The Importance Of Ambiguity In Hamlet

As the 16th century transitioned into the 17th century, people’s way of thinking changed. There was a divide between Protestantism and Catholicism and people began to turn away from a religious way of thinking. Hamlet shows this change in its ambiguity and constant uncertainty. For example, there were three ways of thinking about ghosts at the time Hamlet was written, the Catholic way, the Protestant way, and the skeptical way. However, all three ways of thinking are shown in the play, making the audience wonder what the play was being based on religiously. Not only based on the ghost, the theme of uncertainty is very prominent and also a reason why the play is so famous. It makes the audience wonder and gives the play a lot of double meaning. However, No Fear Shakespeare is a paraphrased, easy to understand version of Hamlet written mostly for students who are either struggling with understanding Shakespearian language or are too lazy to read it. While it is good in explaining the surface of what Hamlet is about, a lot of meaning and ideas shown through ambiguity are lost in its paraphrasing. In Hamlet’s soliloquy, for example, No Fear Shakespeare takes away from the uncertainty of life by getting rid of ambiguity and portraying different views of how to others react to the hardships of life and the afterlife due to the different intended audiences. Hamlet sees life as everything that he can possibly do in trying to fight against his struggles while No Fear sees it as