Hamlet vs. The Turn of the Screw
Although Hamlet and The Turn of the Screw are very different works, both William Shakespeare and Henry James use the themes of love and ghosts to complicate their work. By having these themes, both authors make the readers question and wonder if the accounts the characters are having really exist. Are these two main characters, Hamlet and the governess , mentally ill or does the stories explain their actions?
The most obvious commonality, between Hamlet and The Turn of the Screw, is the use of ghosts. On one hand, Hamlet speaks with the ghost of his father, Hamlet. When Hamlet firsts sees the ghost he asks, "Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned,/ Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from Hell,/ Be thy intents wicked or charitable," (I. 4. 40-42). When Hamlet finally meets the ghost and converses with him, the ghost creates a problem that lasts throughout the whole play. On the other hand, the governess sees the two deceased workers, Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. These ghosts also create a problem. Speaking with Mrs. Grose, the governess tells her there was a ghost. After Mrs. Grose asks what the ghost wants, the governess says, "Heaven forbid! The man. He [Quint] wants to appear to them [the children]." Are the ghost real? Do the children see the ghosts and lie?
In both works, love also plays a role. Hamlet's love, Ophelia, sees Hamlet at his worse. To make the people around him think he's crazy, Hamlet visits Ophelia and acts mad. When speaking with her father, Ophelia says, "Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced,/ No hat upon his head, his stockings fouled,/ Unaltered , and down-gyvèd to his ankles," (II. 1. 77-79). Soon, his mother and the king think Hamlet is insane. Is Hamlet really crazy? In The Turn of the Screw, the ghosts appear to the governess while she is thinking about the master, her infatuation, or his heir, Miles. The governess states, "...the only way to be sure he knew would be to see it, and the kind light of it, in his [the master`s] handsome face" (James 23). Suddenly Peter Quint appears in a high window.
A Comparison of the Character Hamlet, of Shakespeare's Hamlet, and McMurphy of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Hamlet grants himself the opportunity to momentarily direct himself, yet it remains unknown as to whether he directs a representation of truth or a falsity. He exemplifies madness so well, as the sight of "a damned ghost" (77) insanely induces his imagination and comfortably transforms his identity to one of lunacy. This role he acquires is one he portrays so explicitly well as an actor that he easily utilizes it as the foundation for his players. He instructs the players:
Hamlet is extremely proud of Old King and respects him.“He was a great human being. He was perfect in everything. I’ll never see the likes of him again” (I.ii.185-188). Hamlet loves his father and gives the greatest praise at the funeral. Grief driven by love tempts Hamlet to think his father’s goodness, and more, the loss of such a favorable figure. Hamlet believes that the ghost that is said to look like the dead king is indeed his father.”He waxes desperate with imagination”(I.ii.92). The Prince, who is deep in sadness and does not think sufficiently, is convinced that the spirit is the Old Hamlet, he is the only person that can physically communicate with the ghost. Hamlet for the second time talks to the apparition in his mother’s chamber, where Gertrude does not see any. What Horatio and other witnesses encounter at the gate at night proves the possibility of the existence of the ghost, Hamlet later in the play is considered to be truly mad on the account of his unusual ability to see and talk to the spirit, which is obviously conjured up by his mind. Rising actions in both the book and the play are implied at the beginning of the stories: Amir’s memory of 1975 and Old Hamlet’s death. The journey of redemption or revenge takes actions of concealing their true emotions and implementing devised
Throughout the play, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, the unclear representation of the protagonist’s actions is present. The protagonist, Hamlet, conducts the idea that he is turning mad. Although, there are many indications which support that this so-called “madness” is part of an act that Hamlet portrays. The other characters within the play try to understand the reasoning behind Hamlet’s madness, but cannot figure out the truth behind it. The main cause of Hamlet’s madness is the realization of his father’s death and the numerous influences his father’s death has on his life. Hamlet can control his actions of madness and specifically acts differently around certain characters. The characters who are more concerned
Is Hamlet sane or insane that is the question. There are many sections in the play which show portray him as being insane but there are such as the when he hears of his fathers death. On the other hand Shakespeare illustrates Hamlet as a sane person when ever he is with a non guilty party. Hamlet is clearly sane though because he acknowledges that he is putting on an act whenever he is acting crazy.
There is a great controversy amongst those who have read and studied Hamlet by Shakespeare. People argue whether or not Hamlet had gone mad or not. Many people believe that Hamlet had actually lost his mind, while others believe that it was all just an act. Since Hamlet is the most widely published book in the world, besides the Bible, this question has been asked and analyzed many times to little avail. The answer is open to whatever one wants to believe, which may intrigue some and bother others. Throughout the play, Hamlet’s personality changed after certain events. The play starts with him very upset over his father’s death. Then, after he saw his father’s ghost, he became full of vengeance. He seemed to have completely
...t want to be the only one who does. It is another feeble attempt to prove her sanity to herself and to others. However, because she “is so easily carried away”, she soon believes that the children do in fact see the ghosts by reading into their every remark and behavior. By piecing all of this together, the governess proves to herself that she is not insane. The governess in The Turn of the Screw, is a highly unreliable narrator. From the beginning of the story, her energetic imagination is displayed to the reader. With this knowledge alone, it would not be irrational to conclude that she had imagined the appearances of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. However, these facts in addition to her unsubstantiated inferences allow the reader to intelligently label the governess as an unreliable narrator. Works Cited Poupard, Dennis. “Henry James.” Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism: Volume 24. Ed. Paula Kepos. Detroit: Gale research.; 1990. 313-315.
We as humans want to be with each other. We actively pursue this goal be finding friends and significant others. While a moderate amount of solitude can be good we crave togetherness with others. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein isolation is a key theme in the novel. The creature created by Victor Frankenstein is driven into isolation from society based on people’s fear of him. Both the creature and Victor experience first hand the effects that isolation have on the creature's actions. Thus Frankenstein shows very clearly how lifelong isolation keeps someone from developing a moral compass and in turn makes them do wrongful deeds.
After the death of King Hamlet, Hamlet proclaims that he saw his father’s ghost when he, Horatio and Bernardo were in the forest. The ghost spoke to the trio and apparently told them that Lord Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, now the King, was behind the murder of his father. This troubled Hamlet and at that point he came up with a plan to see whether the ghost’s prophecy was true. A huge part of his plan included him acting insane. “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put on an antic disposition on” (I,I,191). This statement is significant as Hamlet himself ...
Hamlet is without a doubt one of the most complex pieces to interpret for many different scholars and people. The question of the truth behind his madness has become a debate among anyone who lays eyes on the play. In fact, madness becomes a large role within the play that will cause many situations as well as effect them. I believe Hamlet unintentionally went mad attempting to act as a mad man.
The play does not open with the protagonist, nor with the direct disclosure of the problem. It points to unanswered questions and reveals anxiety and unrest. There is said to be a ghost, but the reason and purpose for the ghost's appearance are unknown. Basically, we can say that the first scene creates an atmosphere and the basis for the disclosure of the specific problem. The first point dramatically established is that there really is a ghost, although the questions raised by its appearance are unanswered. Horatio, the scholar and the skeptic, comes to test the report given by the simple soldiers. The empirical proof that Horatio seeks is there; the ghost appears and it is seen to have a specific identity, that of the deceased King Hamlet. But the reason for his presence is not disclosed and the men on the platform, confronted by the upsetting mystery, have to guess in the dark, literally and metaphorically. Unable to offer an explanation, Horatio sees the apparition in convention terms as an omen of some evil. This is immediately connected with the expository fact that there are feverish military preparations in the kingdom. The indication is that there are pre-existing questions brought into the open in connection with the ghost. The specific question relating to preparations for war, concerning the kingdom and not necessarily the ghost, is answered by Horatio; he gives us expository background concerning the immediate past in the kingdom of Denmark, involving King Hamlet and King Fortinbras of Norway, we hear there was open, chivalric combat between them in which the Danish King vanquished and killed Fortinbras, as a result of which he obtained (fairly) the land which was gained by the Norwegians. But additionally we hear th...
Different adaptations of William Shakespeare’s works have taken various forms. Through the creative license that artists, directors, and actors take, diverse incarnations of his classic works continue to arise. Gregory Doran’s Hamlet and Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet bring William Shakespeare’s work by the same title to the screen. These two film adaptations take different approaches in presenting the turmoil of Hamlet. From the diverging takes on atmosphere to the characterization of the characters themselves, the many possible readings of Hamlet create the ability for the modification of the presentation and the meaning of the play itself. Doran presents David Tenant as Hamlet in a dark, eerie, and minimal setting; his direction highlighting the
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After he meets the ghost, Hamlet begins to treat people cold-heartedly. His is led by his mind, but not his heart. The acts of cruelty on Hamlet’s part were done because pity or sympathy no longer exists within. His treatment of Ophelia, his only true love, is disgusting. He also treated his mother in a rude fashion. He felt betrayed by his mother because he loved and trusted her, but she went and married his uncle soon after his father’s death.