In the play, Shakespeare portrays Hamlet as a dynamic character to cause a mental state conundrum among the audience and explore the themes of suicide, spying, friendship, madness, providence, love, hate and humour. Furthermore, by utilising literary devices such as soliloquy, characterisation, dialogue, personification, metaphor, dramatic and situational irony Shakespeare exploits these themes and questions Hamlet’s sanity. In the beginning, Hamlet is portrayed as an overthinking person, claiming to act an antic disposition. However, as the play advances his manic rage and irrational acts such as Polonius’s murder and
Throughout the play Hamlet uncovers horrible deeds his uncle has committed, which were “Remorseless, Treacherous, lecherous”. Hamlet wished to punish Gertrude but was prevented by his father’s ghost. In Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 3 scene 2, Hamlet will “speak daggers to her but use none” representing his future interactions with Gertrude. Shakespeare uses this metaphor to show Hamlet’s hatred towards his mother and to create tension. In Act 3 Scene 4, Hamlet reveals Claudius’ involvement in his father’s death to his mother, but she thinks Hamlet has turned into a madman.
In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, he analyzes the challenges royalty could face and emphasizes the complexity of family relationships, suicidal thoughts and doubt, and explores the ideas of revenge and identity. The main themes present are corruption, expectation versus reality, and the complexity of actions. The context of this play is set in Elsinore, Denmark in the 14th century, where a prince seeks revenge for his father, and discovers his father was murdered by his uncle while his mother was courted and now married to the usurper. If Shakespeare had written Hamlet today, most of the themes would still be relevant, however the setting and characters’ experiences would differ due to technological advancements and modern belief systems. The setting of Hamlet differs greatly from present day Denmark.
The main character of William Shakespeare’s tragedy is actually a confused person that’s stuck between two choices. Some may argue that he feels guilty for his father’s death and so it’s his duty to avenge it. While others may disagree and conclude that he is just a maniac who is both violent and dangerous. Hamlet passes through the lane of hesitancy, where he hesitates to kill King Claudius. As a matter of fact, the main conflict of Hamlet is that he feels both the need to solve the crime and punish the responsible.
Hamlet Hamlet is a tragedy play written by William Shakespeare. It is a play that involves numerous deaths. Hamlet is the main character in the play and he is depicted as an insane person. Hamlet faked his madness so as to confuse Claudius and his assistants in order to find the truth about the death of his father. He acted strange when he was around the king and his attendants and this is evident when he tells his friend Guildenstem that "his uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived" (Shakespeare).
The play Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a realistic representation of the duality of human nature: one which makes the readers pause and observe the motivations of a resolute avenger who undergoes a metamorphosis of mental activity after his encounter with the ghost of his father but due to his conscience, he later becomes a procrastinator with a puzzled will. As a dramatist, William Shakespeare is famous for his character portrayals. If a character is too perfect, it is impossible for us to relate to him. Therefore, the titular protagonist, Hamlet is presented with all his foibles and blemishes which makes him a character who readers can easily relate to. Harold Bloom (1990) claimed that Shakespeare created a “human character.” Hamlet’s conflict about to kill or not to kill makes him relatable.
In Hamlet, there are many internal and external conflicts. Some of those conflicts are struggles with society, How and when to take revenge, his own family struggles, the quality of life and death, and his feelings for Ophelia. Many of the action towards the conflicts can be questionable. Such as killing Polonius, his behavior with Gertrude his mother and his behavior with Ophelia. For his how and when to take revenge, he does actually go through with it in act five scene two.
King Hamlet’s ghost in Hamlet plays a very significant role in Shakespeare’s play even though he only appears briefly in the very beginning and two other times throughout the play. King Hamlet’s ghost furthers the play in many ways. He affects action by setting the play in motion, he affects the theme of revenge, and he helps develop other characters, specifically his son, Hamlet. He sets the play in motion by causing the wheels to spin inside of Prince Hamlet’s head, the ghost is the whole reason for Hamlet trying to extract revenge upon his murderous Uncle Claudius who is now the King of Denmark. The ghost affects the theme of revenge by causing Young Hamlet to be seized by vengeance, the whole play turns into a story of Prince Hamlet trying to avenge his father’s wrongful death.
MIP Rough Draft The play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare and the book, “The Handmaids Tale” by Margaret Atwood, both create a fall of power in society and this loss of leadership opens the door for corruption to take over. Both authors have created this instability in society and use the motifs: loss of power, religion, and relationships to explore characters’ innermost selves. This exploration of characters proves that one will submit to anything in order to obtain stability in a corrupt environment. Both Shakespeare and Margaret Atwood immediately pull the rug out beneath from the characters in their work, creating instability not only in the character’s mind but in the reader’s mind as well. Each author starts their story in medias
However, their position as chess pieces for the men allows them to be the best possible catalysts through which conflict can arise and flourish. Nearly all conflict arises due to a male character seeking retribution or power, much of which is done because of the women or through the women. For example, the entire play revolves around Hamlet’s feelings of depression, angst and anger, making it only natural that any one thing that may inflict these feelings upon Hamlet will greatly change the course of the play. The main cause of his angst and anger is a female character’s actions; his mother’s marriage and, more importantly, sexual relations with Claudius. Hamlet is constantly tortured by the concept of his mother having sex with his uncle, it seems to be his most crippling issue and driving motive.