Why Is Humour Important In Hamlet

          By the beginning of Act III, Hamlet is almost ready to kill Claudius, but he still needs more proof that Claudius killed his father, and he also wants to put off the murder because he is a bit of a coward.  Claudius is beginning to lose his composure.  Hamlet decides to set a trap for him in the form of a play.  The subject of the play is the murder of a king by his brother who, in turn, marries the king's wife.  The plot of the play is strikingly similar to the circumstances of King Hamlet's murder, which strikes a disharmonious chord in the conscience of Claudius.  In the middle of the play during the murder scene, Claudius gets up and begs for the play to stop so that he can get some air.  Hamlet is very angered by this because it confirms that Claudius did kill his father.  Later that night, Claudius prays to god to forgive him for his

Another interesting thing that happens at this part of the play is that the Player King unintentionally refers to Hamlet’s inaction:

While Hamlet and Polonius where both in the library Polonius approached Hamlet asking if he knew who he was Hamlet responded by saying, “You are a fishmonger”(2.2.166). Polonius took Hamlets bait not knowing that is was all apart of his plan to prove he is mentally off. Hamlet’s main reason to blatantly offend Polonius is to figure out if he was in on the murder of his dad. All while using an offensive wordplay to confuse Polonius. As the play goes on Hamlet becomes braver and braver with his offensive puns. While Hamlet’s play was being acted out King Claudius ask for the name of the play Hamlet replies saying, “The Mousetrap” (3.2.221). This Is a very risky thing to say, especially to King Claudius. King Claudius however was outwitted by one of Hamlet yet again. The reasoning for Hamlet to be so blunt is, he wanted King Claudius to figure out Hamlet knows he killed his father in cold blood. Hamlet doesn’t use offensive wordplay like he uses defensive wordplay. Hamlets wants to prove something when he uses offensive wordplay

Throughout the play, Hamlet’s character is characterized both by periods of extreme caution and moments of impulsivity. One of the best examples of Hamlet’s heed can be found in Act 2, Scene 2 where he decides to have his theatre troupe perform his play, The Mousetrap. With this, Hamlet hopes that he will be able to “catch the conscience of the King,” by monitoring Claudius during the performance, that heavily mimics his murder of his brother, for signs of stress and guilt. While Hamlet was fully capable of bypassing this step by simply adhering to what he believes is the ghost of his father, Hamlet’s decision to unearth some sort of evidence that supports his father’s accusations is just one example of his cautious ways and need for certainty before action. However, such displays of caution find themselves juxtaposed with Hamlet’s bouts of impulsivity. One of the most telling illustrations of Hamlet’s rashness can be found in Act One, Scene Five, where he first conversing with the ghost of his father. Here, when the Ghost asks Hamlet to “revenge his foul and most unnatural murder,” Hamlet immediately agrees. In fact, within the next few lines Hamlet pledges he will “sweep to my revenge” with “wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love”. The fact that Hamlet coins this commitment to avenge his father’s murder without making much of any consideration of the possible repercussions of such an undertaking is one of the best representations of Hamlet’s impulsivity. This rash action, marked by a lack of extended over-analysis and internal debate, contrasts with the excessive caution Hamlet exhibits at many other points throughout the play. Ultimately, the interplay between Hamlet’s caution and impulsivity is one of the most notable juxtapositions of the play and serves to strongly steer the development, not only of

How does the use of comic relief best contrast the tragedy of Hamlet? In great works of literature a comic relief is used as contrast to a serious scene to intensify the overall tragic nature of the play or to relieve tension. As illustrated in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, intense scenes are joined with character’s banter and vacuous actions as to add a comic relief. In Hamlet, Polonius acts as a comic relief by his dull and windy personality, Hamlet uses his intelligence and his negativity toward the king and queen to create humor, while on the other hand Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a comic relief by their senseless actions and naïve natures. Polonius, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are all used as a comic relief to

Susan Snyder once said that comedy is “the ground from which, or against which, tragedy develops… comedy and tragedy function as polar opposites, or as two sides of the same coin.” (Snyder. Print). The prototypical comic clash between blocking father and youthful beaus, which underlies the activities of numerous Shakespearean comedies, illuminates one strand of the activity of Hamlet: the relationship between Polonius, Ophelia and the Prince. Also unmistakable in different tragedies, such as Romeo and Juliet and

Claudius has experienced failed and successful perception that has left massive impacts in his life. An example of how failed perception caused suffering happens when Claudius attends the play, “The Murder of Gonzago”, where Hamlet jokingly calls “The Mouse-Trap” and fails to see it as a trap Hamlet has staged for him. Hamlet has set up the play to receive a reaction from Claudius therefore confirming he was the one who murdered Old King Hamlet, his own brother. Due to this failed perception of the play’s true intentions, Claudius seems to be quite upset about the play

Shakespeare uses humor in Hamlet to distract from the tragedies and dark plot turns throughout the play. Shakespeare puts these comedy scenes either directly before or directly after a scene of great intensity. He used these comic reliefs as a break for the audience; Shakespeare knew that this was almost overwhelmingly emotion to the audience. There’s only so much intensity that his audiences could take, after every death or emotional tragedy there has to be some sort of humor to allow the audience to relax for a little bit. Normally in a tragedy there’s a minimum of five people who die. In hamlet there’s many more that, this is a major reason of why Shakespeare uses comic relief in this story. The gravedigger scene is one of the best

-Shakespeare employs dramatic irony in many of his tragedies, so that the audience is engaged, and so they are able to witness characters errors in their action, predict the fate of the characters, and experience feelings of tragedy and grief.

Eric Bentley said that a Tragedy is dependent on comedy. Comic relief is used in tragedies to change the atmosphere of the reader, who is constantly focusing on the death and corruption of a tragedy. If a play were full of the death and sorrow, as in tragedies, it would make the reader very depressed and not like the play. Some examples of this in Hamlet, are in the Gravedigger Scene, Talking to the Skull and the Throwing of the book.

  Well aware that several hours of unrelenting angst would be a bit much for his audience to take, William Shakespeare strategically placed several humorous scenes throughout his masterpiece, Hamlet.  In particular, the character of Polonius fills the role of the comic fool; he is in two essential comedic scenes, one with his own children and then one with Hamlet.  Shakespeare's acute ability to weave humor into this very heavy play is noteworthy, as his use of comedy goes beyond merely providing much-needed comic relief.   In fact, the rather numerous comedic scenes serve as a foils to, as well as reflections of, the intense action of the play.   In every case where humor is used in Hamlet, it is

In the play Twelfth Night, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to develop the comedic effect in the characters relationships. The use of dramatic irony produces most of the comedic effect by revealing situations and relationships to the audience, but not the cast. Developing the plot with this literary device provides comedic and ironic situations while engaging the audience.

How does humor factor into a tragedy? Shakespeare knew the answer to this question and acted upon it quite frequently. Shakespeare has been known to write comedies and tragedies both but this does not qualify him at to not incorporate a little of each into each other. In the work of Hamlet there are many occasions where Shakespeare uses it for different effects. The main reason for the presence of humor within a tragedy is to keep the reader interested. Shakespeare uses many forms of humor including but not limiting wit, pun’s, and casual jokes. In the work of Hamlet, Hamlet is usually the character that Shakespeare chooses to bring out the humor in anything. He becomes a very

     This essay will discuss the issue of irony in Hamlet by dealing with the problems that arise as a result of Hamlet's attempt to avenge his father's death. One of the central problems is the clash between Hamlet's overpowering need to believe in the ghost of his father, who is the authoritative figure in his life, and the awareness that he lacks empirical knowledge of the truth. In trying to achieve this knowledge, Hamlet sets out on a mixed mission of accusation, revenge and the search for truth, finally causing the upset of the original revenge plot when it ricochets off Polonius' dead body and hits Hamlet in the name of Laertes.

Metatheatre is a theatrical device that has been frequently applied to by playwrights in order to provide their works with a greater richness and in a sense, complexity. One example of the use of this device is found in William Shakespeare´s Hamlet. The use of this resource served him not only as a weapon to teach the audience a moral lesson, but thanks to it, he was also able to raise fundamental questions about the nature of life and the human being. We cannot deny that one of the main plots of the play is built around theatre within theatre. Hamlet uses it in order to demonstrate the culpability of his uncle, the king Claudius.