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hamlet character analysis
hamlet character analysis
hamlet character analysis
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Everyone knows the story of Hamlet: Hamlet’s father is killed, Hamlet’s mother marries the evil Uncle, everyone thinks Hamlet has gone mad, and almost everyone dies at the end. In David Tennant’s version of Hamlet, the use of the characters’ physical antics, interactions with each other, the stark similarities between the characters, and the way they dress, changes how the audience interprets each character’s actions and contribution to the play as a whole, which then determines how successful this version of Hamlet is.
The physical antics displayed by Hamlet and Ophelia are seen throughout the play, which portray these characters as childlike and emotionally unstable. The antics displayed by Hamlet give us a better view of his true character, which is feeble, unpredictable, and insane. He jumps around as if he were a small child trying to get their mother’s attention. His wild antics in front of the court show us how fleeting his thoughts are, and it pays tribute to the fact that he has lost his sanity. Hamlet’s antics also include physical contact or nearness, and that behavior is usually shown when he is mad about something, an example being when he discovers that he has been spied on by Polonius and Claudius, and puts himself in Ophelia’s personal space (Act 3, scene i). Hamlet’s disregard for personal space was very apparent when he was called to his mother’s chamber after the play-within-a-play (Act 3, scene iv) in which he gets mad at his mother, about her marrying his Uncle, who does not fully understand why Hamlet has such a vendetta against Claudius. Ophelia also showed a tendency to have physical antics, which took place in the scene right before her death when she sang a song for Gertrude and Claudius, and started runn...
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...udius wear very formal gowns and suits, but they are not from an specific time period, an example being Gertrude’s blue gown and Claudius’s dress-suit in their marriage scene (Act 1, scene ii). The way Hamlet and Ophelia dress are also timeless, but they also have more distinct times, like Hamlet’s jeans and muscle t-shirt (Act 3, scene i) which can be related to the more current times, while his suit in the wedding scene (Act 1, scene ii) is more classic, yet both formal and modern. Ophelia’s clothes from the scene where her brother Laertes warned her about Hamlet (Act 1, scene iii) is more modern, but her dress for the play-within-a-play scene (Act 3, scene ii) was, like Hamlet’s suit, classic and modern. The clothes are a way for the audience to relate to the characters, and in a very subtle way, say that the story of Hamlet can be related to by many generations.
To play one of Shakespeare’s most complex roles successfully on stage or on screen has been the aspiration of many actors. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been the focus on various accounts throughout the 20th Century, each actor attempting to bring something unique and unmarked to the focal character. Franco Zeffirelli and Kenneth Branagh, both film directors, introduce varying levels of success on the screen through downright differences in ways of translation and original ideas. Zeffirelli’s much shorter interpretation of the film is able to convey the importance of Hamlet as a masterwork by using modern approaches to film but still capturing the traditional work behind Shakespeare’s well-known play.
Though the reader realizes Hamlet's extreme anger and brooding throughout the entire play, he has no actual confrontation with another character until the aforementioned lines in Act III Scene I. One may notice the Prince's biting tone aimed at Claudius, Polonius or even Gertrude, but until his "Get the to a nunnery!" speech, no outbursts of pure rage in the presence of others can be found. This harshness in relation to Ophelia may be one of Hamlet's first moments of "action." The Prince seems reluctant to act upon any of his emotions toward anyone, though he often does give off an aura of discontentment and sorrow over his father's death. However, in these specific lines the audience sees Hamlet take an active stance in purging this young lady's once p...
Act II scene i of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is a scene in which a lot is revealed. In this scene Polonius sends his servant, Reynaldo, to France to see Laertes and also to spy on him. As Reynaldo is on his way out, Ophelia comes into the scene and she is very distraught. She explains to Polonius that Hamlet had confronted her in a very unkempt state. Hamlet had grabbed her wrist and held her there for a few moments and then sighed. In this entire encounter Hamlet did not speak. Polonius is convinced that Hamlet is madly in love with Ophelia and that in addition to Polonius forcing Ophelia to distance herself from Hamlet is that is the reason for this encounter. The scene ends with Polonius going to see Claudius of his idea. This scene shows evidence of dramatic irony because Polonius is convinced that Hamlet is mad because he is in love with Ophelia but the audience knows that Hamlet is only pretending to be mad.
In the first scene of Act II, Polonius and Ophelia discuss the meaning of Hamlet's odd behavior. Though the two characters agree his actions arise out of the torment of spurned love, they arrive at that point through very different means. At the beginning of the dialogue, Ophelia says that she has been "affrighted" by Hamlet in her bed chamber. (II,i 75) Her encounter with the Prince left her scared about his real intentions. She says that he looks like he has been,"loosed out of hell/To speak of horrors". (II,i 83-4) The very fact that Hamlet does not speak one word to Ophelia makes him look even more intimidating. By not speaking anything, Hamlet at once strengthens his image as a madman, as well as shrouding his real intentions towards those around him. Just following this passage comes a place in the text where we can see how the character of Ophelia has been manipulated by Polonius. After his "hint" that he might be doing this out of frustrated love, Ophelia says that that is what she truly does fear. (87) Her feelings of pity and concern are shaped by her father in order to fit his case of madness against Hamlet.
Instead of a grand tragedy of a royal house, the modern Hamlet is a detective story about a dead rich guy and his son the beginner detective. Yet, the acting of the actors and the special effects more or less manage to make up for the flaw. Bill Murray who plays Polonious is harsh and tight. Ethan Hawke is illustrated as a weak and normal prince. Julia Stiles does not do Ophelia any justice. Ther...
Perhaps Hamlet truly is sane and has little fits of hysteria as the world seems to stack up against him. His anger and feelings of betrayal overload to explosive outbursts that can be interpreted as real madness. Upon learning that Ophelia has allied herself with Polonius and Claudius, he loses his head and has an incredibly dramatic episode. He is initially honest and open with Ophelia, but his mood quickly changes when he learns they are being spied on. He question Ophelia’s motives by asking whether she is honest and fair. He...
In Almereyda’s Hamlet the characters would be wearing more modern day garments circa 2000’s. Hamlet is mostly seen wearing black. Since he is the prince of Denmark Corporation his outfits are mostly designer. Differently from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is not dressed clean and neat. For example he wears long shaggy hair, unbuttoned shirts, ski hats, blazers, and t-shirts. His dress reflects what he ...
Hamlet’s apparent antics with Ophelia prove that their relationship begins to fall apart and become unhealthy. Hamlet mistreats Ophelia when she attempts to return the gifts he has given her, and he responds in a harsh manner, asking about her chastity and beauty, saying “that if [she] be honest and fair, [her] honesty/should admit no discourse to [her] beauty” (3.1.117-118). Hamlet continues to belittle her, calling her two-faced and admitting that he “did love [her] once” (3.1.125), his feelings for her now absent. Hamlet’s facade becomes personal through this. The entire exchange shows how Hamlet prioritizes his revenge, over his love because he eventually figures out that Polonius and Claudius spy on him. Hamlet soon speculates Ophelia’s association in their plan and decides to put on a facade for her too. Claudius’s facade also affects his relationship with Gertrude and Hamlet. After his speech to the court, Claudius approaches Hamlet in a way that appears as if he cares about him, even addressing him as “my cousin Hamlet and my son” (1.2.66), despite being aware of Hamlet’s sensitive and depressive state because of his father’s death. Moreover, Claudius expresses his deceitful love when he admits to Laertes that he won’t put Hamlet on trial because he mentions how much he loves Gertrude, and that she “is so conjunctive to my life and soul/that, as the
Hamlet, one of the most intricate and influential plays by Shakespeare, debatably of all time. It has inspired not only appreciative readers and writing critiques but continuous generations of people. The inspiration led to the fabrication of many great movies, which wasn’t achievable until the 20th century. Before cinema was the prevalent method of sharing appreciation and spilling emotion for a specific subject, art portrayed what would fly through our minds such as the many interpretations of Ophelia’s death. With the imagery put into motion we can try and pick apart how certain people might view the play being portrayed and choose what best suits our expectation of this tragedy. Other things that only film has been able to present to us is the various camera angles, a setting that isn’t restricted to a stage and an audience that can be reached anywhere in the world. Also who is casted and how they will be dressed is crucial to the success of the movie although sometimes overlooked during the production process. Some movies represent these elements of mise-en-scene in an excellent matter such as the Kenneth Branagh version of Hamlet, while others would seem to disappoint my expectations for a great re-visualization of our suicidal hero like Micheal Almereyda’s Hamlet staring Ethan Hawke. Admirably though every Hamlet film to date has its own unique style, something that will please all audiences, with its unique pros and cons.
It is seen when he insists his mother’s grief for his father is not true, but instead a false façade ““‘I have that within me which passes show/ these but the trappings and the suits of woe” (I, ii, 88-89). Hamlet points out the blatant disrespect for the deceased King’s memory, stating, “O most wicked speed, to post/ With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! / It is not, nor it cannot come to good/ But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue” (I, ii, 161-164). This shows Hamlet’s distaste for his mother’s action, which than carries over to Ophelia
West’s interpretation of Ophelia’s character is not a consensus feeling among critics, so her innocence is challenged but not overturned. Beginning now with the play, the reader/viewer sees that the protagonist of the tragedy, Prince Hamlet, initially appears dressed in solemn black. He is mourning the death of his father, supposedly by snakebite, while he was away at Wittenberg as a student. Hamlet laments the hasty remarriage of his mother to his father’s brother, an incestuous act; thus in his first soliloquy he cries out, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” Ophelia enters the play with her brother Laertes, who, in parting for school, bids her farewell and gives her advice regarding her relationship with Hamlet. Op...
As the play’s tragic hero, Hamlet exhibits a combination of good and bad traits. A complex character, he displays a variety of characteristics throughout the play’s development. When he is first introduced in Act I- Scene 2, one sees Hamlet as a sensitive young prince who is mourning the death of his father, the King. In addition, his mother’s immediate marriage to his uncle has left him in even greater despair. Mixed in with this immense sense of grief, are obvious feelings of anger and frustration. The combination of these emotions leaves one feeling sympathetic to Hamlet; he becomes a very “human” character. One sees from the very beginning that he is a very complex and conflicted man, and that his tragedy has already begun.
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
The first major action of the third act is the arranged meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia. During this meeting, Hamlet seems to turn on Ophelia, denying that he ever loved her. This apparent reversal of feelings towards Ophelia may appear as a peripeteia at first, but under closer examination will prove to be a continuation of Hamlet's pretense of madness. Hamlet is aware that Ophelia is being used to draw out information from him about the source of his insanity. This becomes evident when Hamlet inquires where Ophelia's father is. At the end of his soliloquy, Hamlet comments on Ophelia's beauty as he sees her approach. This illustrates that he still has affection for her, but in his current state o...
Corum, Richard. Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. Print.