After many read throughs and speculations here is my thoughts on what the poem is about and how T.S. Eliot uses structure to emulate his argument.

A Chaos In Man Within A Systematic World

Before reading the poem, MJ gave us two aspects of modernism: The socio/political- embodying uniformity and order- and art/philosophy- which embodied disorder/chaos/anarchy. Within this poem, we see these two separations interwoven throughout the piece. Michelangelo is mentioned, who is a signifier or maybe more appropriately a symbol of the Renaissance Man, the man of high and broad knowledge, the one who has constructed art and buildings, statues, sculptures by reason and order of the mind and intellect. And we see this contrasted with, "The yellow fog that rubs it back upon the window-panes,/ The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window panes," like a stray dog. We are as well given the depiction of this dog like pollution, "[Lingering] upon the pools that stand in drains," and, "the soot that falls from chimneys," which in my understanding shows society as stagnate and actually polluting itself, creating a beast that lingers. T.S Eliot seems to appeal to the idea that society is not all that it seems to be. As women go about in a room talking about Michelangelo, so modern society builds itself on the idea of thought and reason, but really by this thought and intelligence they build plants that puff yellow smoke that lays itself down upon their town, a place of stagnate ironically, rather than progression.

Structure That Helps To Support Such A View of Society

In the first stanza we see that T.S. Eli0t has some structure to his writing as he rhymes this first stanza of lines in a AA, B, CC, DD, EE, F, and GG scheme. It is almost as if he is presenting society in these lines as it would appear: with structure. He then breaks up two stanzas with the lines alluding to Michelangelo, the near archetype of the Renaissance Man, and contrasts the first stanza with one that does not have as much structure, portraying the yellow fog and further on in the next stanza, with less structure, talks about the standing pools over water. T.S. Eliot I believe uses less structure to show the inconsistencies in society in his poem.

A Sensible Ranting of Crazy Ophelia

"Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be. God be at your table!"
-Ophelia Act 4.5 Lines 43-44

In essence, I think what Ophelia is saying is that we know who we are at the present moment, but what is too come that might shape and make us into different people, or at least our views or perceptions being tweaked, will be a mystery until the future comes about. The loss of her father was unexpected for. It's debatable that she didn't even know the true nature of her father; a spying, coniving, and controling old man. She did not see his death coming, but because of who he was, death found him and he was revealed in his true nature.

Play vs. the Movie

Gee.....I really don't know. I think the movie does capture a lot of the emotion of the play. Mel does an amazing job playing Hamlet, in my opinion. I do dislike the fact, though, that the movie takes some creative liberties to express the play. Whenever there is a movie about a book, or in this case a play, I dislike the fact that it is different from the book. The overall tone of conflict and upheaval in the play is displayed well in the movie, but I like the written play because it goes the extra mile in portraying these different moods and tones, such as Hamlets soiled pants, etc. I'll have to go with the book. I think it captures the essence of the play.

Art: A Bearer of truths and Truth

As we have established, Hamlet believes that the purpose of theatre is to imitate humanity in attempts to show truth. Within the context of Hamlet, Hamlet is literally trying to show truth in order to convict King Claudius, so that his emotions might be rended from him in order to confirm that Claudius indeed had a hand in King Hamlet's death. In general, I think it is inevitable to express a certain amount of truth through a work of art or a piece of music, etc. But is it art's sole purpose to display truth? Works of art are many times made with the intention to reveal truth. As an example, Of Mice and Men, shares Steinbeck's position on the working class during the great depression. It provides us with a portal in which we can look into the depths of Steinbeck's heart in order to define what he believes to be the truth of the matter. The same can go with modern music. Switchfoot, for example, uses their musical prowess as a vehicle to critique hypocrisies in society, and in doing so reveal truth about society. The same goes with movies and any other forms of art within this context. There are those forms of art that may be made for the purpose of entertainment, such as pop satirist's Weird Al Yankovic's parodies on some of the latest hit songs, (I personally like White and Nerdy). These still may present truth in their own fashion. All of that to bring me back to the point. I think that art is a means of communicating or showing truth. From a Christian standpoint though, we ought to be careful to judge truths that art may communicate and weigh them upon the Truth of God's Word.

To What Degree Does Claudius Think Hamlet A Threat?

It is clear that Claudius is highly concerned about the reason behind Hamlets madness. In Act Two, Scene Two, Claudius is so bent on discovering what ails Hamlet that it precedes his focus even when it comes to national affairs. Such behavior on the part of Claudius shows that he is quite suspicious about Hamlet's behavior. Even when Polonius suggests that his insanity is caused by Ophelia's witheld response to his love, Claudius still questions, leaning over to Ophelia and saying, "Do you think 'tis this?" (Line 152). I think King Claudius knows that something's up; that if Hamlet is not really being crazy, he could be a huge threat to him. I think that's why he wants Hamlet to talk to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz. Having old time friends confront him with the issue, might take Hamlet off guard and loosen him up a bit. If he were acting crazy, it would be hard to keep this facade for long in the prescence of such good friends. Because of Claudius's actions, I believe he thinks Hamlet to be a potentiously dangerous threat.

Did Hamlet Ever Love Ophelia?

I am under the impression that Hamlet, at least at one time, had loved Ophelia. In Act One, Scene three Ophelia dialogues with her father Polonius about her time spent with Hamlet. She says such things as, "He hath....of late made many tenders/Of his affection to me," or "He hath importuned me with love/In honorable fashion," (Lines 100-101, 111-112). It does not appear that Hamlet is insincere in his affection described in the lines above, but his generalization about woman being weak and frail in Act One, Scene two, line 146, gives evidence to the fact that maybe he is putting on a facade of love for Ophelia, being that she is weak and not worth his time. Yet, he does take the time to spend with Ophelia. The question is what would Hamlet's motivations be if he were faking his love for Ophelia? Polonius seems to think that Hamlet just wants to get some from his daughter, saying, "When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul/Lends the tongue vows," (Lines 117-118). Based upon Polonius's assumption, Hamlet's intentions might be sexual towards Ophelia. Polonius, though, is not the best source in regards to this situation. He may be so consumed with maintaining his own honor, that his perception of the situation might be tainted by that consumation. In other words, he automatically assumes that Hamlet's intentions are for sex instead of considering other options because it is the first thing that might be assumed to threaten his honor. Therefore, Hamlet's love for Ophelia, during this section of the play, in my opinion, is genuine. I have probably read into this waaaaaaay too much, but there you have it.