Post by Stephanie Kleckner
35 days ago
"Funeral Bak'e-Meats": Carnival and the Carnivalesque in Hamlet
Bristol is really interested in questions of class, society, and power dimensions. He really likes to
focus on the character of Claudius and the grave digger scene. His questions that he attempts to
answer are based on society, culture, and how society is structured. Unlike psychoanalytic
theory, Bristol focuses on questions on the macro scale. He uses the concept of carnival and
applies the consequences of the event on the society. For example, Marxism retains its value as a
type of social and cultural criticism that focuses on social conflict, social creativity, and the
struggle of positive social change. More specifically, Marx's notions of distributive justice, and
his discussions of topics such as alienation and exploitation remain considerable value. But the
most fundamental idea in Marxism, the theory of class consciousness and class struggle still has
enormous importance (349). Hamlet has internalized strong oppositions in basic social values; he
has a passionately felt loyalty to the traditional ethos of his murdered father and yet in some
ways he more closely resembles his archenemy, Claudius, in his understanding of a more
typically political reality. Hamlet's main question at hand here is "What must I do?" can be
usefully reinterpreted as the question of "Where do I belong?" or even "How can my life make
sense within a social landscape of irreconcilable social difference?" Hamlet is a play that
typically uses Shakespeare's use of Carnival as the basis of dramatic art. Although the play is
filled with tragedy and horror, many of the scenes are surprisingly funny, and indeed for much of
the action Hamlet and Claudius stalk each other like two murderous clowns attempting to
achieve strategic advantage over the other. Though Claudius adopts certain popular,
carnivalesque attitudes as a way to conceal his aggressive, rational calculation of self-interest
behind a mask of traditional pieties, folk wisdom, and festive distractions. Hamlet's "antic
disposition" is also a kind of carnivalesque disguise or camouflage, although Hamlet is much
more genuinely in tough with the popular festive sources of Carnival than Claudius, especially in
his understanding of the clarifying power of laughter (350). . For Hamlet, and for the audience as
well, however, the larger meaning of Carnival emerges only gradually and is fully revealed in the
grave-diggers' scene as a powerful transformation downward, or "uncrowning," of the world of
official culture, geopolitical conflict, and royal intrigue (350-351). A Carnival masquerade
embodies an alternative set of rules for interpreting social reality(351). Claudius has killed his
brother and replaced him in the queen's bed. His marriage is a kind of joke at his victim's
expense, can be an occation of Carnival mirth--an affirmation of continuing sexual, as well as
political, life. The link of death with marriage and sexuality as well as the affirmation of misrule
are carnivaleque themes that Claudius appropriates in order to make legitimate his own
questionable authority (355). Claudius then can be interpreted as an individual representation of
the grotesque body--incomplete, unfinished, deeply implicated in the lower functions of
sexuality--and its appetites, yet the full implications of carnivalesque uncrowning never enter his
self-understanding. Carnival laughter, acknowledgement of the body in its open and festive
manifestations, ambivalence of emotion, and mixed decorum have all been co-opted by power
and authority, with out the recognition that these strategies necessarily entail a critique of
authority that is inimical to the interests of power(357).
Post by Stephanie Kleckner
32 days ago
Treatments of Althusser's Ideology: Who Is Allowed To Kill Who
One unique way in which Hamlet offers an example of Althusser's philosophies on ideology is in
the manner of how the characters react to religion and how it impacts the decisions they decide
to make regarding their religious values. Althusser is saying that the Ideological State Apparatus
is based on the ideological, which is a term that refers to the fantasies that are created by the
human mind. A particular instance in Hamlet where this term would be applicable would
be when Hamlet can’t kill Claudius because he is kneeling down and praying, suggesting that he
may be questioning his morals. When Claudius is praying in Act 3, Scene 3 of the play, Hamlet
cannot bring himself to kill Claudius at that time. Institutions such as family, school, and religion
are three specific examples that are influenced by ideologies. These institutions and their values
have the potential to influence the decisions people of these particular societies make based on
their culture's values.
Ironically, Hamlet catches Claudius praying, exhibiting moralistic questioning, which in turn
causes Hamlet to question his own actions. Hamlet doesn't think that he is allowed to kill
Claudius as he’s praying because of his suggestive devotion to the Church and the moral action
of praying emphasizes Claudius's moral reasoning. Hamlet wants Claudius to go to Hell and does
not think that Claudius could go if he was in the process of praying, while exhibiting a more
Heaven-like gesture of praying while kneeling down, praying. Hamlet might also feel guilty for
plotting this murder because it is possible that Claudius was apologizing to God for his
committed sin of murderer and asking God for forgiveness. Hamlet questions if it would be a
moral action to commit to, killing a praying man, who knows his fault and is asking for
forgiveness from God. Hamlet considers religion and knows how disrespectful it would be to kill
Claudius at that time. Therefore, Hamlet's attachment to religion prevents him from killing a
praying man, in this specific case, referring to Claudius, the suspected murder of Hamlet’s
father.
Post by Stephanie Kleckner
28 days ago
Motivations to Conform to Cultural Norms
It may appear that in Shakespeare's Hamlet, there is no order to the characters: that the society is
chaotic and each individual character is in power of themselves and confidently makes quick
decisions on what to do, independent of their environment. But what if there is some sort of
reason to why the characters act the way to do because of their surrounding culture's values--why
is the society in Hamlet structured in the way it is? Well, the problem at hand here is social
versus psychological conflict, and how it effects the cultural norm and individual's motivations
to act in a certain way. To speculate more closely this internal situation at hand, we can study the
motives behind the characters of Hamlet, Claudius, and the grave-diggers to more understand
why they do what they do in accordance to their culture and the characters around them.
Characters are ultimately governed by ideologies, according to Althusser--if one doesn't grasp
this desire to conform to societal culture concept, then it is hard to understand the societal
connections hidden beneath each character's actions and their motive for deciding to act a certain
way.
Paragraph 1: Hamlet
Paragraph 2: Claudius
Paragraph 3: Grave-diggers
Conclusion: Why am I motivated to conform to the cultural norm in my own life?