Dysfunctional Family

Ashton and Eli

Definition: A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse on the part of individual parents occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. (Wikipedia)

When looking at the Bennet and Hamlet families, it is evident by the parents of the two families that Hamlet's family is more dysfunctional. When looking at Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, they clearly juxtapose each other as Mr. Bennet is a witty man who often pokes fun at his wife and Mrs. Bennet who is solely focused on her five daughters getting married. However, as the story progresses, it is clear that Mrs. Bennet is the parent that truly cares about her children, while Mr. Bennet consistently neglects his family's needs. However, while there is a clear difference between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, the family is not completely dysfunctional as their children, while frustrated, do not direct hatred towards their parents. The Hamlet is clearly more dysfunctional than the Bennet family as Claudius, Hamlet's new stepdad, killed his Hamlet Sr. Because Hamlet has discovered Claudius' two-faced nature, he is plotting his own murder, thus leading to the dysfuction of the family. Moreover, Gertrude is in a very confusing situation as both Claudius and Hamlet are vying for her loyalty. While it is clear that Gertrude loves Hamlet, Hamlet increasingly becomes frustrated that she often clings on to Claudius, the murderer of her deceased husband. Thus, because of the murder and deceptive nature of Claudius,  the Hamlet family is clearly more corrupt than the Bennet family.

Essay Structure:

Introduction - introduce specific points but do not completely analyze - strong thesis statement
First Body - talk about parents and their situation/ who they are
Second Body - analyze how their parents have affected the situation of the children
Conclusion - conclude the whole essay

Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1 Directing

Ashton and Eli

Lines 1-28

We would portray Claudius as a very demanding and confident character in this scene as he expects Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to say that Hamlet has been acting extremely weird; however, after Hamlet's two friends exclaim that he was acting like a gentleman, Claudius's face should become shocked and dissappointed. Claudius should emphasize turbulent and lunacy to reveal his beliefs of what Hamlet has been acting like. Moreover, it appears the Gertrude wants Hamlet to reveal his mistakes, and she wants to know more as to why Hamlet is acting so weird. Thus, Gertrude should also reveal a more demanding tone towards Hamlet's friends. Lastly, Claudius in line 28 expresses a deceptive tone as he is not content that Hamlet has not revealed the same mysterious nature towards his friends that he did towards him and Gertrude. We would also emphasize "assay him" and "pasttime" on lines 16-17 from Gertrude and "it doth much contempt me" on line 27 by Claudius.

Hamlet Soliloquy Video Details

In this scene, it is evident by Claudius' language that he truly feels the guilt of what he has done to his brother. But even though he may feel guilt, Claudius still has no intention of admitting the murder of his brother. Because Claudius is asking for forgiveness, Claudius would appear to be talking in a much more subtle and reserved tone. However, once Claudius speaks to the G-ds to relinquish him of his sins, Claudius at this part should look up and scream. Since Claudius is talking to himself during this scene, the camera should switch between expressing his body movement, and then having close-ups of his face to display Claudius' guilt. Moreover, Claudius' emotions should consistently switch between feeling guilt and also feeling confused about his situation.                                                                                                                                                          

Hamlet Movie Essay: Body Paragraph 1

Being filmed much later than Rodney Benet's version of Hamlet, Gregory Doran in 2010 created a much more modern and contemporary setting to depict the triangle relationship of the family; however, while there is a more modern background, there is not a grand public setting, just as Rodney Benet had visualized thirty years earlier. However, in the earlier film there was much more color in the character's wardrobe; not only was Hamlet, Gertrude, and Claudius dressed with ravish colors and more representative clothing, but so to were the dozens of stage characters. Moreover, in Doran's version, the black and white setting depicts a more somber, deceptive mood between Hamlet and his parents. Furthermore, the fact that there are very few people in the room eliminates Claudius' tendency to appeal to a large public group; rather, the conversation between him and Hamlet mainly stays private throughout the scene. However, in Benet's film, because there is a moderately large public setting, Claudius constantly changes from talking privately to his family, and then appealing to the large mass of people surrounding them. Even when Claudius feels beaten by Hamlet's sarcastic nature and attacking attitude, he deceptively reveals a loving nature between him and his stepson to the somewhat clueless public. Having the private conversation in the public setting evidently displays the separation between Hamlet and his parents, as they ultimately are more worried with the public's approval of them, rather than with Hamlet's melancholy feelings after his father's death

Hamlet Movie Essay: Intro Paragraph

In BBC's depictions of Hamlet acted by Derek Jacobi and David Tenant, there are subtle similarities between the two movies, but also very distinct differences. This relationship is expressed through a short scene in Act II of the play where Claudius and Gertrude are effectively interrogating Hamlet to rid of his sorrows following the loss of his father, Hamlet Sr. While there are clear differences between the production dates of the movies, there are also similarities regarding the relationship of the characters. Not being a feature film production company, BBC specifically does not have an extremely large budget to produce a grand setting in this scene; thus, even though the scenes are filmed in public settings, it is not extremely grand. However, while there are not superficially large settings, there are evident differences between the relationships between Hamlet, Gertrude, and Claudius. While Hamlet in both the movies express a demanding and attacking tone towards Claudius and Gertrude, there are evident differences regarding his relationship with his parents. In both BBC versions of the movies, while there are clear similarities in the public setting, ultimately the differences lie in the triangle relationship between Hamlet and his newly married parents.

Movie 5 - David Tenant: Analyzation

Movie 5 - David Tenant
More modern setting - private conversation in a public setting, although not as big as a setting as other movies
Hamlet seems aggressive and quite confident
Much more attacking; Hamlet and her mother initially seem somewhat distant - Hamlet is pushing her back at first
Claudius seems very 2-faced and hypocritical; hides his murder through a joyous and supportive nature
Hamlet uses rapid and aggressive responses
Gertrude again becomes flirtatious with Hamlet, starts touching his face
Hamlet feel betrayed that his mother so quickly married Claudius
Turns his back to the security camera and then looks right at it

It is evident in the David Tenant film that Hamlet was extremely focused on his mother's betrayal of Hamlet Sr. Hamlet was extremely aggressive in attacking this point during his soliloquy, where he was shocked that his mother had moved on towards Claudius in just one month. Moreover, when talking to his parents, who portrayed a very hypocritical, loving attitude, Hamlet was much more aggressive and seemed the stronger character, even though he felt dead on the inside.

Hamlet Movie Comparison

Movie 1 - Laurence Olivier
mother has power over Hamlet
Hamlet is depressed
Claudius is mocking Hamlet's depression, scolds and embarrasses Hamlet, being arrogant
Claudius is talking off of the screen to the audience, roaming around to the court - no eye contact with his son
Hamlet does not look at Claudius, mother touching his shoulders
Claudius is playing to the whole audience
Next scene (Wittenburg) - rapid pace and talking to Hamlet in a very demanding tone; Hamlet is lower than Claudius, mother looking towards Hamlet.
Mother flirtatious with Hamlet, kisses him
Claudius drags the queen away when they leave
Queen is more Hamlet's mother than Claudius' wife

Movie 2 - BBC Derek Jacobi
King and Queen are seated, Hamlet is turning his back to them
King and Queen form a united front, much different vision
Queen is more Claudius' husband than Hamlet's mother
Hamlet is more confident and stands up for himself
Mother is much more aggressive, so is Hamlet
Anger in Hamlet's face, protects himself
Turns away when they start talking to him - mocks and laughs at them
Claudius is not putting on a show, not attacking Hamlet as much (Hamlet is more attacking him)
TRIANGLE - Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius - > Hamlet sitting down, parents standing
Gertrude hanging on Claudius drives Hamlet crazy
Very sarcastic reply by Hamlet to his mom; father pretending it was not

Movie 3 - Mel Gibson
No court here
Hamlet is not as confident as in movie 2
Much more casual conversation, family meeting not a public performance
Trying to fool Hamlet
Mother-Son Scene - tenderness between mother and son
Mother hanging on to Hamlet like a young girl

Movie 4 - Kenneth Branagh
Light violin - create a somber tone
Claudius lowered himself to Hamlet
Mom and dad pleading to Hamlet
Claudius sounds very reasonable when he is speaking
Huge public space
Private conversation in front of many people
Red - evil, white - pure, innocent. Black - somber
When Claudius and Gertrude are together, Hamlet is upset and looks down
Gertrude went from holding Hamlet's hand to Claudius' hand
Claudius is 2-faced between private and public conversations

Character Analyzation Act 2: Hamlet

It is evident throughout Act II that Hamlet has entered a state of melancholy, as he still can not believe that Claudius murdered Hamlet's father. Not only can Hamlet not recover from his father's death, but he is also distraught that his mother has so quickly married the man that murdered her own husband. When people, such as Hamlet's friends, try to comfort him and make him feel better, Hamlet is quick to shrug them away. It appears that all Hamlet is focused on is forcing Claudius to reveal that he was the one that murdered Hamlet Senior. Thus, at the end of Act II, Hamlet has finally created a plan to reveal Claudius' guilt.

Hamlet Act I

In Act I of Hamlet, there were many vital conversations between characters; however, I believe the most important conversation was between Hamlet and the Ghost. Not only does Hamlet learn that it was Claudius that had killed his father, but Hamlet must take revenge against the new king. However, the Ghost asks Hamlet to spare Gertrude as heaven will judge her. The dialogue between Hamlet and the ghost of his father effectively foreshadows the future action of the play, which is predominantly why I thought it was the most important scene.

Socratic Discussion

I really enjoyed the student-led discussions because of the continuous interaction between students. It was interesting to see how students were able to become leaders, rather than solely listening to the teacher. Rather than the teacher leading the class, the students had to create their own questions, and often think of answers on the spot, which I found extremely interesting. Furthermore, the concept of marriage and contrasting how people found who they loved in the past and the present was also exciting. I particularly enjoyed talking about marriage for economic status, and the controversial situation of what to do if your spouse has severe physical or health problems.

P&P: Conclusion

Overall, Austen throughout Pride and Prejudice effectively demonstrates the separation of power between two wealthy and upper-class men, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Collins, and an inferior, yet clever woman, Elizabeth. Mr. Collins naively believes that Elizabeth would instantly accept his marriage proposal based on his superiority. Furthermore, Collins solely focuses on material gains for Elizabeth, rather than expressing love and emotion, which Elizabeth ultimately desires. On the other hand, Darcy is originally embarrassed for liking a woman of a lesser status such as Elizabeth; he believed that society would condescend him for marrying a woman that did not fulfill his idealized expectations. 

P&P: Second Body Paragraph

While Darcy attempts to resist his love for Elizabeth because of his superior social class, Mr. Collins oppositely desires to take advantage of his social power by essentially forcing Elizabeth to marry him. Collins understandingly knew that he was going to inherit the Bennet's household once Mr. Bennet passes away; thus, Collins feels that marriage between him and Elizabeth would "add very greatly to [his] happiness" (Austen 76). Even though Collins and Elizabeth feel no love for each other, Collins perceives that Elizabeth would be foolish to deny his proposal, as she will not only marry to a 'higher class', but this proposal evidently could be the only one that Elizabeth ever receives. During the proposal scene, Collins fails to express his love and emotion for her. Rather, he is oblivious to the situation and can only list reasons as to why the marriage would be beneficial to him. Elizabeth, while in the most polite manner, frequently rejects his proposal because she values love and happiness over materialism and class. Elizabeth understood that this could be her last hope for marriage; however, she was willing to take the chance of having no social power in her quest for love. Austen evidently illustrates the dependency women have on men in the proposal scene as it is “for Elizabeth, a taste of the fantastic nightmare in which economic and social institutions have such powers over the values of personal relationships” (Harding 298). Elizabeth is an intelligent woman and understands her inferiority to men, but she desires marital love and happiness more than inheriting Collins’ social power. 

P&P Essay: First Body Paragraph

Austen emphatically illustrates Mr. Darcy's superior nature to reveal the distinct imbalance of power between the two genders. Because Darcy is not only a tall, handsome man, but also extremely wealthy and the owner of Pemberley, he is exceedingly hubristic, and only interacts with people who can live up to his extreme standards. When Darcy is first introduced to Elizabeth, for example, Darcy believes that she is "not handsome enough to tempt [him]" (Austen 9). While it is certainly true that Elizabeth is not as prestigious and proud as Darcy, Darcy idealizes himself and his world, and Elizabeth can initially not fulfill Darcy's naive view of society. Darcy's excessive pride also leads Mrs. Bennet, who would usually praise a man of Darcy's social power, to believe that he "is a most disagreeable, horrid man" (Austen 10). However, after being forced to interact with Elizabeth, Darcy is instantly exposed to her intelligence and wit; moreover, they begin to playfully criticize each other's flaws. Yet Darcy still feels ashamed and embarrassed of himself for feeling emotions for a woman who does not fit in his idealized world. Darcy effectively places social power before his own happiness and love; he does not initially want to decline his social status by marrying a woman of a "lesser" status. His excessive pride completely overshadows his intuition and feelings for Elizabeth. Austen effectively employs irony in Elizabeth and Darcy's relationship to reveal the evident divide in social power; it is not until Darcy can overcome his pride and prejudice that he can finally express his true love for Elizabeth. Even though Elizabeth's wit and intelligence are equal to that of Darcy's, his overriding pride almost completely hindered his realization of love.

P&P Essay: Intro Paragraph

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen effectively employs wealthy, idealized characters to reveal the separation between men and women in the 1800's. In the early 19th century, as Austen herself had experienced, women were extremely limited and powerless because of their social power. Austen throughout her novel criticizes the clear inequality between men and women through satire and irony. It was evident that women needed to rely on men for their social power, as they were instantly looked at as the inferior gender. Austen experienced this separation of classes after rejecting her only proposal and was thus rejected by society and forced to sleep on friends’ couches. By employing characters in her novel such as Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy, Austen conveys the condescending attitude that men treated women with in the early 19th century. Both men understand their gender and social class advantage over Elizabeth, a pretty, but less wealthy woman. However, while Collins attempts to exploit his social power to his advantage, Darcy feels ashamed of liking a woman of a lesser class. While Darcy and Collins utilize their superior social class in different ways, they clearly exemplify the divide in power between men and women.

P&P Essay Outline

Intro Paragraph - Describe the social power (gender and class) that is prevalent in the 1800's. Men have considerable social power because not only of their gender, but in Darcy and Mr. Collins's case, their class and economic standing. Give background information about Jane Austen; a little about her history and what she personally experienced and how she incorporated Darcy and Mr. Collins to reveal the separation between men and women.

First Body Paragraph: Marriage - Darcy refuses to even dance with a girl who does not live up to his high standards of a perfect girl; Darcy idealizes himself and feels that initially he can only accept someone who lives up to his idealization. Even when Darcy begins to have feelings for Elizabeth, he feels ashamed of himself for liking her, as she is not nearly as wealthy as him. Darcy judges people not by who they are, but rather by what they have. Mr. Collins similarly believes that Elizabeth will accept his proposal just based on the fact that he will be able to provide her a wealthier life than what she has. Collins ignores the realization that there is no love between them; rather, Collins argues that they should marry simply because it would make him happy and he will inherit the Bennet's house once Mr. Bennet dies.

Second Body Paragraph: Womens' social power rests entirely on their husband/family: Women in the 1800's, such as Jane Austen herself, had little to no social power simply based on their gender; however, if women were to have strong economic support, then they still could gain some power. In Mrs. Bennet's situation, her sole desire was to marry off her daughters into rich, secure families.

Conclusion: wrap up the idea of social power, womens' reliance on men, and Darcy and Mr. Collins higher social class over Elizabeth.

Questions and Main Ideas for Essay

Essay Question: Why is social power important? How do Mr. Collins and Darcy exemplify the divide in social power between men and women in the 1800's?

Characters: Darcy, Mr. Collins, Elizabeth, Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Bingley

Main Ideas: Social power is important because:

• Women's social status basically rests on the wealth of their family/husband
• In Elizabeth's case, by not marrying Mr. Collins, she was risking her future social status and in essence her social power
• Darcy idealizes his social power because of his wealth, class, and gender.
• Mr. Collins strongly believes that Elizabeth will accept his proposal simply because of his higher social status
• Mrs. Bennet idealizes Jane marrying Mr. Bingley, and Elizabeth marrying Mr. Collins, mainly because of the mens' higher social power -> love was not even the deciding factor.

DW Harding Questions

1. Jane Austen’s scope is extremely restricted, but within her limits she succeeded admirably in expressing the gentler virtues of a civilized social order. (Harding and Linklater)- AGREE

2. Austen as satirist is misleading; she has none of the underlying didactic intention ordinarily attributed to the satirist. Her object is not missionary; it is the more desperate one of merely finding some mode of existence for her critical attitudes. - DISAGREE

3. Austen’s method is to offer her readers every excuse for regarding as rather exaggerated figures of fun people whom she herself detests and fears. - AGREE

4. Readers enjoy the funny side of Mrs. Bennet but miss that Austen actually detests her. -AGREE

5. Austen’s light satire masks a rather bitter diatribe against 1800 social customs, but masked in exaggerated caricatures that disguise the bitterness. - AGREE

One point that Harding makes that I think is interesting:

Austen effectively exaggerates the character's faults to provide a comic relief to the reader, when in reality Austen is satirizing each character.

Question Formulation Technique - Ashton Madeline + Eli

QUESTIONS

1. Does social power still exist? C X
2. What is socal power? O
3. What are different classes? O
4. Why is social power important? O 
5. How does marrying out of your class affect you?  O
6. How does rejecting a proposal affect you? O
7. Which characters go against the norm? O
8. Which characters help define this norm in society? O X
9. Why does Darcy not want to marry Elizabeth? O
10. How does Mr. Collin's proposal help illuminate social power? O
11. Why does Mrs. Bennet think Elizabeth should marry Mr. Collins? O
12. How does social power demonstrate the Mrs. + Mr. Bennet's difference in values? O 
13. Should social power [gender and class] be an issue? C X

X -- we selected these three questions because we felt they were all relevant to society then and today. 

We will use our questions to think deeper into the novel and hopefully that will help us get a better understanding of it.

ADVANTAGE - Close-ended:

• Easy to answer
• Straight to the point 

DISADVANTAGE - Close-ended:

• No follow up 
• Cannot elaborate on your answer 

ADVANTAGE - Open-ended:

• Explain answer 
• Defend answer 
• There's not always one right answer 

DISADVANTAGE - Close-ended:

• Can be over extended 
• More likely to say something wrong 

We learned that there are different types of questions that allow you to express different answers. It is valuable because it helps you think about the novel in a different way. It also can help during exams.

Working with iPads

In my opinion, working with iPads outside of just using it as a textbook was really fun and informative. I better understood the play when I was able to become the character, and I could really feel the satire that Austen was trying to convey in the proposal scene. To sum up, videotaping with the iPads was not only fun and exciting, but also informative.

Proposal Scene Between Collins and Elizabeth

In Chapter 19, Jane Austen portrays the comic and overextended proposal by Mr. Collins to Elizabeth. Mr. Collins, being the way he is, believes that Elizabeth will not even hesitate to accept his proposal; however, Elizabeth has never had any romantic affection for Collins since they first met. Collins proposal from the start is completely ridiculous. Already, Collins feels objected to state his reasons for marrying Elizabeth, when a true proposal should be one of love and admiration. Furthermore, Collins continues to talk about why the marriage would be good for him, rather than it being positive for them both. Collins states that the marriage "will add very greatly to my happiness" (76). And yet while Elizabeth attempts to make as subtle and polite denial to Collins, he keeps aggravating Elizabeth to accept the proposal. Moreover, Collins continues to inform Elizabeth about how Catherine de bourgh will approve of her, but it already seems like Elizabeth will only be the second most important woman to Collins. In the final part of the scene, Mr. Collins argues that Elizabeth has only rejected him because it is natural of her not to express her true love; Collins refuses to believe that he has been disapproved by Elizabeth. Finally, Elizabeth was forced to withdraw herself from the room to escape Collins.

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Writing Assignment

Outline of Janie's expectations of the men that she marries, and who they really turn out to be.

Chapter 2, page 87: sexual imagery is used to convey Janie's ideal view of marriage when she was sixteen; however, Nanny idealizes a man for Jamie that will provide her with a strong financial structure. Nanny does not want men to take advantage of Janie just for her beauty and use her as a "spit cup."

Nanny arranges a marriage for Janie with Logan Killicks. Even though Logan is rich and initially represented a good, stable marriage, Logan effectively killed the idealization of marriage that Janie had been dreaming of, and furthermore, Janie never truly loved Logan throughout their marriage. There was nothing pretty about their marriage, and even though Jamie was profoundly disappointed, there was no easy-route out of the marriage.

Joe Starks - big and commanding voice, and will become the mayor in Eatonville. Janie is attracted to Joe's ambition and commandment. Joe was quickly able to buy 200 acres of land and sell each at a profit. Moreover, he also bought the first street lamp in the city, which made all the citizens extremely proud. However, Joe views Janie as a trophy wife and he does not want other people lusting over her. Joe makes Janie work in the store and tie her hair up so no customers could see it, and furthermore Joe did not allow Janie to make a speech. By Joe not allowing Janie to act freely, she was again disappointed as her husband did not live up to her idealization of true love. As Joe grew nearer to his death, Janie remarked, "When you pull down yo' britches, you look lak de change uh life." Joe could never forgive Janie for this remark, and he passed away soon after.

Tea Cake - unlike her previous two husbands, Tea Cake does not have a great financial background. However, Tea Cake is the first man to treat Janie like a true woman. For example, Tea Cake played checkers with her and took her to the muck with him where she made vital friendships and really enjoyed herself. Janie, although she does love Tea Cake, is still cautious that he could just be there to steal her money from her last marriage. However, after discovering that Tea Cake stole Janie's $200 to go gamble and ended up doubling her money, it became safer to trust Tea Cake's evident love for her.