Vocab # 8

1.      Abeyance:temporary suspension, as of an activity or function

2.      Ambivalent:simultaneous conflicting feelings toward a person or thing, as love and hate

3.      Beleaguer:to besiege by encircling, as with an army

4.      Carte:full authority

5.      Cataclysm:any great upheaval, as an earthquake or a war, that causes sudden and violent changes, great destruction, etc.

6.      Debauch:to lead astray morally; corrupt; deprave

7.      Éclat:brilliant or conspicuous success

8.      Fastidious:not easy to please; very critical or discriminating

9.      Gambol:a jumping and skipping about in play; frolic, to jump

10.  Imbue:to permeate or inspire

11.  Inchoate:just begun; in the early stages; incipient; rudimentary

12.  Lampoon:a piece of satirical writing, usually attacking or ridiculing someone

13.  Malleable:capable of being changed, molded, trained, etc.; adaptable

14.  Nemesis:anyone or anything which seems to be the inevitable cause of someone's downfall or defeat

15.  Opt: to make a choice

16.  Philistine:a person regarded as smugly narrow and conventional in views and tastes, lacking in and indifferent to cultural and aesthetic values

17.  Picaresque:of, like, or having to do with sharp-witted vagabonds or rogues

18.  Queasy:causing or feeling discomfort; uneasy

19.  Refractor:hard to manage; stubborn; obstinate

20.  Savoir-fair:ready knowledge of what to do or say, and of when and how to do or say it

The use of a ghost puts the audience in a state of abeyance as we wonder what the back story of this mysterious creature is. Ambivalence towards Hamlet would describe Ophelia pretty well. Meanwhile in the back ground of the story a large Norwegian army is beleaguering Denmark. While Claudius just sits there with carte blanche. It’s like a giant cataclysm that’s slowly engulfing Denmark. Claudius is also debauching Hamlet’s mother slowly.  If Hamlet’s plan will be an éclat is yet to be seen. Hamlet is in a current state of mind which makes him very fastidious. You see few people in this story gamboling with joy. Shakespeare’s work has imbued many writers after him. Hamlet’s plan so far is inchoate. I don’t think the play is meant be a lampoon for other writers. Few characters in this play are malleable. Hamlets is Claudius’s nemesis as soon as Hamlet finds out about his father’s true death. Ophelia must opt between her family’s judgment and her own; I think she will choose her own. Some of Hamlet’s are debatably philistines. Ophelia’s emotions will eventually make her queasy to the point of death.  Hamlet is seems easy to handle for Claudius but soon he will realize Hamlet is really refractory. Hamlet has a plan and he has savoir-fair.