An extensive collection of example essays delving into Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Hamlet. These essays cover a range of topics, from character analysis and themes of revenge and madness to deeper examinations of the play’s moral and
He never sees things from the perspective of other people or overthinks the moral implications of his deeds. Fortinbras challenges Claudius openly, unlike Hamlet who merely stages a play to test Claudius' guilt and tries (and fails) to kill the King at prayer. At first, Hamlet drew inspiration from a Player King's passion. In his "How all occasions" soliloquy he draws inspiration to take revenge from a real person.
Fortinbras' actions may be one reason that Hamlet decides to arrange for the murder of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern upon his return to Denmark. He tries to emulate Fortinbras' lack of concern for the fates of common people. He says to Horatio:
They are not near my conscience; their defeat
Does by their own insinuation grow:
'Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes
Between the pass and fell incensed points
Of mighty opposites (V.5).
Hamlet, however, never is able to fully emulate Fortinbras' attitude. He kills Claudius only…...
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Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. The Shakespeare Homepage. May 14, 2009.
i., 124). What is clear is that Ophelia bears a certain significance to Hamlet that he never comes fully to grips with, and that is never fully revealed in the text. The multitude of emotions and relationships that Hamlet bears towards Ophelia, like those that exist between he and his mother and between he and Claudius, lead to complex and sometimes conflicting motivations for hamlet, causing him to remain inactive on almost all fronts for much of the play.
Conclusion
There are many different influences on Hamlet's psychological progression throughout the play, but his relationships with other people taken as a whole constitute the most important feature of his life in this regard. Hamlet remains inactive because he is torn by a variety of different and often oppositional loyalties and feelings, and is left unsure of who or what is right and wrong because every person he encounters seems to embody…...
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References
Adelman, Janet. Suffocating Mothers. New York: Routledge, 1992.
It is clear that Hamlet undergoes a personal transformation as he holds the skull of the court jester of his childhood and as he has lost all of those he loves so dear. Whether his mind clears or he simply is able to step back from that which bound him from action and had him hiding behind a mask of insanity it is clear that Hamlet breaks free and finally acts upon that which tortures his mind. However, heroic Hamlet was however, the end result was one of tragedy and ending in a full and final dose of the poison that ran throughout the current in this play.
ibliography
Friedlander, Ed M.D. (2005) "Enjoying 'Hamlet' by William Shakespeare." Online available at http://www.pathguy.com/hamlet.htm#doeshamlethesitate.
Hamlet: Introduction (2006) E-notes Online available at http://www.enotes.com/hamlet/.
Summary and Analysis: Act V (2006) Online Gradeserver available at http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/hamlet/section7.html.
Eliot, T.S. (1888-1965) Hamlet and His Poison - The Sacred…...
"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 and has even been adapted to films. The long lived success of this play is due to a multitude of elements, such as the human interest raised by murder, family affairs or ghosts, as well as the complexity of the characters constructed by the English dramatist.
The general perception is that the main character in Shakespeare's tragedy is Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, as shown by the very title of the play. While the veracity of this belief is not contested,…...
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References:
Aasand, H.L., Stage Directions in Hamlet: New Essays and New Directions, Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 2003
Croxford, L., the Uses of Interpretation in Hamlet, Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, No. 24, 2004
Elliott, G.R., Scourge and Minister: A Study of Hamlet a Tragedy of Revengefulness and Justice, Duke University Press, 1951
Stegner, P.D., "Try What Repentance Can't": Hamlet, Confession and the Extraction of Interiority, Shakespeare Studies, Vol. 35, 2007
After Hamlet has killed Polonius and Laertes has returned from Paris demanding satisfaction, Hamlet justly observes "by the image of my cause, I see the portraiture of his." It is the contrasts between these three characters which give significance to the parallelisms. The intelligent, sensitive Hamlet and the hot-headed Machiavellian Laertes perish on the same poisoned foil, leaving the kingdom to the cool-headed Norwegian, who has been a shrewder contriver than either. To drop the Fortinbras scenes from the play, as is frequently done in modern productions, is to destroy Shakespeare's dramatic plan.
(Holzknecht 253)
Holzknecht hints at the dramatic plan of the work and also gives us the missing final peace in the puzzle of Shakespeare's message. The constant and literal brutality that is derived from ambition and even righteous revenge could end in the loss of the kingdom, thus leaving the contriver, no matter how good, with nothing and the…...
(II.ii.627-32)
Here we see that Hamlet recognizes his weaknesses and his depression and blames them o the ghost. It is also significant to realize that Hamlet is practically resigning himself to a damned life with this assumption. He goes on to consider life and death and considers each. He states:
To be, or not to be, -- that is the question:
hether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? -- to die, -- to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. (III.i.56-63).
This passage reveals hamlet's deteriorating state of mind as well as his fatigue. He is simply mentally and physically exhausted and there is no way for him to escape the conflict in his own mind.
Hamlet's mental instability only forces him…...
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Works Cited
Hazlitt, William. "Characters of Shakespear's Plays." 1906. GALE Resource Database. Information Retrieved December 13, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Washington Square Press. 1992.
Hamlet's attitude towards the other female characters in the play, such as Ophelia is shaped by the distrust of women that is engendered by the mother's actions.
Many critics have noted the strange and extreme attitude that Hamlet has towards women in general. As one critic notes,
...there is a distinctive pattern in Hamlet's language and behaviour whenever he is thinking about or dealing with Ophelia and Gertrude in fact, Hamlet's peculiarly aggressive and often cynical view of these two women and, beyond them, of women in general, is an important indication of the general unhealthiness of Hamlet's character.
Johnston)
To fully understand this "unhealthy" attitude towards women one has to take into account the central themes and the play as discussed above. Hamlet is already filled with doubt and the ghost's revelation shatters his world and any existential unity and wholesomeness that he may have had. This is exacerbated by the fact…...
.. O, woe is me, t' have seen what I have seen, see what I see!" (3.1. 116-164). The connotation is that her heart is breaking. This scene combined with her original startled outcry to Polonius in Act I further illustrates that Ophelia was in love with Hamlet, and that she did not meet him with ill intent despite the ulterior motives of everyone else.
This further builds upon previous evidence of Ophelia's subservience and accommodation to those in authority. She shut up when ordered to do so and followed orders when commanded even at her own expense subjecting herself to Hamlet's caustic degradation, "You should not have believed me...Get thee to a nunnery
I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offenses at my beck... Go they ways to nunnery. If thou dost marry, I'll give thee plague for thy dowry... Or if thou wilt marry, marry a fool, for wise…...
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Bibliography
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973
A hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife; thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid,
And not have strew'd thy grave (V.1.244-247).
hen Hamlet is feigning madness and wishes to tweak Laertes, he claims to have loved Ophelia, though his actions previously have not shown much love for her:
lov'd Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers
Could not (with all their quantity of love)
Make up my sum. hat wilt thou do for her? (V.1.280-282).
Laertes certainly does not see Hamlet as a lover for his sister and instead believes that Hamlet is only trifling with her, and he warns her of this:
For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favour,
Hold it a fashion, and a toy in blood;
violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent? sweet, not lasting;
The perfume and suppliance of a minute;
No more I.iii.7-12).
Her father, Polonius, asks her openly what is between them, and she answers, "He hath, my lord, of late made…...
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Works Cited
Frye, Roland Mushat. The Renaissance Hamlet. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
Harrison, G.B. Shakespeare: The Complete Works. New York: Harcourt Brace and World, 1952.
Hobson, Alan. Full Circle: Shakespeare and Moral Development. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1972.
Prosser, Eleanor. Hamlet & Revenge. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1971.
The fact is, illaimson's initial assertion that the history or legend behind Shakespeare's Hamlet does not matter; neither does the earlier tragedy upon which Shakespeare's play was based. Shakespeare had almost no original story lines; it was the way his characters reacted to the plot, what thy thought, and how they expressed themselves that made -- and make -- the plays so watchable and such towering testaments of the possibilities and endless varieties of language. It is Shakespeare's use of the word, not the plot device, that placed him at the head of the English literary canon, and it is really only the text of his version of the Hamlet story tat needs to be examined in a critical analysis of the work.
Eventually, illiamson comes back to this point, which he made and lost sight of as quickly as he accused others of at the start of his essay.…...
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Works Cited
Williamson, Claude C.H. "Hamlet." The University of Chicago Press: International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Oct., 1922), pp. 85-100. Retrieved via JSTOR 9 December 2008.
Mackenzie, David. Teutonic Myth and Legend. Chapter 22, "The Traditional Hamlet." Published online at Sacred Texts.com. Accessed 9 December 2008. www.sacred-texts.com/neu/tml/tml27.htm
Polonius' concerns are different -- he warns her that Hamlet is "out of her star" and that she should not give too much weight to Hamlet's "tenders" of affection.
What does the Ghost tell Hamlet to do and not to do? Why does Hamlet believe he needs independent proof about the validity of the Ghost?
The Ghost tells Hamlet to take vengeance upon his uncle for his death, but not to harm Hamlet's mother. Hamlet knows that his mind is slightly unbalanced from his grief, though, so he devises a test. He believes that devilish beings often prey upon people who are slightly unhinged because of a loss.
Act 2
Who is Polonius? What is his analysis of Hamlet's "madness"? What do his speeches show us about him?
Polonius is the king's advisor and counselor. He believes that Hamlet is mad for love of Ophelia. He speaks in long winded cliches, showing that he…...
Hamlet
Shakespeare's play Hamlet is essentially a character study of one man's slow descent into insanity. The play opens with the Danish prince presented rather innocently, as his father recently died and it is understandable that he might be caught up in grief. However, the appearance of his father's ghost shakes Hamlet to the core. He is faced suddenly with the arduous task of avenging his father's murder. Hamlet believes himself to be a weak man, as he states that his uncle Claudius is "no more like my father / Than I to Hercules," (Act I, scene ii). Yet Hamlet feels a keen sense of ironic moral duty to kill Claudius. If he listens to his conscience and refrains from committing murder, he risks being damned by not fulfilling his father's wishes from beyond the grave. On the other hand, if Hamlet fulfills his father's desire for revenge, he will become…...
Hamlet
Many consider Shakespeare's "Hamlet" to be the most problematic play ever written (Croxford pp). Leslie Croxford writes in his article, "The Uses of Interpretation in Hamlet" for a 2004 issue of Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, that the play presents inconsistencies that arise from the "variousness" of its medieval and Renaissance sources, from discrepancies between printed version of the drama, and from a host of unresolved thematic and psychological problems, such as the famous question of why Hamlet delays his revenge (Croxford pp). Thus, there are endless interpretations of the play (Croxford pp). T.S. Eliot called Hamlet "the 'Mona Lisa' of literature," and it is true, for no other work has presented more uncertain meanings (Croxford pp).
In giving interpretation such significance, Shakespeare had to develop previous versions of the story, thus, when one considers the issue of interpretation in the play, one is also examining a prime example of how…...
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Work Cited
Croxford, Leslie. "The uses of interpretation in Hamlet."
Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics. 2004, January 01.
Retrieved July 20, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.
Eliot, T.S. "The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism.
" Calling their marriage incestuous and wicked draws attention to the depth of feeling gnawing away at Hamlet, the complex emotions that drive his actions throughout the course of the play. Hamlet perceives their union as being against divine law by using words like "incestuous" and "wicked." The use of several mythological allusions during the soliloquy also underscores Hamlet's detachment from reality: Hamlet refers to Hyperion, satyrs, Niobe and Hercules.
Furthermore, the verses contain considerable foreshadowing, especially when Hamlet suggests that the marriage "cannot come to good." He senses doom even before becoming aware of the murder and being drawn into a plot to exact revenge for his father. Because of Hamlet's frank discussion of death, including his own, in the first soliloquy the audience is well-prepared for the bloody events to follow.
Hamlet also cries "Frailty, thy name is woman!" partly in anger against his mother but also demonstrating intense resentment…...
Why does Hamlet not kill Claudius when the king is at prayer?
Hamlet's states that he does not want to send Claudius to heaven. His father is condemned to purgatory, because Old Hamlet was not able to confess his sins, and Hamlet's father must walk the earth until he has done penance in the afterlife. Now Claudius is confessing and receiving absolution for his sins, Hamlet believes, so he should not send him "straight to heaven" while Claudius is at prayer.
Describe Hamlet's treatment of Gertrude during their confrontation in her private room? Is Hamlet justified in his treatment? Why does the Ghost appear here?
Although Gertrude may not be blameless, Hamlet does not merely insult his mother for marrying a murderer, but for remarrying at all after her first husband's death. Hamlet expects his mother to live chastely, which seems like an unrealistic expectation, and also inappropriate for a son to say…...
Shakespeare may be the most popular broad topic for essays in English classes. He wrote some of the most well-known works in the English language and, while he is known for his plays, he is also known for poetry. English essays may focus on his works, but it is also possible to write compelling essays about Shakespeare’s life, including the enduring popular topic of whether Shakespeare was the true author of the works credited to him.
Here are some essay title suggestions:
Bringing Home the Bacon: Questions About the Authorship of Shakespeare’s Plays
The Causes and Consequences of the American Civil War: Analyze the complex factors that led to the outbreak of the American Civil War and explore its far-reaching social, political, and economic consequences. The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on European Society: Examine the technological, economic, and social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution, considering its effects on workers, urbanization, and the balance of power. The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire: Investigate the reasons for the rise and eventual decline of the Roman Empire, analyzing its political, social, military, and economic strengths and....
1. Analysis of the themes of love and betrayal in Shakespeare's plays 2. The role of women in Shakespeare's works 3. Shakespeare's influence on modern literature and theater 4. The use of language and imagery in Shakespeare's sonnets 5. Comparing and contrasting the characters of Hamlet and Macbeth 6. The portrayal of power and ambition in Shakespeare's historical plays 7. Examining the significance of fate and destiny in Shakespeare's tragedies 8. The depiction of madness in Shakespearean dramas 9. Shakespeare's use of humor and wit in his comedies 10. Exploring the concept of youth vs. age in Shakespeare's plays
11. The representation of race and ethnicity in Shakespeare's works 12. Analyzing....
Hamlet's Tragic Flaw: An Exploration of Indecisiveness and Self-Doubt The Role of Ambition in Macbeth: A Study in Power and Corruption The Tragic Heroine in King Lear: A Comparison of Cordelia and Goneril Romeo and Juliet as a Tragedy of Fate or Free Will The Meaning of Love in Twelfth Night: A Romantic Comedy with a Twist
Character Analysis
The Complexity of Hamlet: Madness, Melancholy, and the Search for Truth Macbeth: A Tragic Hero or a Villain? Ophelia in Hamlet: A Study of Fragility and Female Agency The Character of Falstaff in Henry IV and Henry V: Humor, Loyalty,....
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