Hamlet Tragedy Analysis

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Hamlet’s Tragedy “To be or not to be-that is the question…” (3.1.64). This may be one of the most famous lines in western literature. In this part of a monologue of the play Hamlet is deciding whether it is worth living or perhaps dying. This idea of life or death and mortality of men reoccurs through Hamlet’s mind until the last act when the time for his death arrives. The text of the play, the Blackfriars production, and the film production by the Royal Shakespeare Company all represent different interpretations of the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare. Act 5 Scene 2 is interpreted in different manners by each production of the play. The Blackfriars production takes a path of Hamlet’s death being a error with him accidentally touching the blade. While the film production projects Hamlet death as Laertes cheating and striking him from his back while Hamlet is unaware. The tragedy ends with the death of most of the main characters in the play, but most importantly whether their deaths were suicide or murder changes with each interpretation. This change later impacts the overall theme of the play whether it is revenge or the mortality of men. In the text of the play, Hamlet and Laertes have a fencing fight in which the king plots to kill Hamlet. The king has poison in a cup he will give to Hamlet, and Claudius also puts poison on Laertes sword in case he wounds Hamlet with it. Interestingly, Shakespeare does not give a lot of stage directions, or detail for the

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