Shakespeare

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William Shakespeare is one of the most famous English poet and play writers in the world. Shakespeare has many plays that were written and performed to create an effect on his audience by creating thoughts and discussions about the social, cultural, and economic values and perspectives that were taking place throughout his time.

Shakespeare’s famous play, Hamlet, was a duplication of the events occurring throughout the Elizabethan era. The main focus throughout this essay is a speech spoken by Hamlet himself in Act IV scene IV. This essay focuses on answering the question of the effect Hamlet had on the audience in the Elizabethan era. This essay will answer that question through Hamlet’s reference to God during his speech, which was significant to prove that people of this era, being either Catholic or Protestant, had the same God. In addition, studying the four humors was common during that time, thus making the psychology of Hamlet a great interest to the audience. Furthermore, Denmark was always under the threat of war because of countries such as Spain and France. This allows the audience to relate to the play because of the reference to war in Hamlet’s speech.

Firstly, no matter what religion a person is today, it is accepted. However, being a Catholic or a Protestant was of great importance during Shakespeare’s time. Depending on whether they had a Catholic or Protestant ruler, people’s perspective on religion changed. For example, during the Elizabethan era and in Shakespeare’s time, Queen Elizabeth the First was a protestant and so England was under the Protestant rule. In Act IV Scene IV, Hamlet mentions that “[God] made us with such large discourse/Looking before and after, gave us not/That capability and godlike rea...

... middle of paper ...

... (IV, IV, 31-2). This quote shows that Hamlet is attracted to asking questions that cannot be answered with confidence because of his extremely deep-thinking and reflective personality. This attracts the audience because Hamlet is a very mysterious character and often other characters in the play cannot even figure him out. Even readers that are very careful and clever finish the play with the idea that they do not know everything about Hamlet, which leaves the reader and audience lingering.

In conclusion, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was acting as a mirror, reflecting the events that were happening during the Elizabethan era. Shakespeare, being one of the most famous English poet and play writers in the world, was able to create an effect on his audience.

Works Cited

Crowther, John, ed. “No Fear Hamlet.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.

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