William Shakespeare's Hamlet

William Shakespeare's Hamlet

There were many factors which affected Shakespeare when he wrote

Hamlet, one of which was the fashion at the time were all about

revenge tragedies, the audience absolutely loved to watch violence.

Shakespeare knew that, so most of his plays were in that category.

When this play was written in 1601, Shakespeare's father died and also

one of his generous patron and friend imprisoned due to the failure of

a rebellion led by Lord Essex. Shakespeare himself had also taken part

in the plot by authorizing a performance of Richard II on the eve of

the events. Essex's followers compared Elizabeth I to Richard and the

scene concerning the deposing of the King was to trigger that of the

Queen. However, the theatre did not suffer any retaliation when the

plot was exposed. From this year onward the tone of Shakespeare's

plays became sombre, sad and bitter. This probably affected the way in

which Hamlet was written.

During the first 2 scenes of the play, Hamlet's father has died.

Although he doesn't know exactly how he died but he suspected there

was a murder as the quote 'My father's spirit - in arms! All is not

well. I doubt some foul play.' showed. To make matters worse, Hamlet's

uncle, Claudius immediately managed to marry Queen Gertrude (Hamlet's

mother), which has made Hamlet even more angry and bitter. This has

created the hatred deep inside Hamlet's heart towards King Claudius as

the quote ' My father's brother' suggested that Hamlet doesn't even

want to mention the name Claudius. These factors created an atmosphere

of doom and gloom.

However after the ghost appearance, Hamlet's attitudes had completel...

... middle of paper ...

...the audience a look

into the events, which the play begins from, and the basic plot of the

story. An insight into Hamlet's characteristics and feelings/opinions

about the speedy marriage of Gertrude and Claudius were also given.

The effectiveness of these scenes can perhaps be seen when the main

story of the play has started to move in just two scenes and the

audience was already interested when a suspicious murder has happened.

I think this play from Shakespeare was very successful because it not

only showed revenge and violence but had also shown the essence of a

human being through the atmospheres of guilt, hatred and regret

presented to the audience. These different atmospheres contributed to

the different themes in Hamlet. E.g. Hatred inside Hamlet leads to his

madness seen by other characters through his actions.