that Claudius murdered him in order to usurp the throne, and commands his son to avenge his death. Claudius sends for two of Hamlets friends from Wittenberg, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to find out what is causing Hamlet so much pain, Claudius and his advisor Polonius convince Ophelia—Polonius daughter and Hamlets true love—to speak with Hamlet while they secretly listen. Ophelia greets him, and offers to return his remembrances, upon which Hamlet questions her honesty and tells her to get thee to a nunnery. Hamlet devises a test to see whether Claudius is guilty, he hires a group of actors to perform a play about the murder of a king in front of the royal court, Claudius demands the play be stopped half through because it is the cause of his guilty conscience. When Claudius leaves the audience deeply upset, Hamlet knows that the ghost was telling the truth, a second attempt on Claudius life ends in Polonius accidental death. Claudius, now fearing for his life, sends Hamlet to England, accompanied by Rosencrantz, alone, Claudius discloses that he is actually sending Hamlet to his death. Prior to embarking for England, Hamlet hides Polonius body, ultimately revealing its location to the King, meanwhile, her fathers death has driven Ophelia insane with grief, and Claudius convinces her brother Laertes that Hamlet is to blame. He proposes a match between the two. Laertes informs the king that he will poison the tip of his sword so that a mere scratch would mean certain death. Claudius plans to offer Hamlet poisoned wine if that fails, Gertrude enters to report that Ophelia has died. In the Elsinore churchyard, two clowns, typically represented as gravediggers, enter to prepare Ophelias grave, Hamlet arrives with Horatio and banters with one of them, who unearths the skull of a jester whom Hamlet once knew, Yorick. Ophelias funeral procession approaches, led by Laertes, Hamlet interrupts, professing his own love and grief for Ophelia. He and Laertes grapple, but the fight is broken up by Claudius, later that day, Hamlet tells Horatio how he escaped death on his journey, disclosing that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been sent to their deaths instead. A courtier, Osric, interrupts to invite Hamlet to fence with Laertes, despite Horatios warnings, Hamlet accepts and the match begins. After several rounds, Gertrude toasts Hamlet, accidentally drinking the wine he poisoned, between bouts, Laertes attacks and pierces Hamlet with his poisoned blade, in the ensuing scuffle, Hamlet is able to use Laertes own poisoned sword against him
8.
Jacopo Sannazaro
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Jacopo Sannazaro was an Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples. Sannazaros elegant style was the inspiration for much courtly literature of the 16th century and he was born in 1458 at Naples of a noble family of the Lomellina, that claimed to derive its name from a seat in Lombard territory, at San Nazaro near Pavia. His father died ca 1462, during the boyhood of Jacopo, in 1483–85 he campaigned twice with Alfonso against papal forces near Rome. In the Accademia Pontaniana that collected around Giovanni Pontano, he took the nom de plume of Actius Syncerus. His withdrawal from Naples as a man, sometimes treated as biographical, is apparently a purely literary trope. He speedily achieved fame as a poet and a place as a courtier, the later years of the poet seem to have been spent at Naples. In 1525 he succeeded the humanist Pietro Summonte as head of the Pontanian academy, the Arcadia of Sannazaro was written in the 1480s, completed about 1489 and circulated in manuscript before its initial publication. But a frightful dream induces him to return to the city, traversing a dark tunnel to his native Naples, the events are amplified by extensive imagery drawn from classic sources, by the poets languid melancholy and by atmospheric elegiac descriptions of the lost world of Arcadia. It was the first pastoral work in Renaissance Europe to gain international success, in addition to its pastoral setting, the other great originality of the work stems from its novel structure of alternating prose and verse. With the Arcadia behind him, Sannazaro concentrated on Latin works of classical inspiration and his Virgilian bucolic works include the five Eclogae piscatoriae, eclogues on themes connected with the Bay of Naples, three books of elegies, and three books of epigrams. Other works in Latin include three books of epigrams, and two works entitled Salices and De Morte Christi Lamentatio. Sannazaros now seldom-read sacred poem in Latin, De partu Virginis and he also wrote some savage and caustic epigrams. This epigram caused immense grief to the Pope and his portrait by Titian, painted ca 1514–18, is in the Royal Collection, part of the diplomatic Dutch Gift to Charles II, in 1660. The first complete translation into English of the Arcadia is by Ralph Nash, Jacopo Sannazaro, Arcadia, Nash returned to translate into English prose and verse The Major Latin Poems of Jacopo Sannazaro,1996. The distinguished Latinist Michael C. J. Putnam has recently published the first translation of all of Sannazaros Latin poetry. Montfaucon describes the tomb of the poet Sannazaro in the church of the Olivetans, Naples, as ornamented with the statues of Apollo and Minerva, and with groups of satyrs
9.
Ancient Greek
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Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek
10.
King Claudius
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King Claudius is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of William Shakespeares tragedy Hamlet. He is the brother to King Hamlet, second husband to Gertrude and uncle and he obtained the throne of Denmark by murdering his own brother with poison and then marrying the late kings widow. He is loosely based on the Jutish chieftain Feng who appears in Chronicon Lethrense, there had never been an actual Danish King of that name. Claudius is seen at the beginning of the play to be a monarch as he deals diplomatically with such issues as the military threat from Norway. It is not until the appearance of King Hamlets Ghost in the courtyard that the reader questions his motives, during the plays progression he takes a turn for the worse by first resorting to spying, and, when that fails, murder. It is in Act III Scene 3, when Claudius forestalls Hamlets revenge by confessing his sins to God in his own private chapel and he is shown to be discontent and unhappy with the events taking place. If he were to truly repent, he would have to confess his sin and give up all he achieved through it, which he chooses not to do. Despite his remorse, the King still seeks Hamlets death in an effort to both his throne and his life, as he believes the prince is now aware of his part in Old King Hamlets death. When Laertes seeks revenge for his father Polonius death at Hamlets hands, Claudius finally concocts a plan to deal with Hamlet once. He arranges a match between Hamlet and Laertes, but plots with Laertes to poison his foil and give Hamlet a poisoned drink. The character Claudius is both the major antagonist of the piece and complex and he is the villain of the piece, as he admits to himself, O, my offence is rank it smells to heaven. Yet his remarkable self-awareness and remorse complicates Claudiuss villain status, much like Macbeth, Claudiuss fratricide is the corruption permeating the plays world – that which is, in the words of Marcellus, something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Claudius cruelty is reflected in his schemes to kill Hamlet – sending him to England to be killed, Claudius is also a heavy drinker, proposing numerous toasts and presiding over a rowdy court, he appropriately succumbs to his own poisoned wine. The king is not without redeeming virtues, though and he is seen to be an able monarch as well as a quick thinker and smooth talker, who in Act IV, Scene 5 converts Laertes from rebel to accomplice. In Act III, Scene 1 he fleetingly shows remorse for his crimes, and attempts to pray in Scene 3, even as he realizes that he cannot sincerely repent, and eventually continues in his evil ways. Most commentators agree that the evil nature is evident. The king is named after the Roman emperor Claudius I, who was considered the archetype of a ruler in Shakespeares time. / O heart, lose not thy nature, let not ever / The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom, although the character is referred to as Claudius, King of Denmark in one stage direction, the name Claudius is never spoken by any character in the play
11.
Convent
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A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers or religious sisters, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion. The term derives via Old French from Latin conventus, perfect participle of the verb convenio, meaning to convene, the original reference was to the gathering of mendicants who spent much of their time travelling. Technically, a monastery or nunnery is a community of monastics, whereas a friary or convent is a community of mendicants, and a canonry a community of canons regular. The terms abbey and priory can be applied to both monasteries and canonries, an abbey is headed by an Abbot, and a priory is a dependent house headed by a Prior. In English usage since about the 19th century the term convent almost invariably refers to a community of women, in historical usage they are often interchangeable, with convent especially likely to be used for a friary. When applied to houses in Eastern Orthodoxy and Buddhism, English refers to all houses of male religious as monasteries. Christian monasticism Enclosed religious orders Herbermann, Charles, ed. Convent, carmelite Monastery of the Sacred Hearts —- an example of a modern-day convent Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Convent
12.
To be, or not to be
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To be, or not to be is the opening phrase of a soliloquy spoken by Prince Hamlet in the so-called nunnery scene of William Shakespeares play Hamlet. Even so, Hamlet seems to consider himself alone, in the speech, Hamlet contemplates death and suicide, bemoaning the pain and unfairness of life but acknowledging that the alternative might be worse. The meaning of the speech is heavily debated but seems concerned with Hamlets hesitation to directly and immediately avenge his fathers murder on his uncle, stepfather and this version preserves most of the First Folio text with updated spelling and five common emendations introduced from the Second Quarto. Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep, To sleep, perchance to Dream, aye, theres the rub, for in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, soft you now, The fair Ophelia. Nymph, in thy Orisons Be all my sins rememberd, although the First Quarto was the earliest edition of Hamlet in print it is considered a bad quarto rather than a first or earlier draft. Some parts of Q1 reflect the text well, its version of To be does not, being much shorter. For ease of comparison the spelling here is updated as above, to be, or not to be, Ay theres the point, To Die, to sleep, is that all. But for this, the hope of this, Whod bear the scorns and flattery of the world, Scorned by the right rich. Which puzzles the brain, and doth confound the sense, Which makes us rather bear those evils we have, aye that, O this conscience makes cowards of us all, Lady in thy orizons, be all my sins remembered. Q1, as mentioned above, differs from its source material, a puzzling example is that dread is changed to hope in the line, But for a hope of something after death. In the lines above this, Hamlet questions why one would suffer the calamites of life when a bare bodkin could quiet that suffering. In the Second Quarto, Halmlet suggests that humanity endures life because we dread what comes after death, the change from dread to hope makes the phrasing nonsensical, since he is now suggesting that we refuse death because of a hope of something after death. The Second Quarto is considered the earliest and authoritative version of the play, soft you now, The faire Ophelia, Nimph in thy orizons Be all my ſinnes remembred. The differences in To be are mostly typographic, with increased punctuation and capitalization, tis a consummation Deuoutly to be wiſhd. To dye to sleepe, To sleep, perchance to Dream, I, theres the rub, For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, When we haue ſhufflel’d off this mortall coile, soft you now, The faire Ophelia. Nimph, in thy Orizons Be all my ſinnes remembred, to be, or not to be is one of the most widely known and quoted lines in modern English, and the soliloquy has been referenced in innumerable works of theatre, literature and music. In 1963 at a debate in Oxford, Black liberation leader Malcolm X quoted the first few lines of the soliloquy to make a point about extremism in defense of liberty, james dystopian novel The Children of Men refers to expected or forced mass suicides of the elderly as Quietus
13.
Ophelia (painting)
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Ophelia is a painting by British artist Sir John Everett Millais, completed between 1851 and 1852. It is held in the Tate Britain in London and it depicts Ophelia, a character from William Shakespeares play Hamlet, singing before she drowns in a river in Denmark. The work was not highly regarded when first exhibited at the Royal Academy, the painting depicts Ophelia singing while floating in a river just before she drowns. The scene is described in Act IV, Scene VII of Hamlet in a speech by Queen Gertrude, the episode depicted is not seen onstage, but exists only in Gertrudes description. Ophelia has fallen into the river from a tree overhanging it and she lies in the water singing songs, as if unaware of her danger. Her clothes, trapping air, have allowed her to stay afloat. But eventually, her garments, heavy with their drink, / Pulld the poor wretch from her melodious lay down to muddy death, Ophelias death has been praised as one of the most poetically written death scenes in literature. Ophelias pose—her open arms and upwards gaze—also resembles traditional portrayals of saints or martyrs, the painting is known for its depiction of the detailed flora of the river and the riverbank, stressing the patterns of growth and decay in a natural ecosystem. Despite its nominal Danish setting, the landscape has come to be seen as quintessentially English, Ophelia was painted along the banks of the Hogsmill River in Surrey, near Tolworth, Greater London. Millais close colleague William Holman Hunt was at the working on his The Hireling Shepherd nearby. The flowers shown floating on the river were chosen to correspond with Shakespeares description of Ophelias garland and they also reflect the Victorian interest in the language of flowers, according to which each flower carries a symbolic meaning. The prominent red poppy—not mentioned by Shakespeares description of the scene—represents sleep, at an early stage in the paintings creation, Millais painted a water vole—which an assistant had fished out of the Hogsmill—paddling next to Ophelia. In December 1851, he showed the painting to Holman Hunts relatives. He recorded in his diary, Hunts uncle and aunt came, the male relation, when invited to guess at it, eagerly pronounced it to be a hare. Perceiving by our smiles that he had made a mistake, a rabbit was then hazarded, after which I have a faint recollection of a dog or a cat being mentioned. Millais painted the water out of the final picture, although a rough sketch of it still exists in an upper corner of the canvas hidden by its frame. In keeping with the tenets of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, of which he was a member, Millais used bright colours, gave high attention to detail, also, Millais utilizes bright, intense colours in the landscape to make the pale Ophelia contrast with the nature behind her. All this is evident in the attention to detail in the brush and trees around Ophelia, the contouring of her face
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John Everett Millais
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Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, PRA was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. A child prodigy, at the age of eleven Millais became the youngest student to enter the Royal Academy Schools, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded at his family home in London, at 83 Gower Street. Millais became the most famous exponent of the style, his painting Christ in the House of His Parents generating considerable controversy, by the mid-1850s Millais was moving away from the Pre-Raphaelite style and developing a new and powerful form of realism in his art. His later works were successful, making Millais one of the wealthiest artists of his day. Millaiss personal life has played a significant role in his reputation. His wife Effie was formerly married to the critic John Ruskin, Millais was born in Southampton, England in 1829, of a prominent Jersey-based family. His parents were John William Millais and Emily Mary Millais, most of his early childhood was spent in Jersey, to which he retained a strong devotion throughout his life. The author Thackeray once asked him when England conquered Jersey, the family moved to Dinan in Brittany for a few years in his childhood. His mothers forceful personality was the most powerful influence on his early life and she had a keen interest in art and music, and encouraged her sons artistic bent, promoting the relocating of the family to London to help develop contacts at the Royal Academy of Art. He later said I owe everything to my mother and his prodigious artistic talent won him a place at the Royal Academy schools at the unprecedented age of eleven. While there, he met William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti with whom he formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in September 1848 in his home on Gower Street. Millaiss Christ in the House of His Parents was highly controversial because of its portrayal of a working class Holy Family labouring in a messy carpentry workshop. Later works were controversial, though less so. Millais achieved popular success with A Huguenot, which depicts a couple about to be separated because of religious conflicts. He repeated this theme in later works. All these early works were painted with great attention to detail, in paintings such as Ophelia Millais created dense and elaborate pictorial surfaces based on the integration of naturalistic elements. This approach has been described as a kind of pictorial eco-system, Mariana is a painting that Millais painted in 1850-51 based on the play Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare and the poem of the same name by Alfred, Lord Tennyson from 1830. In the play, the young Mariana was to be married and this style was promoted by the critic John Ruskin, who had defended the Pre-Raphaelites against their critics
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Tate
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Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdoms national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is a network of four art museums, Tate Britain, London, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives, Cornwall and Tate Modern, London, Tate is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The name Tate is used also as the name for the corporate body. The gallery was founded in 1897, as the National Gallery of British Art, the Tate Gallery was housed in the current building occupied by Tate Britain, which is situated in Millbank, London. Tate Liverpool has the purpose as Tate Modern but on a smaller scale. All four museums share the Tate Collection, one of the Tates most publicised art events is the awarding of the annual Turner Prize, which takes place at Tate Britain. The original Tate was called the National Gallery of British Art, situated on Millbank, Pimlico, the idea of a National Gallery of British Art was first proposed in the 1820s by Sir John Leicester, Baron de Tabley. It took a step nearer when Robert Vernon gave his collection to the National Gallery in 1847, a decade later John Sheepshanks gave his collection to the South Kensington Museum, known for years as the National Gallery of Art. Henry Tate also donated his own collection to the gallery and it was initially a collection solely of modern British art, concentrating on the works of modern—that is Victorian era—painters. It was controlled by the National Gallery until 1954, in 1926 and 1937, the art dealer and patron Joseph Duveen paid for two major expansions of the gallery building. His father had paid for an extension to house the major part of the Turner Bequest. Henry Courtauld also endowed Tate with a purchase fund, by the mid 20th century, it was fulfilling a dual function of showing the history of British art as well as international modern art. In 1954, the Tate Gallery was finally separated from the National Gallery, later, the Tate began organising its own temporary exhibition programme. In 1979 with funding from a Japanese bank a large extension was opened that would also house larger income generating exhibitions. In 1987, the Clore Wing opened to house the major part of the Turner bequest, in 1988, an outpost in north west England opened as Tate Liverpool. This shows various works of art from the Tate collection as well as mounting its own temporary exhibitions. In 2007, Tate Liverpool hosted the Turner Prize, the first time this has been held outside London and this was an overture to Liverpools being the European Capital of Culture 2008. In 1993, another offshoot opened, Tate St Ives and it exhibits work by modern British artists, particularly those of the St Ives School
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Kenneth Branagh
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Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh is a Northern Irish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter originally from Belfast. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and he has directed or starred in several film adaptations of William Shakespeares plays, including Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Hamlet, Loves Labours Lost, and As You Like It. He also narrated the BBC documentary miniseries Walking with Dinosaurs, Walking with Beasts, Branagh has been nominated for five Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, and has won three BAFTAs, and an Emmy. He was appointed a knight bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours and was knighted on 9 November 2012, at the age of nine, he moved with his family to Reading, Berkshire, to escape the Troubles. He was educated at Grove Primary School, Whiteknights Primary School, then Meadway School, Tilehurst, at school, he acquired Received Pronunciation to avoid bullying. On his identity today he has said, I feel Irish, I dont think you can take Belfast out of the boy, and he attributes his love of words to his Irish heritage. He is known to have attended the Reading Cine & Video Society as a member and was a member of Progress Theatre for whom he is now the patron. Branagh went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Branagh was part of the new wave’ of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Bruce Payne, in 1984 he appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Henry V, directed by Adrian Noble. The production played to full houses, especially at the Barbican in London and it was this production that he adapted for the film version of the play in 1989. This Twelfth Night was later adapted for television, on the negative side, he has not got the magnetism of Olivier, nor the mellifluous voice quality of Gielgud nor the intelligence of Guinness. A year later in 1989 Branagh co-starred with Emma Thompson in the Renaissance revival of Look Back in Anger, Judi Dench directed both the theatre and television productions, presented first in Belfast then at the London Coliseum and Lyric Theatre. In 2002, Branagh starred at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield as Richard III, in 2003 he starred in the Royal National Theatres production of David Mamets Edmond. Branagh directed The Play What I Wrote in England in 2001, from September to November 2008, Branagh appeared at Wyndhams Theatre as the title character in the Donmar West End revival of Anton Chekhovs Ivanov in a new version by Tom Stoppard. His performance was lauded as the performance of the year by several critics and it won him the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Male Performance but did not get him a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, to the surprise of critics. In July 2013 he co-directed Macbeth at Manchester International Festival with Rob Ashford, with Branagh in the title role, Alex Kingston played Lady Macbeth and Ray Fearon featured as Macduff. The final performance of the sold out run, was broadcast to cinemas on 20 July as part of National Theatre Live. He repeated his performance and directorial duties opposite Ashford and Kingston when the production moved to New York Citys Park Avenue Armory in June 2014, the production marked his New York stage debut
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Gertrude (Hamlet)
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In William Shakespeares play Hamlet, Gertrude is Hamlets mother and Queen of Denmark. Her relationship with Hamlet is somewhat turbulent, since he resents her marrying her husbands brother Claudius after he murdered the King, Gertrude reveals no guilt in her marriage with Claudius after the recent murder of her husband, and Hamlet begins to show signs of jealousy towards Claudius. According to Hamlet, she mourned her husbands death before marrying Claudius. Gertrude is first seen in Act 1 Scene 2 as she tries to cheer Hamlet over the loss of his father and her worry over him continues into the second act, as she sides with King Claudius in sending Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to raise the spirits of her son. In the next act, Gertrude tells Claudius of Polonius murder and she also shows genuine compassion and affection as she watches along with others as Ophelia sings and acts in absolute madness. At Ophelias burial, she expresses her hope that the young woman might have married her son. When Hamlet appears and grapples with Laertes, she asks him to stop and for someone to hold him back—saying that he may be in a fit of madness now, but that will alleviate soon. At the beginning of the play, Gertrude lies more with her husband than her son, in the final scene, Gertrude notices Hamlet is tired during the fight with Laertes, and offers to wipe his brow. She drinks a cup of poison intended for Hamlet by the King, against the Kings wishes, and dies, shouting in agony as she falls, No, no, the drink, --O my dear Hamlet--The drink, other characters views of the Queen are largely negative. When the Ghost of her husband appears to Hamlet, he describes her as a seeming virtuous queen. However, he expresses that his love for her was benevolent as he states that he would have held back the elements if they visited her face too roughly. Hamlet sees her as an example of the weakness of women, Gertrudes last words show affection towards her son. She does not confess to any sins before she dies which suggests she was naïve about the corruption in Denmark. Therefore, Gertrude is most likely an honest queen and a mother as she makes no attempts to ease her conscience regarding whether she would be sent to Heaven or Hell. Other considerations point to Gertrudes complicity in the murder of Hamlets father, S. Eliot suggests that the main cause of Hamlets internal dilemma is Gertrudes sinful behaviour. He states, Shakespeares Hamlet. is a play dealing with the effect of a guilt upon her son. In the 1940s, Ernest Jones—a psychoanalyst and Freuds biographer—developed Freuds ideas into a series of essays that culminated in his book Hamlet and Oedipus. Influenced by Joness psychoanalytic approach, several productions have portrayed the closet scene, in this reading, Hamlet is disgusted by his mothers incestuous relationship with Claudius while simultaneously fearful of killing him, as this would clear Hamlets path to his mothers bed
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Grief
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Grief is a multifaceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, cultural. While the terms are used interchangeably, bereavement refers to the state of loss. Grief is a response to loss. It is the suffering one feels when something or someone the individual loves is taken away. Crying is a normal and natural part of grieving and it has also been found, however, that crying and talking about the loss is not the only healthy response and, if forced or excessive, can be harmful. Lack of crying is also a natural, healthy reaction, potentially protective of the individual, Science has found that some healthy people who are grieving do not spontaneously talk about the loss. Pressing people to cry or retell the experience of a loss can be harmful, berger identifies five ways of grieving, as exemplified by, Nomads, Nomads have not yet resolved their grief and do not seem to understand the loss that has affected their lives. Memorialists, This identity is committed to preserving the memory of the one that they have lost. Normalizers, This identity is committed to re-creating a sense of family, activists, This identity focuses on helping other people who are dealing with the same disease or with the same issues that caused their loved ones death. Seekers, This identity will adopt religious, philosophical, or spiritual beliefs to create meaning in their lives, in Bonannos book, The Other Side of Sadness, What the New Science of Bereavement Tells Us About Life After a Loss, he summarizes his research. His findings include that a natural resilience is the component of grief. The first researcher to use data, he outlined four trajectories of grief. Bonannos work has demonstrated that absence of grief or trauma symptoms is a healthy outcome, rather than something to be feared as has been the thought. Recovery, When normal functioning temporarily gives way to threshold or sub-threshold psychopathology, usually for a period of at least several months, chronic dysfunction, Prolonged suffering and inability to function, usually lasting several years or longer. Delayed grief or trauma, When adjustment seems normal but then distress, researchers have not found evidence of delayed grief, but delayed trauma appears to be a genuine phenomenon. The Kübler-Ross model, commonly known as the five stages of grief, is a theory first introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death, kubler-Ross actually applied the stages to persons who were dying, not persons who were grieving. Her studies involved her work with the ill and it was not until much later in her career did she give into the notion that it could be applied to those grieving
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Ruta graveolens
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Ruta graveolens, commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of Ruta grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula and it is now grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bluish leaves, and sometimes for its tolerance of hot and dry soil conditions. It is also cultivated as a herb, as a condiment. The Tacuinum Sanitatis, a handbook on wellness, lists these properties of rue, Nature, Warm. Optimum, That which is grown near a fig tree, usefulness, It sharpens the eyesight and dissipates flatulence. Dangers, It augments the sperm and dampens the desire for coitus, neutralization of the Dangers, With foods that multiply the sperm. The refined oil of rue is an emmenagogue and was cited by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder, Rue has a culinary use, but since it is bitter and gastric discomfort may be experienced by some individuals, it is used sparingly. Although used more extensively in former times, it is not an herb that is found in modern cuisine. Today it is unknown to the general public and most chefs. It is a component of berbere, the characteristic Ethiopian spice mixture and it has a variety of other culinary uses, It was used extensively in ancient Near Eastern and Roman cuisine. Rue is used as a flavouring in Greece and other Mediterranean countries. In Istria, and in Northern Italy, it is used to give a flavour to grappa/raki. This is called grappa alla ruta, seeds can be used for porridge. The bitter leaf can be added to eggs, cheese, fish, or mixed with damson plums, in Italy in Friuli Venezia-Giulia, the young branches of the plant are dipped in a batter, deep-fried in oil, and consumed with salt or sugar. They are also used on their own to aromatise a specific type of omelette, used in Old World beers as flavouring ingredient. Rue is also grown as a plant, both as a low hedge and so the leaves can be used in nosegays. Most cats dislike the smell of it, and it can, therefore, caterpillars of some subspecies of the butterfly Papilio machaon feed on rue, as well as other plants. The caterpillars of Papilio xuthus also feed readily on it, in South India, rue is recommended for home gardens to repel snakes
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Alexandre Cabanel
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Alexandre Cabanel was a French painter born in Montpellier, Hérault. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style and he was also well known as a portrait painter. According to Diccionario Enciclopedico Salvat, Cabanel is the best representative of the Lart pompier, Cabanel entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris at the age of seventeen, and studied with François-Édouard Picot. He exhibited at the Paris Salon for the first time in 1844, Cabanel was elected a member of the Institute in 1863. He was appointed professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1864 and he was closely connected to the Paris Salon, He was elected regularly to the Salon jury and his pupils could be counted by the hundred at the Salons. Through them, Cabanel did more than any other artist of his generation to form the character of belle époque French painting, Cabanel won the Grande Médaille dHonneur at the Salons of 1865,1867, and 1878. A successful academic painter, his 1863 painting The Birth of Venus is one of the best known examples of 19th-century academic painting, the picture was bought by the emperor Napoleon III, there is also a smaller replica at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It was given to them by Wolf in 1893. com
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