With every good story, there must be reason to the madness. With every great story, the audience is left to question their own thoughts over time. But what really makes a story great? Is it love and good will throughout where in the end nearly everyone is happy and all is well? Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night, or What You Will is an example of exactly this happy ending story. Or is it the taboo and transgressions of a story’s characters that make it great? Such as in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet; the deceitful actions of betrayal, death and incestuous behavior of the characters certainly leave the audience asking question far after the play has ended. What is the meaning? (Beha BR18) The characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet are very diverse in personality and in their roles. Herein lie the questions: How do the characters differ and how do their roles impact others and ultimately affect the play?
“Frailty, thy name is woman!” (Branagh 1996) Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, has much love for his mother, Queen Gertrude, and within the emotion of his anguish over the untimely death of his father, his frustration builds with tumultuous peaks and valleys in a sea of confusion. Shakespeare creates her character as the antithesis of her son, Hamlet. Hamlet has great intellect, is a scholar and a student of philosophy at the University of Wittenberg. A conscientious and loyal soul has Hamlet, he longs for the answers of life’s most elusive of questions. Queen Gertrude is shallow,
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.
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.
Trevor Nunn’s (1996) adaptation of Twelfth Night illustrates the complexity of Feste’s character and how important he is to the overall play. Ben Kingsley, the actor, presents Feste as sympathetic and gentle choric figure. It is Feste who allows the audience to see the films respect for the original play, and the existing issues within it. This includes the defencelessness of women, and the attractive, but dangerous, qualities of altering one’s true sexual identity. Interestingly, unlike the original script, Nunn opens his first scene with Feste observing Viola struggle to shore after the shipwreck she has experienced. In this context, Kingsley’s Feste is revealed for the first time. He is shown as a mysterious and isolated individual, who
“Though she be but little, she is fierce!” With this statement, William Shakespeare’s character, Helena, depicts Hermia in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream. I, conversely, will use this statement to introduce the country of Luxembourg. The Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook affirms that Luxembourg is located in Western Europe and is geographically landlocked, as it is bordered by the countries France, Belgium, and Germany (The World Factbook). The Encyclopedia of the Nations states that Luxembourg is one of the smallest nations in the world with an area of 2,586 sq km, which is slightly smaller than Rhode Island- the smallest state in size of the United States of America (Encyclopedia of the Nations). The World
A character so complex, enticing and fascinating, his name is Hamlet. We are all Hamlet, and that, is the argument. Hamlet is an enigmatic character with many flaws. These flaws are the ones that prove similarities between us and him. A play so popular and significant is due to its huge relevance to us as a society. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s character and metaphor to demonstrate that when one is left alone to their thoughts, these thoughts overtake reason. Consequently, people must find peace and quiet in their ability to avert such dark thoughts.
Hamlet is not only considered Shakespeare’s greatest works, but also arguably the greatest work in all of English literature. Hamlet is brimming with universal themes concerning women’s sexuality, death of loved ones, and the yearn for revenge, all of which are as relevant to twenty-first century readers as they were with sixteenth-century readers. Ambiguity also plays an important role in the success of Hamlet. Readers are left to make their own decisions on certain matters, which allows them to mold Hamlet and its meaning into their own interpretations. The multitude of interpretations of Hamlet also sparks debates among readers, which hinders the story’s irrelevance.
Throughout the twelfth night a play by William Shakespeare, the author conveys the theme of impulsive decisions
Hamlet..? We all know, and have heard of the great play, and book of the famous tragedy that was made by Shakespeare. Some debate to see the story as a good piece of art to something that teaches and also reveals some traits that people have. When we all think of hamlet I believe we think of a crazy time were a king was killed for a throne, and it just so happens to be the death of a king who had an insane family, but there is so much more to it then that. Hamlet is a bunch of things when I look at it. What I see is a time and place were the actions of people were expressed in a way that the world is not perfect. We see this royal family with deep family disfunction, distrust and mistrust within each other, and just straight up corruption. People need to understand that this play holds deadly truths and lies, but also a handful of passion, sadness, and the need of love. But sometimes love can come with piece.
The play ‘Hamlet’ was written during a frenzied time for England; caused by ‘The plague’ and poverty. Using his understanding of humanity, William Shakespeare, entertained the people by showing friendship, love, honor, loyalty, and as well as power. Shakespeare's play ‘Hamlet’ is meant to show the importance of monarchy and insecurity which leads to the theme that anything can happen to anyone at anytime. In act 1 scene 1, William Shakespeare, uses several dramatical devices in order to manipulate the moods, behavior and attitude of his audiences toward the play. For example, by using the one-dimensional characters, Shakespeare has entertainingly delivered the background information to his audience.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, in spite of his mother, Hamlet goes so far as to label all women as substantial when he declares “Frailty, thy name is woman” (1.2.11). Her actions play an enormous role in Hamlet; however, Gertrude’s actions alone did not cause Hamlet to act irrationally. After hearing from the ghost claiming to be his father and giving him a task to complete, the chaos of the mission puts Hamlet into a frenzy. The underhanded murder of Hamlet’s beloved father, the disreputable remarriage of Queen Gertrude, and the deception of his so called friends, further pushes Hamlet into a depressed state.
“Then you are mad indeed, if you be no better in your wits than a
William Shakespeare was a very talented man known for his various works of literature. His works include poems, plays, and sonnets. His works are then broken down into tragedies, comedies, and histories. Shakespeare left this world centuries ago, but his writings continue to live throughout the world today. He has greatly impacted the world of literature and his existence will forever be remembered.
INTRODUCTION Hamlet play is one of the most honored best known, most analyzed work by great English writer William Shakespeare, which has been studied by many scholars. Hamlet is a play rich in incident and possesses a complex plot, with not only subsidiary action, but also a play with in a play. There is a great deal of suspense and a fair amount of sensational matter. There are elements like supernatural visitation, incestuous marriage, and feigned madness.
Hamlet one of the most famous plays written by Shakespeare. It has some of the most famously quoted lines such as, “frailty thy name is women”, or “to be or not to be.” Kenneth Branagh adapted the play into a film. The film is a four hour unabridged version of the play. It has some great actors and actresses such as, Derek Jacobi and, Julie Christie and Kenneth Branagh who is the director. He also play the role of Hamlet in the film.
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a play with themes that parallel the folly of the festival it is named after. The main storyline of the plot plays on this a lot by mixing up the stereotypes around gender that were very present at the time. However, a sub-plot involving secondary characters defines this theme even more. It takes the idea even further by relating servants’ attempts to blur the lines between social classes. Twelfth Night’s Maria and Malvolio both have great aspirations to rise above their social class. However, Maria succeeds where Malvolio fails because of her capability to make use of the satiric ambiance of her mistress’s household to achieve her goals.