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    <title>Literature 101 Group at eNotes</title>
    <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group</link>
    <description>The latest discussion, including questions and answers, from the Literature 101 Group at eNotes.</description>
    <lastBuildDate>Sun, 6 Dec 2009 08:17:47</lastBuildDate>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[This is, and has been, my favorite over the last 20 years, probably...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/wit-madness-2277#5</link>
        <description><![CDATA[This is, and has been, my favorite over the last 20 years, probably since I'm unsure which side I favor most.
That said, one key observation I've come across in that time is the contrast between the oft mis-quoted "Genius" instead of "Great wit".  The first is the latter, effectively applied - as Dryden did and most likely meant to imply.  Thus, I translate the quote closer to "Smart and crazy are kissing cousins".
This is not a pedantic...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/wit-madness-2277#5</guid>
        <pubDate>Sun, 6 Dec 2009 08:17:47 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[In reply to #4: I like the "children of the earth"-titan allusion, but...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/indifferent-children-earth-1891#5</link>
        <description><![CDATA[In reply to #4: I like the "children of the earth"-titan allusion, but why would Rosencrantz consider himself one of the playthings of these 'children'? If we were to literally interpret this with the Titan allusion, then Rosencrantz would be calling himself a titan, not a plaything. ("As the indifferent Titan").]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/indifferent-children-earth-1891#5</guid>
        <pubDate>Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:36:17 PST</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[I am a student in High School and our assignment is to do a paper over...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/ophelias-flowers-1321?start=10#11</link>
        <description><![CDATA[I am a student in High School and our assignment is to do a paper over our choice of subject in Hamlet. I chose Ophelia and I was wondering if anyone knows who the "flowers" were given to in the Mel Gibson version of the film?]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/ophelias-flowers-1321?start=10#11</guid>
        <pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:37:32 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Consider Einstein.  Don't you have to be a little &quot;mad&quot; in...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/wit-madness-2277#4</link>
        <description><![CDATA[Consider Einstein.  Don't you have to be a little &quot;mad&quot; in order to be a visionary, to see beyond the &quot;real&quot; world?  That said, I don't know that Hamlet falls into this category.  The stress of grief, and of knowledge unshared, the inability to come to a decision - these are the issues that plague him and cause such fretfulness of feeling.]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/wit-madness-2277#4</guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 3 Apr 2008 09:08:40 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I do agree that madness and 'great wits' are very close.  Those who...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/wit-madness-2277#3</link>
        <description><![CDATA[I do agree that madness and 'great wits' are very close.  Those who have great wit can comprehend things and reason on levels that the masses cannot so they often appear 'mad'.  Also, some times those who are classified as insane have simply just done away with the normal protocols, rules, and structures of human or societal interaction.  Hamlet falls into this category - his mother and uncle have done away with normal societal regulations...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/wit-madness-2277#3</guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 2 Apr 2008 09:49:36 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[No - I don't believe he deserves to die.  As a character, he is...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/justifiable-homicide-2267#5</link>
        <description><![CDATA[No - I don't believe he deserves to die.  As a character, he is foolish, annoying, prattling, canniving and sycophantic, but even with all that, I don't believe he deserves to die.  Hamlet comments after his death that he learned his lesson for snooping, but he also comments to his mother that his deed (of killing Polonius) is almost as bad as killing the king.  I know this comment is geared more at shocking Gertrude, but I think he knows...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/justifiable-homicide-2267#5</guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 2 Apr 2008 09:40:34 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Polonius, Polonius, Polonius...what to do about Polonius?!?  I have to...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/justifiable-homicide-2267#4</link>
        <description><![CDATA[Polonius, Polonius, Polonius...what to do about Polonius?!?  I have to say that my gut reaction, putting aside 21st century morals and beliefs as much as I possibly can, is that he did deserve his death.  He made the choices he made - He put his daughter in harm's way (at that point people were saying Hamlet was crazier than a loon, but Polonius offers his daughter to Hamlet, saying, &quot;Oh, I'm sure he's just acting like a mental patient...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/justifiable-homicide-2267#4</guid>
        <pubDate>Sun, 30 Mar 2008 09:08:40 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[It is true that many lives would have been spared had Hamlet just killed...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/coleridge-argument-action-2275#3</link>
        <description><![CDATA[It is true that many lives would have been spared had Hamlet just killed Claudius when he had the chance.  But to do so would have gone against not only Hamlet's nature as a thinker, but also his belief (and a medieval/Renaissance/Catholic belief) of what happens when someone dies.  Hamlet truly believed that Claudius was praying and that if he killed him then, Claudius would sail up to heaven, no problem.  This was completely repugnant to...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/coleridge-argument-action-2275#3</guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:02:13 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I'm not sure if I agree with Hamlet being a &quot;coward&quot; - I think...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/death-wish-2273#3</link>
        <description><![CDATA[I'm not sure if I agree with Hamlet being a &quot;coward&quot; - I think he just wants to make sure he does everything right.  In the right order, to the right person - he's very concerned with getting things right.I suppose it is possible that he courts annihilation.  After all, wasn't he pondering at one time whether it's better &quot;to be or not to be&quot;?]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/death-wish-2273#3</guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:55:47 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Very interesting...I have always heard that there is an extremely fine...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/wit-madness-2277#2</link>
        <description><![CDATA[Very interesting...I have always heard that there is an extremely fine line between insanity and genius.  Perhaps it is true for Hamlet, but I don't think so.  He is very witty, and even in his feigned madness, I believe, he is also in total control.  I like to look at his actions as a very complicated chess game.  Only with the last scene in Act V does he lie down and die without much fight (considering Claudius is also dead by now) since...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/wit-madness-2277#2</guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:22:42 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[It is obvious that everyone is uncomfortable...especially Claudius and...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/strange-fruit-ophelia-2279#2</link>
        <description><![CDATA[It is obvious that everyone is uncomfortable...especially Claudius and Gertrude who may pick up on the sexual hints tossed toward Hamlet.  Laertes also is thrown for a loop here since he can't seem to wrap his brain around how a young woman so sane one day can seem so nutty the next.  He has lost so much--his father and now his sister, it makes sense why he decides to plot with Claudius to avenge his losses.]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/strange-fruit-ophelia-2279#2</guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:56:57 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[In reply to #2: I agree, Amy.  Ophelia has much more...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/ophelias-conceits-2281#3</link>
        <description><![CDATA[In reply to #2: I agree, Amy.  Ophelia has much more &quot;intimate&quot; knowledge than should a virginal young woman.  To me, this makes Hamlet's treatment of her even more heinous, as he knew the prospects for a fallen woman.  His directive for her to &quot;get to a nunnery&quot; (which can also be interpreted as a &quot;brothel&quot;) would probably have been her only options.  It also says something about the oversight of her...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/ophelias-conceits-2281#3</guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:15:01 PST</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Ophelia hints that she has been a maid and has been ruined--&quot;the up...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/ophelias-conceits-2281#2</link>
        <description><![CDATA[Ophelia hints that she has been a maid and has been ruined--&quot;the up he rose and donned his clothes, and dupp'd the chamber door, let in the maid, that out a maid never departed more.&quot;  She continues to hint that she has been misused ,&quot;young men will do't if they come to't, by Cock, they are to blame.  Quoth she, 'Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed&quot;.So, she sings of lost maidenhead, her dead father, and seems...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/ophelias-conceits-2281#2</guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:54:05 PST</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Hers is not feigned, for one.  Hamlet pretends to be mad much of the...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/madness-freedom-2283#2</link>
        <description><![CDATA[Hers is not feigned, for one.  Hamlet pretends to be mad much of the time even though he is a little crazy over the situation into which his mother has thrust him and the country.Ophelia, being trapped by her role as sister and obedient daughter, not to mention that of lesser courtier, seeks a way to free herself from the societal ties that bind.  I do think that madness was her only escape, until, that is, she dies.]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/madness-freedom-2283#2</guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:47:20 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[They do appear to have a close relationship throughout the play--perhaps...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/laertes-translator-grief-2285#2</link>
        <description><![CDATA[They do appear to have a close relationship throughout the play--perhaps he translates so much because she doesn't make sense to the &quot;adult&quot; world.  I see this as similar to older siblings translating the childhood gibberish of their younger siblings.  I'm not sure his analysis is completely accurate.  Even though they are close, she does not reveal her deepest feelings about Hamlet to him.  He may be clouded by a brother's...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/laertes-translator-grief-2285#2</guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:44:23 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[In reply to #2:  I like the &quot;buying time&quot; premise, but not...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/haebeus-corpus-2269#3</link>
        <description><![CDATA[In reply to #2:  I like the &quot;buying time&quot; premise, but not sure about the rest of the argument, because Gertrude has witnessed the murder.   Surely her word, especially by Claudius, would be believed, would it not?  Might there be other purposes in hiding the body?   &#160;]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/haebeus-corpus-2269#3</guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:58:27 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I adore the way wrote it and agree with him wholeheartedly! I think this...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/coleridge-argument-action-2275#2</link>
        <description><![CDATA[I adore the way wrote it and agree with him wholeheartedly! I think this is exactly what Shakespeare was trying to impress upon the audience. Hamlet is a very intelligent man, but it didn't matter. He over-thought what he set out to do that he did it in the most ineffectual way. He accomplished his task, but at the death of so many including himself! Had he acted when he had the opportunity as Claudius was trying to pray he would have proved...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/coleridge-argument-action-2275#2</guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:46:16 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[No. Quite the contrary, I think, he plays much the coward throughout the...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/death-wish-2273#2</link>
        <description><![CDATA[No. Quite the contrary, I think, he plays much the coward throughout the play. He is constantly over analyzing what he must do, murder the king to avenge his father's death. He is not the typical hero he is not fearless. I imagine that someone who &quot;courts annihilation&quot; is someone who is fearless who acts now and thinks later not caring if the act might end in death. I don't think that Hamlet wants to be annihilated and I don't think...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/death-wish-2273#2</guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:41:40 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I don't know if it's as strong as a god-complex, but he certainly...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/god-complex-2271#2</link>
        <description><![CDATA[I don't know if it's as strong as a god-complex, but he certainly believes himself to be above some moral laws in the play. He murders Polonius and feel justified in doing so because he was behind the arras. He feels almost no remorse. He plots a murderous revenge on his uncle without guilt coming into play- his reservations lie in the courage to complete the task at the right time, but not because he is squeamish about committing murder. He...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/god-complex-2271#2</guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:37:20 PST</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Hamlet has yet to fulfill his mission and he knows that people already...]]></title>
        <link>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/haebeus-corpus-2269#2</link>
        <description><![CDATA[Hamlet has yet to fulfill his mission and he knows that people already believe he has lost his mind so he has to keep the location of the body somewhat secret to buy himself some time. If he does not own up to the location of the body then there is no proof that Polonius has really been murdered. While the punishment for murder might be less for the Prince of Denmark, he runs the risk of possibly being sent away for good if he reveals the...]]></description>
        <guid>http://www.enotes.com/literature-101/group/discuss/haebeus-corpus-2269#2</guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:23:36 PST</pubDate>
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