B. Written in London, England in the early seventeenth century
C. The play takes place in Denmark during the late medieval age (1300’s-1500’s)
D. From an audience-response perspective, Shakespeare intentionally leaves parts of the play vague. Ophelia’s unclear cause for death, Claudius’ supposed guilt, and Hamlet’s true desire for revenge and just some of the cases where Shakespeare leaves the specifics vague as to allow the audience to formulate their own interpretations. There are small hints regarding the truth behind Shakespeare’s intentions, such as when Gertrude claims that Ophelia’s death was an accident, while providing small details that make the audience ponder whether or not Gertrude witnessed Ophelia’s death and if her death was an accident as Gertrude claims. This leaves the audience questioning the validity of Gertrude’s claims and what really happened to Ophelia. Claudius proclaims his guilt for his brother’s murder; however he is hesitant to recant what he has done for fear of losing his possessions and power. Does Claudius actually feel guilty about murdering his brother since he had not repented for his murder? Hamlet seemingly has a desire to get vengeance for his father, yet he doesn’t act in the name of this revenge quest. It makes the audience question if Hamlet’s true goal is actually vengeance. If it is, why doesn’t he act on it? These questions Shakespeare intentionally leaves open for the audience to make their own interpretations. Through this unique writing style Shakespeare uses, he is allowing for the audience to formulate different, unique ideas regarding the play.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Hamlet has just fought with Gertrude and Claudius, and has decided to stay home, as opposed to going to college. Claudius told Hamlet he was not allowed to go, and Hamlet decided to stay for his mother. The, “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt…” soliloquy reveals the first thoughts of death that Hamlet has within the play. Not much has happened, but the King and Queen are married, and the ghost has been seen. As the first soliloquy, this is the first insight into Hamlet’s state of mind that the audience has.…
- 635 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Hamlet became mad over a course of period as it seems, but Hamlet is only acting. So the question will be does Hamlet want to die before he conquers his revenge on Claudius or will he want to continue on with life? Hamlet becomes very wishy washy with his emotions throughout the play. Sometimes Hamlet is happy and sometimes he is mad, as well as crazy. Claudius is on the hunt to get rid of Hamlet, but little does he know Hamlet could be considering getting rid of himself without the help of Claudius.…
- 383 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Alexander Solzhenitsyn once said “Good literature substitutes for an experience that we ourselves have not lived through.” By this Solzhenitsyn meant that literature often gives us scenarios and conflicts that we might not experience in our lifetime. This is shown through the literary work Hamlet by William Shakespeare. After reading Hamlet I disagree with this quote because authors often exaggerate the truth to make a story more interesting.…
- 463 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
If a sketch was to represent Hamlet and his dynamic personality it would have to be where he is comparing his face to a skull. A picture tells a thousand words is a very famous saying, well the same goes for this one. It relates to him in many ways, first and for most it represents his thought of committing suicide. For instance he starts by saying “to be, or not to be”. Moreover her explains “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause.” This represents his mental state. Furthermore he is not well mentally. Overall, this graphic is a perfect illustration of Hamlet and his…
- 121 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
From the very beginning, the Play shows that Hamlet is not living the life that everyone would expect a prince to live. His father is dead and his uncle conquered Hamlet’s throne, while declaring Gertrude as his property. Also Hamlet and his love Ophelia are told they cannot be together, which truly initiates the Play. Hamlet doesn’t understand why his life turned out this way. He is often confused and doesn’t know why his life seems to be ‘stuck’ in this horrific cycle of unfortunate events, or if there is more to his life, or a greater purpose. “To be or not to…
- 1715 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
Tony Robbins said, “To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others”. Shakespeare’s writing has had many different ways of being presented because people perceive it in different ways. Whether it is a literal representation or a spin, directors like to show viewers the way they perceive the text. In the movie version of Hamlet the director, Kenneth Branagh, wanted the viewers to find Shakespeare interesting and full of action and drama. Kenneth chose the right direction to go in to keep the audience’s attention but it did not show the true tragedy of Hamlet. The story of Hamlet is very depressing because many people are betrayed and die. Hamlet’s own uncle killed his father and married his mother. It is easy to feel sympathy for the characters that had lost people they loved; such as Hamlet and Ophelia but the movie did not show that emotion. The movie was too over the top to really show true emotion. All of the scenes were very dramatic and Hamlet’s character was one that was too overdone. Branagh chose to have Hamlet act extremely crazy but Shakespeare wrote Hamlet’s character as possibly being crazy but the reader does not know for certain. Although Kenneth did make the movie dramatic he did make right choices when showing certain themes such as hatred. He highlighted the hatred that Claudius had toward both Hamlets and he also made it known that Hamlet hated Claudius even though in the play it was not that apparent.…
- 2591 Words
- 11 Pages
Better Essays -
Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet is shot with bright lighting in the 19th-century palace ballroom. Through costuming and lighting, Branagh’s Hamlet immerses the audience. Yet, David Tennant delivers his soliloquy in a dimly lit throne room. The dim lights and simple costuming allow the audience to maintain attention on Hamlet’s internal debate. In both scenes, the costuming, lighting, and camera angles draw in the viewer. Yet, Tennant's Hamlet is able to go a step further and captures the idea that Hamlet is truly debating with himself.…
- 241 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
The twelve lines between the Queen and Hamlet demonstrate a unique use of syntax and a specific tone. Beginning with the Queen’s first words in line 9 and ending with Hamlet’s in line 12, Hamlet’s responses mimic his mother’s in word choice and order, while offering opposite, but certainly insulting, meanings. For example, the Queen states “Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended” only to be countered with Hamlet’s witty attack, “Mother, you have my father much offended”. The parallelism and repetition in these lines (and the two after) add emphasis to Hamlet’s harshness.…
- 320 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The primary function of the first soliloquy is to reveal to the audience Hamlet's profound melancholia and the reasons for his despair. Hamlet explains, with an outpouring of disgust, anger, sorrow, and grief that everything in his world is either futile or contemptible.…
- 529 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Read Act I of the play, then go to the assignment and list at least two examples for each of the language patterns you have found in Act I. Give the scene and line number where you find each example.…
- 403 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In Hamlet, many think of Hamlet as being the main or only tragically flawed character within the play. However, in actuality, the play contains many other characters that possess varying severities of imperfection, some of which put the shortcomings of Hamlet, the title character of Hamlet, to shame. Despite the tragically flawed nature of Hamlet’s character, other characters in the play are clearly more flawed in comparison to Hamlet. As a result of this character’s imperfection, many of the characters within the play Hamlet are considered tragic; however, those in which this trait is predominant are Claudius, Laertes and Gertrude.…
- 1996 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
In the play, Hamlet written by Shakespeare, several central ideas are developed through the course of the play by different literary devices. Hamlet is the main character who had lost his father recently in the beginning of the play. Hamlet’s father was the King of Denmark who then becomes the Ghost. Claudius married Hamlet’s father’s wife and seized the crown. The central ideas; Revenge and Family Ties relate by Family Ties build and give reason to Revenge throughout the play; revenge is developed by foreshadowing while family ties uses diction.…
- 516 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
10. Watch the STREAMED VIDEO of the rehearsal of the ‘Get thee to a nunnery’ scene. What are the main issues the actors and director discuss? Relate their ideas to the Branagh version of III,1, 56-155.…
- 743 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare is a tragic story about a prince named Hamlet attempting to get revenge for his father's murder. As Hamlet only to slowly destroy his life in the process. As Hamlet attempts to get revenge, he ultimately ends up destroying himself and the people around him. But before his death, Hamlet slowly decides what he wants to do with his life. Hamlet goes from thinking the world holds nothing for him but not wanting to kill himself because he fears god in the first Soliloquy, to living to avenge his father if needed in the second Soliloquy, to fearing death in the third Soliloquy. Hamlet slowly decides what he wants to do with his life, through his first three Soliloquies in the play…
- 895 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
It is just that this story which Shakespeare did was very similar to the things that the world has been doing and experiencing right now. The character of Claudius was an example of today’s happening in the political world especially during election period which some political candidates used violence against their opponents just to insure their winning in their chosen position and this was done in the story of Hamlet when Claudius killed King Hamlet just to get the kingdom and Hamlet’s wife. The character of Hamlet, King Hamlet’s son shows how today’s generation show love and how they seek for revenge. In the case that Prince Hamlet fell in love with Ophelia shows how some teenagers has been doing right now because today’s generation when some guy fell in love with a woman they just forget it and don’t take a chance to introduce themselves to the woman and tell what they really felt instead, they make the woman hate them and feel that the two of them are not fit together. This example was just Hamlet did in the character of Ophelia when he rejected the love of Ophelia even though he loved her. Another character that Prince Hamlet also shows is that everyone will seek revenge and will take a vengeance whenever someone hurt someone that is important to that person. This actions was hardly been copied in the real world or situation and it was so frustrating that some people needed it to do. This was sometimes happen in teenagers nowadays, a recently news have been reported and the report was there was a teenager killed inside the school which caused by a “gang war” and this is all happened for sure in the line “bal-san to nato bay” which means they trying to seek for a revenge.…
- 417 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays