These past couple years I have found that a majority of people my age and in my grade groan and roll their eyes when they find that they have to begin reading Shakespeare, however, if more students were able to not just interpret his writing better, but also understand the reason for why we read his plays, I've always felt that they would enjoy it way more. Take Hamlet for example, although this play has turned out to be another one of Shakespeare's tragedies, the main idea it seems to focus on is revenge.
We may not see or notice it, but revenge is every where around us-in books, in plays, in tv shows, in movies, in poems, and even in our daily lives. (this also includes inside ourselves, which is something I'm sure most of us can look back to at one point in our lives and relate to) However, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the word "revenge" is the movie Carrie.
Carrie is a movie that was released in 1976, telling the story of a young girl in high school who is viewed as an outcast among her classmates. At home, her mother makes the two of them soley focus their lives around the religion of Christianity and sometimes abuses Carrie in the process. (not to mention the fact she is being harassed by almost all of the girls in her school) During this rough journey, Carrie finds that she has telekinesis and eventually uses this to her ability to get revenge on her classmates by killing all of them at prom after they poor pig's blood on her in an attempt to embarrass her. Towards the end of the movie, with the craze of revenge still in her system, Carrie also uses her telekinesis to kill her mother, and then eventually herself because of all the guilt she held.
If you would like to read more about this movie, read here.
Or you could get a visual description of the movie by watching this trailer:
In my opinion, I think Carrie is a two in one package when it comes to revenge and terror. Anyways, the point to this story is that when you think of what revenge is, you think payback on whoever or whatever has caused you any sort of negative feelings or energy-something I think is safe to admit runs through our minds every now and then. However, the part of revenge which most of us forget about is what it can actually do to the mind and soul itself, one can become so crazy with revenge, they might actually forget who they are or maybe even their reason for getting revenge in the first place, which is why it seems that usually most plans for revenge turn out bad.
This is a lesson to be learned while reading the play of Hamlet, which tells the story of a prince, Hamlet, trying to get revenge on his uncle for his father's death. You can look here for a better summary of the play if you would like to know. Although I have not finished the play yet, I have found that already it seems as if Hamlet's character has almost reached the point of insanity because he is so obssessed with avenging his father's death, it doesn't even seem to bother him yet that he has hurt so many people around him, which is another example of what revenge can do to a person's mind.
It's important to know that although revenge is something that many people might desire during at least one point of their lives, (I know I have) it can really hurt a person's thought process, and it can also hurt the others around them due to the insanity it brings along with it. I guess that's really what my definition of revenge is, payback on the person or thing that might hurt you, but becoming crazy during the process of it.
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I would agree that If more people our age could understand Shakespeare that they would enjoy it more. I read Macbeth last year and was able to understand it, and I thought it was pretty sweet. All the killing to gain power and stuff. That's pretty cool. And I've never seen the movie Carrie but it sounds kinda messed up. Maybe I'll have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I like how you pointed out that if high school students wouldn't groan at the mention of Shakespeare and actually try, they would probably be able understand/enjoy it more. I like reading pieces of writing, although Shakespeare is not exactly what I would read in my free time, I still enjoy it. I also read Macbeth last year and I agree with 14hils, it was pretty understandable and I enjoyed it. Secondly, I love the movie Carrie. It was a really good example of revenge, and I like how you included a trailer for the movie! Good post!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of that movie before! my friends couldn't believe that I hadn't seen it. The trailer made me laugh! I actually like reading Shakespeare. I love finding all the secret jokes in them! Macbeth was better than Romeo and Juliet!
ReplyDeleteSo I guess you guys just read hamlet considering that's a prime example in most of the blogs. I too read Macbeth and was ale to understand it and just like Sam I liked it, it had a little of everything. The play had comedy, romance. And action it was the perfect play. The movie carie sounds weird but I really want to see it now.
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