Hamlet and the 21st centary

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Revenge and Insanity in Hamlet and the 21st Century

In Hamlet, the themes of revenge and insanity are predominant. When one seeks revenge, they stop at nothing until their own despair and pain has been extinguished. We see these themes in today's society, and they thrive especially in a high school setting. Although revenge and insanity are dealt with much differently today, when Hamlet was written, revenge almost certainly lead to death of all involved. These outcomes are the equivalent of bullying and embarrassment in the 21st century. Social media is in our day in age the easiest and most powerful form of revenge, whereas in Shakespeare's time, bringing shame to a family's name or murder were the best ways of getting revenge.
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, young prince Hamlet is told of a ghost that resembles his father and knows he must talk to it. When he does, the ghost tells Hamlet of Claudius murdering him. Hamlet becomes enraged and feels the need to avenge his father's death by killing the one at fault, his uncle, King Claudius. In the 1500s however, wizardry and witchcraft...

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