Hamlet Questions

Student Questions on Hamlet
1. What were the names of the three Greek plays we read last year and who wrote each one? Briefly (one sentence) tell what each was about.




2. Does Hamlet have anything in common with any of these plays?


3. Were any tragedies?

4. What is the easiest way to know if a play (especially a Shakespearian play) is a tragedy?

*5. According to Aristotle in Poetics what are the characteristics of a tragedy?
(1) Should arouse fear and pity in the audience by depicting a character moving from a
condition of prosperity to one of affliction.
(a)if character is good audience feels repulsion at the injustice but not fear and
pity”
(b)if character is evil who moves from prosperity to affliction audience would feel
that this was justice and not have fear and pity
(c)character can’t be simply good or simply evil but rather one who falls into
affliction because of a “certain fallibility”
(2) a fall story” about a character who falls from a high position because of hamartia.
In the Bible this word means sin. In Greek drama it can mean just a tragic error, a
mistake in judgment. Sometimes it is a moral wrong, often hubris (pride)
(3) tragic character must have some standing so that the fall will have a loud crash
(4) linked to the Greek idea of Fate: Oedipus did not make a moral choice to kill his
father and marry his mother; in fact he tried to avoid it. He had no freedom to
choose.
*6. How does a Shakespearian tragedy differ from Aristotle’s ideas?
His characters are not just “fallible”. They commit sin, deeds of moral evil. In his
world grace operates and repentance and redemption are possible even if not seized.
*7. Leithart says that the Bible serves as the Christian’s master story. Tragedy corresponds to “the fall story” one type of story found in the Bible. Therefore in tragedies we should look for forbidden fruit, temptation, serpents, sin, punishment, Adams and Eves. “From this angle, Shakespeare’s tragedies can be seen as sobering meditations on the origins and consequences of human sin.”
*8. Note: There are textural problems with Hamlet. There are three early texts that vary in length and detail. Even the most complete text seems to have glaring gaps and apparent contradictions.
9. What was incestuous about the marriage of Claudius and Gertrude? (1.2.157; 1.5.42) Had the relationship between Claudius and Gertrude been adulterous? (1.5.43-53)


10. How old was Hamlet? (1.3.10-16; 1.3.24; 5.1.152-160; 1.5.174-175)


11. What do the following characters have in common?
(a) Gertrude and Ophelia:
(b) Hamlet & Ophelia:
(c) Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras:
(d) Claudius, Polonius, King Hamlet:
12. Leithart says dead fathers and Fortinbras are both unifying points in the play. Does this makes sense to you?
(a) Dead fathers:

(b) Fortinbras:

13. Do you think this play supports or rejects the revenge ethic? Support your answer with examples.






14. What are some themes in the play?





15. What is the connection made between Julius Caesar and Hamlet (1.115-116)


16. Contrast King Hamlet and Claudius as leaders (1.2.125-128; 1.4.7-22)


17. Look at Claudius’s first speech. (1.2.1-128) What does he say about each of the three young men, Fortinbras, Laertes, Hamlet?
(a) Fortinbras:

(b) Laertes:

(c) Hamlet:

18. Why is Claudius on the throne and not Prince Hamlet (5.2.4-65)?

19. What do you think is the function of the ghost in this play? Remember there was also a ghost in Julius Caesar.
20. Leithart says a long standing question is one that never occurred to me as I read. The question is, “Where did the ghost of Hamlet come from?” Hamlet himself asked this question. (1.4.39-57) The ghost speaks to the issue (1.5.3-5, 9-23)



21. Leithart says that the ghost’s descriptions in 1.5 are full of Biblical illusions. Can you find any?






22. What was Hamlet’s “antic disposition” (1.5.181)


23. Was Hamlet eager to seek revenge for his father’s murder?


24.What plan does Hamlet come up with at the end of Act 2 to trap Claudius? Have the actors put on a play that re-enacts his father’s murder.


25.What do you think is the significance of 3.1.47-49 ( “that with devotion’s visage and pious action we do sugar o’er the devil himself.”) and Claudius’s reaction to it—3.1.50-51(“O,’tis too true! How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience!”)


26.What is the significance of Hamlet’s soliloquy in 3.1.57-91? What do you think he is saying?

27.Why do you think Hamlet is so harsh and cruel to Ophelia in 3.1.91f? Why does he tell her to “Get thee to a nunnery.”?





28. Act 3 Scene 1: Why would England owe tribute to Denmark?
29. Act 3, Scene 2: What point is Hamlet making when he tries to get Guildenstern to play the recorder even though he insists he doesn’t know how?


30. Act 3, Scene 3: At the end of this scene Hamlet draws his sword and contemplates killing the King who is alone praying. Why does he decide not to kill him?
31. In 5.2.224-242 who or what does Hamlet blame for Polonius’s death?

32. In the play The Mousetrap the king’s murderer is Lucianus. What is his relationship to the king in the play and what is the significance of this?


33.Why do you think the ghost of King Hamlet reappears to Prince Hamlet in 3.4?



34.Act 4 draws out the consequences of Hamlet’s murder of Polonius for Hamlet, for Laertes, and for Ophelia. What are they?
Hamlet:

Ophelia:

Laertes:

35. What happens to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? Do you think Hamlet sinned in his part in this?

36. Compare Hamlet and Laertes.


37. How did each character die in the final scene?



38. What famous quotes did you recognize in Hamlet?




39. Did you find any parts of the play funny?




39. Is there anything else that you would like to discuss from this play?

Julius Caesar

Questions on Julius Caesar

NOTE: I would like you to print these out and answer as many questions as you can. These will be the starting point for our discussion. You will not be asked to turn them in. I won’t grade them. However, I may check to see if you bothered to print them and bring them to class. This sheet should be useful for taking notes during the discussion. You should leave as much space as you think you’ll need for answers before you print.

*1. Leithart says the following is the overall structure of the play:
Acts 1-2: Formation of the Conspiracy
Act 3: Death and funeral of Caesar
Acts 4-5: Civil War culminating in the Battle of Philippi
2. Do you think Caesar was superstitious? (1.2.1-24)
3. Did envy play a part in the conspiracy?
(1.2.90-161)
4. Why did Cassius want Brutus to be part of the conspiracy? (1.3.157-164)
5. Of the two main conspirators, Cassius and Brutus, who do you think was the more noble?
6. What is Antony’s relationship to Caesar? (1.2.9-10; 1.2.190-214)
*7. Leithart thinks that Brutus referring to Caesar as an adder (2.1.14) and a serpent’s egg (2.1.32) has reference to the serpent in Gen. 3 in the Garden of Eden. Brutus thinks he’s being the faithful Adam and crushing the serpent instead of following him. He thinks of himself as the new Adam who brings peace and prosperity but instead he is the old Adam who thrusts the world into chaos. Cassius is the serpent that tempts Brutus. Up to this point Caesar has been miscalculating. Now Brutus becomes like him in his own miscalculations.
8. Once Brutus joins the conspiracy he becomes the leader. Was he a good or bad leader?
*9. Leithart points out the following interesting structure in 2.1-2:
A. Gathering of conspirators at house of Brutus
B. Brutus and Portia
B.’ Caesar and Calpurnia
A.’ Gathering of conspirators at house of Caesar
*10. What is significant about the discussion of where the sun will rise in 2.1.101-108?
The conspirators think they are going to bring in a new day for Rome when they can’t even agree on where geographical east is. “Casca’s pointing to the sun with his sword is ‘the political message of the play condensed into a metaphor,’ since the conspirators believe they can bring a new day for Rome by the edge of the sword.” (Leithart, p. 192)
11. How do the conspirators get close enough to Caesar to assassinate him?
12. What is the last thing Caesar says before he is killed?
13. Why did the conspirators wash their hands and weapons in Caesar’s blood?
14.Describe the funeral of Caesar.
15. What is the significance of 3.3?
16. What is the significance of the quarrel between Cassius and Brutus in 4.3.
17. How did Caesar’s ghost identify himself when he came to Brutus at Sardis (4.3.284)?
*18. Leithart thinks Octavius has also become like Caesar. Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus were all cruel and callous in picking who to kill (4.1) Then Octavius and Antony discussedOctavius though young was domineering and called all the shots, ignoring Antony if necessary. For instance at the battle of Philippi Antony told Octavius to go to the left and he went to the right (5.1.16-20)
*19. Leithart ends his discussion of Julius Caesar with the following. “The most penetrating answer to the religion of revolution is the insistence that there is only one sacrificial Victim whose blood revives and whose unleashed Spirit brings not strife but peace. Only those who trust this sacrifice can have confidence that, whatever their mistakes and errors, they will not, in the end, misconstrue everything.”
20. What miscalculations were made by characters in this play? Caesar miscalculated that it was safe to go to the Senate on the Ides of March. Others discussed above.
21. What famous quotations come from this play?
22. Is there anything about this play that youwould like to discuss?
23. What is significant about the Ides of March?

Ascent to Love, chapters 4 & 5

Ascent to Love, chapters 4 & 5
1.As you read through chapter 4 assume that what Leithart says about Dante’s Purgatory is correct and list all things unbiblical about it. I have listed the obvious number one.
(1) There is no purgatory
2.What does Dante say about freedom on pages 107-109?
3. What are the three steps into purgatory which Leithart says represent
the 3 steps of repentance? (p.110) Do you agree that these three things equal
Biblical repentance?
4. What were the 7 deadly sins according to medieval theologians? (page 110)

[Note: one of these is dealt with in each of the seven levels of purgatory and in
the given order. The most serious sins are dealt with first and the sins of
incontinence are at the highest level of purgatory (arrived at last) because they
are less serious just as the sins of incontinence were at the highest level of hell
(arrived at first) because they were the least serious ]
*5. As in the Inferno the number 9 is important in Purgatorio.
(1) are nine main sections: two in antepuratory; 7 in purgatory.
(2) First transition (from antepurgatory to purgatory) takes place in canto 9
(3) Purgatory is 18 cantos (2 x 90
(4) Ascent from purgatory to Eden takes place in canto 27 (3x 9)
6.What does Dante have to do to leave purgatory and enter Eden where he will be
reunited with Beatrice? (pages 111-112)
7. What are the four cardinal virtues? (p.118)
8. Entrance to a new terrace often shows Mary as a counterexample of the vice being
purged. What two things happen at the end of each terrace before climbing to the
next one? (page 123-124)
9. How does Beatrice respond when she sees Dante in Eden?
10. Does reading chapter 4 spark your interest in reading the Purgatoria?


Chapter 5—Note after reading chapter 5 I don’t think it is worth reading the whole chapter without reading Paradiso. Therefore, you can stop reading at the review questions on page 158.

1. What does Leithart say is the theme of Paradiso? (p. 141)
2. On page 146 Leithart says, “Literally, Paradiso describes a space journey.” Dante moves upward at a great speed through the nine spheres of heaven. Describe the medieval picture of outer space.
3. Virgil was Dante’s guide through the Inferno and through most of Purgatoria. However he doesn’t go into Eden with Dante. At that point Beatrice becomes Dante’s guide. She guides him up to but not into the highest level of heaven. Who guides him into the highest level of heaven? Do you know anything about him?
4. Does reading chapter 5 spark your interest in reading Paradiso?

Geography Quiz

Mountains: Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines
Rivers: Arno, Tiber, Po, Rubicon, Danube, Rhine
Countries: Spain, France, Italy, England, Scotland, Ireland, Egypt, Denmark
Cities: Rome, Carthage, Jerusalem, Constantinople
Other: Sicily,Corsica, Strait of Gilbralter, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Agean Sea, Adriatic Sea,
Atlantic Ocean

Revised Schedule

Updated 2006-2007 Worldview Schedule

First 6 weeks finished Revelation
Next 5 weeks: Beowulf, Song of Roland, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Ten weeks: Dante’s Inferno [Note: we still have one week to go—I accidentally skipped the week of reading Ascent to Love, chapters 4 & 5]
One-two weeks: Medieval History
One-two weeks: Canterbury Tales
Six weeks: Shakespeare [Julius Caesar (history); Hamlet or Macbeth (tragedy);
The Taming of the Shrew or Much Ado about Nothing (comedy)
Four Weeks: Confessions of Augustine

This leaves 1-3 weeks to finish up our 36 weeks.

Questions on Roman History to be answered week of Jan. 29

1. According to legend how and when was Rome founded?
2. The basic unit of Roman society was the same as that of our society, the family. What were the two social classes into which early Romna society was divided?
3. The Roman Republic began with the overthrow of the Etruscan king in 509 B.C. The two main political offices were the consuls and the members of the Senate. How many of each were there, how long did they serve, and what was the function of each?
4. Initially the patricians held all the power. How did the plebians gain some power for themselves?
5. What authority did the Council of Plebians have?
6. The unwritten law was written down aound 450 B.C. and called the Law of Twelve Tablets. What is the significance of this?
7. With these changes that took place over about 200 years the distinction between plebians and patricians became less important. What new class distinction appeared?
8. Where does the term "Pyrrhic victory" come?
9. Like Athens in Greece, Rome became the leading city in Italy. By 265 B.C. Rome controlled the entire Italian peninsula. How did Rome treat her conquered subjects?
10. Who was Rome's principal enemy after they gained control of the Italian peninsula?
11. What do you know about this enemy city? Location, origin, strengths?
12. What were the three wars fought between these cities from 264 B.C. to 146 B.C.?
13. Who was the most famous Carthaginian general?
14. Even though Hannibal defeated Rome in many battles on the Italian peninsula, he never captured Rome. Why?
15. What was the outcome of the final Punic War?
16. What was going on in the eastern Mediterranean during the Punic Wars?

Note: During the 200 years before the birth of Christ the foundation of the Roman Republic
was shaken. It had functioned well until the vast expansion of Rome's power. Economic problems were caused for the small farmers who had to spend so much time fighting. As a result discontent arose between the classes and there were 3 civil wars. The first ended with Sulla declaring himself dictator. He used his power to return power to the Senate and then resigned. After Sulla's death in 78 B.C. Crassus, Pompey, and Julius Caesar all competed with one another for power. In 60 B.C. they joined together to form the triumpherate (means rule of 3 men) to rule Rome together.

17. What did Julius Caesar do between 60 B.C. and his death in 44 B.C.?
18. Who ruled after the death of Julius Caesar?
19. What famous woman charmed Antony?
20. What battle is said to mark the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire?
21. The Roman Empire was already an "empire" before Octavius became ruler but it is called an empire instead of a republic from this point in history. What are the dates considered to be the beginning and ending of the Roman Empire?
22. What was the Pax Romana?
23. Who gave Octavius the name Augusutus?
24. What did the Romans do in Israel in 70 A.D. Who was the emperor at that time?

Note: After the Pax Romana ended there were invasions by the barbarians and many overthrows of dictators for the next 100 years.

Stories from the Canterbury Tales

The following are the stories we are going to go over from Canterbury Tales. Each of you is to pick one and let me know you want to do it, either alone or in pairs. Aly has already picked #4. Remember you need to get yourself a copy this week at the library or ask me to order you one. The stories are available on line but they are more difficult to read that way. These stories will be the assignment for the week of February 5.
1. The Knight's Tale
2. The Miller's Tale
3. The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
4. The Pardoner's Tale
5. Chaucer's Retraction

Hell and Hades

This is what I emailed to Pastor Keddie. It's followed by his response to me. We'll discuss this on Monday.

What happened to Body and Soul of Jesus at His death?

(1) The soul passed immediately into heaven (WSC #37)
Luke 23:43--And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."
2 Cor. 5:1--1 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 Cor.5:6-8-- Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight— 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
Phil. 1:23-- But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;
1 Thes.4:14--For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
>If Jesus is fully human and fully divine, his soul should have immediately gone to heaven.
>John 20:17--Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
My explanation: Jesus’s soul went to heaven at his death, but was reunited with his body at his resurrection. This body & soul had not yet ascended to heaven
(2) The body remained in the grave until His resurrection. (WSC #37)
John 5:28-29--"Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, / and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.



What Happened to the Souls of Believers Who Died Before Christ?

(1) Enoch & Elijah went body & soul to heaven. Even though they were given this special honor because they walked with God, they were still sinners because of Rom. 3:23. Therefore at least 2 souls made it to heaven before the sacrifice of Jesus. This indicates to me that the souls of all who were looking forward to the death of Christ passed into glory at their deaths.
Romans 3:21-26--But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
(1) Matthew Poole:
For the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; he means, either the sins committed before justification, while God bore so patiently with the sinner, and did not presently take the forfeiture; or else the sins committed under the Old Testament, before the proposed propitiation was exposed to the world, when God so indulged our fathers, as to pardon them upon the account of what was to come: see #Heb 9:15-18.
(2) Matthew Henry
That all who by faith are interested in this propitiation have the remission of their sins that are past. It was for this that Christ was set forth to be a propitiation, in order to remission, to which the reprieves of his patience and forbearance were a very encouraging preface. Through the forbearance of God. Divine patience has kept us out of hell, that we might have space to repent, and get to heaven. Some refer the sins that are past to the sins of the Old Testament saints, which were pardoned for the sake of the atonement which Christ in the fulness of time was to make, which looked backward as well as forward. Past through the forbearance of God. It is owing to the divine forbearance that we were not taken in the very act of sin.
(2) Their bodies obviously remain in the grave till the resurrection.


What Happens to Souls of Unbelievers at Death

(1) Their bodies are obviously in the grave until the resurrection
(2) Do their souls go to Hades or Hell or are they the same?
Luke 16:19-31-- "Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. 20 "And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. 22 "Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 "And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 "And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.’ 25 "But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ 27 "And he said, ‘Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 "But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 "But he said, ‘No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31 "But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’"
(3) Are Sheol and Hades the same thing? Donnelly says that each of these words are used in scripture in at least two senses, the grave where all people go and the place of punishment where only unbelievers go. He also says that the KJV correctly varies its translation of “Sheol” according to context from “pit” to “grave” to “hell.”
(4) What does Rev. 20:13 mean if Hades and hell are the same thing? Is Hades just referring to the grave in this verse?
Rev.20:13--And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.



ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
1. The Westminster documents clearly say that the souls of believers go to heaven at death, but I don’t think they speak to the issue of what happens to the souls of unbelievers at death. Is this because the Westminster divines didn’t agree? Scripture seems clear about the souls of believers, but it doesn’t seem to be clear for unbelievers. It does seem logical that if there’s no intermediate place for believers that there would not be for unbelievers either.
2. Do you believe that the Apostles’ Creed is a true statement of the Christian faith?
3. What is meant by he “descended into hell”?
I have found three possible explanations that I think come from a reformed point of view.
(a) Calvin’s: this refers to the suffering on the cross when all of God’s wrath was
poured out on Christ. It ended when Jesus said, “It is finished.”
(b) It refers to Jesus going down to heaven to set free the souls of those believers
who died before the crucifixion.
1 Peter 3:18-20
Psalm 107:6
Zechariah 9:11
(c) In J.G. Vos’s Commentary on WLC he states that the word was Hades and
Gehenna and that it simply refers to the “realm of the power of death.” He says
that WSC #27 substitutes “continuing under the power of death for a time” for
“descended into hell”.
Do you agree with any of these? Is any considered heresy? Are there reformed people who believe that there is an intermediate state, Hades, before the final judgment?From
:
Gordon & Jane Keddie
To
:

Subject
:
Re: Hell and Hades
Date
:
Wed, Jan 24, 2007 11:12 AM



Betty
The RCs (cf Dante) held that the good people under the OT were in the
limbus patrum (a place of happiness apart from heaven and purgatory) and
were released by the 1 Peter 3 preaching of Christ to the spirits in prison
(or the descendit ad inferos in the later versions of the Apostles Creed,
which was not written by the apostles).
Against that
1. the Bible has no separate places in addition to heaven and hell - no
Limbo (patrum or infantum) and no Purgatory. Texts used are hopelessy
misexegeted.
2. Sheol/Hades is simply a refrence to the state of death as if it were a
place (and if you are not alive you are not here - so you are somewhere
else)
3. Jesus did not descend into hell, and did not pay any ransom to the Devil
(as Anselm proposed). I Pet. 3:19 is a reference to the gospel as witnessed
to in former ages by Christ by the Spirit. The Apostles Creed is a 2nd? to
5th C? document, and the descent into hell was the last addition to it -
representing the defective views already beginning to grip the church.
Calvin Institutes Bk II, chap 16 has a few paragraphs on this and rejects
the idea of a literal descent into Hell the place, but sees it as
representing Christ's bearing the pains of hell for his people - on the
cross, under the Father's wrath.
Hope that helps
Gordon

Here are some commentaries on Luke 16:23 & Rev. 20:13 .
Matthew Henry
Luke 16:23-- His state is very miserable. He is in hell, in hades, in the state of separate souls, and there he is in the utmost misery and anguish possible. As the souls of the faithful, immediately after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity, so wicked and unsanctified souls, immediately after they are fetched from the pleasures of the flesh by death, are in misery and torment endless, useless, and remediless, and which will be much increased and completed at the resurrection. This rich man had entirely devoted himself to the pleasures of the world of sense, was wholly taken up with them, and took up with them for his portion, and therefore was wholly unfit for the pleasures of the world of spirits; to such a carnal mind as his they would indeed be no pleasure, nor could he have any relish of them, and therefore he is of course excluded from them. Yet this is not all; he was hard-hearted to God's poor, and therefore he is not only cut off from mercy, but he has judgment without mercy, and falls under a punishment of sense as well as a punishment of loss.
Rev. 1:18--Fourthly, With his office and authority: I have the keys of hell and of death, a sovereign dominion in and over the invisible world, opening and none can shut, shutting so that none can open, opening the gates of death when he pleases and the gates of the eternal world, of happiness or misery, as the Judge of all, from whose sentence there lies no appeal.
Rev.6:8--1. The name of the rider - Death, the king of terrors; the pestilence, which is death in its empire, death reigning over a place or nation, death on horseback, marching about, and making fresh conquests every hour. 2. The attendants or followers of this king of terrors - hell, a state of eternal misery to all those who die in their sins; and, in times of such a general destruction, multitudes go down unprepared into the valley of destruction. It is an awful thought, and enough to make the whole world to tremble, that eternal damnation immediately follows upon the death of an impenitent sinner.
Rev. 20:13--the grave shall surrender the bodies of men, hell shall surrender the souls of the wicked, the sea shall surrender the many who seemed to have been lost in it.

Matthew Poole
Luke 16:23--Ver. 23,24. Kai en tw adh, And in hell. The world hath been filled with disputes about the true signification of the word adhv, which is here translated hell. The most probably true notion of it is, that it signifies, the state of the dead, both of the dead body, and so it often signifieth the grave, and of the departed soul. A very learned man saith, that if he mistakes not, this is the only text in Scripture in which by it is to be understood the place of torments. The Hebrew word which is translated by this, far more often signifying the place of the blessed, whither the saints and patriarchs went when they died, than the place whither sinners went; but #Lu 16:24 makes it appear, that here it signifies hell, properly so called, as it imports the place of the damned. We must understand our Saviour in this whole diatupwsiv to speak to us figuratively, that by things which we understand we might comprehend spiritual things. Heaven and hell are at too great a distance for souls in each to discourse one with another: neither have souls any eyes to lift up. We are by this taught:
1. That as the souls of good men, when they leave their bodies, go into a state of eternal bliss, where are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and enjoy a felicity which we are not able to express, but is set out to us under the notion of Abraham’s bosom, to let us know that it is a place of rest, and communion with saints, and the same felicity which Abraham the friend of God doth enjoy: so the souls of wicked men, when they leave their bodies, shall go into a place of torments, the greatness of which being such as we are not able to conceive, they are expressed to us under the notion of being tormented by fire.
2. That it will be a great part of the misery of damned souls, to understand those to be in a state of happiness whom they in this life have scorned, despised, and abused, and, it may be, have been instruments to hasten them to those blessed mansions.
3. That there will come a time when the proudest sinners will be glad of the help of the meanest saints, if they could obtain it. Father Abraham, (saith the rich man), send Lazarus, that Lazarus whom when alive I suffered to lie at my gate full of sores, and would not relieve.
4. That the state of the damned will be void of the least degrees of comfort and satisfaction. The rich man desireth but a cooling of his tongue with so much water as could be brought upon the tip of Lazarus’s finger.
5. That the tongue is a member, the abuse of which will in another life lie very heavy upon lost souls. Rev.1:18--
And have the keys of hell and of death; and have a power to kill, and cast into hell; or, I have the power over death, and the state of the dead, so as I can raise those that are dead to life again: I have the command of death, whether temporal or eternal; as he who hath the keys of a house can let in and shut out of it whom he pleaseth, so I bring to heaven and throw to hell whom I please.
Rev.6:8—Ver. 8. A pale horse; a horse of the colour of his rider, Death, which makes men look pale, and bringeth them into the state of the dead, (here translated hell), whether heaven or hell, as they have lived.
Rev. 20:13-- By hell is meant all places where the dead are; whosoever shall be at that day in the state of the dead; the bodies of men, whether buried in the earth or sea; and the souls of men, whether they be in the place of torments or happiness, shall all be re-united to their bodies, that they may both in soul and body receive their final doom of eternal happiness, or eternal misery, accordingly as they have lived in the world; and those who shall be alive at that day, who shall be changed, (as the apostle speaks, #1Co 15:51), are to be counted dead in the sense of this text, their change being instead of death to them. It is not said they shall be judged for their works, (though that as to the wicked is true), but
according to their works; which is true as to the elect, who though their names be written in the book of life, yet must work righteousness; and they shall have judgment of absolution, not according to the perfection, but the sincerity, of their works, done in obedience to the will of God.