Any thinking modern citizen knows what it means to fit round ideals into square realities. Therefore, it makes sense for Hamlet, one of our foremost fictional figures, to have trouble matching his internal ideals to the external world. In his introduction to the Norton edition of the play, Stephen Greenblatt points out that Hamlet, "seems to mark an epochal shift not only in Shakespeare's career but in Western drama." Greenblatt is referring to the dominance of Prince Hamlet's psyche over all aspects of the play's perspective and mood. Hamlet transports its audience into the Prince's mind and forces them to look at the world from the inside out.
In a sense they both have the same outcomes, but they are both respectable in their own ways. Though the outcomes that these two plays have are the same, how they were solved is the difference. When Prospero commands Ariel he controls his own destiny. While the fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream control the plot, they are unknown to the mortal characters. The problems that they have control the plot of this play, while in heavy contrast, Prospero controls the plot.
Horatio is Shakespeare's utilitarian character. Horatio serves as a foil to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, prompts Hamlet to disclose his feelings, gives vital information in the form of exposition (verbal or in a letter) or verification of Hamlet's reality, and helps to build the suspense of the play. The only emotional aspect of his character is that he remains alive, and serves as a vehicle for Shakespeare's moral of Hamlet. Works Cited and Consulted Berman, Allison. "We Only Find Ourselves."
While the original dialogue and themes are unchanged, and the show is still classically categorized as a tragedy, the first act of Folger’s adaptation plays out like a comedy, with lively characterizations not typically recognized in the original text. Then, the second act reverts to the highly anticipated misery, starkly reminding audiences that the show is, indeed, a tragedy. This sharp, sudden transformation of tone has earned the production the title of “dramedy.” Romeo & Juliet successfully brews an atmosphere where laughter and sorrow can coexist, an environment that the Bard could not have anticipated. The plot of Shakespeare’s original play remains untouched in Folger’s adaptation; Romeo & Juliet is still a story of star-crossed lovers, whose secret romance defies the heinous conflict that plagues their respective families and ultimately ends with the couple’s demise. But while the plot itself is unchanged, the speed at which the plot progresses is streamlined and accelerated.
Specifically, the plays of Anton Chekhov, Bertolt Brecht, Tennessee Williams, and Samuel Beckett eschew emotional stimulus by deemphasizing sentimentality and encouraging a more cerebral experience in which the audience must actively evaluate and contemplate what they see. Anton Chekhov was the first of the aforementioned modern playwrights to achieve this effect. His most famous work, “The Seagull” has become a hallmark example of indirect action, a technique that intentionally places the most climactic or important moments offstage and disallows emotional reactions to those events. For example, Chekhov informs the audience that the innocent young Nina naively follows her desires into a dangerous whirlwind that leaves her penniless, alone, and p... ... middle of paper ... ...ion for action by Estragon and an unspoken, mutual decision not to move. Since the unknowable fate of Vladimir and Estragon cannot arouse sympathy, the audience is challenged to contemplate the significance of such an ending.
139-142). This self-referentiality reflects a concern that the audience not be passive in its participation, and that the boundaries of the theatrical experience not be restricted to the stage. Shakespeare layers connotations and meanings into his plays that reward the self-conscious auditor. Though much of our modern entertainment seeks to make the auditor oblivious of the medium, Shakespeare’s plays demand a sophisticated self-consciousness on the audience’s part. Part of the pleasure of viewing a Shakespearean play such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream is in recognizing the irony of its self-contained mini-dramas.
Both are very different in values, attitudes, language, setting and each challenge understanding of the other. But they are still parallel texts, in that both meet parallel issues, themes and concerns throughout their context. They also reflect to a large extent in which their written context. As a makeover of Hamlet, Stoppard encounters the morals and standards of the renaissance era while inspiring our reading of hamlet by providing an opposing perspective and making viewers think about the assumptions made on them.
Some of the differences are that Horatio is sane and Hamlet is considered crazy. Basically, that is the only difference between the two. The importance of Horatio in the play is to be a best friend who Hamlet can come to and talk about what is going on in his life.
This "Unity" leaves no room for subplots, which are crucial to the theme of Hamlet. Without the subplot of Laertes' revenge and the subplot of Fortinbras' revenge, we are left with a lugubrious play where the ending, although necessary, is pointless. The three sub-plots together as a unit, allow us to understand what Shakespeare thought of revenge. Another of the ways Aristotle defines plot in tragedy as "The noble actions and the doings of noble persons"(Aristotle 35). By this definition, Hamlet should be a noble person, who does only noble things.