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Relationships In Hamlet By Franco Zeffirelli's

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The relationships in ‘Hamlet’ represent the play’s universal themes that resonate through generations due to the ubiquity of human condition. Through the employment of the Senecan revenge tragedy and Machavellian characters, Shakespeare depicts the Elizabethan social climate in Hamlet’s militarised relationship with Claudius as well as Hamlet’s altering disposition towards mortality and madness. Franco Zeffirelli’s artistic choices in his 1990 film adaptation of the play recontextualises the continuity of the themes in line with intrinsic human attitudes. Essentially, the relationships portrayed in the text carry thematic significance in its ability to reflect the motivation and repercussions of human nature and its consistency throughout subsequent …show more content…

Hamlet and Claudius’ antagonism is an outcome of preconceived familial tensions, such as Claudius’ murder of the Old King and Hamlet’s buried impressions of Claudius preempting the throne, which consequently accelerate their own demise in the denouement. Hamlet embodies his hostility in comparing his late father with Claudius in the metaphorical juxtaposition “Hyperion to a satyr”. Marcellus foreshadows the corruption within the country’s royalty in “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, with the synecdoche furthering Hamlet’s association of Claudius as the king with country. Hamlet’s contentious disposition towards Claudius is encompassed in the militarised language “slings and arrows” to condemn Claudius’ “outrageous fortune” of having usurped the throne, although due to Hamlet’s deep-seated desires of becoming King. According to the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, Hamlet had “the repressed wishes of his own childhood realised” through experiencing the consequences of Claudius’ schemes - the loss of not only a father but a place in the throne - therefore instigating his hesitant pursuit of revenge. Regardless of their conflicting roles as hero and nemesis, both Claudius and Hamlet develop into the Machavellian character archetype from 16th century Italian novellas as they are both cunning and participate in craftful murders and espionage, mirroring the surveillance in Elizabethan royalty. Both characters continue to antagonise each other until the resolution, with Claudius’ hubris in his schemes resulting in his death and Hamlet’s hamartia contributing to other tragedies besides his own. Hamlet’s relationship with Claudius ultimately epitomise the themes of uncertainty to advance the longevity of the play throughout many

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