...The Characterization of Hamlet William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is an emotional play, filled with such dark attributes as revenge and evil. In Act I Scene II, Hamlet, the protagonist of the play, makes his first appearance and also, right after an exchange with his mother Gertrude and his uncle Claudius, delivers his first soliloquy which reveals his inner thoughts to the audience. This is where the tension begins to build up; Hamlet expresses his anger and frustration he feels towards his father’s death and the hasty marriage between his mother and his uncle. This introduces Hamlet’s outlook on and attitude towards this series of events, thus establishing a foundation for the course of his future actions. Through the content of the soliloquy, as well as through the use of diction and figurative language, Shakespeare brings out the characterization of Hamlet, establishes the very essence of the play and foreshadows its course by exposing the genuine yet dark thoughts of the protagonist to the audience. As it is Hamlet’s first soliloquy, and thus the audience’s first contact with his feelings, Hamlet exposes little other than his attitude towards this affair; nothing is really revealed about his intentions. It is made clear that Hamlet desires to die, but dares not commit suicide because God forbids it. The audience is then introduced to Hamlet’s reverence for his father and his distaste for his uncle, then his increasing mistrust of women, and finally his vexation at the incestuous...
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...Hamlet Movie Scene Comparison Act II, scene 2 is the longest scene in Hamlet. In this scene, Rosencrantz and Guildernstern come to the King, Voltimand and Cornelius report the message from Norway, Polonius suggests to Claudius and Gertrude the reason of Hamlet’s madness, Hamlet calls Polonius a “fishmonger”, Rosencrantz and Guildernstern bring in the players, Hamlet decides to let the players play the Old King’s murder. Scene 2 is divided into sub-sections in a way to present the plot and the theme more clearly. The “fishmonger scene” refers to the part from Polonius’s explanation of Hamlet’s madness “Your noble son is mad” (2.2.92) to the end of Hamlet and Polonius’s first interaction “except my life” (2.2.210), initiates Hamlet’s actions on revenge and vouchsafes how other characters view his “madness”. This essay will compare the actors’ gestures and line arrangements from directors Kenneth Branagh and Franco Zeffirelli to depict the different effects in Hamlet’s madness. First, the actors’ gestures between Kenneth Branagh version and Mel Gibson version show differences to the interpretations of Hamlet’s madness. There are not many gestures in the Kenneth Branagh film, which can mean something. When Polonius talks to Claudius and Gertrude, also when he talks to Hamlet, he does not have obvious big body movement, but instead just standing straight, walking steadily, behaving perfectly like a honorable and educated man; Hamlet as the noble son of the King and Queen, and the...
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...reminder of that person. The lady could cry from just seeing the coffee shop, or she could be happy for seeing that coffee shop. The cry or happiness reveals her relationship with the person who passed. She could be crying because she regret saying something to the person or not saying something. She could be remembering the good times she had with that person as well, it could remind her of the person. Hamlet is the same way. Hamlet is dealing with grief his own way. Shakespeare is showing Hamlet as a person who isn’t getting along with anybody. Everybody has their own way of dealing with grief. Everybody in the play tells Hamlet to move on and stop grieving, but in reality everybody in the play are in their own stages. Everybody from Gertrude to the Claudius is showing the different stages of grief. In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare shows the distinct stages of grief by using successful cause and effect vivid characterization and dramatic suspense. Shakespeare uses dramatic suspense to show the different stages of grief. Hamlet loved his father. In the beginning of the play,...
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...harmed by that person. Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, vengeance is an ongoing theme amongst many characters. It is not such a theme that is very obvious in the first act. The theme is developed throughout the whole plot. Shakespeare presents vengeance as the initial plan for characters like Hamlet, Fortinbras, and Laertes, to achieve happiness through avenging their fathers’ deaths and this theme develops as characters become emotional as the plot is revealed. The play starts out with the wedding of Hamlet’s mother, the Danish queen, as she remarries Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, and the deceased King’s brother. Hamlet is still mourning the death of his father as he is still in grief. He is disgusted by his mom and rants long soliloquies about the marriage and the way he feels about everything because it happened right after the death of his father. Hamlet is an emotional character and in a way, he is willing to do anything for his father whom he loved so much. When the ghost of his father Hamlet shows up face to face with him, young Hamlet listens to it. When it tells Hamlet how Claudius murdered him, he is angry and overtaken with feelings. He listens to the ghost and finally kills Claudius at the end of the play in order to avenge his father’s death because he believed that justice had to be served. From developing characterization, Fortinbras in another character that seeks to avenge his father who was killed by old Hamlet. With every letter regarding the revenge he...
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...evident in the novel “Hamlet” by Shakespeare. For the purpose, of revenge we see Hamlet the protagonist who takes advantage of his insanity, to get revenge on his father’s murderer. With this intention, Hamlet encounters many obstacles throughout the play. On the other hand, Ophelia is a victim that has been used by her father for reputation. Until, Laertes appear we are able to discover Ophelia’s true wisdom after all of her sufferings and experiences. This is also evident in the novel “The Little Prince” by Antoine De Saint-Exupery. Due to, The Little Prince insecurity of narrow mindedness. Given that, he is unable to detect his own narrow mindedness, about what it means to be human. .Couple with, The Little Prince’s journey is The Pilot, who finds a purpose in companionship to refrain loneliness and sorrow. Through the use of characterization and conflict, both works of literature demonstrate growth from failure. In both, The Little Prince and Hamlet, readers learn that characters are virtuous because they’ve had to work through difficulties, they learned about themselves and also about what it means to be human. Hamlet has become virtuous through his bad decisions because he gains experience and learns from it. While Hamlet was walking to meet with Queen Gertrude, he runs into Claudius, the man who stole his father’s crown and life. Without delay, Hamlet notices Claudius upset kneeling down asking for forgiveness. Immediately, Hamlet finds this as an opportunity...
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...While absent from most of the play, the character of Fortinbras in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is significant to Hamlet’s character development. According to Latham, the name Fortinbras is derived from ferri brachium, meaning arm of iron (Rolfe, 173). In Act IV Scene IV, Fortinbras exemplifies this forceful characterization. He remains a means of power with his threat to Poland, displaying to the reader a strong “iron arm” leader, opposite of Hamlet’s leadership style: consisting solely of words in the absence of action. Fortinbras’s character also reflects that of Hamlet. Fortinbras, the Prince of Norway, and Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, were both replaced from power by their uncles upon the death of their fathers, but the parallel ends when...
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...One of the most unique things about the play Hamlet (with Hamlet playing the main character) is the way relationships between the main and lesser characters have not changed from Shakespeare's time period in which he wrote this play to the modern dilemmas of today. The character Hamlet relates through individualism of self to others in the play and Shakespeare uses this confusion of self and nature thus assuring many types of readers who can relate to his Hamlet characterization. Hamlet portrays himself with all his human flaws, but it is this humanity that makes him distinctive from everyone else in the story. In addition, all of Hamlet's waking hours are preoccupied with his own thoughts thus adding more intensity to his feelings and perceptions about where he sees imperfections, worry and tension as well as confusion, but without a doubt it is these human qualities which makes his situation so impossible for him to resolve easily. Another tragic role of the play is its irony. The irony allows the storyline to show humor as well as the cause and effects of each action taken. There is usually little reason for a tragedy to be funny so Shakespeare has used this type of humor to add more irony to the already tragic events of the play. Pause for thought is in the types of conflict that play a major part in the play and the relationships between Hamlet and the two people who have been closest to him; being Ophelia and the ghost. Hamlet cannot share his strong feelings and emotions...
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...Opinions of Shakespeare, and His Interpretation of Women You’re a woman? Well good for you, because that means you hold no value in this play. In the tragedy Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, there is a clear difference between the roles of women and men in the play. Many of these differences stand in stark contrast to what normal expectations of a female role are. Viewing the play through a feminist perspective, many of the elements regarding women contain evidence of misogynistic behavior. Shakespeare has taken no precautions in revealing the depth of his sexist views on females in the tragedy Hamlet. Through the insinuation that women are supportive characters, Shakespeare shows how...
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...Gertrude and Helen: Wantonness in the Trojan War and Hamlet Hamlet is the melancholy Dane; Claudius, the smiling villain. Polonius is the oily courtier; Horatio, the loyal friend. Most of the characters in Hamlet are well defined and unambiguous; the character of Gertrude, however, presents us with many ambiguities and difficulties. Some critics see her as "well-meaning but shallow and feminine, in the pejorative sense of the word: incapable of any sustained rational process, superficial and flighty" (Heilbrun 10), while others see her as a stronger character, cool and calculating. The play presents many aspects of Gertrude’s character ambiguously. Janet Adelman writes, Given her centrality in the play, it is striking how little we know about Gertrude; even the extent of her involvement in the murder of her first husband is left unclear....The ghost accuses her at least indirectly of adultery and incest...but he never accuses her of nor exonerates her from the murder. For the ghost, as for Hamlet, her chief crime is her uncontrolled sexuality; that is the object of their moral revulsion, a revulsion as intense as anything directed toward the murderer Claudius. But the Gertrude we see is not quite the Gertrude they see. And when we see her in herself, apart from their characterizations of her, we tend to see a woman more muddled than actively wicked; even her famous sensuality is less apparent than her conflicted solicitude both for her new husband and for her son....Even her...
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...class began to delve into the story of Hamlet. This learning experience was not only entertaining but extremely educating. The classroom became an open space for creative creations unique to everyone’s personality. Not only was everyone participating, but everyone was having a pleasurable time. On the first day, the class got into a large circle and we played a game involving directions. The class was instructed to slide and walk; among other things. At first, the game seemed particularly easy, until a twist was introduced. After we had all gotten comfortable with following these simple set instructions,...
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...Alliteration The repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the beginning of words. Example: "Fetched fresh, as I suppose, off some sweet wood." Hopkins, "In the Valley of the Elwy." Antagonist A character or force against which another character struggles. Creon is Antigone's antagonist in Sophocles' play Antigone; Teiresias is the antagonist of Oedipus in Sophocles' Oedipus the King. Assonance The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sentence or a line of poetry or prose, as in "I rose and told him of my woe." Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" contains assonantal "I's" in the following lines: "How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, / Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself." Character An imaginary person that inhabits a literary work. Literary characters may be major or minor, static (unchanging) or dynamic (capable of change). In Shakespeare's Othello, Desdemona is a major character, but one who is static, like the minor character Bianca. Othello is a major character who is dynamic, exhibiting an ability to change. Characterization The means by which writers present and reveal character. Although techniques of characterization are complex, writers typically reveal characters through their speech, dress, manner, and actions. Readers come to understand the character Miss Emily in Faulkner's story "A Rose for Emily" through what she...
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...tables and answering the questions for each play. Teams should be prepared to discuss their responses in class. |Literary Conventions and Devices Table | |Play #1 | |Title of the work |Significance of Title | |The Tragedy of Hamlet, |These plays were more over a small “history” of the main character and for this reason Shakespeare named all of | |Prince of Denmark |his great tragedies after his protagonist. | | | | |Identify |Describe |Explain Impact | |Major characters | | | | | | | | | |Hamlet |The protagonist of the play |He wants to revenge the death of...
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...human condition, the timelessness of his works, and hi exquisite mastery of the English language. The Renaissance (during which he wrote) was a particularly transformative time in English history, initiating a sense of English nationalism and pride in English as a language of art. Some critics continue to challenge his authenticity and relevance making the future of Shakespeare within the curriculum of both secondary school and higher education at stake. Shakespearean Literature still speaks to modernity and is therefore important in the schools. Humanism, mastery of the English language, English nationalism, and pride in English Language as an art is brought forth in works such as, As You Like It, King Henry V, and The Tragical History of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. Students need to learn these works in order to have a broadened understanding of the English Language, culture, and history. William Shakespeare has provided the world with guidelines to the English Language, an understanding of human nature, and the ability to deal with a wide variety of emotional situations through his performative literature. Students will continue to benefit from his works of art for centuries to come. Therefore, a 446-year-old playwright is our children’s best resource and greatest teacher. During the Renaissance, the English Language was undergoing a transformation. Many new words were being added. Shakespeare coined many of these new words and phrases, as if he were creating a new roadmap...
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...1712-8056 Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture Http://www.cscanada.org Http://www.cscanada.net E-mail: css@cscanada.org; caooc@hotmail.com Vol.5 No.5 2009 10/31/2009 Hamlet’s Femininity L A F É MINIT É D E HAMLET GUO De-yan1 Abstract: The charm of Hamlet over the centuries largely lies in Shakespeare’s subtle treatment of Hamlet, and many critics have interpreted Hamlet’s tragedy as a result of his indecisive character, his obsession with philosophical thinking or his Oedipus Complex. This essay holds that Hamlet’s struggle with his femininity also contributes to his tragedy. Hamlet does exhibit some masculine traits such as courage, rationality and aggressiveness, but at the same time he is agonized to find that he is as weak, emotional, passive and dependent as a woman. In whatever cases he is placed either as a prince, a son or a lover, he is more identified with women than with men. Such a discovery tortures him and produces in him some sense of self-negation and self-hatred. Because of his deep-rooted patriarchal concept of gender identity, Hamlet cannot make a compromise with the feminine traits in him, and it somewhat prevents him from taking a masculine action to avenge his father. Key words: Hamlet; Femininity; Masculinity; Tragedy; Self-Hatred Résumé: Depuis des sicècles, le charme d’Hamlet se trouve largement dans un traitement subtil de Shakespeare de ce personnage et de nombreuses critiques ont interprété la tragédie d'Hamlet...
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... Due: 04 October 2013 Monday 09:35 Dr. D. Seddon Early Modern Literature Discuss in detail two different performances of King Lear on stage, film or TV. Your discussion should include an assessment of the relative merits of the directorial decisions as regards characterization, setting, costume, and dialogue. The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an 'objective correlative'; in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external facts, which must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the emotion is immediately evoked. (Eliot, 1919) William Shakespeare’s King Lear is considered by many to be one of his most powerful pieces. Its universal themes and messages that seep through have inspired many other works and allowed room for several adaptations. In his influential critical essay on Hamlet, T.S. Eliot suggests that one could “examine any of Shakespeare’s more successful tragedies…” and always “… find this exact equivalence” (1919). His term ‘objective correlative’ encompasses the phenomena of emotional reaction being created in the audience by the writer or poet or playwrights combination of images, objects or description which evoke the appropriate emotions. This balance of emotions inspired...
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