...Hamlet and Horatio enter a hall in the castle. Hamlet is in the middle of telling Horatio his experiences since he left for England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet recalls that that the first night he crept from his cabin and located the cabin of the two agents where he found the sealed packet containing Claudius' instructions to the English King. When he returned to his cabin, and opened the packet, he discovered that Claudius had ordered that Hamlet be beheaded in England. Acting quickly he wrote new instructions requesting the English king to execute the agents who brought the commission. The prince folded up the instructions just as the original ones were folded, sealed them in the packet with the seal on his father's...
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...The Foils of Hamlet Hamlet is dominated by an emotion which is inexpressible, because it is in excess of the facts as they appear.... We should have to understand things which Shakespeare did not understand himself." T.S. Eliot (Hamlet and His Problems) In the play Hamlet [Titles] by William Shakespeare the cast of main characters use the support given to them by the foils to enhance the play. A foil is a minor character who by simulations [?] and differences reveals character, and who, as an element of plot, is there for the more important character to talk to (vevra [sic] ). Such an example is Laertes is a foil to Hamlet. [SS -1] [Is the last sentence in this paragraph the thesis?] Before the events of the play Ophelia[,] the daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes, tells us that Hamlet was a model courtier, soldier, and scholar, ["?]The glass of fashion and the mould of form, Th’ observed of all observers."( pg 676) [Citation] With the death of his farther [sic] and the hasty remarriage of his mother to mother [sic & sloppy] to his uncle, throws Hamlet into a frustrated state were [where-H50] he lashes out at evil he sees and then relapse into a suicidal misery. [SS] It is in the [this?] state of mind that he meets the ghosts [more than one?] of his father. When he meets the ghost he isn’t afraid of the ghost but instead wants to confront the ghost face to face. It is at this point in the play were [that] Hamlet finds out that his uncle murdered his father[...
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...Hamlet The prince of Denmark, and a student at the University of Wittenberg. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, has recently died, and his mother, Queen Gertrude, has married the new king, Hamlet’s uncle Claudius. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for his uncle and disgust at his mother for marrying him. When the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears and claims to have been murdered by Claudius, Hamlet becomes obsessed with avenging his father’s death but keeps thinking of reasons why he should wait before killing Claudius—then chastizes himself for failing to act boldly. Hamlet is a character of contradictions. He admires characters like Fortinbras and the Player King, who behave passionately and even violently for no good reason, but is himself thoughtful, reflective, and philosophical. At times Hamlet is indecisive and hesitant, but at other times he is prone to rash and impulsive acts of violence. Claudius The king of Denmark, Hamlet’s uncle. The villain of the play, Claudius is a calculating, ambitious politician, adept at manipulating others for his own ends and willing to execute, assassinate, or murder to stay in power. He doesn’t understand Hamlet or Hamlet’s motives, but he is quick to perceive Hamlet as a threat and take decisive action against him. Claudius does occasionally show signs of remorse and human feeling—his affection for Gertrude, for instance, seems sincere. Gertrude The queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother...
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...Not all the foils of Hamlet included by Shakespeare were used to demonstrate negative aspects of Hamlet’s character. Shakespeare also utilized King Claudius as a foil to Hamlet which allows for the elucidation of Hamlet’s positive qualities such as his values of honesty and loyalty. King Claudius and Hamlet both depict similar traits throughout the play that allow them to be compared as foils to each other. One of the reasons often mentioned when the cause of Hamlet’s procrastination is discussed is the fact that Hamlet may have realized just how similar he is to his uncle. In terms of the oedipal complex developed by Sigmund Freud, it is thought that perhaps Hamlet subconsciously had desired to murder his own father as a means of obtaining...
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...Story of Hamlet in Hamlet Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet has one outstanding character, namely the protagonist Hamlet. His character is so complex that this essay will scarcely present an adequate portrayal of his character. John Russell Brown in “Soliloquies and Other Wordplay Let the Audience Share Some of Hamlet’s Thoughts” explains the interplay of dialogue, soliloquies and narrative in Hamlet’s role: By any reckoning Hamlet is one of the most complex of Shakespeare’s characters, and a series of soliloquies is only one of the means which encourage the audience to enter imaginatively into his very personal and frightening predicament. The play’s narrative is handled so that a prolonged two-way chase is sustained between him and the king, during which the audience knows more than either one of them and so thinks ahead and anticipates events. In interplay with Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Polonius, and perhaps with Claudius, Gertrude and Ophelia, Hamlet has asides to draw attention to what dialogue cannot express(55-56). Marchette Chute describes the opening scene of the drama: “For two nights in succession, just as the bell strikes the hour of one, a ghost has appeared on the battlements, a figure dressed in complete armor and with a face like that of the dead king of Denmark, Hamlet’s father. [. . .] The hour comes, and the ghost walks” (35). Horatio and Marcellus exit the ramparts of Elsinore intending to enlist the aid of Hamlet. There...
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...The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark ASCII text placed in the public domain by Moby Lexical Tools, 1992. SGML markup by Jon Bosak, 1992-1994. XML version by Jon Bosak, 1996-1999. Simplified XML version by Max Froumentin, 2001. The XML markup in this version is Copyright © 1999 Jon Bosak. This work may freely be distributed on condition that it not be modified or altered in any way. Table of Contents Act 1 .................................... p. 5 Scene 1 .................................... p. 5 Scene 2 .................................... p. 11 Scene 3 .................................... p. 20 Scene 4 .................................... p. 24 Scene 5 .................................... p. 28 Act 2 .................................... p. 36 Scene 1 .................................... p. 36 Scene 2 .................................... p. 40 Act 3 .................................... p. 61 Scene 1 .................................... p. 61 Scene 2 .................................... p. 67 Scene 3 .................................... p. 81 Scene 4 .................................... p. 84 Act 4 .................................... p. 92 Scene 1 .................................... p. 92 Scene 2 .................................... p. 93 Scene 3 .................................... p. 95 Scene 4 .................................... p. 97 Scene 5 .................................... p. 100 Scene 6 .................................... p. 108 Scene 7 ......................
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...Ranking the Play Hamlet The Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet is among the best ever written, and perhaps the very best. Why do the literary critics say this? In this essay let’s examine the play to see what makes it a prizewinner. Phyllis Abrahms and Alan Brody in “Hamlet and the Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy Formula” give some detail about the reasons for the undying popularity of this play: No play demonstrates the power and glory of Shakespeare’s tragic vision more than Hamlet, which for over 350 years has excited us with its action, its insight, its brilliant language. Hamlet is an unparalleled adventure story, complete with suspense, intrigue, murder – even a battle at sea with pirates. It is a play of intense emotional and physical violence. Yet underlying all of this are some of the most profound explorations of the mysteries of human existence. (43) This play is ranked by many as the very greatest ever written. Cumberland Clark in “The Supernatural in Hamlet” gives the consensus regarding Hamlet that exists among literary critics of today: At least six or seven years pass after the writing of Midsummer Night’s Dream before we find Shakespeare engaged on Hamlet, the second of the great plays with an important Supernatural element, and, in the opinion of many, the greatest tragedy ever penned. (99) There is no more exalted ranking than the above. Richard A. Lanham in the essay “Superposed Plays” maintains that no...
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...Hamlet Notes Tragedy is the downfall of a man because of a weakness in his personality. This weakness leaves him unable to negotiate successfully the conflict that he experiences in the outside world. Consequently, when he encounters evil, he is unable to make the right decision. A tragic hero has a moment of insight in which he realises his error. However, this insight comes too late for him to address his sillinesses/error. The tragic hero always dies. The key to understanding this play is a close and insightful study of the soliloquies in the play. Act 1 Scene 1( pg 3-13) Horatio will be the fall for the mercurial Hamlet. Horatio is quiet and well balanced and becomes a notable witness. At the beginning of the play, Denmark is not only socially, morally and culturally questionable but politically unstable. Norway, lead by Fortenbras is leading a campaign to reclaim the lands lost to Norway as a consequence of the Danish King Hamlet. At the end of this scene, the appearance if the ghost. King Hamlet. He was poisoned by Claudius. He was married to Gertrude, Claudius was Gertrude's brother-in-law—-> affair Act 1 Scene 2(pg 13-31) Set against the splendour of the court, scene 2 juxtaposes the mysteries and frightening opening scene. The court of Denmark represents hypocrisy and excess. We are introduced immediately to Claudius. He is suave and worldly wise. His idiom, register and tone of speech will create a suspicion. He is of course the antithesis of Hamlet as...
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...common motivation for characters in a story. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare it is a motivation for the characters Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras. In the play all three characters lose their fathers in by acts of murder, which causes the characters to want get vengence on those responsible. Having different personalities the audience gets to see different approaches and outcomes to the same situation by the three characteres. By the end of the story they are characters who ultimately reach their goals in similar but different ways as avengers. First looking at the character Hamlet, the audience can see a change of the character throughout the play, because of this it allows the audience to think about the character state of mind, based on the actions he takes throughout the play. At the beginning of the play we see that Hamlet is very saddened by the sudden loss of his father, only to find out after meeting the ghost of his father that his death was not a cause of age but murder, which was committed by the new king who has taken power, his uncle Claudius “ The serpent that did sting thy father's life Now wears his crown.” ( Shakespeare I.v, 7). Gaining this information from the ghost of his father we see where Hamlet wants to avenge his father which is proven by his soliloquy, “ that one may smile and smile and be a villain” (Shakespeare I.v, 63), “ now to my word...” ( Shakespeare I.v, 63). It is from this point we see that Hamlet starts to plan out his revenge by putting on...
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...guardsmen convince a skeptical nobleman, Horatio, to watch with them. When he sees the ghost, he decides they should tell Hamlet, the dead King's son. Hamlet is also the nephew of the present King, Claudius, who not only assumed his dead brother's crown but also married his widow, Gertrude. Claudius seems an able King, easily handling the threat of the Norwegian Prince Fortinbras. But Hamlet is furious about Gertrude's marriage to Claudius. Hamlet meets the ghost, which claims to be the spirit of his father, murdered by Claudius. Hamlet quickly accepts the ghost's command to seek revenge. Yet Hamlet is uncertain if what the ghost said is true. He delays his revenge and begins to act half-mad, contemplate suicide, and becomes furious at all women. The Lord Chamberlain, Polonius, concludes that Hamlet's behavior comes from lovesickness for Ophelia, Polonius's daughter. Claudius and Gertrude summon two of Hamlet's old friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to find out what's wrong with him. As Polonius develops a plot to spy on a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia, Hamlet develops a plot of his own: to have a recently arrived troupe of actors put on a play that resembles Claudius's alleged murder of Old Hamlet, and watch Claudius's reaction. Polonius and Claudius spy on the meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet, during which Hamlet flies into a rage against women and marriage. Claudius concludes Hamlet neither loves Ophelia nor is mad. Seeing Hamlet as a threat, he decides to send him away...
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...Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern talk about Hamlet and his lunacy. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell the King and Queen that they have tried to find out the reason for Hamlet’s madness, but he avoids their questions. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell the King and Queen about the actors that have arrived at the court and will be giving a performance. After Rosencrantz and Guildenstern leave, Claudius tells Gertrude that he has arranged for Hamlet to run into Ophelia, and Polonius and the King will hide and spy on their conversation to see if Hamlet is truly going crazy because he is in love. Gertrude tells Ophelia that she hopes that Hamlet’s madness is due to his love for her. Polonius tells Ophelia to read from a prayer book while waiting for Hamlet, which makes Claudius feels guilty as he remembers his own sin that he disguises with kind words. Then, Hamlet arrives speaking his famous to be or not to be speech. He is contemplating suicide, but he decides against it because he is worried that the environment after death will be even worse than the one he is living in right now. Ophelia then tells Hamlet that she has some of his mementos that she needs to return, which Hamlet denies ever giving her. Hamlet then goes into a dialogue with Ophelia that focuses on women and marriage. He is telling Ophelia to go to a nunnery because he does not believe in women or marriage anymore. Hamlet says that women use their beauty and power to fool their husbands. Hamlet also tells Ophelia that if she does...
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...''Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.'' Or “The main subject that is being discussed or described in a piece of writing, a movie, etc.” Theme is a word having etymology from the Greek, "placed" or "laid down". Its origin is 1250–1300; Greek théma proposition, deposit, akin to tithénai to put, set down. In contemporary literary studies, a theme is the central topic a text treats. Themes can be divided into two categories: a work's thematic concept is what readers "think the work is about" and its thematic statement being "what the work says about the subject". The most common contemporary understanding of theme is an idea or concept that is central to a story, which can often be summed in a single word (e.g. love, death, betrayal). Typical examples of themes of this type are conflict between the individual and society; coming of age; humans in conflict with technology; nostalgia; and the dangers of unchecked ambition. A theme may be exemplified by the actions, utterances, or thoughts of a character in a novel. An example of this would be the theme loneliness in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, wherein many of the characters seem to be lonely. It may differ from the thesis—the text's or author's implied worldview. A story may have several themes. Themes often explore historically common or cross-culturally recognizable ideas, such as ethical questions, and are usually implied rather than stated explicitly. An example of this...
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...In William Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” the characters Hamlet and Laertes are character foils. Both are young men whose fathers have been murdered and who set out to avenge and restore their family honour. The contrast of Hamlet and Laertes’ initial reactions to their fathers’ death, their journey of revenge and their actions taken to restore family honour are two very different paths. Prince Hamlet, the protagonist of the works, is portrayed as a very sensitive and intelligent character. It is clear that his mother Queen Gertrude and Uncle Claudius, now King, do not share his open grief of his fathers’ death. By marrying the queen and taking the throne for himself Claudius has quickly taken full advantage...
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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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...Hamlet Motif Analysis Assignment Appearance or Reality “Horatio says ‘tis but our fantasy,/ And will not let belief take hold of him” (I,1,23-24) “In the same figure, like the king that’s dead.” (I,1,41) “Seems, madam! Nay, is is; I know not “seems.”[…] Nor the dejected haviour of the visage, / Together with all forms, modes, shapes of grief, / That can denote me truly: these indeed seem, /But I have that within which passeth show; / These, but the trappings and suits of woe. (1,1,76 and 81-86) “The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen;” (I,5,47) “That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;” (I,5,109) “for there is nothing / either good or bad but thinking makes it so: to me it is a prison” (II,2,249-251) “The spirit that I have seen / May be the devil: and the devil hath power / To assume a pleasing shape” (II,2,596-598) “’Tis too much proved that, with devotion’s visage, And pious action, we do sugar o’er/The devil himself” (III,1,47-49) “he weeps for what is done”(IV,1,27) “Why, even in that was heaven ordinant. / I had my father’s signet in my purse, / Which was the model of that Danish seal: / Folded the writ up in form of the other; / Subscribed it; gave’t the impression; placed it safely, / The changeling never known.” (V, 2, 48-53) Clothing “Such was the very armour he had on / When he the ambitious Norway combated;” (I, 1, 60-61) “Good Hamlet, cast thy knighted colour off, / And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark...
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