Tragedies in the Greek theater when compared to tragedies in the Renaissance theater varied in similarities and differences. Greek theater encouraged the use of religious figures while Renaissance theater was supposed to be strictly pagan in its ideologies. Theater was most dominantly used to depict the social and religious constraints of the time period. For example, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex are both portrayals of deceit, murder, and revenge all of which lead to the demise of its leading characters. Hamlet is depicted as a young man who is seeking revenge for his fathers death. Oedipus is a king who means to free the people of Thebes from a disease that has been plaguing them. They share similarities in that each of their love interest are conduits of their pain and anguish, further pushing the protagonists over the precipice. The voice of reason that they share is Creon in Oedipus Rex and Horatio in Hamlet. Their tragic flaw is that they are both ultimately and utterly doomed and no amount of guidance will steer them away from what has been predestined by fate. They are ultimately doomed to be their own Achilles heel.
William Shakespeare's Hamlet Perhaps the greatest uncertainty in William Shakespeare's Hamlet is the character of Queen Gertrude. Undoubtedly a major player with regard to number of lines and contribution to the action of the play. her personality is nonetheless basically undeveloped. It is also notable that Gertrude is perhaps the only character besides Hamlet. with enough power over all of the characters to stop the play's tragic.
n Shakespeare’s drama “Hamlet,” the two characters Hamlet and Laertes are in obvious contrast two each other. Hamlet - the son of the dead King Hamlet of Denmark - is a contemplative, alecky, and moody young man, while Laertes, a young Danish lord - son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia – is impulsive and immediate. Both of them face very similar problematic issues: The desired departure from home, being spied on, the death of Ophelia, and the murder of their father respectively. By reference to these four situations it will be discussed below how Hamlet and Laertes can be compared to each othe
How would you deal with an insane, irrational nephew who is travelling down a path of destruction? William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was written in 1589. The renowned play has been performed thousands of times, and captivated audiences since the early 1600’s. Hamlet features a deranged prince, Hamlet, in his attempt to avenge his father’s death. During a night watch on top of the castle, Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father. The ghoul states that he was killed by his own brother Claudius, and that Hamlet must seek revenge. Throughout the play, Hamlet’s sanity is questioned and he is often portrayed as being trapped in his own mind. Despite his mental drawback, he synthesizes an elaborate plan to uncover the truth about his Uncle, Claudius. Claudius inherits the throne upon King Hamlet’s death, and makes many rash decisions when trying to deal with Hamlet and his antics. These poor decisions on Claudius’ part lead to his downfall. To rid of Hamlet, Claudius opted to publicly poison him, which ended up backfiring on Claudius. Instead of jumping right into a plan to kill Hamlet, Claudius should have slowed down and thought through the decision-making process. Should Claudius had used the decision making process and chosen a wiser method of dealing with Hamlet, he would have avoided his own death.
Both Laertes and Hamlet firmly associate themselves with their families. Laetres highly respects his father and loves him very much. Similarly Hamlets conveys this by comparing his father to “Hyperion” a sun god. “This visitation Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose” They both share a strong but different love for Ophelia. Laertes departing of advice onto Ophelia concerning her relations with Hamlet can be explained as a wish for safety, emotions and virtue which he considers to be at threat by Hamlet, ”But you must fear, his greatness weighed, his will is not his own”. With Hamlet it can be clearly seen in the scene of Ophelia’s funeral where he declares his love for her and his distress of the departure of her soul, “forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make my sum!”. Just before this both Hamlet and Laertes jump in her grave for a scuffle, without even a consideration. This is also an example of the two characters rashness.
Shakespeare tragic story, “Hamlet”, illustrates the miserable character under such a tragic reality. Hamlet is a clear representation of Shakespeare's tragic hero, as he possesses all the necessary characteristics of such a hero. Hamlet is seen as a tragic hero as his father king Hamlet died and his uncle who is the murder of old Hamlet took over the power and his unfortunate fate with Ophelia and etc. These character traits and distinctiveness make Hamlet a Tragic Hero.
Hamlet seemed like a very intresting book to me, because of the series of unfortunate events were more like a domino affect. Their was no space in between these events. The death of Hamlets father to him loosing his sanity from learning the truth about his fathers death. The death of Ophealias father and that leading to her own. It taking hamlet to realize he loved ophelia after she died.
Hamlet is a man of words not actions. His delay to react after finding out Claudious is behind his fathers murder is hesitated due to his desire to validate the information from Old Hamlets ghost to see if what he had told him was really the truth: “I’ll have these players play something like the murder of my father before mine uncle... The play’s the thing where in ill catch the conscious of the king.” (p.31) Hamlet believed the play will expose Claudius’ guilt through the actor’s emotions and talent on stage. Hamlet’s plan turned out perfectly causing Claudius to react suspiciously towards this act because of his guilt. Claudius’ reaction gave Hamlet the proof that he needed to point fingers at Claudius for the murder of his father. Hamlet can now seek revenge on his uncle and cause him to suffer the way Hamlet has been ever since this tragic event with his father. Although with this proof Hamlet still holds off the killing of the killing of Claudius and decides to confront his mother about it instead of taking action. In act 3 scene 4, while Hamlet is speaking to his mother he he...
William Shakespeare was a Stratford Grammar School boy, who was a member of the Church of England, similar to just about everyone else in Stratford. However, due to some events that occurred in the Shakespeare family home, there is some evidence that could prove that the family may have had some Roman Catholic connections. When William Shakespeare was 10 years old, legal issues and debt took a toll on his family’s life. Shakespeare’s father’s stopped attending alderman meetings which resulted in the removal of his name to become an alderman, and he was also forced to sell his beautiful home. The cause of this crisis is unknown, however the records can be used to throw together the idea that there were peculiar religious events going on (Fox). Due to these mishaps, William Shakespeare’s religion is a bit of a mystery. The play, Hamlet, was written by William Shakespeare during the Elizabethan era, which happened to be a time when religious conflicts were a big deal (Alsaif). The protagonist in the story, Hamlet, is a character who seems to make his choices through his religious beliefs. Hamlet is a very indecisive person, but his thoughts on religion tend to persuade him. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the character of Hamlet to show the flaws in all religions. Hamlet does his best to follow the rules of Christianity, but he often questions the morality involved. Although Shakespeare belonged to the Church of England, he didn’t find any particular religion to be perfect.
Disillusionment. Depression. Despair. These are the burning emotions churning in young Hamlet's soul as he attempts to come to terms with his father's death and his mother's incestuous, illicit marriage. While Hamlet tries to pick up the pieces of his shattered idealism, he consciously embarks on a quest to seek the truth hidden in Elsinore; this, in stark contrast to Claudius' fervent attempts to obscure the truth of murder.
How does the use of comic relief best contrast the tragedy of Hamlet? In great works of literature a comic relief is used as contrast to a serious scene to intensify the overall tragic nature of the play or to relieve tension. As illustrated in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, intense scenes are joined with character’s banter and vacuous actions as to add a comic relief. In Hamlet, Polonius acts as a comic relief by his dull and windy personality, Hamlet uses his intelligence and his negativity toward the king and queen to create humor, while on the other hand Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a comic relief by their senseless actions and naïve natures. Polonius, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are all used as a comic relief to increase the ultimate tragic nature of the play.
on whether or not to act on something, and by the time he decides to act,
As often associated with a tragedy, a conflict usually ensues between a protagonist and another force in the play. A tragedy is ‘a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror’ (Webster's dictionary). Given its structure and depth in characterization, this play will or can be analyzed and interpreted from various perspectives and beliefs. However, my analysis of the play is conducted on the basis of various components which are: Hamlet as a tragic hero, the ironic message conveyed in the play, the roles of its characters, the role and personification of madness, the role of paranormality, the role of friends and family, the role of inaction, the role of sex and violence, and the role of death as portrayed in the play. Based on literary definitions and portrayal of his character, there is popular belief that Hamlet as the protagonist acted to satisfy his own conscience but could his actions be attributed purely to his desire or was he being influenced by other factors?
The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.
In writing Hamlet, William Shakespeare plumbed the depths of the mind of the protagonist, Prince Hamlet, to such an extent that this play can rightfully be considered a psychological drama.