Compare the first three scenes of Hamlet and Twelfth Night

When comparing two different Hamlet movies I found that one scene in particular was obviously more different than the others. I compared Columbia pictures 1996 version with Kenneth Branagh playing the role of Hamlet versus BBC’s 2009 Hamlet in which David Tennant played the honorable role of Hamlet. When comparing both movies I found a lot of similarities but there was one major difference when I compared the “To be or not to be” scene. The scenes vary in multiple ways whether it is lighting, focus, camera movements, and even the actors that play Hamlet.

In the play Hamlet Shakespeare teaches us a valuable lesson; namely, not to allow revenge to overcome us. Indeed, one should not be satisfied with a clear-cut division between the good and the bad, the successful and the rejected. Deception can be used as an instrument of convenience and a weapon of destruction leading us to conclude that the mere appearance of things may be deceiving. The murder episode described by Capote is a metaphor of the family’s estrangement. It removes the family from the domain of the reality and realism to transform it by means of the Gothic imagery into a powerful symbol of an average American family (Olsza, 2009). Meanwhile, Hamlet's behaviour becomes more erratic; his acting mad seems to cause Hamlet to become temporarily insane and lose his grip on reality. This proves that acting on psychotic impulses, even at the spur of moments, usually involves disastrous consequences. Hamlet and In Cold Blood are commonly recognized a classic play and a novel of human

William Shakespeare wrote plays that covered the breadth of human experience, which seem to have transcended the restraints of age because they contain universal themes. His body of his work is comprised of genres of plays, which varied from tragedies to comedies.

One must always be weary of the truth because it is quite often manipulated to serve the needs of any person who requires that the truth be on their side. Quite often, the only way to discern the truth from the fiction is by way of a deceptive act, because an act of deception always exposes both its self and the truth to be two quite different things. Nowhere is this more true than in William Shakespeare's, Hamlet. One of the major themes in the play is in fact, deception. This central theme is expressed throughout the play in three major forms: the fear of being deceived, the act of deception, and the ultimate result of the deceptive act. The first facet of the deceptive

William Shakespeare has a knack for creating dramatic suspense and deriving various problems within all of his writes. In Hamlet, we experience this first hand while watching not only the kingdom go up in flames, but Hamlet's mental stability as well. Hamlet claims his sanity is fabricated, created only to make a spectacle of himself, but how do we really know? Shakespeare provides intricate content within this work to allow the reader construct their own thoughts on the Prince’s madness, but shows a more biased explanation, providing that Hamlet has indeed gone mad. The first piece of textual evidence justifying that Hamlet could very well be insane comes from the hints he gives towards his dear friend Horatio.

A lot of people would see insanity and corruption to play the most important role in Hamlet. However, other people may argue that the main theme in Hamlet is Shakespeare’s use of actors and acting and the way it is used as framework on which insanity and corruption are built. Shakespeare demonstrates the theme of actors and acting in his characters, the illusion that the individuals assume and the introduction of the ‘play within a play’. This connection allows certain characters to wield the actions and thoughts of others.

Throughout Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, we follow Hamlet on his course to seek revenge for the death of his father. To do so, he puts on a mask of insanity and people start to question whether it was really only just a mask. He manages to convince even his mother of his act. However through his words, thoughts, and seeing Ophelia’s true breakdown we can see he was truly putting on an act to fulfill his quest of vengeance. When Hamlet speaks with the ghost and hears the tragic news about his father he begins to plots his revenge.

Disguises are used several times to create plot development in Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night. Viola goes in disguise at the beginning of the play from a girl to a boy for the purpose to stay with Duke Orsino. Viola says, “There is fair behaviour in thee Captain;/And though that nature with a beauteous wall / Doth oft close in pollution, yet of thee/ I will believe thou hast a mind that suits/ With this thy fair and outward character. I prithee (and I’ll pay thee bounteously)/Conceal me that I am and be my aid/ For such disguise as haply shall become/ The form of my intent” (Shakespeare 1.2.47-51). As Viola decides to disguise her identity by making herself look like a male worker known as Cesario, she considers the captain’s trustworthiness. She does this because she wants to stay close to Duke Orsino so that he will fall in love with her. Viola speech focuses on the importance of realizing the

In my previous reflection I wrote about Hamlet’s madness being feign to conceal his ulterior agenda of enacting revenge on his stepfather/uncle King Claudius, and in turn fulfilling his father’s entity wish. I further elaborate on how Hamlet believes that in portraying a madman, attention will only be directed towards his socially abnormal antics. I also stated that although Hamlet’s madness across Act Two is feign, Hamlet shows signs of genuine madness. However, throughout Act Four, the blurred line of his feigned or genuine madness has become very apparent. Hamlet has been feigning madness all along.

Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, must seek revenge for the murder of his father. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to murder Claudius. Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes more and more believable in his act, even convincing his mother that he is crazy. However, through his thoughts, and actions, the reader can see that he is in fact putting up an act, he is simply simulating insanity to help fulfil his fathers duty of revenge. Throughout the play, Hamlet shows that he understands real from fake, right from wrong and his enemies from his friends. Even in his madness, he retorts and is clever in his speech and has full

In Hamlet, William Shakespeare depicts Hamlet, a man who is depressed because of the recent death of his father, and Claudius, his uncle and recent stepfather, to portray his themes of betrayal and deception and how in the end, every decision we make comes back to bite us. Hamlet is the character that deceives people the most. He uses his sorrow to make people believe he has gone mad and he creates plans to ensure his own safety against the people around him. Hamlet uses his madness as a defense and coping mechanism to deal with the death of his father, and to deal with the pain that was brought upon him when his mother married his uncle shortly after the death of his father. In this play, the art of deceit is used to find the truth, to protect, and to get revenge on those who have caused pain.

The mystery of Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a phantom of literary debate that has haunted readers throughout the centuries. Hamlet is a complete enigma; a puzzle scholars have tried to piece together since his introduction to the literary world. Throughout the course of Hamlet the reader is constantly striving to rationalize Hamlet’s odd behavior, mostly through the play’s written text. In doing so, many readers mistakenly draw their conclusions based on the surface content of Hamlet’s statements and actions. When drawing into question Hamlet’s actions as well as his reasons for acting, many assume that Hamlet himself is fully aware of his own motives. This assumption in itself produces the very matter in

Throughout the play, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, Hamlet learns the truth of his father’s murder. As the play goes on Hamlet swears to take revenge against his father’s murderer. During the play the theme of appearance vs. reality shows up a lot. Many expressions during the play appear to be honest but in reality they are filled with hatred. Particular characters in the play are Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and King Claudius. Covered by this mask these characters give the appearance of being honest but on the other side of the mask they are polluted with dishonesty.

Deceit and lies are rampant in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet. It can be seen in the characters’ actions and words, as well as what they fail to say and do. It comes in various types of relationships -- between husband and wife, parent and child, siblings, and between lovers. Nearly every character in the play either deliberately spins a web of their own lies, uses another person for their trickery, or is used in another person’s deceitful plot. Each has different motives for their deceit -- to maintain power, to achieve their goals, to attain vengeance, or simply because it is necessary to function in this twisted society -- but all of them face a tragic ending no matter their initial intentions. In this play, deceit is so uncontrolled, intertwined, and multidimensional that it becomes impossible for either the characters or audience to ascertain what is true.

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society,