William Shakespeare: Hamlet
Backround/Opinion:
Most of Shakespeares peices of writing are fictional if not, then they are based on an old story Shakespeare had adapted, but with many twists and changes
Shakespeares works of art are all written in the form of a play as opposed to a novel or short story
in the past the way i have been taught shakespeare was by reading the play as a class, and acting out the play mostly during important scenes
I myself have not yet reached the point of full understanding most or all of shakespeares old english, but can grasp the idea on what is taking place in ever scene (the story line)
In my opinion i think an on going journal would be an ideal way of teaching and understanding shakepseare, in the past i have not taken the approach to make an on going journal for any other of shakespeares plays
In the past the advantage of acting out shakespeares plays is you can in ways see the characters reactions and mood in each scene
based on my previous encounters with shakespeares plays such as Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, and Julius Ceaser, I feel in Hamlet I will be able to grap the main ideas and story line which will take place
Act One:
This act introduced some of the main characters in the play. It has introduced me to the problem gained and some details and hints of the future play and many different things to expect. The problem gained in this scene is the ghost which everyone becomes so unsure of its purpose. My predictions would be in act 2, the ghost will reveal himself and its purpose to haunt them. Another problem which arises during this act is the possible war between Denmark and Norway (Hamlet and Fortinbras) over the killing of old fortinbras by the most recent king of Denmark, Hamlet (Old Hamlet). In this event I predict the future of the play will reveil a more depth into the conflict between these two nations and a win or lose situation between them. So far into the play , the way Hamlet is being taught to me is a very easily understood method. I am understanding the story line as well as increasing my grasp for old enlgish and overall am enjoying the method which is being taught.
Act Two:
In this act the problem begins to grow , as does Hamlets way to resolve his problem.
This play takes place mostly in Elsinore, Denmark between the fourteenth and fifteen century following the death of the late King Hamlet, who has been dead for two months prior to the beginning of the play (Shmoop Editorial Team). Act One commences in the middle of a routine nightly shift where Horatio, Hamlet’s friend, and two other guards witness the coming of a spirit that bears an uncanny resemblance to the recently deceased king. Meanwhile at Elsinore Claudius is crowned King with Hamlet’s mother as his queen. This chain of events causes discontent within Prince Hamlet as he delays his mourning time out of spite for the coronation. Afterwards, Horatio and the guards come to the consensus and tell Hamlet of their encounter so that the Prince may meet with the Ghost. The Ghost reveals to Hamlet that he was a victim of a well-planned murder at the hands of Claudius.
Hamlet is a character that we love to read about and analyze. His character is so realistic, and he is so romantic and idealistic that it is hard not to like him. He is the typical young scholar facing the harsh reality of the real world. In this play, Hamlet has come to a time in his life where he has to see things as they really are. Hamlet is an initiation story. Mordecai Marcus states "some initiations take their protagonists across a threshold of maturity and understanding but leave them enmeshed in a struggle for certainty"(234). And this is what happens to Hamlet.
The last genre Shakespeare uses is History; an example of this is ‘Henry V’ where he bases this play on actual historic events. The play is set around the year 1420 and King Henry is faced with the difficult decision, whether to attack France or not. There are a lot of incidents in this play where Shakespeare exaggerates the qualities/attributes of King Henry; he changes the way we think of King Henry. The attributes of King Henry are exaggerated to such an extent we believe that he must have been ‘the perfect king’, cunning, merciful, charming and an excellent speaker.
In Act 1 Scene 4 and 5, when Hamlet meets and speaks with the ghost of his father, the fear increases. You begin reading faster and feel like you are running after the spirit with Hamlet. The actual conversation between the two is very fast and flows very nicely. Once agin making the scene more intense. Throughout the scene the dramatic effects are heighten by the ghost’s long lamented speeches to his son. The entire scene is one of climactic drama.
The ability of an author to capture the interest of the audience has and will always be an important factor in the art of storytelling and even the expression of research or related material. When an author is able to seize the attention of any partaking of their work, curiosity will develop which will lead to the wonder of what the conclusion my bring about. Not only is it important to snatch the audience’s attention in the beginning, it is necessary to hold it prisoner throughout the tale. Authors do this by having an interesting plot development in which many unexpected details come into play and the course of the story is thrown from the norm and into the conflict. Shakespeare was a master of this art in the work he produced throughout his life and was able to create stories of humor and those of tragedy. For example, his play King Lear is a terrible tragedy in which many awful things take place and the story ends by disastrous means. While in the play Much Ado About Nothing, very little conflict is present and if it is, it is resolved quickly and the play concludes with the joyfulness of marriage nuptials. His ability to develop plot and story in a way in which the audience who love to devour, Shakespeare will in a way immortalize himself, “Shakespeare proved himself to be both the "soul of the age" his works reflected and adorned and the consummate symbol of the artist whose poetic visions transcend their local habitation and become, in some mysterious way, contemporaneous with ‘all time.’” (Andrews) As stated, Shakespeare went beyond his time and created traditions, symbols, sayings, and even stories that people today will remember forever. King Lear and Much Ado About Nothing are each examples of Shakespeare's detailed ...
The usual set up for a role-playing exercise is as follows: first the teacher will have the students read the text by themselves, then he/she will define any strange or outdated language used in the text. Often with Shakespeare students find the use of the King’s English confusing and therefore do not understand the piece. Once the terms used are understood, the teacher can ask students to read sections aloud that they may hear how the words flow together. Then two or more students are chosen to act out the section with some minimal movement. This added blocking creates the idea that the dialogue motivates the actions.
Finally, it is fun to study drama. It is fun to dramatise and dress up and fall over dead behind improvised curtains and fence with blackboard pointers and cook up a witches brew and come to school with a spade over your shoulder for the Graveyard Scene. It is fun, and while all the fun is being enjoyed an incredible amount of language is pouring into these students' heads, through listening, reading, watching videos and learning lines off by heart.
... to make choices as to how they wanted to act out those scenes. Nevertheless, the ghost is an important part of the play that will always lead to questions in the readers mind. Does the ghost cause Hamlet to go mad or is that madness within that causes the ghost to be revealed? Is it the ghost who causes Hamlet to seek revenge or the unraveling truth of Claudius’s murder? These questions may change with every generation but as some questions get answered others come forth which leads audiences to always be captivated by Hamlet.
Hamlet lead his life in circles, never comfortable enough with his current conditions to settle down. The crisis’ placed upon him were never resolved, because he couldn’t handle decisions, leading to a severe downfall in his family’s life. Such demise began in a terrace of the palace Hamlet called home, with a sighting of a ghost that foreshadowed troubles in the near future.
The works of Shakespeare is not fun for most of you. One way that you can fix this is by trying to make the subject more fun. Sometimes the subject maybe confusing but after reading it a couple of times you start to understand it and know the story line behind the literature.
Shakespeare wrote a lot of plays and many of them were performed at The Globe Theatre. The play Hamlet was influenced by the death of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet. Neither John nor Mary Shakespeare was able to read or write. Shakespeare wrote many plays called King Henry, in honor of Queen Elizabeth’s father King Henry VIII. One of the most important elements of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the contrast that is established between the real world and a world inhabited by fairies and other magical beings and forces.
This is how Shakespeare’s plays are a product of the Elizabethan theatrical context in which they were first performed.
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.
Old Hamlet is killed by his brother Claudius. Only two months after her husband’s death a vulnerable Gertrude marries her husband’s brother Claudius. Gertrude’s weakness opens the door for Claudius to take the throne as the king of Denmark. Hamlet is outraged by this, he loses respect for his mother as he feels that she has rejected him and has taken no time to mourn her own husband’s death. One night old Hamlets ghost appears to prince Hamlet and tells him how he was poisoned by his own brother. Up until this point the kingdom of Denmark believed that old Hamlet had died of natural causes. As it was custom, prince Hamlet sought to avenge his father’s death. This leads Hamlet, the main character into a state of internal conflict as he agonises over what action and when to take it as to avenge his father’s death. Shakespeare’s play presents the reader with various forms of conflict which plague his characters. He explores these conflicts through the use of soliloquies, recurring motifs, structure and mirror plotting.
Shakespeare has been a part of the American Society for many years. Compared to other Authors, he has a different style of writing but within his own writings, they are all very much alike. He has written many plays including Othello and Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare was a man who wrote plays that followed the same literary conventions. These conventions included tragic hero, fallacy, irony, and also suspense.