The Tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare Essay

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is a timeless play which continues to remain relevant across all generations due to its presentation of ideas that are fundamental to humanity. The play highlights aspects that relate to the society of not only Elizabethan England but also that of our modern society. Hamlet, as a character, considers ideas from outside his time and is somewhat relatable to modern day man. By drawing from ideas of archetypes and the human psyche, it reveals that Hamlet relates deeply to the elements of humanity.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is laden with tragedy from the start, and this adversity is reflected in the title character. Being informed of his father’s murder and the appalling circumstances surrounding the crime, Hamlet is given the emotionally taxing task of avenging his death. It is clear that having to complete this grim undertaking takes its toll on Hamlet emotionally. Beginning as a seemingly contemplative and sensitive character, we observe Hamlet grow increasingly depressed and deranged as the play wears on. Hamlet is so determined to make his father proud that he allows the job on hand to completely consume him. We realize that Hamlet has a tendency to mull and ponder excessively, which causes the notorious delays of action

One of the best known pieces of literature throughout the world, Hamlet is also granted a position of excellence as a work of art. One of the elements which makes this play one of such prestige is the manner in which the story unfolds. Throughout time, Shakespeare has been renowned for writing excellent superlative opening scenes for his plays. By reviewing Act 1, Scene 1 of Hamlet, the reader is able to establish a clear understanding of events to come. This scene effectively sets a strong mood for the events to come, gives important background information, and introduces the main characters. With the use of this information, it is simple to see how Shakespeare manages to create stories with such everlasting appeal.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are comic reliefs by acting as the fool in the play Hamlet. The duo’s ignorant nature are picked at by Hamlet’s sharp toungue through the play, intensifying it’s ultimate tragic nature. One example is in act two scene two of Hamlet, when Hamlet is questioning Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about the reason they are at the castle. Hamlet offsets Humor in these scenes by his choice of words. Hamlet puts the pressure on the duo and Rosencrantz in an aside to Guildenstern asks what excuse they should make to Hamlet while the whole time Hamlet is aware of their conversation. “(to Guildenstern) What

Hamlet is a suspenseful play that introduces the topic of tragedy. Throughout the play, Hamlet displays anger, uncertainty, and obsession with death. Although Hamlet is unaware of it, these emotions cause the mishaps that occur throughout the play. These emotions combined with his unawareness are the leading basis for the tragic hero’s flaws. These flaws lead Hamlet not to be a bad man, but a regular form of imperfection that comes along with being human.

Hamlet is categorized as one of the greatest plays ever written. In the play the main character Prince Hamlet has a very complicated character. As the play goes along Hamlet displays a wide range of emotions through his actions and his words. With doing this, it creates controversy amongst the critics and readers of the play. They find it difficult to come to a conclusion of whether Hamlet 's “madness” is sincere or if he is simply a fake. However there is evidence in order to support one side of this debate. The answer simply lies in the actor 's performance. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, it is clearly evident Prince Hamlet is feigning madness in an effort to outsmart his enemies and avenge his father’s murder.

Far too often we see men and women with noble causes lose their motive because of their emotional behavior. Their emotions cause them to lose track. We see no finer example of a man with a noble cause whose emotions cause him to lose sight of his noble cause: the character of Laertes in the play Hamlet. Laertes has a vendetta against Hamlet for killing his father. Although Laertes meant well in avenging his father’s death, his emotional behavior overtook him in the process. If we look at other characters in the play, we find a similar struggle between a noble goal and one’s emotions. Hamlet fights the same battle as Laertes does; however, Hamlet is better able to control his emotions. To maintain a noble goal without faltering,

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a work of art so prolific that many consider it as one of the best tragedies ever written in the history of literature, in which ideas and motifs of sickness and decay embed the entire plot of the story. Each unique character then conveys these ideas by the way they converse with other characters, their actions, and their use of figurative language. These create a unominous tone that is carried throughout the story, which helps the audience in fully grasping Hamlet’s truest emotions. These also help the reader know each character as well as to understand the how the figurative elements of the play translate to real life circumstances. From the start of the play, Shakespeare establishes a tone of uncertainty and

A major controversy that has divided the literature community for hundreds of years is the debate of whether Hamlet, in William Shakespeare’s well known tragedy, Hamlet, is feigning madness or is actually mad. It can be proven though textual evidence that Hamlet is not mad but is disgusted by life because he cannot overcome his innocence which disjoints Denmark. This disgust has been created by uncertainty and changes which have changed the innocent view of the world into one of which includes experience. Hamlet, however, does not want to see the many shades of gray in the world; he wants to see the world in black and white, so he knows the absolute right from wrong. His disgust towards life can be seen thorough his interactions between Gertrude,

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a compelling story filled with suffering, revenge, and manipulation. While these are all aspects that come together to create a memorable and thought-provoking play, they also result in the downfall of various characters. With these unfortunate individuals, Shakespeare shows that it is not necessarily one’s actions, but their situation that decides whether they lose it all. In this play, the victims’ suffering is not their own doing, but instead it is caused by the situations they were manipulated into by other individuals. Ophelia, Gertrude, and even Hamlet himself are all victims that have these sorts of situations imposed on them by characters who mean only to benefit themselves.

Dramatic irony in the Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet has long been the subject matter of literary critical reviews. This essay will exemplify and elaborate on the irony in the play.

He tells Hamlet of his murder by his brother who is now married to his

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as Hamlet questions whether to take the initiative and act, or take a more passive approach, in regards to the situation of his father’s murder, his uncle’s reign over Denmark, and his mother’s remarriage, his thought process changes as he seeks moral truth and nobility. After the ghost of his father has revealed to Hamlet that it was his uncle Claudius who murdered him and commands Hamlet to avenge his death by killing Claudius, Hamlet is left with an internal struggle as he considers both his morality and his duty as the rightful heir to the throne to not only honor is father by avenging his death, but also his duty to the people of Denmark. Hamlet, therefore, whose “noble mind” desires to do right, faces the dilemma of achieving retributive justice without sacrificing the morality of his soul. As his thought processes develops throughout the course of the play, Hamlet’s contemplative and reflective nature is revealed by his tendency to evade action by concerning himself with factual, spiritual, and moral knowledge. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet’s first soliloquy, fourth soliloquy, and speech with Horatio offer insight into his logical thought process as he debates his current circumstances and contemplates what course of action would not only solve his problem concerning Claudius, but would also be the most noble and moral.

This essay will discuss several literary criticisms of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. After skimming through several articles, I ended up with four peer-reviewed journal articles, each a different critical perspectives of the play: feminist, psychoanalytical/freudian, moral, and new historicism. My previous studies of Hamlet, as well as my rereading of the play this semester, has collectively given me a general knowledge of the text. My familiarity of the play made it easier for me to decipher the academic journals and see the connections each critic made with the play.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the world’s most renowned plays, one which has stood the test of time over the course of 400 years, finding relevance even today. A complex and sophisticated work, Hamlet is a masterful weaving of the myriad of components that make up the human experience; it delicately touches upon such topics as death, romance, vengeance, and mania, among several others. Being so intricate and involuted, Hamlet has been interpreted in countless fashions since its conception, with each reader construing it through their own subjectivity. Some of the most popular and accredited methods of analyzing the work are the Traditional Revenge Tragedy, Existentialist, Psychoanalytic, Romantic, and Act of Mourning approaches.