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hamlet's character development
social influences on hamlet
analysis of the tragedy of Hamlet
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The Real Tragedy Of Hamlet
In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the death or murder of a character becomes very freuquent. Although many people die. It is a result of their own wrong-doing. You could almost say they deserved what they got. But there were deaths of people, that were due to the manipulation from the royalty. A good example can be found in the family of Polonius’. The real tragedy of Hamlet is not that of Hamlet or his family but of Polonius’ family because their deaths were not caused by their own, sinful actions, but rather by their small instigation of Claudius and Hamlet’s battle.
The first character to die in the play is Polonius. Eventhough Polonius often acted in a deceitful manner
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Ophelia’s death is also tragic, because of her complete innocence in the situation. You can argue that Polonius deserved his fate because of his handling with Hamlet while he was mad. But Ophelia was entirely manipulated, and used by Hamlet and the king for their own selfish reasons, and games. An example of how Ophelia is used by Hamlet is seen in Act II, scene i, when Hamlet uses her to convince his family that he is truely mad. Ophelia explains to her father, how Hamlet has scared her, causing Polonius to draw the conclusion that Hamlet has an "antic disposition"(He is quickly losing his mind). The way Hamlet acts in this scene with Ophelia, it seems almost that he is taking one last glimps of her, before he fully commits himself to avenging his father’s death. Hamlet is a mastermind, a evil man in this scene, as he uses Ophelia to scare her, to “use'; her as a courier of his madness virus. He knows that if he acts strange, or insane in her presence, it will slowly, but surely get back to her father, Polonius. Hence, it will get to the King. This idea of Hamlet’s worked, and the news of Hamlet’s Sanity in Question, spread like WildFire. In Act III, scene iv, as you may remember, Hamlet kills Polonius while he is hiding behind the curtains. This event causes Ophelia to become insane herself, and leads to her eventual death in a river near the …show more content…
Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, A face without a heart?'; He is asking Laertes whether he is really sorry about his father’s death or if he is just acting mournful without feeling mournful, almost insinuation acting. Claudius uses these lines to sinisterly lure Laertes into a plan to kill Hamlet, asking him what he will do to prove his love for his father, and sister. in Act IV, scene vii, lines 124 to 126. “Hamlet comes back; what would you undertake To show yourself in deed your father’s son More than in words?'; It can be seen, how easily Laertes is influenced by Claudius. With passion of his anger clotting his judgement, he is now distracted, and deceptable. He conspires to murder Hamlet, and in this attempt, Laertes loses his own life to the very poison that he kills Hamlet with. Once again, a member of Polonius’ family loses their life as a result of a conflict that they were oblivious to. Making Laertes’ death a tragedy as
Something was definitely rotten in the state of Denmark. The king was dead of a murder most foul, a betrayal from his own brother, young Hamlet was thrown out of the frying pan, which was his father's passing, and into the fire of revenge. On would think that an act of revenge such as this, retribution from an enraged son over the unjust murder of his father, would come so quickly, wildly, and brutally, driven by anger and rage. This simply was not the case in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. As the young prince Hamlet carefully thought out his plans for revenge over a rather large amount of time due to his own apparent weakness, inaction. "The smallest deed is greater than the grandest intention"(Stokes 90). Hamlet was full of grand ideas and intentions on how to kill the King, but he failed to act and to carry out the deed that was his revenge, the destruction of Claudius. Why did Hamlet choose and it was his choice, not to take revenge on Claudius quickly and decisively? Hamlet had his own reasons for inaction; the strategy that he felt best suited his revenge.
William Shakespeare takes us through the life of Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark battling through the death of his father, and seeking revenge on the man who murdered him, in his tragedy that is, Hamlet. Shakespeare creates a world fixated on life versus death that is constantly questioning the possibilities of the afterlife and comparing it to their present circumstances. As death surrounds Denmark, the idea of suicide rises and becomes a significant theme that encourages characterization and plot development throughout the play. Hamlet, distraught by the death of his father and the recent marriage of his mother, Gertrude to his uncle, Claudius, begins contemplating whether suicide is the right choice for him in his situation. Death also takes over the mind of Ophelia, a beautiful young lady who Hamlet is in love with, when her father Polonius is murdered, leading to her madness and eventual suicide. The final suicide is the death of the entire royal circle caused by their own corrupt conflicts and actions. Shakespeare explores the idea of suicide as an important theme through the imagination and actions of his characters.
One of Shakespeare’s great pieces of work, Hamlet, has been divided to alternate versions Quarto 1and Quarto 2. Focusing on Act I Scene iii, apparently the differences in these two versions are mainly on the way the characters are formed and the language that is used. Quarto 1 is a much more compact version that has weakly defined characters and uninformed language. As for Quarto 2 this lack of complexity is not so. This version has a higher quality of character depth and a language that is more comprehensible to allow more meaning to the play. Nonetheless the mutuality between these two versions main idea are clearly the significant mutilations to these scene are factors that make the play have a different meaning. The Quarto that would be most appealing to actors and the one that would be more fulfilling to the reader would be the second one because of it richness in characters and language.
Ecclesiastes 7: 17 said “Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?” Suicide is an important part in the bible. It is one of the things that is considered a sin in Christianity. The bible has lessons and commandments for Christians to follow and those lessons are represented in books. In the early 1600’s religion was an important part of people’s lives and writers incorporated it into their writings. William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in the early 1600’s and he wrote about religion while he was writing about a prince’s revenge on his uncle. His uncle killed his father and he was prepared to take revenge. Hamlet and Christianity are both about the good, the bad and the afterlife which makes Hamlet a Christian play.
While Hamlet can be held responsible for Polonius’s death because he is the one who actually killed him, Polonius is still the cause of his own death because he tends to dote on his image and the way people perceive him, he tries too hard to get the king to think well of him, and he is always meddling in the business of others.
Comedy lightens the mood, progresses the plot, and provides a necessary reprieve from the suspense of the play. Comedic relief commands a vital role in the William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. In order to maintain the audience’s interest, an author inserts puns and other comedic vices to enhance their work. Shakespeare constantly introduces characters to allay the strain on the audience from past events in the plot. This comedic relief usually contains a hidden meaning or message that augments the plot. In the play Hamlet Osric, Polonius, and the Gravedigger are used as these conduits of humor.
1)Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy, “Hamlet,” critiques the society of Denmark using powerful mononlogues and dramatic action. On the other hand, Wilde’s comic drama pokes fun at the high morality of Victorian Society. One serious theme that I noticed in “The Importance of being Ernest” was the consistent act of deception throughout the entire play. However this lack of honesty was not lonesome for insightful comedy and a visible foreshadowing of upcoming events accompanied it. Meaning that the play was cleverly written with humor and provided us with an obvious chain of facts that would lead up to us unraveling the end of the play. This play critiques the need to lie or exaggerate the truth, in order to “fit in” the norm of English society during the 1890’s. The unique characters in this play portray a nonchalant attitude along with subtle gestures in a tribute to not being (earnest); they were not being honest. Specifically, they all had unique characteristics that made it easier for them to not being honest. Once it starts, it continues and that is evident within the characters of this play. That is why there is always an “Importance of Being Earnest”. One could read Hamlet simply, simplistically even, as a revenge tragedy. Hamlet’s father, the king of Denmark, is killed by his brother, Claudius, who, overriding the rights of succession, appropriates both the crown and the wife of Hamlet’s father. The ghost of the father reveals everything to his s...
Polonius death is some what a butterfly affect. Once Hamlet kills Polonius is when the whole play shifts and Hamlet truly does seem mad. After Polonius death Ophelia goes mad herself expect she’s is not acting but is truly mad. Her madness eventually leads to her death by suicide in the river. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent by the king to England with Hamlet to have Hamlet killed because he has killed Polonius. While sleeping Hamlets changes the letters so that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hand England their own death warrants. Hamlet then returns to Denmark to find out about Ophelia’s death and to see that Laertes is back home and knows the truth of his fathers murder and wants to duel with Hamlet.. Laertes and the king have plans to poison the tip of his sword so that with any single cut Hamlet would be dead. Laertes cannot cut him during the dual So the king tries to offer Hamlet a drink of poisoned wine but Hamlet refuses. Laertes finally gets frustrated and walks up and just cuts Hamlet but just before this Gertrude accidently drinks from the wine glass meant for Hamlet and hints to Hamlet that the king did it. Hamlet with rage runs a sword into the kings chest and forces him to drink the same wine that killed his mother. Moments later Hamlet himself falls over and passes
In II.i.109, Ophelia states Hamlet “took me by the wrist and held me hard” (109). Hamlet has a twisted, sinister version of love towards Ophelia and he shows it by the way he walks into her closet and what he is wearing. This scene with Ophelia is considered physical harassment because he touches her, and clearly she does not want to be touched. Also, Hamlet killing Polonius is a partial reason as to why Hamlet is also the reason for Ophelia’s death. Ever since Hamlet’s father died, he has shown a different side of him such as a plan to kill Claudius. He puts on a “mad” face and has unusual plans such as killing Claudius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Polonius tries to find out the reason, consequently, he is killed. Hamlet does not care that Polonius is now dead, but of course Laertes and Ophelia do. Hamlet shows he is not affected by the death by the way he talks to Gertrude. He says “A bloody deed? Almost as bad, good mother, As kill a king and marry with his brother” (III.iv.2). He says its almost as bad as his mother killing his husband and marrying his brother. Polonius was a father of the two. He also was a mentor for Ophelia because she is still young and still needs to be guided in the right direction. Without her father, Ophelia is lost. This death drives Ophelia to a side that readers have not seen yet. Hamlet killing Polonius is a partial reason as to why Hamlet is also the reason for Ophelia’s
Following the performance of “The Mousetrap”, Hamlet is summoned to his mother's chamber. Upon arguing with Gertrude over the intentions of his play, and his reasons for wanting to distress the king so openly, Hamlet kills Polonius. “How now? A rat? Dead for a ducat, dead (III.iv.27-28)! Perhaps Hamlet did not know whom he was killing. “Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! / I took thee for thy better”(III.iv.38-39)! Perhaps Hamlet thought he was killing the king.
The first, and most relevant, death is the death of Hamlets father, King Hamlet, King of Denmark. Although this death is delivered off-screen, it delivers a vicious set of chain of events that molds the plot of Hamlet. King Hamlet died just before the play starts and Claudius, King Hamlet’s brother, took over as the new king.
Troubled by royal treason, ruthless scheming, and a ghost, Denmark is on the verge of destruction. Directly following King Hamlet's death, the widowed Queen Gertrude remarried Claudius, the King's brother. Prince Hamlet sees the union of his mother and uncle as a "hasty and incestuous" act (Charles Boyce, 232). He then finds out that Claudius is responsible for his father's treacherous murder. His father's ghost asks Hamlet to avenge his death and Hamlet agrees. He plans very carefully, making sure that he doesn't kill Claudius when in he has already been forgiven for his sins. Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, the King's advisor, thinking that it was Claudius hiding behind a curtain spying on Hamlet and his mother. This drives Ophelia, Polonius' daughter and Hamlet's love interest, insane. She then drowns in a suspected suicide when she falls from a tree into a river. Laertes, Ophelia's brother, teams up with Claudius and plot revenge on the strained prince.
It is later found that old Hamlet’s death happened as the ghost says “sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me.” (Act1, scn5 35-36) but is later found to be false as the ghost later explains that Claudius in trying to gain the throne killed old Hamlet. Though this act may not have caused chaos on a grand scale the effects of such an act can be seen in Hamlet as he becomes heart-stricken and throughout the play very morose and depressed. Next is another act that again affects Hamlet the most and this is through Claudius marrying Gertrude to further secure his seat of power. This again not only causes sadness but anger in Hamlet, with Hamlet latter killing of Polonius being attributed to his mindset which centers on his mother marrying Claudius. Lastly, Claudius leads to the eventual death of many other for his plan of trying to kill Hamlet. This is through Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and later through Laertes and the mistaken death of Gertrude. It is through trying to escort Hamlet to England that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are escaped from by Hamlet and head to England with letters leading to their deaths. Then through Laertes, Claudius prepares a plan with a sharpened blade that’s poisoned and Claudius prepares a cup for Hamlet, also poisoned. But the plan ended up having both Laertes and the
William Shakespeare wrote a play called Hamlet. It is about a royal family, there is a king who is murdered by his own brother in order for his brother to become the king. The old king’s ghost comes back and tells his son Hamlet what happened to him, at that point Hamlet starts to go mad in his head for revenge to kill his uncle, the new king. Hamlet sleeps with a girl named Ophelia who he tells he doesn’t love, he kills her father. Later Ophelia dies from drowning and Hamlet gets upset and talks about he loved her. Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, and the new king work together to bring Hamlet to his death for different reasonings. At the end of the play, there are a total of nine deaths that occur, four of which were in the same scene. Two big
Prince Hamlet is depressed. Having been summoned home to Denmark from school in Germany to attend his father’s funeral, he is shocked to find his mother Gertrude already remarried. The Queen has wed Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius, the dead king’s brother. To Hamlet, the marriage is “foul incest.” Worse still, Claudius has had himself crowned King despite the fact that Hamlet was his father’s heir to the throne. Hamlet suspects foul play.