Wilde, Oscar. "Letter to Lord Alfred Douglas." De Profundis, the Ballad of Reading Gaol and Other Writings. Ware: Wordsworth Editions, 2002. Print.
Wilde’s “Letter to Lord Alfred Douglas”, a piece of literary criticism, discusses the role of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Hamlet. Wilde calls Shakespeare’s characters, written to be the friends of Hamlet, immortal as archetypes. Wilde begins with discussing the symbolism of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as companions and representing pleasant memories. He then writes of Hamlet’s situation, burdened with the task of carrying his late father’s request. Wilde calls Hamlet a dreamer forced to act and unable to trust others. Wilde explains that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern know nothing despite being
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In his literary criticism of Hamlet, Bradley challenges the idea of the protagonist as a noble hero. He starts with presenting how Hamlet’s inaction impacts the plot; his task would have been completed by Laertes or Fortinbras in less than a day without killing seven other characters. Bradley goes on to question Hamlet’s conscience and morality, showing that a sentimental view of Hamlet is unrealistic. He presents his main idea, that Hamlet is not heroic, with various examples from the play. Bradley concludes that Shakespeare meant to show Hamlet’s tragedy, not to create an ideal hero untainted by the evil of the world. Bradley was a professor of poetry at Oxford University and this book draws from his lectures, making him both an expert and his content credible. This particular book has been reprinted numerous times. Although it is from 1904, the credibility of a literary source is not influenced by its date. This book contains Bradley’s extensive research on earlier literary criticism of Hamlet, indicating his writing is well supported. The research he did was also supplemented by many quotes from Hamlet. Overall, this source is very credible. Bradley’s points are similar to my analysis of Hamlet’s character, and some of his evidence is useful for proving one of my supporting points, that Hamlet has a darker side. His criticism is helpful because I can compare my …show more content…
Knight’s thesis is that Hamlet is a representation for the theme of death. He first launches into a unconventional summary of the play’s plot by concentrating on Claudius’ virtues, painting a Hamlet that is cynical and nearly insane. However, Knight continues by acknowledging that although Hamlet brings about chaos in his madness, Hamlet ultimately judges the other characters accurately. That he knows their faults makes Hamlet terrifying to all. Finally, Knight discusses the last scene and Hamlet’s death as a justification of fate and humanity. Knight was an English professor and literary critic. The Wheel of Fire was influential in the study of Shakespearean tragedy and republished multiple times by credible publishers in its original format and in other collections. The content of this essay is primarily opinion, supported with quotes from Hamlet and from other literature critics. It was written in 1930, but it is still credible because Hamlet has remained unchanged. Taking all factors, this source is evaluated as credible. This source is relevant to my essay because its evaluation of Hamlet’s relation to Ophelia and Gertrude ties in with my point about Hamlet’s morality. Both Knight’s essay and my source make a point of Hamlet being morally questionable, and this essay raises some interesting examples of what he does to the other
After demolishing the theories of other critics, Bradley concluded that the essence of Hamlet’s character is contained in a three-fold analysis of it. First, that rather than being melancholy by temperament, in the usual sense of “profoundly sad,” he is a person of unusual nervous instability, one liable to extreme and profound alterations of mood, a potential manic-depressive type. Romantic, we might say. Second, this Hamlet is also a person of “exquisite moral sensibility, “ hypersensitive to goodness, a m...
There are many topics deeply hidden in the works of William Shakespeare. One of his greatest pieces of works is the story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Not only are the words of Shakespeare meaningful, but there are also many follow up pieces of literature that contain important interpretations of the events in this play. These works about Hamlet are extremely beneficial to the reader. I have found four of these works and will use them as sources throughout this essay. The first source is “The Case of Hamlet’s Conscience,” by Catherine Belsey, and it focuses on the topic of Hamlet’s revenge in the play. The second source is “’Never Doubt I Love’: Misreading Hamlet,” by Imtiaz Habib, and it explains a lot of information about Hamlet’s “love” for Ophelia. The third source is “Shakespeare’s Hamlet, III.i.56—88,” by Horst Breuer, and it talks in depth about the issue of suicide in Hamlet. The fourth and final source is “Shakespeare’s Hamlet 1.2.35-38,” by Kathryn Walls, and it describes the significance of the role the Ghost plays throughout Hamlet. There are many different confusing parts in Hamlet and the best way to fully understand the play is to understand all of these parts. By understanding every miniscule detail in the play, it creates a different outlook on the play for the reader. In this essay, I will explain these confusing topics, as well as explain why the sources are helpful and what insight they can bring. At the end is this essay, the reader will have a complete understanding and appreciation of the play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
Although the play Hamlet is largely centered around the “tragic hero” Hamlet, it is the minor foil characters that gives us a deeper understanding of the text and a more conscious understanding of the internal struggles experienced by Hamlet. Each of these characters contrasts a specific aspect of Hamlet that would otherwise be overlooked. Horatio consolidates all of the desirable features that Hamlet wants to be into one person. Fortinbras, although in the exact same situation as Hamlet with his father dead and his uncle on the throne, is the complete opposite of Hamlet by choosing action over inaction. Finally, Ophelia personifies Hamlet’s innocence and the death of his innocence after the death of his father. Despite being opposites of each other, each of these characters bring a new outlook on the tragedy of Hamlet.
On Hamlet. 2nd ed. of the book. London: Frank Cass & Co., Ltd., 1964. p. 14-16.
Corum, Richard. Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport: Greenwood, 1998. Print. Literature in Context.
Manning, John. "Symbola and Emblemata in Hamlet." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 11-18.
Findlay, Alison. "Hamlet: A Document in Madness." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 189-205.
Manning, John. "Symbola and Emblemata in Hamlet." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 11-18.
At least six or seven years pass after the writing of Midsummer Night’s Dream before we find Shakespeare engaged in Hamlet, the second of the great plays with an important Supernatural element, and, in the opinion of many, the greatest tragedy ever penned. (99) There is no more exalted ranking than the above. Richard A. Lanham in the essay “Superposed Plays” maintains that no other English tragedy has generated the literary comment which this play has produced: “Hamlet is one of the great tragedies. It has generated more comment than any other written document in English literature, one would guess, reverent, serious comment on it as a serious play” (91).
Firstly, Knight tries to persuade us of the fact that the chain of causality might have been broken if Hamlet had left the past in the past and forgiven his uncle’s treason. This however is an unrealistic expectation of any character. Death and its consequences become an obsession of Hamlet’s as his father’s ghost reveals the truth of his death to Hamlet. This signifies the beginning of Hamlet’s mental deterioration and his inn...
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.
Hamlet is one of the most often-performed and studied plays in the English language. The story might have been merely a melodramatic play about murder and revenge, butWilliam Shakespeare imbued his drama with a sensitivity and reflectivity that still fascinates audiences four hundred years after it was first performed. Hamlet is no ordinary young man, raging at the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Hamlet is cursed with an introspective nature; he cannot decide whether to turn his anger outward or in on himself. The audience sees a young man who would be happiest back at his university, contemplating remote philosophical matters of life and death. Instead, Hamlet is forced to engage death on a visceral level, as an unwelcome and unfathomable figure in his life. He cannot ignore thoughts of death, nor can he grieve and get on with his life, as most people do. He is a melancholy man, and he can see only darkness in his future—if, indeed, he is to have a future at all. Throughout the play, and particularly in his two most famous soliloquies, Hamlet struggles with the competing compulsions to avenge his father’s death or to embrace his own. Hamlet is a man caught in a moral dilemma, and his inability to reach a resolution condemns himself and nearly everyone close to him.
The perfection of Hamlet’s character has been called in question - perhaps by those who do not understand it. The character of Hamlet stands by itself. It is not a character marked by strength of will or even of passion, but by refinement of thought and sentiment. Hamlet is as little of the hero as a man can be. He is a young and princely novice, full of high enthusiasm and quick sensibility - the sport of circumstances, questioning with fortune and refining on his own feelings, and forced from his natural disposition by the strangeness of his situation.
Hamlet is the best known tragedy in literature today. Here, Shakespeare exposes Hamlet’s flaws as a heroic character. The tragedy in this play is the result of the main character’s unrealistic ideals and his inability to overcome his weakness of indecisiveness. This fatal attribute led to the death of several people which included his mother and the King of Denmark. Although he is described as being a brave and intelligent person, his tendency to procrastinate prevented him from acting on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle’s ascension to the throne.