Candide's Travels...A Modest Candide ?

As I was reading Candide last night, I got the vibe that I was reading Gulliver's Travels or A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. Interestingly enough, Mrs. Quinet touched on this idea in class today when we were discussing Simplicius Simplicissimus. It makes sense that I would have thought of these two pieces of literature because they are works of satire like Candide. Satire, as we defined today, is "a type of writing that ridicules/critiques a human weakness, vice, or folly in order to bring about social reform." Satire, whether light-hearted or serious/scathing, was huge during the Enlightenment. The whole point of these authors writing about pressing issues was to bring the public's attention to them. I find their use of wit and humor to do this absolutely genius.

A Comparison

I know y'all just finished Hamlet, but I hope I'm not too too late with this.

Meeting Hamlet for the time, we see that he is sad and full of despair. His reaction to his father’s death is normal, but he struggles with it and also the marriage of his uncle and mother. Onika Miraj (Nicki Minaj was born in 1982 in Trinidad and Tobago. Her family struggled living in New York once they moved. She struggles with the mental diseases her father had. Basically, the father she knew died and was replaced by an emotionally unstable shell.

Onika Miraj created Cookie, her first alter ego, to escape the troubles and to understand her life and her father. Similarly, Hamlet continually questions his existence to understand his world.

The Harjuku Barbie, also known as Black Barbie and also known as Barbie, is Nicki Minaj’s famous alter ego that is fun and flirty. Barbie struggles to find love because sometimes she likes to act like she’s in love rather than actually be in love. Hamlet acts like he’s in love with Ophelia, true or not, but unlike Barbie he does it with a purpose. Ophelia plays a huge role in the Hamlet's emotional roller coaster. Hamlet tells Ophelia that he loved her once but then tells her to leave him. This scene establishes that Hamlet has become 'crazy' in love. (similarly, Nicki Minaj has a song titled so). Later, Hamlet says to Laertes that he loved Ophelia more than he ever did, but he also makes her feel bad when he pretends he doesn’t love her.

Hamlet becomes crazy when his father tells him the truth of his murder. The late Roman Zolanski is Nicki Minaj was most vocal alter ego. Zolanski has been described as a gay man from London, England, characterized as being far more outspoken and oftentimes more malicious than Nicki. He is considered crazy, but really this is due to the situations he’s been placed in. Hamlet ends up killing his Laertes after being poisoned by the tip of Laertes sword. Hamlet also kills his uncle. Hamlet is not a killer but his craziness has taken over due to the situations he has been placed in. Whether or not he is acting, he looses complete control of his sanity. Hamlet's emotions progress towards complete insanity and lead him to killling Polonius, Laertes and eventually Claudius.

Nicki Minaj has different egos and does not progress towards one. She bounces around her egos without much reason. There is no progression in her egos, only sporadic changes. Hamlet on the other hand has a much clearer progression.

Reign

Right now, my mother and I have been caught in a marathon of the show on Netflix called "Reign." It centers around Mary queen of Scots and the drama surrounding her reign. Her husband, Francis, his mother is Catherine de Medici - of the Medici family we have heard so much about while studying the ninja turtle artists. In the show, the family is recognized as the funders of the art community, but they also use it as a secret organization of spies to know what's going on with the other royals. I found that extremely interesting and made me start to wonder if the artists we spoke of really knew all of the gossip of the different families and whether or not they were caught up in it or maybe even inspired by it. Another thing I thought of is that the show portrays king Henry as super mean and ends up going insane -I wonder if he was truly mad and if Catherine de Medici was truly as terrible as this show makes her out to be- the show has been a pretty good help for the history and people of power surrounding and inspiring these artists, but I wonder how much is accurate, and I hope that they will bring in one of the artists that we've spoken about.

Anybody else starting to feel bad for Candide?

So is anybody else picking up a series of unfortunate events kind of vibe from this story? While I was reading Candide, I started to feel bad for the guy. Though he had a incestuous incident with his cousin, it all seemed pretty innocent at the time. First he gets banished from the "greatest castle on the face of the earth" or something like that.then he gets taken in by those Bulgar people, Who with him like 4000 times, and almost gets excuted.  Then the poor dude finds out that his love (I know I t's really weird because it's his cousin, but he still loves this girl come on), gets brutally raped and disemboweled by the same people who flog him. Then he gets yelled at for begging to a guy who preaches charity, at some point I kinda just wished that Voltaire would cut the guy a break. We did meet James the Anabaptist which was a nice break to Candide's misery, but I have a feeling that these poor "effects" are still  on the way for Candide.

Incest in humanities: part 12,683

This year we've already seen evidence of incest in  works like One Hundred Years of Solitude, Oedipus, and I'm sure a few others that I'm forgetting. This year has had more stories containing incest than I have ever seen. Once again in Candide, we see evidence of incest… Again. for those of you who didn't read, Candide and his cousin, Cunégonde, have a little kissing sesh after dinner one night and get caught. This instance of incest sparks the rest of the satire's  plot. Without the relations between Cunégonde and Candide, his adventure outside of the Baron's castle would not have happened. Just wanted to point out this other instance of incest we will discuss come Monday.

More information on David, for all you Michelangelo buffs

The research that I did on Michelangelo's David sparked more interest in the piece that I had previously had. This is excess information that I had and couldn't fit into a brief presentation on my favorite piece of renaissance art. Like said before, David is a marble statue approximately 18 feet tall and six tons. It was completed and 1504 and placed in the public square outside of the Palazzo Della Singnoria, and later moved to an art gallery in Florence. Something that I really couldn't get into too in depth on during my presentation was the original project from the Florence Cathedral. The overseers of the office of the Cathedral wanted to build 12 large Old Testament sculptures that would stand on the buttresses of the cathedral. In1410, Donatello started the project with sculptures of Joshua, the biblical character. Other artists also contributed to the project, Agostino di Ducco completed a statue of Hercules, and began to work on the David. After cutting out the shape of a man, he passed the project to Antonio Rossellino. After Rossellino's time cutting the statue, the project as a whole was abandoned. Michelangelo resumed the statue of David, solely because no one wanted to see a giant piece of marble go to waste. The original idea for Florence Cathedral was something that I found very interesting and wasn't able to share during my presentation. I just wanted to give a little more background info rather than just reading off artist names who contributed.

Ham Sandwich Hamlet

I know I can't be the only one who thought of a ham every time I saw or read "Hamlet." It led me to think about Shakespeare and all the words he invented that we commonly use today. ("Ham" isn't one of those words.)

When I was little I would come up with some pretty stupid words and they, of course, did not stick around. I have to commend Shakespeare for his intelligence and influence--he came up with over 1700 words for the English language by "changing nouns to verbs, changing verbs to adjectives, connecting words never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, and devising words wholly original." Below is a list of some of the few words Shakespeare coined. I think he certainly transformed our language and expanded the scope of what could be accomplished through literature with his contributions.

Hamlet's Justification

I think that Hamlet has no blame at all for the deaths of Gertrude, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Claudius deliberately sends people to murder R&G (although it could have been a misinterpretation on the executioner's part), and Gertrude inadvertently drinks the poison that Claudius prepares in his evil plan to murder Hamlet. Hamlet's intention of killing Claudius could also be justified by the fact that Claudius tries to kill him throughout the whole story.

We can agree that Hamlet does not kill Claudius during his prayer at least partially for fear that Claudius might enjoy a good afterlife for his repentance. We should also notice that Hamlet contemplates life and death a lot, and does not know what anyone's afterlife would be like, or if there is an afterlife at all. At first, he fears that heaven could be real and Claudius might go there, and fears his own death because he does not know what will happen afterwards. But at the end, he is finally determined to carry our his revenge and is ready to face his own death, so he goes to the fencing match that Claudius hosts even though he is extremely suspicious of it.

Repentance

The whole play focuses a lot on the idea of repentance. Hamlet is very concerned with this whole concept, often making choices and judging situations based on whether or not someone has repented before death. Hamlet's father is in purgatory because he did not repent before he was murdered. Hamlet is angry at Claudius not only because he killed his father, but also because Claudius did not allow time for his father to repent. Hamlet also begs Gertrude to confess her sins. He seems worried about what will happen to her in the future. Also, he does not kill Claudius in the moment he sees him praying because he does not want to grant Claudius the favor of access to Heaven. As concerned as Hamlet is throughout the play about this whole idea of confessing, he doesn't seem to stick to that when it comes to his own death. He basically tells Horatio, "Whatever happens, happens. I don't really care if I live or die." This is kind of a spur of the moment decision because he does not sense his death coming until he actually arrives at the dual. He lies till the very end, telling Laertes that it was his "madness" that drove him to kill Polonius and claiming that he himself is a victim. If he would've followed through about his belief of the importance of repentance, I don't think he would have acted so hastily.

Hamlet and Gertrude

As we have pointed out, in the clip we watched from Hamlet the other day, Hamlet acts very aggressively towards Gertrude, and the clip even suggests some sexual undertones between the two. It's interesting to think about whether Hamlet is actually jealous about Gertrude and Claudius being together or whether he is genuinely upset. Personally, I think he's just upset. If my dad died just a few months ago and my mom was already remarried, I think I'd have the same feelings as Hamlet. Hamlet tries and tries to get Gertrude to acknowledge her sin because he actually cares about her (as in a mother/son relationship). He probably doesn't want her dying without repentance like his father did. He also tries to convince her at the end of the scene that he is not mad. We don't see Hamlet trying to convince anyone of else of this. Gertrude seems to be the only one Hamlet actually trusts with the truth (or at least part of it)... When the ghost appears he even tells her to look because his father is standing right in front of them. Remember that he asks his friends not to tell anyone about the ghost. So, overall, I think that while Hamlet is upset with his mother, he cares about her and doesn't want anything bad to happen to her.

A master key vs a crappy lock

"A key that can open up many locks is a master key, but a lock that can be opened by many keys is a crappy lock." 

This is quote is referring to men and women and the acceptance of gender norms. Men are the keys and women are the locks, obviously. I think it is so weird that in so many years nothing has changed. If one man sleeps with many women he is looked at as a hero, this is simply not the case for women. A woman who sleeps with many men is seen as a slut. This was the same in the Renaissance times. Women were expected to be virgins when they got married while men had no expectations at all. Why have double standards survived for so long? The fact that in the 21st century women are still expected to be virtuous and men still have no shame.

Odd Couple

Although I know most of you did not go see Odd Couple, but our discussion today reminded me of my character Florence. We talked today about how dependent women are on men for various reasons and how that has carried over into today. In the play, Florence wants to commit suicide because she broke up with her husband. It's crazy how she wants to throw her whole life away just because she lost her man. Imagine how it would have been for women of the Medieval times if that were to have happened to them. They would not be able to remarry because men only want virgins. They would be alone forever. On the other hand, Florence, although she thinks she will never find anyone else, ends up getting two hot spanish guys. Like seriously, quit whining you got a really good deal. However, Florence is also really broken up because she has two children with her husband and she explains that being a mother has been the best thing that has ever happened to her life. This reminded me how women were only worth something if they had children  in the Renaissance and Medieval periods. For Florence, she feels that her worth is gone now that she cant raise her kids in a normal setting, but for people of that time, they would actually not be accepted as a woman fit to be married to and would be tossed aside if they did not have children. So Basically, Florence acts as a modern example of the old Medieval standards and values for women, especially since Florence prides herself on cooking and cleaning and raising children, as would be the only tasks of those women during that period, The play even have a line that says "If only Florence was alive 200 years ago, she would be appreciated in that world."

If I Were a King

Today in class we were talking about how women in the Renaissance were thought to be less than men. We were talking about the queen's speech when she is talking to her army before the Spanish Armada. She says  It is crazy to think about the extremity of those times but if you think about it, times haven't changed that much. Beyonce came out with a song in 2008 called If I Were A Boy. The opening lyrics to her song are,

"If I were a boy even just for a dayI'd roll out of bed in the morningAnd throw on what I wanted and goDrink beer with the guysAnd chase after girlsI'd kick it with who I wantedAnd I'd never get confronted for it'Cause they stick up for me"

The first three lines of the song remind me of the primary source when it talks about all the women being "fluffed up" and the only thing they care about is putting rings on their fingers and parting their hair the correct way. And then the men just roll out of bed and they are ready for the day because they are concerned with more important things then their looks. The next few lines about chasing after girls and never getting confronted for it reminds me of the whole chastity issue with women. Men can just run around and sleep with who they want and no one says anything about it. But the SECOND people find out about a woman sleeping around it is the end of the world and they are no longer suitable for marriage. I just think it's strange that really nothing has changed.

Sexual Tension

I wondered if Renaissance actors would have acted out sexual tension between Hamlet and Gertrude. This might have been an element made up entirely by the director of the film we watched, but the play is certainly open for that interpretation. It would resemble the subject matter of incest (specifically with one's own mother) in Oedipus, which would make sense since the Renaissance involved a revival of classical arts and ideas. If so, do you think a 16th century audience would have been disgusted by that?

Luther

I found the articles we looked at today in Humanities so interesting today. My favorite article was about Luther. I had never read that article before, and it surprised me that Martin Luther would have given such a strange tidbit of advice to a woman. He basically told his subject, "if your husband does not impregnate you, tell him that he has to give you consent to get impregnated by one of his brothers so that you preserve both your and his honor." I was so shocked at Luther saying this, because I feel as if this is almost deceitful; people would think that the child was the offspring of the husband and the wife, when in reality the child is the product of the wife and a third party (with consent by the husband...but still!) Knowing that everyone in class today found this article to be the most impressive, I wonder what the reaction was in Luther'a time.

Does Hamlet feel guilt for wanting to kill Claudius?

Near the end of the story, Hamlet is convinced that he must kill Claudius to revenge his father, although he may not know about Claudius' plans of killing him. He decides that a man must fight to the death for his honor, even if the reward is a straw. Do you think that Hamlet feels guilty at all for wanting to murder his uncle? I'm not saying that he should or shouldn't, but since he has such a sensitive conscience, do you think that he would?

To kill or not to kill...i guess

Hamlet questions suicide in his famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy. In the speech, he explains the fear of the unknown that keeps people from committing suicide. Because people are unaware of what is waiting on the other side, they do not follow through with the sinful act. It is their own cowardice that saves them. Hamlet also goes on to express his personal beliefs towards suicide and sin.

I like to think that Hamlet is relaying this cowardice and belief of sin towards his revenge against Claudius. His ultimate delay could be caused by the same kind of cowardice that he relates to suicide. I'm really not sure but this thought came up to be while reading. 

Film adaptation of Hamlet

I am very pleased that we got to watch scenes of a movie version of Hamlet in class. I had not imagined how differently I would view the personalities of the characters as they were portrayed in the film and play. For example, Hamlet in the movie was much more comical and 10x more savage than I had thought he would be like when I had been reading the play. He actually seemed a lot more insane to me in the movie, too (meaning his "acting" didn't seem like much of an act). Also, when reading, I certainly did not expect the scene between Hamlet and Gertrude to be filled with so much sexual tension. It was entertaining to visualize the scenes as I was following along in the play. Because I was able to see the scene being acted out, I obtained a lot of new perspectives. The film brought the words to life (as it is supposed to do) and it affected me significantly. Interpretation can make or break the adaptation. It is up to the director and actors' discretion to determine how the scenes will go, and every one of their decisions influence the viewer. If the creator had decided to go in a different direction, it is interesting to think of how you might think of something.

Hambeth (Maclet)

Yesterday, I was helping one of my friends who goes to Rummel study for Macbeth. I had to review the story because Hamlet is obviously at the front of my brain. The similarities between Hamlet and Macbeth are very open. Macbeth and Hamlet both are somewhat power hungry, and kill people to get to the top. Macbeth is openly driven by greed, whereas Hamlet says he is going to kill Claudius to avenge his father's death (which just so happens to also put him in power). Both Hamlet and Macbeth also kill innocent bystanders along the way of rising to power. Both plays also heavily rely on ghosts to move the story along (Banquo in Macbeth, the spirit/possibly the dead king in Hamlet). I'm sure there are many other similarities between these two works of Shakespeare!

Hamlet's Delay

I completely understand the argument of Hamlet's delay. He seems to hesitate multiple times and make up many different excuses for why he hasn't killed Claudius yet throughout the play. However, I also feel as though the argument isn't entirely valid for multiple reasons. First of all, I would absolutely hesitate before killing someone. I'm pretty sure that most sane people would. But even more importantly, he legitimately attempts to kill Claudius but it ends up being Polonius. That fact was actually what made me ponder this whole argument in the first place. These critics are arguing that he keeps trying to hold off on killing Claudius but he full on stabbed a human thinking that it was Claudius. To me, it seems like he truly has intentions to kill Claudius, and actually attempts it, but also just has the nervous hesitation about killing a human... I just don't know if the whole argument is entirely necessary.

Shakespearean Conspiracy

As I was thinking about Hamlet, I was wondering whether Shakespeare really truly wrote all of the plays like everyone says he did. Now, there are a ton of conspiracy theories out there on good ole Bill Shakespeare. They range from him being a woman, to him being gay, to him being a group of people that wrote under the name William Shakespeare, to him stealing plays from other people and writing them down as his own. Then I thought about the last one, and decided it really is not too far from true. He technically did just recycle an old play, Amleth, instead of Hamlet. Here are two crazy interesting links on Shakespeare conspiracy theories in case anyone else is interested!
http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1661619,00.html
http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/shakespeare-conspiracy-theory/

WARNING: THIS POST HAS NO SUBSTANCE

Here I am, at homecoming sitting at the front table in Saints Hall writing my 3rd post for the week (in the home stretch right now, we can do it!). I'm just writing what comes to mind about Hanlet. I currently have no idea where this post will go. So already in hamlet, I've seen a couple things that recurs through just about every work that we've read since freshman year. Just in the first few scenes we've already seen death, sex, religion, reputation, revenge, cowardice, and more. Hamlet is a typical work that we've read. We still have a long way to go to before this play ends ,and we'll probaly see lots of more significant points that we've seen before.  Frankly I just can't wait till we can get to "to be or not to be."

The Lion King pt. 2

Of course I have to write another Lion King post! The popularly accepted belief among internet users and Lion King fans is that the movie The Lion King is most similarly related to Hamlet the play. The most glaring similarity, I believe, is the relationship between the prince and the evil uncle. Both Scar and Claudius (the brothers of Mufasa and Hamlet Sr., respectively) were jealous of their brothers' power over the kingdom and killed them in order to acquire that power for themselves. Simba and Hamlet, the princes, are, therefore, both fatherless :( and Mufasa and Hamlet Sr. each appear to their sons in the form of ghosts. Both Simba and Hamlet have love interests--Simba develops a crush on Nala, while Hamlet develops a relationship with Ophelia.

Since we haven't read the whole play yet, I cannot write every similarity and difference there might be, but I will probably comment on this as we read further with updates!  

Fortuna fortibus favet

"Fortuna fortibus favet" was one of our verba sapienti's in Latin and it translates to "Fortune favors the brave/bold." Our discussion on Fortune's role inspired me to blog about this. Fortune was the Roman goddess of luck, chance, and of course, fortune. She might grind good fortune/luck but she might also bring bad fortune/luck. She is usually depicted holding a cornucopia, which indicates her ability to give the gift of prosperity. In other representations, she is holding a ship's rudder that symbolizes how she is able to control people's lives. She wears a blindfold to represent how sometimes she brings good luck to those who don't necessarily seem like they deserve it. One day someone could be really lucky and on top, and then the next day they could lose everything and be on the bottom. I thought that this verba sapienti was interesting because Fortune doesn't really favor any specific type of person. It is all random. Fortune works in mysterious ways and no one is prepared for what She might do next.

Polonius

In class yesterday we were talking about Polonius's character. I think the general conclusion was that he was really concerned with his own reputation and gave his son some really cliche advice, implying that he may not care all that much. However, I kind of actually see him as a caring guy. He did give his son some really common advice, but honestly who's parents don't do that? I'm sure your parents have all told you to "follow your dreams," "study hard,"not drink and drive," etc. My parents always tell me that they give me all this common advice because they feel obligated and really care. So, I think the same kind of thing may be going on with Polonius. Also, he may actually be looking out for Ophelia when he tells her to stay away from Hamlet. He may change as we read more, but so far, Polonius doesn't seem like too bad of a guy to me.

Has anyone seen Ella Enchanted?

Ella Enchanted I have realized is very similar to Hamlet, but the movie does make Ophilias character the main focus. At the begging of the movie Elle has been given the gift of obedience, so she must do what everyone tell her to do, including the evils king wish to not love the prince and kill him instead. This evil king, the audience finds out in a flash back, has poised his brother, the former king, so that he could be the next ruller. Not to mention he has an accomplice that is a snake, which is similar to hamlet because the story told of how Hamlit Sir died was via snake bit. Back to Ella, sorry for the spoiler, but she is able to break free of her obedience spell in the end and marry the prince. I do not know if Ophilia will be able to go against her father and brothers word to not have relations with Hamlet yet but if the movie follows some of the courses of the play maybe Ophilia and Hamlet will be able to be together. 

Magical Realism in Hamlet

When thinking of the role of the ghost in Hamlet, I thought that the way the characters see a ghost as almost normal is very characteristic of magical realism. Like in One Hundred Years of Solitude (sorry for beating that dead horse), the characters accept magical things as a part of the universe. In Hamlet, this definitely has to do with the fact that the people in that setting believed in the Great Chain of Being, which contains magical elements (for example, natural disasters would occur when a king is killed.).

Autopsy

Ashley Bossier wrote this post.

Today in class we were talking about how no one thought to check Hamlet's dad's body for the snake bite. Then the topic of autopsies came out. So I googled autopsy and found some stuff out. The first autopsy was around 300 BC by Alexandrian physicians, they just kind of cut the body open to look at it. But it were the Greeks, in the late 2nd century AD, who actually looked at what caused the death of people. They looked at the symptoms and the signs of what killed the people. This was the foundation for all autopsies after.

Othello

Ashley Bossier wrote this

When everyone else read Hamlet last night, I read the first three scenes of Othello. I am going to let you all know what you missed. So the play starts out in Venice. It opens up with two men talking, Iago and Roderigo. All throughout the first scene they are talking about "the moor." The moor is actually Othello. Othello is a general in the army and is praised among everyone. Iago was supposed to be Othello's next lieutenant but Othello gave that position away to Cassio. When they finish talking they decide to go to Brabantio's house to jack him around. Roderigo is obsessed with Brabantio's daughter and wants to marry her. Little does anyone know that his daughter, Desdemona, recently ran away and married Othello. This upsets her father and Roderigo. Her father claims that Desdemona would not have married anyone unless they enchanted her, kind of like Hamlet's dad. So they all run down to find Othello and Brabantio tries to get him arrested for witchcraft. Well this doesn't work out because Othello needs to go off to war and he's bringing Desdemona. And that is how far I got in Othello.

Oedipus vs. Hamlet

After class today, I began comparing Hamlet to past pieces that we have read in Humanities. One previously read play that particularly stuck out to me as similar was Oedipus. Not the entire story line obviously, but the idea of incestuous relationships was a big factor of similarities. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus as we know, marries his mother unknowingly after killing his father, also unknowingly. However, although this relationship wasn't judged because they didn't know they were related, I still wonder why the remarriage wasn't judged. People made a huge deal about how fast Hamlet's mother got remarried, but I don't really think that the situation in Oedipus is much different, yet it was perfectly accepted, honored even. Not long after Oedipus killed the previous king of Thebes, he is crowned king for solving the riddle of the Sphinx and then marries his mother. Why wasn't she chastised for her speedy marriage?

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Yesterday, when we discussed the incestuous relationship between Hamlet's mother and Claudius, it made me think of an episode of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" that I recently watched. Obviously, it is an extremely parodied version but it is a very similar situation to the one of Claudius and Gertrude. In this particular episode, Frank tells his two kids and their friends (in their 20's) that they are going to a barbecue. He actually takes them to their uncle's funeral where he proceeds to try to get with his ex-sister in law aka the kids' aunt. His motives for doing this are in a way, out of revenge. He says that since the aunt and her sister (Frank's ex-wive) hated each other and since Frank and the sister-in-law's husband hated each other, that they should get back at them. Although it is obviously a much more modern and ridiculous situation but I immediately thought of this episode during our discussion. In the episode, the dad tries to get with the aunt and in "Hamlet", the uncle tries to get with (and succeeds) Hamlet's mom.

Hotel California

Over the weekend, I was listening to music in my car and The Eagles' song "Hotel California" started playing. I immediately thought of the hotel-style of Hell of No Exit. The lyrics for the song are as follows:

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
"This could be Heaven or this could be Hell"
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Captain,
"Please bring me my wine"
He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine"
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device"
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax, " said the night man,
"We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!

I thought of No Exit for the following reasons
- it is in a Hotel
- "This could be heaven or this could be hell"
- "you can never leave!"
- the protagonist of the song is fervently running for the door to try to escape
- everyone in the hotel is a "prisoner of their own device"
- can't kill people even with steel knives (you can't kill a dead person)
- they depend on alibis to keep themselves comfortable
- both have a woman who loves men and loves dancing and is very materialistic

Differences with No Exit:
- they can sleep in the Hotel California
- mirrors on the ceiling, whereas Hell has no mirrors
- can walk through the corridors and associate with other people