...Trust is an issue that is often problemcatic. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the character Hamlet trusts only a small number of people. He hides his real personality and opinions from his friends and family. Hamlet, to fool others, often changes his character. He questions the loyalty of his friends and family. In the play, friends and family cannot be trusted. Hamlet does not trust those who are close to him because of the numerous betrayals from his family and friends. Hamlet is unable to trust others due to the fact that his family and friends are willing to betray him. When Hamlet’s mother remarries, he speaks of how he feels he has been betrayed by his mother: “‘By what it fed on, and yet within a month – Let me not think on’t; frailty, thy name is woman! … Would have mourn’d longer, - married with my uncle, My father’s brother, but no more like my father … With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to good; But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue!’” (Act I scene II, 145 – 159.) Hamlet feels betrayed by his mom because of her marriage to his uncle, but he cannot voice his opinion to her. Along with his feelings of betrayal, he feels angry about her quick decision to marry again. He links her quick remarriage with her inability to control her sexual desires. He is furious at the fact that his mother prefers instant pleasure over love, and feels that his...
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...Fear is an emotion normally every person feels when their mind or body reacts to a subconscious sense of danger. When fearful times come, courage or bravery to act in a situation are abilities most people lack. The way people decide whether to act or not in situations determine their character or personality. Those who hide behind their inaction and lack courage are considered cowards. In the same way as others who do not have the ability to take action in a state of fear, Hamlet is a character in Hamlet who can relate. Hamlet continually shows signs of fear and inaction. He lacks courage to act on opportunities where he can resolve his problems that scare and confuse him. His emotions and indecisive attitude take over his...
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...In Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, Hamlet, there are several sets of foil characters. The foils, similar but different to their more prominent counterparts, highlight the worse and the better in those characters. The most obvious foil would, of course, be Laertes to Hamlet--they have different views and sides, but are both violent men who seek revenge for their fathers’ murders. However, there are also foils within the side characters: in this case, we see Horatio, a devoted servant and companion to Hamlet, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, hands for the opposing side. Just as with any foils, they have clear differences, but are quite similar in their roles. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern act as a foil to Horatio in their role as the corrupt version...
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...Hamlet, is considered one of the greatest achievements for William Shakespeare. The play is filled with many conflicts between each other’s different personalities; all wanting power and victory. Betrayal, in Hamlet is surrounding everyone with the air they breathe in Denmark. Hamlet shows the theme of betrayal out of the these three characters: Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet. Ophelia has taken her own life over a man who has betrayed her. When Ophelia’s father, Polonius forces her to hand him the love letters Hamlet has sent to her, right then and there Hamlet thinks she has betrayed him for doing that act. But in reality Polonius has betrayed his own daughter, because of going their her own personal belongings. Hamlet starts rumors...
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...are the foundations for the most engaging moments in Hamlet. Consider YOUR understanding of Hamlet and how this statement affirms or challenges YOUR response to the play. The most engaging moments within Hamlet have been founded by the inevitable tensions encountered between the individual and society. Hamlet explores the tragic consequences of attempting to unite the two opposing forces of personal morality and societal corruption. The deception and political corruption within Denmark has detrimental effects upon an individual’s sense of self. Due to the corruption of the society around him, Hamlet’s values of integrity, loyalty, trust and honesty are destabilised, thus showing the vulnerability of the human character. Hamlet is a universal play as it transcends through both time and context with Hamlet resinating with modern audiences due to Hamlet’s confusion, he faces a struggle when asserting his morality against the disease and deceit inherent in Denmark. Shakespeare’s exploration of Hamlet’s consciousness of his own mortality and questions of his identity haunting him throughout the play lead to his inevitable death at the closing of the play. Hamlet’s loss of identity is due to his mother’s incestuous relationship with Claudius and also by the death of his father, a man he saw as an idol, with his distress and grief being demonstrated through his actions and the response of characters towards his actions. Hamlet explains to Claudius and Gertrude “together with all...
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...relationship and treatment by her father and others. Ophelia was climbing a tree branch and her weight caused the branch to snap, sending her into the river. Like this terrible accident, she was given a father who controlled her every move. He is like the river, soaking, “her garmets, heavy with their drink, pulld (ing) the poor wretch from her melodious lay to muddy death” (Hamlet IV.7.166-183). As the river engulfed her body and pressed her down to the bottom, her father and Hamlet were filling her with madness to the point of breaking. Her father dressed her in the court garmets that weighed her down and forced her to be apart of the court. She was never meant to be apart of the court and...
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...desires can be met. “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” “The Tragedy of Orthello, the Moor of Venice,” and “Macbeth” all consist of characters that are not what they appear to be. In the plays Claudius, Iago, and Macbeth present to the public a wholesome image; however, each of them possess a hidden agenda that creates chaos in the plays which one can observe through their spoken lines and their influences. These three characters are antagonists who cause demise in their respective plays. These villains are willing to fight for what they want, even if the death and destruction total is high. Claudius, Iago, and Macbeth will not be undermined at all. These plays illustrate how much planning and work takes place when they plan their attacks against those who are oblivious to their deceit. Shakespeare’s evil doers are not simple people. Claudius’s character in “Hamlet” epitomizes what extent people go to, so their plans work as they intend. For example, King Claudius’s speech to the council and a few other people in Act I, scene ii seems to be a normal speech one would give after the death of a ruler to rally everyone together. He says, “To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom/ To be contracted in one brow of woe,/ Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature/ That we with wisest sorrow think on him/ Together with remembrance of ourselves” (Act I, lines 3-7). This speech leaves everyone unsuspecting of King Claudius’s foul ways, except Hamlet. They are unaware...
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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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...the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, are willing to use any means of trickery to selfishly fulfill their own quota, even if that means abusing the trust of others. Presentation in terms of physique, actions, and words; twisted or unspoken, are all methods taken by the characters no matter the consequence for self-satisfaction. Physical appearance is used to make one look a certain way to prove something. Even when there is physical proof of one’s feelings, it does not reflect what is truly felt. When Hamlet is questioned...
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...Obedience and compliance were desirable traits, and Ophelia assumed that and here love and devotion to Hamlet would secure a happily ever after. But, unfortunately, her exceptional obedience would be her downfall. Ophelia is found betraying her one true love, Hamlet, by merely obeying her father, Polonius, and king Claudius, who believe that Hamlet has gone mad. Polonius seemed to bear a grudge against Hamlet, which should have been a signal to Ophelia that something was amiss. But being the good daughter, she did as she was told when Polonius instructed Ophelia not to ever speak to Hamlet again. When Hamlet comes running into her room looking like he has just seen a ghost, which in fact he has, and she does not say a word to him. She just looks at him like he is crazy and watches him go out the door without saying a word. Hamlet feels betrayed by his love for her and lack of response to his distress. She obeyed her father and did not speak to him, even when he looked like he had gone through something very terrible. Ophelia agreed to Polonius’s schemes to spy on Hamlet, even when it went against her feelings for Hamlet. The second thing that Ophelia does, which causes her to lose Hamlet's trust, is set up a plan with Claudius and Polonius to see if Hamlet is crazy and if Ophelia is the reason for his insanity. The king and Polonius hide while Ophelia is told to find Hamlet where he normally walks around and find out if he is insane and what has made him that way. Ophelia...
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...person either does not know what they are doing, or they do not understand what they are doing is wrong. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character, Prince Hamlet, displays erratic behavior; however, he is not insane. Hamlet describes what he is doing to multiple characters, showing that he understands what he is doing, only acts mad around certain characters, demonstrating that he has enough of a grasp on reality that he can act normal when he wishes, and his actions do not parallel the madness of another character, Ophelia, who is clearly genuinely insane. The idea of insanity lends itself to the lack of ability to articulate the logic behind one’s actions; however, Hamlet is fully capable of...
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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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...In The Lion King, Minkoff and Allers present a clear difference between good and evil, whereas Shakespeare’s depiction of good and evil character in Hamlet is not so clear. The characters in The Lion King are categorised almost immediately in the orientation of the film, with the image of the characters giving the audience a clear picture of who the suspected betrayer is. However in the play Hamlet it’s a lot more difficult to label the characters as good or evil, the audience cannot be certain that Claudius is evil until the climax when he reacts to the play organised by Hamlet. There is a clear distinction between good and bad in The Lion King, this makes the audience highly suspect scar’s future betrayal of Mufasa and Simba. While in Hamlet we can never be sure about which characters to trust, as it’s difficult to ascertain whether Claudius is guilty for Hamlet’s (King) death because of his overly normal personality and lack in signs of guilt and worriedness. This indicates to the audience that Claudius is a calm and logical person, while it is then young Hamlet that is viewed to be untrustworthy due to his constant displays of madness. In The Lion King Scar is depleted as a skinny full grown adult male lion with a black mane, green eyes and a brown dark dirty fur complexion. Scars description connotes that he’s an unusual lion, most likely evil and unable to be trusted. Certain traits and events in The Lion King sets upon the audience that scar is evil, an example of...
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... | |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 his |Died at the end by a poison...
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...Hamlet Journal (1) Act 1, Scene 5, line 32 Ghost: I find thee apt, And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, Wouldst thou not stir in this. 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. (2) Paraphrase: a. The ghost is glad that Hamlet is so excited about revenging the father’s death. The ghost explained how his death was meant to look and that his death was a lie. Then the ghost informed Hamlet who was responsible for his death. Hamlet’s uncle is the one who murdered his father. (3) My comments b. I think that this is the start of the book; before this the book was just getting you use to the characters. When the ghost appears to Hamlet he is eager to get revenge for his father’s death. But when the ghost tells Hamlet that his uncle is the one who kills him; I feel like when this is revealed it took the story to a new level. First your father just died, your mom married your uncle and now all of a sudden a ghost appears to tell you that his death was a lie. On top of it being a lie, the person who did it was your uncle. I think this is going to make Hamlet lose control over him. He will either go into a deep depression or he is going to be so angry and not be able to control himself...
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