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Shakespeare’s depictions of women in Hamlet reflect the views of women during Elizabethan times. The women are depicted as having very little power and delicate so that the men can have consistency throughout the play and make most of the decisions. We see Ophelia obeying Polonius and  Laertes, and Gertrude obeying Cladius or Hamlet. The delicacy of the women leads to the men dominating their relationships and this affects the women’s views of love. The women also are used as connectors between men. They are minor characters in the story but they add definition to the story by tying characters through romance or family ties.

In my point of view, Tityrus and Meliboeus have very different character trait. For instance, Tityrus is simple, contented and stubborn; whereas Meliboeus is eager, driven and realistic. As we can see from the book that Tityrus is willing to stay at his land and grateful for what he has ever since he is a little kid. He thinks that being a shepherd is god’s will which it shows his stubbornness; According to the book, Tityrus said ‘… there was never a hope of freedom …’ he thinks that there’s no hope for him to escape, Hence, it is better to be grateful than complaining. In contrast, Meliboeus have been trying to convince Tityrus to leave the land and go find a new land for them. He thinks that Tityrus has been missing out all other great lands, such as the sacred springs, willow blossoms … Also, he believes that sooner or later the war will destroy everything Tityrus has now. Hence, Meliboeus is a man who speaks his mind and he is very realistic. This is very similar as the characteristic in modern-day, there are people who are not willing to change, and they are comfortable of where they are. Hence, he is grateful of what he has and set in his way. Whereas people like Meliboeus in modern-day are mostly entrepreneur and they’re eager to learn more, and not willing to settle down for less. Also, they’re realistic when facing problems.

Phaedrus is a philosophical dialogue that answers multiple questions about man’s reality. In the rhetoric that Plato uses in the text, seed and tree metaphors are especially significant. He compares a human to a heavenly plant, both of which are considered superior to an earthly tree, which has its seed grounded at the bottom in the soil. Plato’s central concept is that although human consciousness originates in the mind, it has the ability to conceive ideas that relate to the entire universe. Such an ability is most significant for Plato to consider humans as the most intelligent living form.

Ophelia is a small character in Hamlet, but she acts as a fulcrum in the whole play in three aspects. Firstly, Hamlet is emotionally fragile, therefore, her departure and death are the pivots of Hamlet’s madness. Their love makes the play more logic and tragic. Secondly, Ophelia is so innocent that all her dream is to be in love with Hamlet and live a happy life. Hamlet wanted to be like his father, but his father’ death and mother’s remarriage ruined everything. At last, Ophelia’s fake madness leads to Hamlet’s actual madness. Thirdly, Ophelia’s personality contributes to the tragedy a lot. Ophelia is kind, innocent and weak. She believed in the so-called truth that her father and king told her, and she followed what they told her. Hamlet saw the shadow of Ophelia in the image of his mother, so he did not care about whether Ophelia is innocent or not. What Hamlet did was to vent his anger to her, which leads to the tragedy of Ophelia. Although, Ophelia is only a small character, her emotion, dream and personality make Hamlet more round and vivid, and make the whole play more exciting and colorful.

I think the discussion of the story of the invention of the arts in Egypt has these significant functions. First, it stated the fact that the invention of words helped people pass their knowledge and experience to future generations. Second, it critically presented that the words might be misunderstood by others and was the fake of wisdom. Being more dependent on words, people gradually became more forgetful.  This discussion dialectically revealed the right and wrong of the words. Last but not least, it was also the self-questioning of Plato that words were dead and something deeper should be engraved on the soul of people. The rhetoric is vivid and makes the dead words more closed to the soul.

 

Socrates and Phaedrus describe various kinds of lovers’ behaviors based on Lysias’s speech which argues about the nature and form of a pederastic relationship between a boy and an old man. While they both agrees to Lysias’s idea of two kinds of lover: a lover and a non-lover, they hold opposite perceptions to define the behaviors of lovers in such relation. Phaedrus’s beliefs deeply based on self-interest which suggest that a young man should choose a relationship of other man who is non-lover over lover because as young men protect self-interest, they should also know that a lover faces troubled decision-making and often acts irrational. A lover, for example, is more probable to grow a physical passion and later may dislikes that about other person, while an affair based on friendship is likely to endure once passion is used up. Lovers also tend to become upset over meaningless things and to praise things about their lover that don’t deserve praise. In other words, presence of love and being out of one’s senses is habitually dangerous that complicates the truth and compromises a young man’s future. Although Socrates at first retorts Lysias’s speech with his own speech praising sense and sanity over love and madness, he argues that it’s preferable for a man to have a relationship with one who’s in love with him. If he doesn’t deal with the madness that springs from love, he wouldn’t be gaining the pleasures of philosophy and the eventual vision of true beauty. In contrast, if one holds the superficial virtuous sense of a relationship with someone who’s not in love with him, he would only gain miserable benefits of a mortal kind, causing him to trip mindlessly around the earth instead of expecting eternal truth and beauty.

Socrates and Phaedrus describe various kinds of lovers’ behaviors by they both agreed with Lysias that there are two kinds of lovers: non-lover and lover. Lysias makes an irrefutable argument in praising the non-lover for remaining more rational than the lover. The lover will regret giving favors after his desire subsides, while the non-lover will view favors like business transactions. The non-lover will be able to indulge in pleasures without having to worry about their negative impact on his business or personal life. Lovers are jealous and jealousy often leads to enmity; relations with a non-lover, who has attracted a boy with his personal merits, will always lead to friendship. Lovers are usually first attracted to a boy’s body rather than his character, so they may not want to remain friends afterwards. They believes the relationship between non-lovers is better than a relationship with lovers.

The discussion between Socrates and Phaedrus starts Phaedrus pointing the essentials of an article written by Lysias. Both characters are in agreement with Lysias that there are two kinds of lovers: lovers and non-lovers. They state that the relationship between non-lovers is better than a relationship with lovers because lovers expose the discussion while non-lovers don’t.  The main interests for relationship by lovers are the benefit obtained in it. They measure and calculate both expenditure and income from a relationship and if the expenditure exceeds the benefit, they quit the relationship.  On the other hand, non-lovers value the relationship more than the benefits involved in it. Despite the amount spend in a relationship, non-lovers will not regret being in a relationship.

Although both Aeneas and Odysseus were prominent heroes in their own stories, they were quite different from one another. Aeneas had the goal of finding and creating a new home for his people after they left Troy. His determination and devotion were what kept him going and he never strayed away from his goal. He was a national hero who cared for the interests of other people and wanted the best for them. Aeneas was also an individual who obeyed the gods and followed the instructions they gave him without a single doubt. On the other hand, Odysseus was returning home from war with his men. It had been ten years since he started that journey and he had also lost all of his crew members during that time. This was all due to his selfishness as he was often tempted by his desires and decided to stray away from his goal. Based on this, we can see that Odysseus was a hero who only pursued his self-interests with no care for others. Although numerous gods helped him to get back home, Odysseus often disobeyed them. He even harmed Poseidon’s son Polyphemus at one point proving his disregard for others. 

Both characters had different features that pertained to their Greek or Roman culture. As a Greek hero, Odysseus was more self-involved and cared more for his fame and glory. He always placed his interests first and did not show as much care for others around him. As a Roman hero, Aeneas was very dedicated to his country and to help out others. He cared for others’ wellbeing and acted in ways that would benefit them. Aeneas and Odysseus both hold good representations of how heroes should be in their culture. 

Gertrude is Hamlet’s mother, widow to the late king Hamlet and wife of the current king, Claudius. Gertrude loves Hamlet very much but is a weak woman who seeks affection. She goes off to marry Claudius very soon after the late king Hamlet’s death. Claudius is the uncle of Hamlet, the new husband of Gertrude and the new king of Denmark. Claudius plays the biggest villain in the play as the man who is behind the death of Hamlet’s father. Claudius is also the man that plans to have Hamlet killed not by his own hands but has Laertes help him with poison. Polonius is the counsellor in Claudius’s court and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. Polonius is an old man who plays a villian that is conniving and scheming. He connives with Claudius to spy on Hamlet to reveal what causes his madness. Ophelia is described as a beautiful young woman and is the love interest of the main character Hamlet. Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, and father, Polonius, warn her that she is only for Hamlet’s sexual desire. Her relationship with these men eventually leads to her death. Laertes spends most of his time away in France for college. He returns for revenge when he hears about the death of his father. Haratio is the most loyal and trustworthy friend, if not the only one. He shows his loyalty and trustworthiness throughout the play. In the end, Haratio decides to live to tell the story of Hamlet.