Throughout the scene Claudius depicts a personality that evaluates situations and makes choices out of desire without much concern for consequence. Although Claudius does show a little bit of concern for consequence, he generally acts from an “inner-child” psyche. In the scene, Claudius plots with Laertes and acts quickly out of a sense of DESIRE and makes a plan to kill Hamlet. Demonstrated in the lines; “A sword unbated, and in a pass of practice, Requite him for your father.” (4.7.137 - 140) And “I will do’t. And for that purpose I’ll anoint my sword. I bought unction of a mountebank, So mortal that, but dip a knife in it, Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare, Collected from all simples that have virtue Under the moon, can save the thing from death That is but scratched withal. I’ll touch my point With this contagion, that if I gall him slightly It may be death.” (4.7. 140 - 145). In these lines, Claudius and Laertes plan to kill hamlet by sharpening a fencing blade and dousing it with a poison that will cripple upon contact. This is clearly a representation of a psyche that acts rapidly out of an intense sense of desire.…
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet himself is a difficult character to figure out. With his elegant intensity and reckless but cautious attitude, he is able to keep his readers entertained as the play progresses. Through his irrational decisions, emotional madness and admirable qualities, Hamlet becomes a character with whom readers will continuously empathize. Our first impression of Hamlet sets the tone for the entire play. We are brought to one of the beginning scenes where Hamlet is…
Many playwrights utilize foils to assist the audience in deeply understanding the meaning of a play or the motivations of the characters . Foils are minor characters that have similarities or differences with a major character. Often the minor character is in the play so that the major character has someone to speak with. The similarities between the foil and the major are typically gender, same social class, or being in the same situation. The differences between the two may be an important aspect in their character. In his play Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the Ghost, Laertes, and to foil Prince Hamlet and help define his character for different points.…
The following are journal entries for our reading of Hamlet. Each entry should be completed after we have finished reading and/or viewing that scene in class. The purpose is to prepare you for class discussion; therefore, you should have something written for each entry before we discuss it in class (even if it’s only a question). See Ms. M with questions ahead of time – don’t expect to be given answers in class! Be sure to cite textual evidence to support all your answers – remember to record act, scene and line numbers.…
Your Hamlet final exam will be on Thursday of this week. You will need to study the following terms, ideas, and themes. You will be expected to answer multiple choice questions, essay questions, and short answer questions. Shakespearian Drama…
In spite of the fact that the plot evokes the implication that it occurred between the close of 16th century and the start of the 17th century, Shakespeare’s Hamlet surpasses the constraints of time and muses upon both the primitive and contemporary man. In the late 16th century in England, people of all classes on the social echelon, with the exception of royals, were able to publicly eyewitness theatre. Audiences craved new plays to assuage their appetites. One of numerous dramatists that capitalized this abundance of opportunity was Shakespeare. Opposed to the modern time, audiences spectated the play to hear it rather than see it. The articulation of the lines and significance of how the story was recited was crucial…
Understandably, the intense relationship between Hamlet and his uncle is not a sturdy bond, even before Hamlet learnt of his father’s murder, and before Claudius began to fear for his safety. It is believed that Hamlet’s distrust and dislike towards Claudius sprung from his mothers “o’erhasty marriage” 2.2.57 and would certainly be the origins of Hamlet’s suspicions. The best scene in which to view the relationship of Hamlet and Claudius would be Scene 3 of Act 4, where Claudius confronts Hamlet about the murder of Polonius.…
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.…
The play Hamlet is without a doubt an odd story to read based on what society today has become accustomed to. A brother killing another brother, and then marrying his wife. It is not a typical story in the modern world today. There is a vast variety of different themes that can be traced throughout the play, however the most popular is madness and sanity. Madness and sanity shape the play into what it is, without madness and sanity the play would have no life. Certain actions would not occur, certain events would not occur, and certain statements would not occur. Hamlet is a perfect example in the thought of is he acting insane or is he truly insane?…
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.…
Kenneth Branagh’s production of Hamlet and The Royal Shakespeare’s Company production of Hamlet are hard to compare with each other. In terms of Hamlet’s famous soliloquy in the portrait scene, his meeting with Ophelia, the queen’s ability to stand up for herself and Hamlet’s reaction and response to his father’s ghost, the Branagh Hamlet exceeds my expectations on how these parts are performed.…
Because my post is late my Hamlet Update is going to really be the end result. Now when we were at first assigned this project I felt my insides close in on each other as I began to think of how in the world I was going to pull this off. It wasn't until our class discussion were we pondered the idea of Ophelia being the game maker in this play. It began as just talk but then this idea quickly evolved into something much greater and fairly practical. After class Roshan and I walked away together planning out our process.…
A text of timeless appeal is marked by effective construction of characters to support its main ideas. How is your personal response to Hamlet shaped by the interaction of these characters?…
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.…
The main motif that is continually stressed is loyalty. Every character either breaks it or makes it stronger. And through out the play we see how this affects Hamlet, how it changes his thinking little by little. We soon realize that it is to late to even hope that there is some good in everyody's hearts, towards the end of the play. Because now they are just looking out for themselves or planning on revenge for the fallen of the play. This helps the reader understand that the main character is having a hard time trying to figure out if everthing he knew was a lie, or if there really are some people out there that will be loyal to their loved ones and the important ones in their lives.…