Hamlet by William Shakespeare

736 Words2 Pages

Transcending its own context, Shakespeare's revenge tragedy Hamlet, has reached beyond its 17th century Elizabethan context to still be relevant today. Many believe it is not the play that changes, but the audience that views them. Despite this, Hamlet is still viewed today in a similar manner as a significantly noteworthy play, exploring issues involving corruption in society as well as one's inner struggle to maintain morality, of which are still relevant in contemporary, 21st century society. It is through the corruption of the state and the characterisation of Hamlet and his struggles which Shakespeare utilises to make transcending observations about the human condition, portraying an array of contextual values, consequently deeming it highly worthy of a critical study.

Hamlet's struggle between his consciousness and instincts reveal an insight into the human condition and values which are still pertinent today. Written during the period between the medieval world and Renaissance culture, Shakespeare challenges the structures outlined by Aristotle and Senecan revenge tragedies through his characterisation of Hamlet. Hamlet's inability to act is predominately caused by his inner struggle as a scholar and as a son wanting to avenge his father, revealed through "the time is out of joint. O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!". Cursing his own fate, Shakespeare utilises the rhyme to emphasise Hamlet's reluctance to carry out the revenge. Further depicted in "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all", Hamlet's consciousness is what causes his inner struggle to take action. Hamlet, as a young humanist, is conscious of how his rational beliefs prevent him from achieving his goals which require savagery inducing h...

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...otif of diseases to portray the underlying social corruption. Accentuated through the irony in "Diseases desperate grown by desperate appliance are relieved, or not at all", the recurring motif of diseases is again used to exemplify the drastic nature of corruption which has spread and the drastic means needed to be taken to rid the state of venality. Written during a period in which society believed in the natural order of the world, it was common ideology that the king was closely tied to the state. The metaphor in "A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark is by a forged process of my death" further reflects these values and reinforces the idea of corruption, underpinning the entire play. Shakespeare weaves throughout Hamlet the concept of corruption, which is correspondingly still evident in today's society to establish a play worthy of a critical study.

Hamlet by WIlliam Shakespeare
1044 Words | 3 Pages
William Shakespeare was a Stratford Grammar School boy, who was a member of the Church of England, similar to just about everyone else in Stratford. However, due to some events that occurred in the Shakespeare family home, there is some evidence that could prove that the family may have had some Roman Catholic connections. When William Shakespeare was 10 years old, legal issues and debt took a toll on his family’s life. Shakespeare’s father’s stopped attending alderman meetings which resulted in the removal of his name to become an alderman, and he was also forced to sell his beautiful home. The cause of this crisis is unknown, however the records can be used to throw together the idea that there were peculiar religious events going on (Fox). Due to these mishaps, William Shakespeare’s religion is a bit of a mystery. The play, Hamlet, was written by William Shakespeare during the Elizabethan era, which happened to be a time when religious conflicts were a big deal (Alsaif). The protagonist in the story, Hamlet, is a character who seems to make his choices through his religious beliefs. Hamlet is a very indecisive person, but his thoughts on religion tend to persuade him. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the character of Hamlet to show the flaws in all religions. Hamlet does his best to follow the rules of Christianity, but he often questions the morality involved. Although Shakespeare belonged to the Church of England, he didn’t find any particular religion to be perfect.
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Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
1163 Words | 3 Pages
The play’s main conflict starts with King Claudius’ lie. At the beginning of the play, Claudius had become the new king of Denmark, and married his late brother’s widow only one month after the death of his brother. Not only is his action immoral, it is later revealed by the Ghost that he is the person that took his brother’s life by poison poured through the ear: “A serpent stung me. / So the whole ear of Denmark / Is by a forged process of my death / Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth, / The serpent that did sting thy father’s life / Now wears his crown” (I.v.43-47). Claudius places a lie in Denmark so the people believed that a snake kill King Hamlet while he’s sleeping in the garden. However, the Ghost revealed the truth to Hamlet. Shakespeare uses this lie as the spark to ignite the conflicts between Hamlet and Claudius that eventually lead to Claudius’ death at the end of the novel; however, it also speaks volume of Claudius’ personality. He is selfish and cruel enough to kill his own brother for power without any remorse: “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death / The memory be green, and that it us befitted / To bear our hearts in grief… / Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature / That we with wisest sor...
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Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
990 Words | 2 Pages
What is the appropriate time of mourning for a lost loved one? In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlets mother, Gertrude, mourned the passing of her husband for less than two months. She then decided to marry King Hamlet's brother, Claudius. Hamlets mother's new marriage is what bothers him the most. Hamlet believes Claudius will never live up to the legacy left by his father as the King of Denmark. The social context that is being revealed to the reader through Hamlets soliloquy describes three character traits he possesses: suicidal thoughts, concern for the well-being of his country, confusion towards his father's ghost and whether or not it’s in the countries best interest for him to get revenge. This also portrays how Queen Gertrude’s hasty nuptials after not having a proper time of mourning, goes against society in this era. Furthermore, this foreshadows the vast effect this will have on Hamlet.
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Hamlet by William Shakespeare
592 Words | 2 Pages
When in the course of human events, something’s are made self-evident, like having to read Hamlet and write about three soliloquies. These soliloquies tend to be very lengthy and have very sub surface meanings to them that require some enabled humanoids to use the frontal cortex of their neurological brains in order to understand these meanings. In other words, they are hard to understand, especially with them being written in the Shakespearean era of influence in the island Kingdoms that are Untied. However, they offer meanings unimaginable and crucial to the outcome of the play Hamlet. As I have just explained, the three soliloquies of Act I, II, III, of the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare have very deep important meanings and messages to them.
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William Shakespeare's Hamlet
1165 Words | 3 Pages
Shakespeare’s Hamlet revolves around the title character’s undeniable obligation to immediately avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius. Yet much time elapses before Hamlet finally does slay his evil uncle, leading to a fundamental question: what causes the hero to delay before eventually managing to salvage some retribution? The answer is that Hamlet’s reoccuring state of impractical contemplation renders him incapable of any decisive action that could have brought quick revenge.
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Examples Of Disillusion In Hamlet
823 Words | 2 Pages
Typically, Shakespeare’s plays involve some transgression and disillusion. In hamlet, we see a lot of violated social norms that support this statement. An Incestuous illicit marriage, supernatural connections, premeditated murder and fratricide are all part of Hamlet, the protagonist’s, journey in the avengement of his father. The way these four examples of disillusion tie together to create the central point of this play makes an exceptional tragedy.
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Hamlet by William Shakespeare
1016 Words | 3 Pages
The complexity and effect of father-son relationships seems to be a theme that Shakespeare loved to explore in his writings. In Hamlet, the subject is used as a mechanism to identify the similarities between three very different characters: Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet. They have each lost their fathers to violent deaths, which leads them to seek vengeance. As different as they may seem, they all share the common desire to avenge their father’s deaths. The method they each approach this is what differentiates each of their characters, and allows the audience to discern their individual characteristics. Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet’s intense loyalty to their fathers drives them to individual extreme measures of revenge, exemplifying Shakespeare’s masterful use of describing the human psyche during Elizabethan times.
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Captain Ahab
1450 Words | 3 Pages
While the actual personality traits and each character’s motivations add more depth to Shakespeare’s overall belief, the language each character incorporates contributes more highly to the conviction – revenge causes one to act blindly in anger. By analyzing Hamlet’s use of language throughout the play, one can tell Hamlet is keen on avenging his father, but no heart or effort is put into the action. Speaking in disgust with himself, Hamlet says “That I, the son of a dear father murder'd, / Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, / Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words, “ (2.2.584-586). Hamlet uses simile to compare himself to a coward and state that he has no...
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Hamlet: The Bewildering Human Condition
1242 Words | 3 Pages
Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is a complex and ambiguous public exploration of key human experiences surrounding the aspects of revenge, betrayal and corruption. The Elizabethan play is focused centrally on the ghost’s reoccurring appearance as a symbol of death and disruption to the chain of being in the state of Denmark. The imagery of death and uncertainty has a direct impact on Hamlet’s state of mind as he struggles to search for the truth on his quest for revenge as he switches between his two incompatible values of his Christian codes of honour and humanist beliefs which come into direct conflict. The deterioration of the diseased state is aligned with his detached relationship with all women as a result of Gertrude’s betrayal to King Hamlet which makes Hamlet question his very existence and the need to restore the natural order of kings. Hamlet has endured the test of time as it still identifies with a modern audience through the dramatized issues concerning every human’s critical self and is a representation of their own experience of the bewildering human condition, as Hamlet struggles to pursuit justice as a result of an unwise desire for revenge.
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Theme Of Corruption In Hamlet
1110 Words | 3 Pages
Hamlet has an enormous amount of stress placed on him by the events of his father’s death and his mother’s hasty marriage. Hamlet’s mentality is further stressed by his father’s appearance in the form of a ghost telling Hamlet the true cause of his death, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown” (Shakespeare 1.5.38-39), and more importantly telling Hamlet to avenge his death and to never forget him (1.5). This must weigh heavily on Hamlet’s mind as he tries to bring himself to carry out such a corrupt act. As Javed describes Hamlet’s ordeal as, “having taken on unwillingly the task of the revenge whose narrower function may have been to avenge a wronged kinsman, but whose wider one was to purge from society the evil which it could not otherwise escape” (332.) The corruption of Hamlet’s character is tragic because as Polonius says: “the safety and health of [the] whole state” depends on him (Shakespeare 1.3.20). The first drastic demonstration of Hamlet’s corruption is shown when he finds Polonius hiding behind a curtain . Hamlet, who believes his uncle Claudius is spying on him, stabs at the curtain, inadvertently killing Polonius. As Dr. Topchyan describes this act, Hamlet does it in “unrestrained passion,” unexpectedly even for himself. His deed, dictated by the situation, is impulsive, not deliberate – an instinctive action, a desperate
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Theme of Revenge in Literature and Movies
914 Words | 2 Pages
In Hamlet Shakespeare is able to use revenge in an extremely skillful way that gives us such deep insight into the characters. It is an excellent play that truly shows the complexity of humans. You can see in Hamlet how the characters are willing to sacrifice t...
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William Shakespeare's Hamlet
615 Words | 2 Pages
Throughout the iconic play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare is continually developing multiple characters such as the tragic hero, Hamlet. As the play progresses through the first two acts, Shakespeare is able to provide the viewers and readers with Hamlets motive, good and bad qualities, and his importance to the plot. Though no completely developed, he is able to depict a clear image of who Hamlet is and what he is trying to obtain. Early on in the play it is brought forward by Shakespeare that Hamlets motive is revenge for the murder of his father King Hamlets unwarranted murder. Within the first act of the play Hamlet vows to seek revenge saying; “… As meditation or the thoughts of love/ May sweep to my revenge.”
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Why Does Hamlet Delay His Revenge?
727 Words | 2 Pages
...s poetical and philosophical nature is not ready to hoist the weight, fallen on him after his father's death. The sadness after father's death, marriage of his mother, lack of strong will, and other aspects which make up on the prince's mental problems show how fragile human psyche can be, and how easy we can destroy the peace of human consciousness. Hamlet is a perfect example of duality of human nature. He wants to take revenge on the murderer of his loving father, but at the same time his morality and sensibility as well as his egoistic and selfish needs prevent him from doing it. He wants to perform an act, which is at variance with his nature.
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Sanity In Hamlet
2032 Words | 5 Pages
One of the most popular characters in Shakespearean literature, Hamlet endures difficult situations within the castle he lives in. The fatal death of his father, and urge for revenge leads Hamlet into making unreasonable decisions. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet’s sanity diminishes as the story progresses, impacting the people around him as well as the timing and outcome of his revenge against Claudius.
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Hamlet- A Revenge Tragedy
717 Words | 2 Pages
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society, coupled with his innate tendency to over-think his actions, leads to an unfocused mission of vengeance that brings about not only his own death, but also the unnecessary deaths of nearly all of the other main characters in the revenge tragedy.
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Hamlet by William Shakespeare