Two of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, Hamlet and Othello, share a number of similarities. In Hamlet, Hamlet’s father is the King of Denmark. This does not last long because he is killed by Hamlet’s uncle, named Claudius. Claudius then claims the throne and marries Hamlet's mother. Hamlet is full of hatred for his uncle’s scheming and full of disgust for his mother's sexuality. He is later summoned by his father in ghost form who tells him to avenge his death. Throughout the play, Hamlet is given opportunities to take revenge against his uncle, but instead he contemplates his actions and never acts. This is often seen as Hamlet’s tragic flaw, which apparently leads to his death. In Othello, Othello the main character, also fails to take action …show more content…
This speech is probably the most famous speech in the English language. In this speech, Hamlet is basically contemplating to live or not to live. He compares death to little sleep, in which he doesn’t think would be so bad. Hamlet also discusses about how he feels betrayed by his mother because she married so soon after her father’s death. Hamlet then wonders in the speech, what it really means to be alive. He generally questions about life itself and weighs the moral ramifications of living and dying. Hamlet then essentially decides that the uncertainty of the afterlife prevents all of humanity from committing suicide. This speech connects many themes of the play together, including the unknown of the afterlife, the idea of suicide and death, and the connection between thought and action. It also reveals important aspects about the way Hamlet thinks. He has both a deeply passionate side to himself and a logical side that is always searching for the answer to why he faces misery. As a result of this, Hamlet is constantly contemplating whether vengeance is wrong or right and that fear is stopping him from taking action. This continues to show that Hamlet keeps becoming indecisive about his decisions because he does not want to actually kill his
William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is the dramatic story of a son who felt betrayed by both his mother, and the woman that he loved. Written in the Elizabethan era, around 1600, “Shakespeare's focus on Hamlet's intellectual conflicts was a significant departure from contemporary revenge tragedies… which tended to dramatize violent acts graphically on stage” (Hamlet). The play depicts Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, who it visited by the ghost of his father, King Hamlet. The ghost reveals how he was murdered by his brother Claudius, who then claimed the title of King, and married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. Hamlet vows to avenge his father’s untimely death. Hamlet is in love with Ophelia, but her brother, Laertes, and father, Polonius, warn her that Hamlet can never really love her. Ophelia, following her father’s wishes, is unwittingly enlisted to spy on Hamlet, which leaves him feeling betrayed. Hamlet rejects Ophelia, accidently stabs and kills Polonius, and then hides the body. Ophelia becomes so distraught over her father’s death, that she ultimately drowns herself. Hamlet is devastated when he learns of Ophelia’s death. The play culminates with a sword fight between Hamlet and Laertes. Hamlet’s mother dies from inadvertently drinking poisoned wine that was intended to kill Hamlet. Laertes and Hamlet are both stabbed with a poison-tipped sword, but before dying, Laertes confesses that Claudius was the mastermind behind everything. Hamlet forces Claudius to also drink the wine and the irony is that everyone dies in the end. One of the most controversial topics in history is the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet’s letters express his sincere feelings, and reveal that he was very much in love with Ophe...
Oedipus fits Aristotle's definition of the tragic flaw and protagonist almost flawlessly. Aristotle described the protagonist as "someone regarded as extraordinary rather than typical..."(1117). Oedipus freed Thebes from the Sphinx by solving her riddle-- something nobody else had been able to do. The priest in the first scene of Act I calls Oedipus "...our greatest power" (1121) and describes him as rated first among men.
"To be, or not to be: that is the question" (Shakespeare 1750). "Human beings have no part in the craft of prophecy" (Sophocles 1582). Both quotes are part of famous plays. Although the plays appear to be completely different they do have some similarities such as containing a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a character that makes a mistake and eventually leads to their defeat. A tragic hero usually contains at least 5 characteristics such as a flaw (hamartia), reversal of fortune (peripetia), character 's actions leads to a reversal, excessive pride, and the character 's fate is greater than what they truly deserved. Hamlet and Oedipus are both great examples of what a tragic hero is because they both contain flaws, reversal of fortune, and
Images of disease dominate Shakespeare's Hamlet as well as Sophocles play, Oedipus the King, Both Hamlet and Oedipus face many problems with death. Hamlet is seeking out the killer of his father as well as Oedipus. They feel that justice hasn't been served properly and they must seek out the killer of their fathers' in order for justice to be served. In both Hamlet and Oedipus the King, there is mass turmoil amongst family relationships, the inner problems they face, and the lack of free will they had.
The two plays are written by third person point of view. The play is told by someone else as what is happening. In these two plays tragedy seem to end up happening no matter what. It all seemed to be led to a tragic ending. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus seemed to run away from his problems he had left the village for a while. For some reason Oedipus the king decided that he wanted to come back and find the truth about himself. Tiresias was the one that told the truth to Oedipus. Oedipus felt so much hate towards his mother Jocasta because she had not been with him all his life. If it wasn’t’ that she wasn’t with him Oedipus would not have fallen in love with his own mother. I believe nothing tragic would of happen. Hamlet is a play that has
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
William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet follows the revenge Hamlet takes on his uncle Claudius to avenge Hamlet Sr.’s death. Hamlet Sr. appears as a ghost to Hamlet and asks him to avenge his death, which was caused by Claudius, Hamlet Sr.’s brother. Claudius killed his brother and married his wife, Gertrude and became king. The king’s advisor Polonius is also slain in the play and his son Laertes wants to avenge his death also. Hamlet and Laertes have many similarities and some differences in the play. Bravery is what ultimately ties Hamlet and Laertes together.
Hamlet is a bitter tragedy of revenge and deceit. Unbeknownst to Hamlet, his father, the king of Denmark, is murdered by his own brother, Claudius — who then marries the queen and assumes the throne. Hamlet is visited by his father’s ghost, who compels him to enact revenge upon his uncle — but spare his mother. Hamlet finally decides to stage a play in which there is a poisoning scene, meant to stir his uncle into panic. Hamlet’s plan is successful, but he, in a fit of rage, accidentally...
Through the play you see people and how they minds changes. Some become wise and others become insane. The two that I want to look at and how they change throughout the play is Ophelia and Hamlet. They both change but in different ways. Ophelia is going from rational to suicide. When Hamlet is going from sane to insane.
In this quote, Hamlet is asking if it’s better to be alive or dead? If it’s worthy to put up with all the nasty things that life has in store, or to give up once and for all. Hamlet seems to be considering of killing himself. Once you die, you don’t know what happens after or how it’s like. Hamlet then realizes that death wouldn’t be the ideal escape he desires. Death could be much more worse than life.
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous work of tragedy. Throughout the play the title character, Hamlet, tends to seek revenge for his father’s death. Shakespeare achieved his work in Hamlet through his brilliant depiction of the hero’s struggle with two opposing forces that hunt Hamlet throughout the play: moral integrity and the need to avenge his father’s murder. When Hamlet sets his mind to revenge his fathers’ death, he is faced with many challenges that delay him from committing murder to his uncle Claudius, who killed Hamlets’ father, the former king. During this delay, he harms others with his actions by acting irrationally, threatening Gertrude, his mother, and by killing Polonius which led into the madness and death of Ophelia. Hamlet ends up deceiving everyone around him, and also himself, by putting on a mask of insanity. In spite of the fact that Hamlet attempts to act morally in order to kill his uncle, he delays his revenge of his fathers’ death, harming others by his irritating actions. Despite Hamlets’ decisive character, he comes to a point where he realizes his tragic limits.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was forced upon him.Death is something he struggles with as an abstract idea and as relative to himself. He is able to reconcile with the idea of death and reality eventually.
Hamlet although he believes that suffering must be endured or battled, he also understands that suffering is optional and that suffering is caused from pain and all pain can be relieved. At times Hamlet no longer sees the point of bearing the huge burden of suffering as he does, but rather to end the burden through suicide. These thoughts are however based or can be linked back to Hamlet’s emotion and how his negative emotions overcome his logical thinking. We see however Hamlet’s ability to think logically and understand the reasoning behind suffering and the preciousness of his life. At this point in the play Hamlet no longer doubts his meaning in life, this is quite pivotal because this then allows him the confidence and power to seek revenge on Claudius.
Michael Almereyda’s movie adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet brings about a new perspective through its performance. The movie adaptation, Hamlet (2000), retells the original play in a modernized setting, bringing out various different elements of characters, which highlights a new reading of these characters as individuals, and a newfangled reading of the play as well. Throughout the movie, Ophelia and Gertrude, the woman-leads, are advanced in a progressive manner compared to the original play. In particular, Gertrude from Hamlet (2000) is noticeably altered from Hamlet, the play. This new interpretation of Gertrude and the play created by the movie adaptation advances the position of Gertrude as a woman, as well as motifs of incest, misogyny,
William Shakespeare once wrote, “To be or not to be, that is the question,” and, “It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock.” These two quotations were carefully crafted, by the literary genius himself, to entertain not only the Elizabethan era, but for all the years to follow. Which will forever be known as classics, William Shakespeare composes two plays, Hamlet and Othello, that involves deception and tragic flaws that lead to tragic deaths while containing two protagonists that share very different qualities.