Extension of fortinbras question

No seems the basic answer to that, doesn't it? If you'd like me to illustrate my point, it's because Hamlet was insecure, dishonest, canniving, and slightly mad. I suppose if his father had never been killed and he'd never been sent mad then actually he might be quite a good king, as all his dark sides could be put to positive use. For example, dishonesty could be simply seen as good diplomatic skill, canniving could be in fact cunning, and his madness could be ingenuity. It all depends on which way you look at things. I think actually he had a good heart. But a weak heart, and a fickle heart. He had a heart he rarely followed properly, and an incredibley complex mind and imagination. Kings really need to have thier feet firmly planted on the ground perhaps, to have some common sense, and bravery; but if you think about it, Hamlet escaped his uncles capture and certain death, then befriended and escaped from some cut throat pirates. Does that make him brave?
Well, i suppose it does. Brave or mad, clever or manipulative, everyone can agree to this; there's something special about Hamlet.

Was fortinbras right?

No

Act 4, Hamlet

Polonious tells Gertrude he'll listen from a hiding place in her chamber to try and fathom what Hamlet is saying Hamlet hears him and kills polonious, crying " a rat, a rat!" and chops up his body, so he's shipped off to england but he finds some letters from claudius saying to kill him to r&g and so he escapes, and because fortinbras is marching for revenge of his fathers death he feels like a bit of a cop out and so therefore decides to up his game with the whole avenging his father thing.
Ophelia goes mad and starts singing bawdy songs, laertes comes back and all the people decide they want him for king. He is also desperate to avenge his fathers death.

Ophelia and Hamlets madness,
Gertrudes dilemma: Her son, or her husband?

Maude Clare- Christina Rosetti

1: How is the story told within the poem you are studying? E.g. from whose perspective, 1^st/2^nd/3^rd person is there a beginning, middle and end?

We believe it is being told from an onlookers view, in third person. We felt the beginning was the first five stanzas. The next three are the middle, and the last four are the end.  The narrative is omniscient as they know all the inner feelings and turmoil of the characters.  Within the narrative it is suggested that Thomas’ father has been through a similar experience in the past, yet had more conviction than his son does. 

It is told with backstory, adding into the poem how they feel and why their emotions are as such, making the poem very narrative and understandable.

2: What themes are explored within the poem?

The themes explored are vindication, love, lust, and betrayal. The poem says a lot through its sing song couplets. Love is at the crux of the situation, with two women in love with the same man in very different ways, and one man at a total loss as to what he has done and what he should do. Maud Clare is obviously lust, stimulation, and she considers herself as his equal. She is fierce, clever and fiery, but also clearly the woman he is deeply in love with, as he cannot cross her even as she denounces him at his own wedding. Nell on the other hand, his wife, is very demure and “pale with pride.” She considers it her duty to love him and now that they are wed she knows that he will come to forget his passionate affair and come to appreciate a loving, uncomplaining, and totally submissive life partner. Far more reliable and steadfast.  Thomas does not, however, love her. Maude is portrayed as flighty. You get the impression that Thomas' mother very strongly agrees with the match. It may even have been arranged. You gather from the information that the affair with Maude Clare may have been from childhood, and his mother did not approved so he forsook her, to her anger and despair, and settled for something much less, but much more suitable. 

3: What poetry and poetic devices are used for what effect?

An awful lot of imagery is used during Maude Clare's speech, where she describes intensely and with some passion the things they did when together, such as "waded ankle-deep for lilies in the beck".  This produces such an image in your head that you can sense the coolness of the water and the tickling of gentle currents.

There also seems to be somewhat of an extended metaphor through the choice of memories she tells of.  She speaks of spring moments when they were happy, which may suggest that their relationship was like the changing seasons, and by the next spring they had finished and he had a new love.

Hamlet act 2

HAMLET:
is cool
except
when he is pretending to be  mad.
then he not so cool.
see whats going down here is that Hamlet is getting right on with his whole 'tendin to be mad theme, and he's doing it rather well. He has convinced Ophelia, Polonious, the King and Queen, and even their none too bright spies. He has dramatically exposed himself in a lust enduced fit to Ophelia, and upon seeing his pride and joy she herself had something of a hysterical moment or two and ran to her father to inform him.
Claudius, old kingy, has set his dim witted spies upon Hamlet, and they don't seem to be doing much. Talking of spies, Polonious has sent someone to spy on his son and spread slander about him!!!!
At the end of act 2 Hamlet confides in the audience in ANOTHER soliloquay that he is planning to put on a pay that retells the story of his fathers shameful death so he can see if Claudius looks at all embarassed, because he is not trusting of the ghost, he is unsure whether it was a good spirit or the devil so he needs to find out for himself what the ghost told him was true. So That's The Plan.
bye now

Hamlet: Reflecting on Act 1

At the crux of it, act one is describing and introducing the characters, and setting the scene. The revelation, which happens in all Shakespearean plays, is through a ghost (The late King Hamlet) To his son. Hamlet Sr reveals that his brother Claudius, who has since put it upon himself to rather politely seat himself firmly upon the throne of Denmark, and to lie himself scandalously in the bed of his brothers wife, actually poisoned him. The ghost beseeches Hamlet to seek revenge, which Hamlet does in his own, rather original way. Act one ends on a cliff hanger with Hamlet revealing to his faithful guards he is going to pretend to be mad. For some reason.
Also in Act one, we meet the beautiful Ophelia, daughter of Polonious (The late kings advisor) and Laertes(young Hamlets friend.) Her father and brother advise and positively forbid her from being too easy with Hamlet, who seems to have taken a shine to her, and tell her in no uncertain terms to stop giving him her smiles of face their extreme displeasure. To this she agrees, but obviously, believe her we do not. This makes Ophelia come across as quite sparky, which is always fun. Pity she kills herself.
Hamlet Jr Understandabley has some pretty dark thoughts regarding his mother, which he vents in an extremely long speech. For some reason they don't want him to go away to university but rather to stay with them, which i see as a bit stupid as he's not exactly been a ray of sunshine in the castle lately. Hamlet in fact appears quite pleasant to his mother, "ah, tis a fair reply" and this shows him as two faced and quite weak.

David Copperfield- Charles Dickens.

What can i say about the opening of David Copperfield; Tinged with hilarity, and almost deliciously irrelevant, it states a rambling euology of his birth, and does, as he himself puts it, "start his life with the beginning of his life." The book itself of course is an intricate relation of young Davids many experiences and aquaintances, and is a book bursting with charecters, seasoned by the absoloute likability of the young David himself.