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Then he embraces Ophelia and weeps, indicating he is sad because he knows that it is unlikely that he will ever have a normal relationship, given his enforced role as an avenger.
Of course, there are moments in the text where Hamlet does seem completely out of control, as in the case Hamlet's accidental homicide of Polonius, but Jacobi's performance underlines the wisdom and intelligence of Hamlet's character. When Jacobi's Hamlet does lash out, he reproaches himself for it, in body language as well as in his use of the text. Jacobi is never irrational. Even when at emotional extremes, he does not descend into a dissociative state. Hamlet still seems to have the most secure grip on reality of all the major characters: he sees the darkness of Denmark and the fact that he is likely doomed, and in this sense he is even more clear-eyed than his friend the scholarly Horatio. Unlike Hamlet, Ophelia raves without a clear purpose -- when she does seek to communicate, as when she tells the Queen to wear rue "with a difference" she does not seem calculated and pointed in her use of words like Hamlet. Of course, certain 'differences' between the play and film are not really differences, but are dependent upon the actors' interpretations: Polonius is more crafty and sarcastic than foolish and unintentionally funny; Gertrude seems genuinely in love with Claudius. Despite Hamlet's biased opinion that his uncle is a drunkard, Claudius seems fiercely intelligent and worthy of his role of king, even though Claudius won power through ill-gotten means. The film is ultimately an accurate and justified reflection of the text, even if it is possible to interpret the text differently than the director.
Of course, Hamlet would then likely assume the throne, but Hamlet seems to have little interest in ruling, as he scoffs when Guildenstern and Rosencrantz say that it is his frustrated ambition that makes him melancholic. Hamlet is a rational and philosophical individual, hence his constant self-searching about the nature of the ghost, about the possibility of an afterlife that no traveler may return (if the ghost is a
"It is true that Hamlet dies because he postpones too long the killing of the king. But it is equally true significant that Claudius dies because he postpones too long the killing of Hamlet" (Elliott, 1951). 4. Conclusions Great Britain has produced ones of the greatest writers of all times, with William Shakespeare being the most relevant example to sustain this statement. His Hamlet has been played for years within theaters
In the end, he is unable to break the bondage of his immorality, and dies permanently as a result. Death is therefore viewed in terms of the Christian duality of redemption and eternal damnation. The symbol of blood is prominently connected to this duality. Faustus uses his blood as a seal for his deal with the devil, and the blood of Jesus exemplifies the redemption that is available to
That is, Ophelia is limited to seeing herself through the eyes of others, and men in particular, having achieved no core identity of her own. Her brother Laertes could easily today also be a modern-day "organization man," as could have been his father Polonius before him), that is, listening to higher authority and then acting to please that authority, without thinking or reflecting on the wisdom or efficacy, generally
Hamlet's Ghost has presented a problem for critics and readers since it first appeared on stage some four hundred years ago. Serving as the pivot upon which the action of the play is established -- Hamlet's father's ghost delivers him important information about his death and the throne -- one is likely to ask whether the ghost is truly the soul of King Hamlet or rather a devil appearing in
He tests the ghost's word by staging a play that will replicate the method by which Claudius killed his father, and swears he'll "take the ghost's word at a thousand pound," but rather than engage in bloody violence like a savage, he cannot bear to stab Claudius in the back (III.2). Instead, he constructs a feeble excuse as to why he cannot, showing that for Hamlet, the ethics of