...dramatic irony to create sympathy in audience, which makes the play more interesting and it targets audience to read the play. Dramatic irony is evident in the play Hamlet; it is used throughout the play. Without dramatic Irony in Hamlet, there wouldn’t be any suspense and the audience would be less engaged because the characters would know just as much as them, which would make it boring and meaningless. Three of the most dominant dramatic ironies used in the play are: The ghost of old hamlet tells hamlet about the truth, Hamlet pretending to be mad and Hamlet thinking about a suicide. Therefore, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in Hamlet to create sympathy and engage audience. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in the ghost of old hamlet to create sympathy, which engages the audience in the play. In act 1 scene 5, the ghost of old hamlet appears to hamlet and reveals to Hamlet that the King was killed by Claudius who spread the story that his death was from a snake bite. “Now, Hamlet, hear. 'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forgèd process of my death Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown.” (1.5.34-40). It evokes sympathy on the audience causing them to feel pity for Hamlet, because Hamlet’s father was murdered by Claudius and Claudius spread the word that King Hamlet was killed by snake bite. Therefore, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in the ghost...
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...Dramatic Irony In Hamlet There are several accounts of dramatic irony utilized in ‘Hamlet’ but one that was most effective to the overall play was in act 1 scene 5, when Hamlet converses with the ghost of his father. In this scene, the ghost came to Hamlet to reveal Claudius as his murderer and explained how his brother came to him in his sleep and poured poison in his ear. The ghost of Hamlet’s father tells him to avenge his death but not act violently towards his mother. Soon after, Marcellus and Horatio approached Hamlet but the ghost had vanished and Hamlet requested that the two not speak of the ghost’s visit to anyone. The important truth of old Hamlet’s murder will contribute to shape the plot and define Hamlet’s actions. Without the confession of the ghost, Hamlet would have no knowledge of the truth behind his father’s death. Therefore, every aspect of Hamlet’s ‘madness’ is defined by the new found truth that has been bestowed upon him. This scene creates dramatic irony throughout the play because the motives of Hamlet’s behavior is made clear to the audience. The lack of this scene would be inadequate because Hamlet would have no incentive to avenge his father’s murder because his knowledge stretches to believing a snake bite killed him. The audience is aware that Hamlet’s actions have meaning and everything he does contributes to his prior knowledge of the death/murder. This scene also contributes to other dramatic ironies like the mock play that upsets Cla...
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...Example of Dramatic Irony from Acts I & II|CharactersInvolved|Sympathy? Antipathy?|Reason your sympathies lean as they do|Evidence – Lines and Explanation of Effect| Act #1, Scene #1|Hamlet, Claudius, Marcellus, Horatio, Barnardo|I sympathize Hamlet and I antipathies the King.|I feel sympathy for Hamlet because in the next scene everyone is mourning over the King’s death and Hamlet is devastated by the events of his father. Even though the audience knows that Hamlet will see the Ghost of his father and not be in mourning anymore, seeing him in such pain and heartache makes me sympathetic for him. I feel antipathy for the king because he is a devious, ruthless politician, compelled by his thirst for power. A man who knows no bounds+, going as far as to murder his own blood.|Horatio: “…Let us impart what we have seen to-night, Unto you Hamlet, for upon my life, This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him:…” (Act 1, Scene 1)| Act #2, Scene #2|Claudius, & Voltimand|I antipathies the King.|In this scene the King hears news from the two courtiers with a letter saying that the King of Fortinbras had been misinterpreted and mistakenly were going to send the war over to Denmark. I feel antipathy for the King because he would naively allow the Fortinbras free will to pass through Denmark to get to Poland, so that the Fortinbras may wage war against the Polack. I say naively because the king doesn’t know that the Fortinbras have no intentions to attack Polack. They only intend to kill Claudius...
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...Dramatic Irony in “Hamlet” By: Narek Edjiu In Act 2 scene 1, Ophelia returns to her father Polonius, clearly upset. Hamlet grabbed her, held her, and sighed heavily, but did not speak to her. Her father believes the reason for his attitude is due to the fact he is deeply in love with Ophelia. The dramatic irony in Hamlet shows features of dishonesty and harm, while incorporating tragedy. The ironic situations often take place when Hamlet is finally in pursuit of action. Hamlet is the son of the dead king and nephew to the new king. Hamlet discovers the truth of his father’s death and therefore creates a front of emotions to make others believe that he is angry. His unusual behavior greatly affected Ophelia causing her to panic and influencing her to inform her father. Polonius immediately concludes that Hamlet is 'madly in love' with Ophelia: "This is the very ecstasy of love" (2.1.102) and that he has gone mad because she has obeyed his instruction in spurning Hamlet's love: "That hath made him mad." (2.1.111) The purpose of this scene is to develop all the characters and to understand the thought of Polonius. This specific dramatic irony surprisingly causes me to feel sympathy for Polonius because he is not aware of the current situation and eventually will suffer the consequences. I learned that dramatic irony is used to engage the audience into what is taking place and the audience is able to witness a character’s error which...
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...Dramatic Irony in hamlet and Trifles The plays Hamlet and Trifles have many aspects in which they can be linked together. One key aspect I will be linking between the two plays is their use of dramatic irony. Although Trifles is much shorter than Hamlet and is only one act long we can clearly see dramatic irony and how it is key to the stories. Dramatic irony is when the words and actions of the characters of a work of literature have a different meaning for the reader than they do for the characters. For example when Hamlet sees the ghost of his father. His father and former king of Denmark tells him to avenge his death. He tells Hamlet that the present king Claudius killed him to take the thrown. We as the audience know that Hamlets reasoning for almost everything he does is in spite of what the ghost said but the people in the story have not a clue of this. By act II, the audience knows that Claudius killed the former king. The ghost has told him so, sending Hamlet into frenzy. However, Claudius and the others, apart from Horatio, a special case, do not. Therefore, when Hamlet puts his antic disposition on Polonius, Claudius, and Ophelia, all believe that he is mad; their misunderstanding is an instance of dramatic irony: the audience knows he is not mad in the way they believe him to be. Dramatic irony can also be clearly seen in Trifles. Dramatic irony is one of many ways it directly links Trifles and Hamlet together. In Trifles we (the audience) know that the women in...
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...Dramatic Irony in Shakespeare’s Hamlet Dramatic irony is an important aspect of any play or written story. It allows insight to what the character is thinking or feeling, as well as adds to the interest of the play because the audience will know things that the characters on stage do not even know. That is what dramatic irony is, the knowledge of the audience without a character knowing; almost like an inside joke between a character and the audience. Dramatic irony can also be used to create further character development. For example, Hamlet leads many of the characters in the play to believe he is mad. This includes Polonius, Claudius, and Gertrude among those who believe his insanity. However, though Hamlet thinks he has everyone fooled, Marcellus and Horatio knew all along that he was pretending. This creates dramatic irony all on its own. An important bit of dramatic irony in the first two scenes is when Gertrude and Claudius believe that Hamlet is depressed only because of his father’s death. The King says “But, you must know, your father lost a father. That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound in filial obligations for some term to do obsequious sorrow” (1.2.91-94). This piece of dramatic irony furthers the character of Gertrude and Claudius, they seem to be naïve in a way to think that Hamlet’s father’s death was the only thing depressing him. When in reality, it is Claudius’ marriage to Gertrude that is the real problem, though his father’s death does play...
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...In the Tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to keep the audience engaged in the play. A good example of dramatic irony in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is found in Act I Sc.5. The king’s ghost appears to Hamlet and reveals to him the truth about his death. The whole country of Denmark knows that the king had been bitten by a snake, but only Hamlet and two of his friends know that in reality it was the king’s own brother Claudius who killed him. Through this incident, Shakespeare manipulates audience’s sympathies, develops character and the conflict of the play. Claudius is a character that awakes antipathy in the audience from the beginning of the play, because of reasons such as him marrying his brother’s wife and being insensitive at Hamlet’s mourning the loss of his father. Finding out that Claudius was the one who killed the king intensifies the audience’s feelings of antipathy towards Claudius. At the same time, Shakespeare uses the same incident to awake in the audience feelings of sympathy towards Hamlet, who is deeply affected by his father’s death and by finding out that his father was killed by his uncle. By revealing to the audience emotionally charged incidents, Shakespeare manages to manipulate the audience’s sympathies. Shakespeare develops Hamlet’s character in this scene, as his feelings of anger and sorrow are intensified. He expresses that he has had a suspicion about his uncle even before the Ghost could tell him what he did. Following the encounter...
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...Canada’s Homefront During WW1 In August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany, which meant that Canada was going to war as well. Canada’s young men were going to war to serve their country as well as demonstrating their patriotic duty to Britain as they left behind their loved ones on the Canadian homefront. The First World War had a profound impact on life in Canada during the war. As our Canadian soldiers faced conflicts and huge challenges on foreign battlefields, there were many changes coming for those left behind on the Canadian homefront as they faced many social challenges and a shift in life, as they knew it. During WW1, the Canadian homefront saw a great transformation in the role of women in Canadian society, reforms in the labour movement and an increase in tension between French and English Canadians due to the conscription crisis. At the turn of the century, the role of women in Canadian society began to change drastically as their roles expanded beyond the home. Many Canadians viewed the woman’s role as the mother and homemaker but Canada’s participation in WW1 dramatically altered how women were viewed. So many Canadian men enlisted in the war that Canadian labour force was hugely diminished because if men were at war, they could not be working in the factories so Canada was forced to turn to women to join the workforce. “As the number of volunteers increased it was becoming clear that a new source of labour would have to be found. Women...
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...There are many similarities and differences between Hamlet and the lion king. For example both of the kings in the lion king and Hamlet were killed by there brothers, but there are also some differences like in Hamlet, hamlet dies at the end and so does his uncle, but in the lion king only the uncle dies. In Hamlet, hamlet sees his father in a ghost form and the father ask him to avenge his death by killing his uncle, in doing so he makes people believe that he is mad so they don’t know what he’s trying to achieve. In doing so they ship hamlet away from Denmark because he accidently killed Polonius. Laeretes is trying to avenge his sister and Polonius's death by killing hamlet. His plan was to poison the sword when they dueled when the do duel hamlet gets hit with the poison but manages to Laeretes as well. In the lion king the uncle kills his father, the uncle becomes king because Simba leaves the village because he’s scarred he might Pumba and Timon they bring him back to the village finds that hyenas have been in there village Simba...
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...Explain how Shakespeare uses literary elements (irony, tone, mood) to develop two or more themes in the text. Use evidence from the text to support your explanation. Have you ever been confused of why someone you thought loved you betrayed you? In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, There is different emotions throughout act 3. These emotions portray what happens. These themes of confusion and betrayal develop the irony, tone, and mood in act 3 scene 1. Two element’s Shakespeare uses in Hamlet is situational and dramatic irony. A example of this is when Hamlet expresses how he feels about ophelia and says “ You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not..” This shows act of betrayal when Hamlet tells ophelia he never loved her when she thought he did and was blindsided by him. Another example of irony is dramatic irony when the king and Polonius are spying on Hamlet and ophelia conversation. This shows act of confusion of what’s wrong with Hamlet as they have seen the betrayal before their eyes. In addition to irony, Shakespeare uses tone to develop the themes....
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...Chart Outlining Incidents of Dramatic Irony Example of Dramatic Irony from Acts I & II | Characters Involved | Sympathy? Antipathy? | Reason your sympathies lean as they do | Evidence – Lines and Explanation of Effect | In Act I.v, the Ghost of King Hamlet reveals to Hamlet that the King had been poisoned to death by Claudius. Dramatic irony occurs because Hamlet, the Ghost and we know the truth that Claudius murdered Hamlet's father.Dramatic irony occurs because only the readers and his friends Marcellus and Horatio know that Hamlet is only pretending to be mad.Ophelia and Polonious thinks that Hamlet is mad in love with Ophelia but only we and his friends know that Hamlet is only pretending to be mad. | Hamlet, Ghost and Claudius | Sympathy with Hamlet and his father.Antipathy with Claudius | Claudius killed the father of Hamlet. And no one knew the reality.Antipathy for Claudius because he murdered his own brother and became the king. | | | Hamlet, Horatio and Marcellus | Sympathy with Hamlet. | Sympathy with Hamlet because he knows that his father had been murdered but couldn’t reveal the truth. | | | Hamlet, Ophelia and Polonious | Sympathy with Ophelia. | Sympathy with Ophelia because she also thought that Hamlet was mad, which made her sad. | | | | | | | | | | | | Dramatic Irony Critical Analysis- For my critical analysis of dramatic irony in Hamlet I chose when Hamlet learns that his father was poisoned by Claudius...
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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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...ENG 4U Ms. Straus May 23, 2015 Hamlet Quotation Test Quotation 1: “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 unus’d.” (Hamlet: IV, iv, 3238) Literal Level: This quotation is from Act IV, Scene IV, when Hamlet observes Fortinbras leading the army through Denmark towards Poland. Hamlet learns that the Norwegians are going to war with the Polish over a small, worthless patch of land. In this soliloquy, Hamlet ponders how these men are willing to risk their lives for such a small cause, when he is still so hesitant to act on his revenge on Claudius for his father's murder. 1. This passage helps to develop Hamlet’s character and the plot of the play because it is in this scene that Hamlet realizes that he must act on his revenge plan or else he is just going to be a purposeless “beast”. Throughout the play, Hamlet struggles with whether or not to exact revenge on Claudius because he is not certain of all of the facts. When Hamlet sees how willing the soldiers are to fight over such a small piece of land, he realizes that without action Hamlet is not taking advantage of the gift of life that God has given him. Hamlet realizes that humans have “capability and godlike reason” and that ...
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...William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Hamlet is a magnificent piece of literature that is teeming with numerous themes. The most prominent theme brought out in this play is that revenge can consume every part of one’s life. William Shakespeare develops this theme through the use of foreshadowing. The mood that is set from the very beginning of the play prepares the reader for the obvious evils that the act of vengeance can lead to. The play is set in Denmark and is centered on Prince Hamlet’s revenge that he seeks for the death of his father by the hand of his uncle, Claudius. Claudius killed his brother in order to gain the throne and marry Gertrude, his brother’s wife. All seems to be in favor of the deceptive pair until one night when Hamlet’s father’s ghost appears to his good friend Horatio and two castle guards, who promptly tell Hamlet. Not believing them, Hamlet waits one night on the rampart of Elsinore Castle to see for himself. He is convinced when the apparition appears and speaks to Hamlet. His father tells him of the injustice that has befallen the family and tells Hamlet to “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (I.v.25). He wants Hamlet to destroy the man who had him murdered and who married his widow. Hamlet wants to know of every detail of the crime and tells the spirit “Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift/ As meditation or the thoughts of love, / May sweep to my revenge” (I.v.25-31). Hamlet promises to devote himself to this cause. ...
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...In the Tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to keep the audience engaged in the play. A good example of dramatic irony in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is found in Act I Sc.5. The king’s ghost appears to Hamlet and reveals to him the truth about his death. The whole country of Denmark knows that the king had been bitten by a snake, but only Hamlet and two of his friends know that in reality it was the king’s own brother Claudius who killed him. Through this incident, Shakespeare manipulates audience’s sympathies, develops character and the conflict of the play. Claudius is a character that awakes antipathy in the audience from the beginning of the play, because of reasons such as him marrying his brother’s wife and being insensitive at Hamlet’s mourning the loss of his father. Finding out that Claudius was the one who killed the king intensifies the audience’s feelings of antipathy towards Claudius. At the same time, Shakespeare uses the same incident to awake in the audience feelings of sympathy towards Hamlet, who is deeply affected by his father’s death and by finding out that his father was killed by his uncle. By revealing to the audience emotionally charged incidents, Shakespeare manages to manipulate the audience’s sympathies. Shakespeare develops Hamlet’s character in this scene, as his feelings of anger and sorrow are intensified. He expresses that he has had a suspicion about his uncle even before the Ghost could tell him what he did. Following the encounter...
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