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Essay about Hamlet

Decent Essays

Hamlet Drama Exam

1)Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy, “Hamlet,” critiques the society of Denmark using powerful mononlogues and dramatic action. On the other hand, Wilde’s comic drama pokes fun at the high morality of Victorian Society. One serious theme that I noticed in “The Importance of being Ernest” was the consistent act of deception throughout the entire play. However this lack of honesty was not lonesome for insightful comedy and a visible foreshadowing of upcoming events accompanied it. Meaning that the play was cleverly written with humor and provided us with an obvious chain of facts that would lead up to us unraveling the end of the play. This play critiques the need to lie or exaggerate the truth, in order to “fit in” …show more content…

This he does by killing Claudius at the end of the play. However it is clear that the theme of vengeance is merely a vehicle used by Shakespeare in order to articulate a whole series of themes central to humanity:

 relationships between father and son, mother and son, and Hamlet and his friends
 love relationships
 power wielding
 madness, feigned madness, dissembling

All these themes, as well as others, are found in Hamlet. However, it is important to remember that Hamlet himself is at the centre of everything, and it is on him that all the great themes are focused. There is no other character in literature so rich, so complex, so enigmatic, at once so opaque and transparent.

3) In plays, characters are developed, in part, by mononlogues, dialogues, and actions. However, characters are also developed be choices made by directors, actors, and set designers. These elements all play into the way that we, as an audience perceive the characters, and the play as a whole. Of course, Shakespeare can live or die on the strength of the cast. Mel Gibson, in the lead, was a very pleasant surprise. I don't mean to put down Gibson with this, as he has been excellent elsewhere before. Yet I was still caught unawares by the strength of his work here: he gives a very empathetic performance that remains coherent despite the Prince's erratic and inscrutable behaviour. Alan Bates and Ian Holm (as

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