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. In Hamlet religion is not directly mentioned but a distinction is made between Heaven and Hell and good vs. evil. Hamlet is constantly battling his inner demons while trying to deal with the unforeseen circumstances of his position. His father’s message to him revealing that he was stuck in eternal anguish in order to pay for his sins during his life causes Hamlet emotional distress. He questions his position and whether or not the time is appropriate for him to act. “‘And am I then revenged To take him in the purging of his soul, When he is fit and seasoned for his passage? No. Up sword... ... middle of paper ... ...nly woman he only loved and Hamlet lost Ophelia the only woman he truly loved but was foolish enough to tell her the whole truth before she passed. Interestingly enough both of our protagonists were forced to experience not only the death of their true loves but also society’s silent disdain on the fact that they committed suicide. Tragedies in the Greek and Renaissance theater were very effective in portraying the social and religious constraints that tainted society. Both playwrights, through the use of their ingenuity and vast literary knowledge were able to perfect and display such flawless spectacles. The differences and similarities between Greek tragedy and Renaissance tragedy, although vast, can be narrowed down to the audience. Greek and Renaissance theater targeted very different audiences that demanded a certain type of play in order to be entertained.
While Hamlet may still be feeling depressed Hamlet moves into the stage of denial and isolation. Hamlet feels the effects of denial and isolation mostly due to his love, Ophelia. Both Hamlet’s grief and his task constrain him from realizing this love, but Ophelia’s own behavior clearly intensifies his frustration and anguish. By keeping the worldly and disbelieving advice of her brother and father as “watchmen” to her “heart” (I.iii.46), she denies the heart’s affection not only in Hamlet, but in herself; and both denials add immeasurably to Hamlet’s sense of loneliness and loss—and anger. Her rejection of him echoes his mother’s inconstancy and denies him the possibility even of imagining the experience of loving an...
Tragedies have been a form of plays for a long time, since the Greek’s time of high power, ever since Thespis created the first form of play write with only using one actor. Plays and tragedies have come a long way since then, gradually increasing the number of actors and their role in the plays that were created. One of the most influential play writes of his time was Sophocles, who used three characters and created more realistic dramatic scenes and created one of the most influential plays of the time Oedipus Rex. His plays focused on us humans under the influence of gods, and also created the Oedipus cycle, which told stories of a great king who violated the rules set upon by the gods. Fast forward several thousands of years to another most influential playwright William Shakespeare. William has created hundreds of works, but is most known for his tragedies, Such as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, King Lear, and so on, but the one I want to talk about a very well know Tragedy, and most famous one Made by Shakespeare, Hamlet, and compare it to the tragedy mentioned above, Oedipus Rex. These two Plays have some very similar themes, but also have some very different story lines. This essay will compare the two tragedies, on how they are similar, and contrast the differences these two plays have from each other.
In “Hamlet,” Shakespeare commendably conveys a, if you will, a “love story” between the major characters in the play. Hamlet, Gertrude and Claudius are the individuals he writes about. In this story, Gertrude must choose between her son, a loyal, sincere male figure in her life that has always supported and loved her, or a man who can offer her power and fulfill her dependency trait, which one may say is what she has always strived to attain. Gertrude’s inability to see the bigger picture of King Claudius’ deceit and ill morals is what makes Gertrude a weak and submissive character. While Gertrude means no harm, her poor judgment contributes significantly to the rotten events that occur throughout the play. The choices Gertrude does make ultimately leads to her death and the downfall of the ones she loves as well.
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.
Far too often we see men and women with noble causes lose their motive because of their emotional behavior. Their emotions cause them to lose track. We see no finer example of a man with a noble cause whose emotions cause him to lose sight of his noble cause: the character of Laertes in the play Hamlet. Laertes has a vendetta against Hamlet for killing his father. Although Laertes meant well in avenging his father’s death, his emotional behavior overtook him in the process. If we look at other characters in the play, we find a similar struggle between a noble goal and one’s emotions. Hamlet fights the same battle as Laertes does; however, Hamlet is better able to control his emotions. To maintain a noble goal without faltering, one must be able to rid one’s self of emotions that lead to undesirable actions.
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...
“To be, or not to be” said Hamlet, a young prince with an important decision to make. Should he live a torturous life full of pain and grief or slip off peacefully to the other side of life? Hamlet had just found out that his father’s death was not a natural death. That, in fact, his uncle was the one who murdered him. For the past few months, Hamlet had been in a state of extreme grief and this news only added to that mood. Coincidentally, Hamlet was not the only one to question his existence in the play. Followed by him, was Claudius, Ophelia, his best friend Horatio, and even his mother, Gertrude. At the end of the play, Ophelia loses her mind and is said to commit suicide. Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother,
Kardaun, Maria S. "Greek Tragedy As A Challenge To Modernism: A Depth Psychological Perspective." Psyart(2011): 10. ContentSelect Research Navigator. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.
“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God, God”(I, 2, 129-132). Hamlet is whining about that he wished his flesh would be melted away, but he is also then saying that God made suicide a sin. I find this quote to be very interesting because it somewhat brings in a relationship between Hamlet and God. Hamlet does not really support what God has made a sin, but that does not mean Hamlet disobeys God. Reading Hamlet on a basic level will give us what we need to know, but looking further in, it is quite surprising to find religious thoughts and how Shakespeare incorporated it in. Hamlet could easily have ignored God, but because suicide is a sin, he would rather listen and try to reach Heaven one
In the mind of an individual there is a battle between inner choices and outside pressure from the society when both are in the opposite poles, a battle in which in which well being can be lost or found. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the unpropitious hero Hamlet is negatively influenced by demands and enters into a mental dilemma, as he is unable to decide whether he should follow his inner voice and kill his father’s murderer, or whether he should be a law abiding citizen and respect the new king and follow his policies. When individual’s choices conflicts with external demands, individuals will not be able to have good personal life, and chances to become indecisive, which ultimately leads to the downfall of the individual like Hamlet’s tragic end.
The puzzling tragedy that is Hamlet will forever be speculated, which is why it has attracted such attention and praise. The madness in which Hamlet lives draws decisions of polarizing weight. Stay righteous and live out your life with your father’s killer? Or do you slay him and suffer before god and the law? It bears moments of wisdom, followed by inexplicable actions and Vis versa. One moment you find the protagonist staring at his girlfriend with his pants at his ankles, the next you find him contemplating the value of life. It’s hard to determine what the message behind the wildcard character that Hamlet is. William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet” unravels opposing subjects, superstition instead of righteousness, private revenge or public revenge; it portrays the contradictions emerging in the religious revival of the Renaissance as “Christian humanism” was taking form in Western Europe. An aspect of the play reveals and mocks the hypocrisy of the kingdoms as they exert authority and pose as the ideal of religion. The king is a murderer who prays to god without belief. The one who attempts to remain righteous is an outcast amongst his kingdom. The biggest speculation is drawn on the rectitude of revenge. Does Hamlet have the right to kill his uncle? If so, does Laertes then have the right to kill Hamlet? Is Fortinbras the only exception of just revenge when he is motivated by honor, while the others rage over personal revenge? In the wake of these quarrels, the most evident and obvious Christian Humanist belief is held true...evil never wins. The punishment of those who died in Hamlet is virtuous and deserving. Those who stooped to treachery suffered the consequence.
He was great man and prince, with great potential and virtue. Another person whose virtue parallels that of Hamlet was Laertes, the son one of the Courtiers in Claudious’s court. Both of these men also share the trait of impulsiveness, achieving spontaneous reactions when angered. In Laertes this revealed in his return to Ellisenore after his father’s death. He returns with fire in his veins and revenge seething from his breath ready to kill the king. “To Hell, Allegiance! Vows, to blackest devil!”. In Hamlet this is seen in his rash reaction in stabbing Polonious with his rapier. In thinking it was the king behind the aras, he lashes out and kills Polonious. In both cases the men have been willing to commit regicide in order to attain revenge for the loss of a father.
In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the concept of love for Ophelia is often difficult to understand. Hamlet has deep and troubling emotions including betrayal, madness and love. Does he truly love Ophelia? Did he stop loving her? Did he ever love her? From the play there is a vast amount of evidence directing toward the conclusion that Hamlet always loved Ophelia, but just the same there are also some points where Hamlet rejects Ophelia cruelly. His reasons though can be backed up as a way to protect her from his mission of avenging the murder of his father, the late king of Denmark.
In life the border between sanity and madness is thin and undefined. At best it is
Hamlet play a very important role in this play. Basically the whole play revolves around him. In this play Hamlet is faced with the obligation to kill Claudius because Claudius has killed his father. Some people see Hamlet as a tragic hero with a clear and sacred obligation to kill Claudius but since he is scared to kill him and has many other things going on in his life, he is unable to kill Claudius right away. Throughout the entire play Hamlet procrastinates on killing Claudius. Why does Hamlet procrastinate for so long to revenge his father's death?