Ophelia, Gertrude, and Regicide – Hamlet II: Crash Course Literature 204
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In which +John Green teaches you MORE about Bill Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
John talks about gender roles in Hamlet, and what kind of power and agency
Ophelia and Gertrude had, if they had any at all (spoiler alert: we think
they did). You’ll also learn about regicide, Ophelia’s flowers, and
Hamlet’s potential motivations. Also, Oedipus comes up again, but we don’t
buy it.
Ophelia, Gertrude, and Regicide – Hamlet II: Crash Course Literature 204
John Green, would you please do Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch
Albom? I love this book and would love to have you collaborate and such
about it. 🙂
The saddest thing about our own opinions is that we believe them more than
listening to others. We never look at it from their perspective or notice
their reasons behind it. We judge and are judgmental by passing it on.
Better yet we are kind of prejudice and equally guilty as those who judge
us back. But why do we pass it on as if it is natural? ” Its fine I guess”
But here is the bottom line. You know what you know, and I know what I
know. But you don’t know what I know, because you are not me, and will
never be. – In my opinion, ALWAYS STAY AWESOME!!
when will John do Canadian History
Is there any sin or crime Ophelia committs?
Man why couldn’t John be my English teacher! Hamlet has always been my fav
Shakespeare play and this makes me like it even more and really understand
it better!!
There are no heroes in Hamlet, just real people.
“I will, my lord. I pray you pardon me.”
“IS SHE JUST THIRSTY?”
thank you.
Hy, nice presentation. Could you recommend some reading material on the
topic of madness as portrayed in Hamlet ? Thanks.
Why does Hamlet die after Laertes, even though Hamlet is stabbed with the
poisoned sword before Laertes? That doesnt make sense
An individual’s view of heroism, much like his or her view on revenge,
depends on the background and interactions of that individual. This makes
labeling a person with any noticeable flaws as a hero virtually impossible,
or at least makes any agreement unattainable. Which attributes define a
hero, and what does it take to overrule the morally ambiguous thoughts or
operations that the “hero” may have? This play acts to shine light on
humanity and the effects of simply being human, as was mentioned in the
video. Can a classical hero ever afford to be human?
“Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem” is a platitude
used by people who’ve never had any real problems or never considered
suicide themselves.
Way to pass judgement on people in the cold, bitter grip of despair, John.
Bravo, you middle class white straight non-transgendered male with multiple
YouTube channels and thousands of followers. Such a hard life you lead…
such compassion.
*whispers* Ophelia was totally pregnant
I just made a video analyzing the character of Claudius. I hope that it
will help some of you students preparing for tests and writing essays!
I feel like Ophelia is the Hamlet who was decisive, who took paths of her
own, and maybe made some wrong choices but made the choices just the same.
She, like Hamlet (I believe) faked her madness to be allowed to speak
truth, similar to how court fools would feign stupidity to deliver biting
commentary without retribution (something Shakespeare had quite often in
his plays: see Feste and Touchstone for good examples) and, once she had
said her peace, was ready to die and be done with it, because she couldn’t
wait around any longer for action, and frankly could not listen to the
others’ heresy anymore. Gertrude saw her death not for what it was but
rather what she wanted it to be: an accident by a madwoman, not a direct
death by a person (arguably) far braver than she was (up until the final
scene) who confronted her problems head-on.
That said, I find Ophelia a tragic character, in that none of this had to
have happened to her. She could’ve gone through her life unaffected by
tragedy until someone did act, that someone being Claudius, and her life
could’ve been righted by an action to levy it (by Hamlet or Gertrude
alike). Also, she deserved better than Hamlet, whose “Get thee to a
nunnery” is far more biting considering the Elizabethan slang of
nunnery=brothel. As in ‘the only way anyone will sleep with you is if
you’re employed to do it.’ Ouch, thanks, quasi-ex-kinda-boyfriend.
Hey John Green – I believe a nunnery was a double entendre for a whorehouse
– he’s telling her to be a whore, not a nun. Which was pretty harsh.
In the most recent episode of +CrashCourse, I teach you MORE about Bill
Shakespeare’s Hamlet. I talk about gender roles in Hamlet, and what kind of
power and agency Ophelia and Gertrude had, if they had any at all (spoiler
alert: we think they did). You’ll also learn about regicide, Ophelia’s
flowers, and Hamlet’s potential motivations. Also, Oedipus comes up again,
but we don’t buy it.
Ophelia, Gertrude, and Regicide – Hamlet II: Crash Course Literature 204
Telling your wife that its not the skirt that is making her look fat, but
photons bouncing off her huge Haagen Dazs filled butt that makes her look
fat.
That is heroic.
Suicidal, but heroic.
YAAAAAS. This is great.
I just want to see a version where Seth Rogan plays Hamlet. That’s all I
want.
If you watch the Olivier Hamlet, he has a very interesting take on
Gertrude’s impetus during the duel that is very subtly indicated during a
previous scene (one that she is not in). Electrifying!
Can you do Othello please! (:
I like this video, and appreciate popularizers of Shakespeare, but this
doesn’t approach the complexity of Shakespeare’s intent in Hamlet. Read
Harold Bloom’s book “Hamlet” for a thorough exegesis of the play’s enormous
complexities.
Wasn’t fennel also used for birth control? It wasn’t as effective as its
relative Sliphium, but it still seems relevant here if it is so near a
reference to infidelity.
Backlash to discussing gender dynamics?
Not really, just backlash to spending half an episode on why women were
oppressed and double standards/patriarchy. It was barely relevant to the
story and was incredibly biased, not taking into account a variety of other
things. The way stuff was interpreted showed no consideration for any
reasoning other than ‘sexism’.
That aside, good ep, this was handled a lot better than the Odyssey.