Open Prompt #2 REVISED

2002. Morally ambiguous characters -- characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good -- are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or play in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio demonstrates great moral ambiguity in the contrast between his words and actions. From the beginning, Mercutio appears somewhat harsh as he vocalizes a great cynicism regarding Romeo’s passion for Juliet, but ultimately his sacrifice of his own life out of love for Romeo reveals him to be far more complex than a mere cynic.

Mercutio witnesses the birth of Romeo’s love for Juliet and immediately cautions Romeo from pursuing it any further if he wants to avoid inciting great conflict between their two already feuding families, the Capulets and the Montagues. Mercutio’s efforts to convince Romeo to give up on this romantic venture seem harsh and cynical, causing readers to perceive him as somewhat unfeeling, but other readers may believe that Mercutio is doing Romeo a favor by telling him the harsh truth that this marriage would never work out.

For example, when Romeo says that he had a dream in Act 1, Scene 4, Mercutio interrupts him with the Queen Mab speech. He appeals to Romeo’s romantic nature by telling him that dreams are planted in the brains of people by a fairy called Queen Mab and are not to be trusted. Romeo stops Mercutio in the middle of this speech so he cannot further discourage him. On the surface, Mercutio appears to be a selfish friend to Romeo by imposing his own cynical views of love upon Romeo against his will. Some members of the audience may even believe his cautionary tales may be motivated by a selfish desire to prevent his friend from pursing a happy marriage to Juliet, but with further dissection readers may come to see that Mercutio is more likely acting out of concern for Romeo’s emotional and physical well-being by  warning him against pursuing a hopeless cause.  

By the final act, Mercutio has the audience well-convinced that he is fully set against impassioned behavior, but to everyone’s surprise, it is Mercutio who takes Romeo’s place when challenged to a duel by Tybalt. Despite all his speeches against the danger of giving in to one’s passions, Mercutio allows his own feelings to drive him to violence, ultimately ending with his death. This pivotal scene can be interpreted many ways, depending on if one views his decision to duel Tybalt as an impulsive action made out of anger at Romeo’s cowardice or out of sacrificial love for his friend. Either way, it reveals the truth of Mercutio’s words that disaster is born of passion, making Mercutio a multi-layered character whose actions contradict his own words.

While considered a minor character, Mercutio’s witty but cutting criticism of Romeo’s passion to obscures the line between cynicism and wisdom and this ambiguity causes the audience to question whether his motivation lies in pessimism or true concern for his friend. Shakespeare goes even a step further by revealing Mercutio’s own inability to resist the impulses of passion, using his unexpected death to pose the question of whether any of us are truly impervious to the passion of the moment.

Summary of Rosencrantz and Guildernstern Are Dead

Author
Tom Stoppard was born in Czechoslovakia in 1937. He left with his parents to Singapore in 1939 to escape the Nazis. A few years late he moved to India to escape the invading Japanese. His mother soon remarried after his father drowned and then the whole family moved to England. At 17 Stoppard began working as a journalist and soon got into writing plays and this is when he wrote "Ronsencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead"

Setting
The setting is the late 1500's near Hamlet's court and possible on a boat.

Summary
-The scene opens with Rosencrantz and Guildernstern walking i nthe middle of a forest flipping coins with each other. Every time it lands on head, Rosencrantz wins. Guildernstern analyses the situation and worries that the odds are off. He wonders if they have entered a world where time is not moving and the possibility of chances if absent.
-The two go on to wonder what they are doing in this area and remember htat a messenger has called them.
-They come upon the Tragedians and the actors tell them that they specialize in sexual performances.Guildernstern offers the player a bet and the tragedians lose. They say that they can only pay in the form of a play. As the tragedians prepare, Rosencrantz reveals that the most recent coin landed tails up.
-The scene changes and the two are in Elsinore. The two see Ophelia and Hamlet upset with each other and Claudius tells them that htey must find out the source of Hamlet's madness. Contemplating on how they would get Hamlet to admit his madness they play a game of question and answer. They confuse themselves further.
- They finally find the source of Hamlet's madness(his father has just died and his mother has married his uncle)
- They talk to Hamlet and Hamlet confuses them more.
-The tragedians arrive and Hamlet announces that there is going to be a play the next day. The player, Rosencrantz and Guilernstern discuss the source of Hamlet madness. And as the player exits, the two begin to talk about what happens after death.
-R and G overhear Hamlet contemplating if he should commit suicide. Claudius, Gertrude, and Poloinoius walk in and the two tell them that Hamlet wants them to attend the play.
-After the play Claudius tells them to go to England with Hamlet. On the boat they cannot remember their mission and then read the letter that Claudius gave them. They read that Hamlet is to be executed. They cannot decide what to do. As the two are sleeping, Hamlet siwthces the letters which read that R and G are to be executed.
- When R and G learn of this they kill the player, and he talks about the different kind of ways that one can act death.
The scnen closes with Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet, and Horatio are dead.

Themes
1. The difficulty of making rational choices. Rosencrantz and Guildernstern constantly have to make decisions that will effect not only themselves but also others.
2. The world is a confusing place that everyone must  get through.

Response to Course Material #7

These past few weeks have served to finish up Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead, practice writing essays for the AP Exam, and start Ceremony.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Rosencrantz and Guidlernstern are Dead although at time I found it quite confusing. First off, the references to Hamlet were not integrated very well, in my opinion, so I had a hard time understanding what was going on. Also the ideas that were presented in Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead are very different than what is presented in Hamlet. For example in Hamlet, he questions the meaning of life while in R&G the two main characters seem to always know what they are doing.

Practicing the essay portion for the AP Exam is terrible but crucial. The practice has taught me many aspects of it. First off, don't organize each paragraph into each effect. On our first write through I did this and I probably would have scored a 4. Another thing is that one should explain how the effect is created by using various types of techniques and various examples for each teqnique. I also did not do this on the first right thorugh. Overall I believe that I need much more practice which I am hoping we during class again.

We started Ceremony this week, which is exciting but also scary. I cannot imagine annotating that big of a book and will start early for sure! I have heard that it is an excellent book due to its excellent portrayal of Native American culture and am eager to begin it.