...fulfillment and endless enjoyment. Sometimes, however, peace and happiness does not last forever and comes hardships. These hardships are something that the characters in Hamlet have to deal with, and it is also something the audience can relate to. This way of life is very relevant in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, which covers the competency of love, hate and power struggles found within the characters which later leads to an unfortunate ending. Hamlet, the main character of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, is one of the most complex characters ever created. His intricacy can be seen in the amount of soliloquies he speaks throughout the play. Each one of Hamlet’s soliloquies reveals his innermost thoughts and gives the reader or audience insight as to what he is feeling at that time. The audience cannot help but to show some feeling towards the characters such as Hamlet, Fortinbras and King Claudius. All throughout the play, Shakespeare uses various characters to represent the social, economical, and cultural effects that are shown in Hamlet that may also correspond to the Elizabethan audience. Some characters that represent these effects include Hamlet, Fortinbras, Claudius, and Rosencrantz. It is through these characters’’ speeches and actions that really target the audience. The numerous soliloquy presented by Hamlet is one of the speeches in the play that captivates the audience. This is because the audience can relate to it, and they can anticipate what's to come and see the development...
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...Hamlet Act IV – Cause and Effect Literary Essay The original Elizabethan play, Hamlet by Shakespeare, targets the audience in social, cultural, and economic values. The speech that was chosen, was found in Act IV, Scene IV, lines 30-66, and it causes its target audience to have an effect on all three of these values. This field of study is important because it shows the reader that there is a relationship between the dramatic works and their target audience. The first, second, and third points will discuss Hamlet’s soliloquy’s and how the speech causes its target audience to have an effect on the social, cultural, and economic values, as they are all crucial evidence to this thesis. Firstly, there is one reason why the speech causes its target audience to have an effect on the social value. Hamlet’s soliloquy indicates his failure to act when he has so much reason to do so. “How all occasions do inform against me, / and spur my dull revenge! What is a man, / If his chief good and market of his time / be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more. / Sure he that made us with such large discourse, / Looking before and after, gave us not / that capability and godlike reason / to fust in us unused. Now whether it be / Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple / of thinking too precisely on th' event -- / A thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom / and ever three parts coward -- I do not know / Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do', / Sith I have cause, and will, and...
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...Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, murders Hamlet’s father to inherit the crown of Denmark and the love of Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. Throughout the play there are six soliloquies that reveal the character of Hamlet and others. In more than any other Shakespearean play, the audience is painted a better picture of Hamlet’s mind. Shakespeare questions the social and Christian institutions in the face of tragedy with the usage of several ambiguous phrases. Through word play and tone shifts, Hamlet’s collapsing sanity is reflected and shows the deconstruction of his views towards the Church and its values and his family. Hamlet’s questionable sanity is first reflected in the Church and its teachings. During the Elizabethan Era, most people practiced Catholicism, and it was not until later in the 1500s that the Catholic religion was called into question by another developing religion at the time, Protestantism. Not only does society begin to doubt the teachings of the Church, Hamlet does as well because he has lost complete faith in Christian values. According to Hamlet, those values have the cause of Claudius murdering his own brother and marrying his wife. Hamlet is unable to accept this unfortunate fate, and in turn, exclaims to the heavens, “O God! O God” (I.ii.132)! Hamlet has lost faith in the Everlasting because he is disgusted that God would let such an incestuous act happen. Shakespeare’s use of ambiguity leaves the audience confused about whether Hamlet is cursing...
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...Hamlet Essay A great amount of events occurred in Act IV of Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet, which helped to further the plot of the story and enhance the theme of revenge and justice. Some events that took place are; the Queen betrayed her son and told Claudius of the murder of Polonius, Ophelia became insane and eventually drowned herself in the river, and King Claudius plotted to ship Hamlet off to England to be killed. Shakespeare wrote his plays during the Elizabethan era, and life was much different for people of that era, then it is for people of present day. How words and dialogue were written in the play, is hard for us to understand with are modern day language and slang; the same can be said for the ideas and influences certain parts of the play have on us. Someone who was alive during the Elizabethan era and attended one of Shakespeare’s plays would view the live production very differently than a modern day audience would. There are a few points that come to mind when comparing the differences between the Elizabethan era and modern day; such as the great chain of being, extreme importance on religion, and the pride in defending your honor. These examples of the differences between the two eras are very noticeable in Act IV Scene IV lines 53-66, when Hamlet exclaims: Rightly to be great Is not to stir without great argument But greatly to find quarrel in a straw When honor’s at the stake. How stand I then, That have a father killed, a mother stained, ...
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...“Of Deaths Put on by Cunning and Forced Cause” – Death and Dying in Hamlet and The Winter’s Tale Abstract Shakespeare employs the concept of death in every genre he writes, and Hamlet and The Winter’s Tale provide insights into the revenge tragedy and late romance respectively. Drawing inspiration from a web article on death in revenge tragedies (namely, Hamlet), death seems to me the common emotional connector between Hamlet and the audience, which Shakespeare then exploits to enact a singular catharsis. Similarly, a dissertation on counterfeit deaths in the late romances and a web article on resurrection in The Winter’s Tale provide me the basis to argue that death and resurrection are successively utilized in the romance to draw a self-awakening in Leontes, which Shakespeare uses as a proxy for the audience. It is intriguing how Shakespeare employs death as emotional bridge between audience and characters across the two genres, creating the heightened emotional state necessary to deliver his concluding catharsis: death as redemption when not used as a tool for personal gain. Death appears many times in both Hamlet and The Winter’s Tale, serving to drive both the action of the play as well as the development of characters. In Hamlet, it is the murder of Old Hamlet that necessitates the act of vengeance, forcing into motion all subsequent plot developments and character deaths. According to Thomas, “The Winter’s Tale is structured on the counterfeit deaths and resurrections...
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...Hamlet Film Essay Hamlet is a play that transcends generations and has been placed on a pedestal of fame along with its author, the legendary William Shakespeare. Every word in every line of dialogue has been analyzed repeatedly and broken down by numerous experts of Shakespeare, not to mention that thousands of high school students every year pay homage to the playwright by reading and interpreting his famous text. Despite all of the time and effort invested into decoding arguably Shakespeare’s most famous work, the true meaning he put behind the pen and paper still remains wildly debated and surrounded with intrigue. Film directors and visionaries have taken control of this situation and have utilized artistic liberties to each create their own interpretations of the timeless tale. Two of such directors, Franco Zeffirelli and Kenneth Branagh have created two very different manifestations of Hamlet . Transcending the obvious choices of setting and time period, the directors’ visions of each of the characters have also greatly affected the way viewers envision the classic tale. Branagh and Zeffirelli’s different portrayals of Ophelia made for unique experiences of Hamlet in each of the movies. Each of the films manifests into physical existence two very different Ophelias. Kate Winslet’s portrayal of Ophelia in Branagh’s movie shows independence and assertiveness, as well as maturity. Ophelia often appears in scenes where she does not in the actual play...
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...1 - Character must be of noble/high stature 2 - Hubris (tragic flaw) - pride blinds them 3 - Downfall 4 - Enlightenment (near the end of the play) 5 - Their death Someone of high position; in this time period, that meant royalty. He is 'universal,' meaning that everyone everywhere can relate to the kinds of problems or sufferings or emotions that the hero experiences. He has a 'tragic flaw' - this could be a personality trait (like greed, lust, ambition, jealousy, etc.), OR an error in judgement (a bad decision). This 'tragic flaw' leads to his downfall - usually ruins his career, reputation, power, etc. He is enlightened at the end of the story, meaning he realizes where he went wrong, he is humble, and he accepts the consequences . A tragic hero is a character in a work of fiction (often the protagonist) who commits an action or makes a mistake which eventually leads to his or her defeat. The idea of the tragic hero was created in ancient Greek tragedy and defined by Aristotle (and others). Usually, this includes the realization of the error (anagnorisis), which results in catharsis or epiphany. Aristotelian tragic hero Characteristics Aristotle once said that "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." An Aristotelian tragic hero must have four characteristics: Nobility (of a noble birth) or wisdom (by virtue of birth). Hamartia (translated as flaw, mistake, or error, not an Elizabethan tragic flaw). A reversal of fortune(peripetia)...
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...Elizabethan period is best known for theatre. It was an era where English playwright, including Shakespeare, broke free from the past style of theatre. Drama became very preferable in this era and the theatres were always crowded during a play. Shakespeare wrote mainly tragedies by the end of the 16th century, including Hamlet, Othello and Macbeth. Aristotle's definition of a tragedy is that a tragedy is an imitation (mimesis) of an action that is morally admirable. Aristotle is a philosopher who wrote about poetry, poetry being epic, drama, and lyric for Aristotle, in his work “Poetics”. He said in his work that a tragedy should be composed by an introduction, a middle part and an ending. According to Aristotle the fable (mythos) is more important than the characters in the play. It is so because the purpose with the tragedy, according to Aristotle, is to make the audience feel pity (eleos) and fear (fobos) and as a result achieve an emotional cleansing(Catharsis). In order to bring those feelings to the audience the tragedy must be complex. The tragedy must involve a peripeteia, meaning that a great person experiences a turning point, a reversal of fortune. This turning point must be caused by a mistake, the tragic hero's mistake (hamartia). This reversal of fortune cannot be prevented but it is an unforeseen result of the mistake the tragic hero makes. The tragic hero must during the play achieve a revelation(anagnorisis) that means that the hero will go from not knowing to knowing...
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...and novels, Dickens wrote essays and journalistic pieces, and edited a weekly periodical filled with fiction, poetry, and essays. First titled Household Words, the magazine was later retitled All the Year Round. Dickens contributed to this publication several serialized novels, including Great Expectations, and writings on political and social issues. Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Landport, Portsea, England. He was the second child and eldest son of eight children. Dickens’s father, who worked as a clerk in the Navy Pay Office, was a spendthrift who often mismanaged the family money. In 1822 the family moved to London and soon found itself in financial crisis. The family was forced to live in poverty, and Dickens was no longer able to go to school. One of the most traumatic periods of his life began in February 1824, when his father was sent to debtors prison. Young Dickens, only twelve years old, was forced to go to work for several months pasting labels on bottles. This experience was painful and socially humiliating to him, and images of the factory haunted him for the rest of his life. These images provided a backdrop to much of his fiction, which often focused on class issues; the plight of the poor and oppressed; and lost, suffering children. As an adult, he championed social and political causes designed to help the poor, prisoners, and children. Dickens became a reporter in 1832, and in 1833 he began publishing short stories and essays. In 1836 he married Catherine...
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...HOW TO WRITE ESSAYS Visit our How To website at www.howto.co.uk At www.howto.co.uk you can engage in conversation with some of our authors – all of whom have ‘been there and done that’ in their specialist fields. You can get access to special offers and additional content but, most importantly, you will be able to engage with, and become a part of, a wide and growing community of people just like yourself. At www.howto.co.uk you’ll be able to talk to, and share tips with, people who have similar interests and are facing similar challenges in their lives. People who, just like you, have the desire to change their lives for the better – be it through moving to a new country, starting a new business, growing their own vegetables, or writing a novel. At www.howto.co.uk you’ll find the support and encouragement you need to help make your aspirations a reality. How To Books strives to present authentic, inspiring, practical information in their books. Now, when you buy a title from How To Books, you get even more than words on a page. HOW TO WRITE ESSAYS A step-by-step guide for all levels, with sample essays Don Shiach howtobooks ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author and publishers are grateful to Nicholas Murray and the Rack Press, Kinnerton, Presteigne, Powys LD8 2PF for permission to reproduce History from Nicholas Murray’s collection ‘The Narrators’. Published by How To Content, A division of How To Books Ltd, Spring Hill House, Spring...
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...Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Bloom's Classic Critical Views alfred, lord Tennyson Benjamin Franklin The Brontës Charles Dickens edgar allan poe Geoffrey Chaucer George eliot George Gordon, lord Byron henry David Thoreau herman melville Jane austen John Donne and the metaphysical poets John milton Jonathan Swift mark Twain mary Shelley Nathaniel hawthorne Oscar Wilde percy Shelley ralph Waldo emerson robert Browning Samuel Taylor Coleridge Stephen Crane Walt Whitman William Blake William Shakespeare William Wordsworth Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Edited and with an Introduction by Sterling professor of the humanities Yale University harold Bloom Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references...
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...Beginning theory An introduction to literary and cultural theory Second edition Peter Barry © Peter Barry 1995, 2002 ISBN: 0719062683 Contents Acknowledgements - page x Preface to the second edition - xii Introduction - 1 About this book - 1 Approaching theory - 6 Slop and think: reviewing your study of literature to date - 8 My own 'stock-taking' - 9 1 Theory before 'theory' - liberal humanism - 11 The history of English studies - 11 Stop and think - 11 Ten tenets of liberal humanism - 16 Literary theorising from Aristotle to Leavis some key moments - 21 Liberal humanism in practice - 31 The transition to 'theory' - 32 Some recurrent ideas in critical theory - 34 Selected reading - 36 2 Structuralism - 39 Structuralist chickens and liberal humanist eggs Signs of the fathers - Saussure - 41 Stop and think - 45 The scope of structuralism - 46 What structuralist critics do - 49 Structuralist criticism: examples - 50 Stop and think - 53 Stop and think - 55 39 Stop and think - 57 Selected reading - 60 3 Post-structuralism and deconstruction - 61 Some theoretical differences between structuralism and post-structuralism - 61 Post-structuralism - life on a decentred planet - 65 Stop and think - 68 Structuralism and post-structuralism - some practical differences - 70 What post-structuralist critics do - 73 Deconstruction: an example - 73 Selected reading - 79 4 Postmodernism - 81 What is postmodernism? What was modernism? -...
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...literature, or a particular work, which we can recognize, identify, interpret and/or analyze. Both literary elements and literary techniques can rightly be called literary devices. Literary elements refers to aspects or characteristics of a whole text. They are not “used,” per se, by authors; we derive what they are from reading the text. Most literary elements can be derived from any and all texts; for example, every story has a theme, every story has a setting, every story has a conflict, every story is written from a particular point-of-view, etc. In order to be discussed legitimately, literary elements must be specifically identified for that text. Literary techniques refers to any specific, deliberate constructions of language which an author uses to convey meaning. An author’s use of a literary technique usually occurs with a single word or phrase, or a particular group of words or phrases, at one single point in a text. Unlike literary elements, literary techniques are not necessarily present in every text. Literary terms refers to the words themselves with which we identify and describe literary elements and techniques. They are not found in literature and they are not “used” by authors. Allegory: Where every aspect of a story is representative, usually symbolic, of something else, usually a larger abstract concept or important historical/geopolitical event. Lord of the Flies provides a compelling...
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...THE RULES OF THE GAME: NOUVELLE EDITION FRANCAISE/THE KOBAL COLLECTION DEEP FOCUS CANON FODDER As the sun finally sets on the century of cinema, by what criteria do we determine its masterworks? BY PAU L SC H RA D E R Top guns (and dogs): the #1 The Rules of the Game September-October 2006 FILM COMMENT 33 Sunrise PREFACE THE BOOK I DIDN’T WRITE I n march 2003 i was having dinner in london with Faber and Faber’s editor of film books, Walter Donohue, and several others when the conversation turned to the current state of film criticism and lack of knowledge of film history in general. I remarked on a former assistant who, when told to look up Montgomery Clift, returned some minutes later asking, “Where is that?” I replied that I thought it was in the Hollywood Hills, and he returned to his search engine. Yes, we agreed, there are too many films, too much history, for today’s student to master. “Someone should write a film version of Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon,” a writer from The Independent suggested, and “the person who should write it,” he said, looking at me, “is you.” I looked to Walter, who replied, “If you write it, I’ll publish it.” And the die was cast. Faber offered a contract, and I set to work. Following the Bloom model I decided it should be an elitist canon, not populist, raising the bar so high that only a handful of films would pass over. I proceeded to compile a list of essential films, attempting, as best I could, to...
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...KING LEAR Act One The play opens at Lear’s court, where we meet the main characters. The opening scene is in itself shocking, as Lear forces his daughters to declare their love for him. The one who loves him the most will receive the largest part of his kingdom, which he intends to divide between the three. Lear himself wishes to hand over the ruling of the kingdom to his daughters, while retaining the ‘Pre-eminence, and all the large effects / That troop with majesty’ (Scene 1, Lines 131-2). Goneril and Regan acquit themselves well at this love test. Cordelia, however, dismayed by her sisters’ ponderous words, refuses to take part in the ‘contest’ and tells Lear that she loves him as her duty instructs her. When Cordelia refuses to speak again, Lear casts her off without a moment’s hesitation. Ken attempts to argue with the King, accusing him of ‘hideous rashness’ (Scene 1, Line 151). When Kent further warns Lear that his elder daughters are false flatterers, Kent too is banished. Lear invests Albany and Cornwall with power, and, after Burgundy refuses to take Cordelia as his wife, now that she is without dowry, France takes her for her virtues alone. Goneril and Regan complain, in private, about Lear’s harsh judgement and unpredictable behaviour and worry that they too may be treated unfairly. Edmund, Gloucester’s bastard son, soliloquises about his own situation, revealing his devious intentions towards his brother. When his father enters, Edmund’s...
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