I really enjoyed Sara Schlemm’s talk on melancholy. As a biology major, I don’t get to listen to lectures on the analysis of emotions in literature and film all that often anymore. Sara reminded me how much I used to love high school English classes, especially because Hamlet used to be one of my favorite subjects that we covered. She was very enthusiastic about her research and an engaging speaker, and she made me think about melancholy differently.

I had never given much thought to how melancholy differs from sadness. I liked the idea that melancholy is a more deep, persistent feeling that doesn’t necessarily have a cause, while sadness is a temporary state with a pinpointed reason for existing. Sara’s analysis of Hamlet’s first speech was interesting as well, because she mentioned a few things that I hadn’t noticed before, and she interpreted its main message as rather different from how I’ve always read it. It’s always fascinating to hear what different people take from the same piece of writing. I had never seen the movie Vertigo, but after Sara’s talk I’d really like to watch it.