Instead, the emphasis was placed on Hamlet discussing with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about how he could go about killing Claudius. Zeffirelli jumps right into the revenge for his father, more efficiently leading Hamlet to the idea of using the play as a method for revenge. In Shakespeare's original, Polonius reads the letter to Ophelia from Hamlet, saying “‘That’s an ill phrase, a vile phrase’” and expressing his hatred for the relationship between the two (2.2.112-113). Since he is so opposed to the exchange between the two, the readers can make the jump to say his son, and Ophelia’s brother, Laertes would feel the same. This establishes Laertes’ resentment for Hamlet and is very important later in the plot when Laertes and Hamlet have the fencing match.
Hamlet's mother Gertrude and the King plan to have two of Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, from school spy on him and see if he is actually going crazy. Hamlet knows the whole time that his “friends” are working for Claudius. They threw away their friendship with Hamlet just to secure some coin from the King. Later on in the play it is found out that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead and its is to be interpreted that they were killed by the King Claudius. Shakespeare used Rosencrantz and Guildenstern deaths to show that there is nothing to gain from betraying your
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragedy in all sense of the word. Its most prominent characters, Hamlet, Ophelia, Gertrude, Claudius, and Laertes, all of whom die, do not do so before going through the most tortuous and devastating of mishappenings. From the very beginning, we learn that Hamlet’s father, the king, has just died. And, only two months after, Hamlet’s mother marries his father’s brother. Hamlet is clearly distressed about his father’s death, but what brings about his suspicions is a visit from his father’s supposed ghost, who tells him that Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, poisoned him.
The fact that he only acts this way around nobles, like his mother, father, and Polonius for example, conveys the idea that he knows what he is doing. An instance where this happens occurs when Hamlet is speaking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern after they had just arrived to Denmark. He starts off speaking about beggars’ bodies and monarchs, which has no correlation to the conversation. He states, “For by my fay, I cannot reason,” (2.2.259). By this he meant that he seems to be losing his mind a bit.
Hamlet’s Tragic Flaw William Shakespeare is seen as one of the best play writers to this day. He was able to make tragedies and explain human emotion in a way that is still relevant today. Hamlet is a character that has humanity and is a strong character since he values human life. Unfortunately, this also leads to his indecisiveness and inability to act, which ultimately is his tragic flaw. Hamlet first shows indecisiveness toward killing himself and can’t decide whether or not life is worth it.
However, the audience can actually see the ghost and Hamlet’s words are coherent as he advises Gertrude on ways of seeking forgiveness, therefore Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to explore the theme of madness and advocate his sanity. Moreover, Hamlet also says to Gertrude “That I essentially am not in madness, But mad in craft.” Shakespeare exploits this dialogue to illustrate Hamlet is indeed aware of his actions, which seems absurd for a
After giving the monologue, the reader learns about Hamlet’s hatred towards Claudius. Throughout Shakespeare’s drama, “Hamlet,” he uses very sophisticated and artful diction. In Shakespeare’s first soliloquy, he is very graphic and straightforward with the meaning behind his distressed demeanor. “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,” affirms Hamlet’s graphic, artful diction used to describe the way he feels about his mom, Gertrude, marrying his father’s brother, Claudius. The hatred of Claudius stems back earlier in Hamlet’s life, his father’s death.
The dialogue seems entirely Shakespearean, and the wit is a clever match. Stoppard loves allusions and metaphors, clear evidence of that is found within the first spoken lines. Tom Stoppard’s play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a fantastic addition to
In act 1 scene 5, Hamlet was told by his father's ghost that his death was not a random but a murder committed by Hamlet's uncle; this information only added to Hamlet's depression and gave him an immense desire to get revenge. In act 4 scene 5, Laertes was told of his father's murder, and similarly to
In this scene Hamlet begins the “To be or not to be” soliloquy. There are many mirrors in the room, but Kenneth Branagh decides to make Hamlet speak to the one that the King and Polonius are hiding behind. In the “To be or not to be speech” Hamlet talks about life after death and how people are afraid of the end. While Hamlet speaks to himself in the mirror he believes no one is there. As he moves closer to the one way mirror, staring at his reflection while speaking of death, he suddenly pulls out his knife and points it at the mirror.