Hamlet
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most universally known plays of all time. Primarily, it is known for its strong themes, and its revolutionary storyline, containing subjects never frequently, or openly discussed before in plays of this kind, such as our conscience, spirit, and inner strength.
This play is about the prince of Denmark, Hamlet. His life is destroyed after Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, murders his father, the King. Hamlet is heartbroken, but also seeks revenge. He feigns madness, so that he can say what he wants under this cover, and discover the truth behind his father’s death. In the process, he leaves his lover Ophelia, which drives her mad, and ends up drowning herself.
In this essay, I will be comparing the two recurring
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Hamlet was cognizant of the fact that she was spying on him for her father as well for Claudius, and exacted revenge on all three of them: the king and her father (the king’s confidant) for ordering her to spy on him, and on Ophelia, for betraying his trust, and siding with the false king. This circumstance contributes a great deal to the story, as does it reinforce the theme of revenge in the story.
Ophelia’s poignant suicide (or accidental death) might also be a source of sorrow for Hamlet, as he often states throughout the play that he loves her. Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother) describes her as having dies naturally, maybe having fallen accidentally into the river, but had not made an effort to save herself. Even in death she is seen as beautiful, and it is a doleful reminder that all things, even beautiful, have an ephemeral time on this
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The death of Laertes, an innocent person unaware of the king and Hamlet’s situation is unfortunate, and most notably, Hamlet’s death is a tragedy, because all he tried to do throughout the whole story was to avenge his father. Tragedy is very much present in this part of the play, and can very much be considered as the main theme.
Thus, Shakespeare’s play Hamlet uses both themes of revenge and tragedy, as they are both used in the main parts of the story. It is up to the reader if he or she wants to interpret this story as a tragedy or revenge, but it is most probably a mix between the two. Hamlet was, and is still a titanic part of our culture, and literary history, and will most likely still be analyzed in the future for its rich, and convoluted plot. Hamlet is a unique piece of literature, and will be regarded for a long time as one of the treasures of English
At one point in time, Ophelia was one who Hamlet truly loved and trusted. Ophelia comes and speaks to hamlet to return his gifts from her but Hamlet immediately realizes that something is wrong and finds out that Ophelia is being used by Claudius and Polonius to spy on him to find out the real reason of Hamlet’s facade of madness. After realizing this, Hamlet is incensed and acts as if he is truly insane. Hamlet is clearly hurt because of the fact that Ophelia has been as a pawn in Claudius’ game. The effects of the matter cause him to verbally abuse Ophelia and rejects her love by saying that they will never get married and also degrades women. At this point Hamlet is raged and does not understand how harsh his words can be to a woman, especially a human being in general. In conclusion, the death of Hamlet’s father had looked like as if it has not even affected his mother which he so dearly loved and the one true love he thought he had, seems to him as deceiving and just a pawn for his enemies. These factors continue to diminish the subordinate attitude that Hamlet has towards
Many say that William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, was one of the greatest tragedy stories ever written. The play shows us the conflict between people with very different personalities all pursuing power, or their own interpretation of moral justice. The play circles around the themes of deception, manipulation, and vengeance to create an unpleasant situation that leads to exploitation, chaos, and even insanity. One of the most interesting personalities in the play is the main character. Hamlet. Son of King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude and the person who is supposed to be crowned King. Even though the ghost of his father tells him that he was murdered by his uncle, Claudius, and witnesses the questionable quick re-marriage of his mother to his uncle, Hamlet is unable to avenge his father’s death. His own disbelief about the ghost, uncertainties of his own desire, and his overthinking of the world around him are three of the many controversies that keeps him hesitant, and thus delaying his revenge process and resulting in his ultimate panic.
In modern society humans stand up and fight for what they think is right and fair. Human beings have the desire to avenge what they think is wrong. The theme of revenge has a major effect in the play Hamlet and is a constant throughout the play, it underlies almost every scene. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare examines the theme of revenge through the erratic thoughts and actions of the characters Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras. The main revenge plots in the play is Hamlet’s aim to avenge his father, Hamlet Sr, Laertes’ aim to avenge the murder of his father, Polonius, and Fortinbras’ aim to avenge the death of his father, Fortinbras. Having lost their fathers, Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras take vengeance on the people that killed them. These plots play a major role in the play presenting the theme of revenge to the audience.
William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet was written as a revenge tragedy. This play was written by Shakespeare between 1599 and 1602; no one is exactly certain about the date Hamlet was written (Hunt 2). The protagonist of this play is a prince named Hamlet; he is a prince of Denmark. Hamlet’s father was killed by his uncle Claudius, who became king afterwards. Not only did Claudius become king of Denmark, he took Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, as his wife. This play is the longest of all Shakespeare’s plays and remains to date one of the most influential tragedies in English literature. In fact, this play seems to have been one of the most popular plays during Shakespeare’s lifetime. In addition, this play has inspired writers from Goethe and Dickens to Joyce and Murdoch, and has been defined as “the planet’s most filmed story after the fairytale Cinderella” (Perez 17). It’s easy to see why this play was so successful, and continues to be such because people tend to be curious about revenge and tragedy. Our lives seem to revolve around tragedy and revenge. There are millions of people who think about revenge and countless others who have experienced personal tragedy. Thus, it is easy to relate to this play because times change but the problems of old seem to always stay the same. However, one basic theme that runs throughout Hamlet is conscience. Hamlet’s conscience creates the plot of this play in such a way that it defines the very essence of Hamlet and its characters.
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, and there’s no question as to why. With heartbreak, murder, revenge, duels and secret plans, this play is filled with action and suspense. Hamlet’s tragic tale after his father’s death is one of great sacrifice and madness. The play is so complex that every character’s archetype could be discussed and argued endlessly, especially that of Hamlet. He faces a terrible tragedy (his father’s death) and has to evade multiple plans for his own murder while he tries to keep the promises that he has made, eventually doing so which causes a tremendous amount of death and destruction. Hamlet fits the archetypal description of a tragic hero and overall proves this through his actions, inaction, and thoughts
In Elizabethan times, a type of play known as a "revenge tragedy" became popular. These plays revolved around, "... the revenge of a father for a son or vice versa, the revenge being directed by the ghost of the murdered man..." (Harmon and Holman #6). Other characteristics include real or pretend insanity, philosophic soliloquies, hesitation on the part of the protagonist, conspiracy, and the use of horror. William Shakespeare's Hamlet fully satisfies each of these traits, making it an excellent example of a revenge tragedy. Certainly, the most critical theme in the play by far is that of revenge; it fuels the plot and story of Hamlet, reveals the hamartia of the protagonist, and is used successfully to
In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Prince Hamlet, one of the main characters in the play faces difficult challenges in the quest for his father’s revenge. Hamlet’s quest seems fairly simple, he was guilt-tripped into seeking revenge against Claudius by his late father, so he sets off in the endless cycle of revenge that is full of betrayal and misery. His maddening indecisive attitude towards seeking revenge was ultimately the cause of the conflicts that developed in the play. While Hamlet’s inability to take immediate and effective action in taking revenge caused misery and unjustified death to innocent characters, it was his inner conflict and desperate call for attention that propelled him to make the decisions he made and pursue
Ophelia was Hamlet's lover and the daughter of Polonius. When Ophelia found out that her father was killed, she was so devastated that she drowned herself in the river. Gertrude tells everyone about Ophelia’s death, “But it was only a matter of time before her clothes, heavy with the water they absorbed, pulled the poor thing out of her song, down into the mud at the bottom of the brook.” (4.7.175). Gertrude tells Laertes that his sister killed herself by allowing the weight of her clothes to drown her. The ripple effect of Hamlet killing Polonius has affected Ophelia. Ophelia was an indirect victim of Hamlet's
In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare there are closely related types of themes presented within each act of the play. Themes such as anger, sadness, love, death and even insanity are all brought up and observed within some character’s traits in the play. In the quote provided, it depicts what type of quarrel Hamlet and Ophelia’s brother - Laertes were having at the gravesite. The quote is important as it further progresses the traits Hamlet the character possesses further completing his persona, and also advance the plot within the play.
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous work of tragedy. Throughout the play the title character, Hamlet, tends to seek revenge for his father’s death. Shakespeare achieved his work in Hamlet through his brilliant depiction of the hero’s struggle with two opposing forces that hunt Hamlet throughout the play: moral integrity and the need to avenge his father’s murder. When Hamlet sets his mind to revenge his fathers’ death, he is faced with many challenges that delay him from committing murder to his uncle Claudius, who killed Hamlets’ father, the former king. During this delay, he harms others with his actions by acting irrationally, threatening Gertrude, his mother, and by killing Polonius which led into the madness and death of Ophelia.
A couple of people have read Shakespeare’s works for centuries. They especially read Shakespeare for his tragedies. Hamlet may be shakespeare’s most popular tragedies.For many readers, revenge is the dominant theme. The characters of hamlet Laertes and Fortinbras demonstrate the theme of revenge. Shakespeare uses revenge as a major theme present throughout the work. Hamlet was grieving over the death of his father but seeing his mother already moved on makes Hamlet upset.
In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, tragedy and conflict are represented throughout. After the death of Hamlet’s father, the king, Hamlet begins to go a little crazy. His father’s ghost appears and tells him that his uncle was the one who murdered him and that he must get revenge for his father’s death. His uncle marries his mother only two months after the death of his father, and poor Hamlet doesn’t know how to handle everything. He gets distracted by the love of his life, Ophelia, but later gets his heart broken by her. He plans on killing his uncle for his father’s revenge, but kills Ophelia’s father by mistake. After killing an innocent person, Hamlet’s madness becomes out of control and the king considers him a risk to them, This play has every emotion possible and it becomes more and more relatable with each scene. This play is relatable to today’s society because of all the themes shown throughout the play.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare is yet another one of his successful tragedies. The plot consists of the protagonist, Hamlet, seeking revenge on his new step-father, his love for Ophelia, his conflicts with his mother, and inner conflicts about death. The plot is introduced when the Ghost of his father, the king, tells Hamlet to seek vengeance on his uncle Claudius who has murdered him to steal his wife and power. Hamlet agrees with the plan because he is already infuriated at Claudius and his own mother. Through the entire play Hamlet deals with his plan of seeking the truth and committing murder. Doing so causes the conflict of his sanity accompanied by depression over his
Hamlet, The Prince of Denmark is a play written by William Shakespeare that expresses Prince Hamlet’s discovery of himself, his demise and his revenge against his uncle. Hamlet is one of the most well-known works of literature and Shakespeare’s most famous play. Shakespeare went beyond that of any play at the time by asking questions of human existence. Since Hamlet is such a well-known work, it has been analyzed many ways. Subsequent analyzations include Catholic v. Protestant, the Feminist approach, the Freudian approach, Traditional Revenge Tragedy, and the Existentialist approach.
‘Hamlet' is a tragic play phenomenally written by William Shakespeare the most famous playwright in literature history. It was written within the Elizabethan era from 1599 – 1602. ‘Hamlet’ was first performed in July 1602 and first printed in 1603. ‘Hamlet' is Shakespeare's longest play and most performed; it is considered as one of the greatest, influential works of literature. The play is derived from the legend of Amleth and is set in the kingdom of Denmark; with the classic story of a tragic hero. The play dramatises the revenge the protagonist Prince Hamlet wants to inflict on his uncle – Claudius, who murdered Hamlet’s father, to seize the throne. ‘Hamlet’ is over four-hundred years old, but the connection Shakespeare makes with modern society is timeless. ‘Hamlet’ is a tragic story entangled in a web of deceit and vengeance. Shakespeare articulates numerous themes within ‘Hamlet’ which people experience today such as; contemplating suicide, deception and revenge.