Shakespeare’s Hamlet has and intricate plot formed by the characters and themes throughout it. One major idea is Hamlet’s changing sanity, which fluctuates through the play as a performance and as a true madness. The other main theme which develops the play is the act of vengeance, with the delay and doubt that accompanies it. These themes, along with dramatic devices and the characters in the plot, add to the textual integrity of the play. There is a duality to the character of Hamlet, as his madness changes from a performance to true insanity throughout the play.
We must tell him, it will cause more damage if we don’t tell him soon. Come Stylistic Techniques Shakespeare uses personification in line 78 with “his doublet all unbraced”, though unbraced is referring to his shirt it can also be directed to Hamlet himself unbracing reality. A strong image is used in line 83 when Ophelia refers Hamlet to being “ loosed out of hell” this leads us to believe that not only is Hamlet insane but now angered. Syntax is used in line 84 when again Ophelia says that Hamlet “is to speak of horrors”, this again is trying to show Hamlets hostel intentions.
In his soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 2 Line 380 he’s especially brutal towards Desdemona in his plans showing no shame what so ever. Othello exhibits a part of humans that is able to be tempted and deceived. While a good man at the start, Shakespeare uses this as a template to bring out the green-eyed monster of jealousy in Othello, as an attempt to highlight that quality in each of us. The dream speech in Act 3 Scene 3 Line 466 is where we see Iago makes this happen. As Iago ends Act 1 with his soliloquy, we become sure that dishonesty is one of his most revered qualities.
Madness in Hamlet and King Lear The subject of madness is a major theme in two of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies, “Hamlet” and “King Lear”. In both of these plays, a character feigns insanity to carry out a motive - Hamlet and Edgar respectively. However, while it is made quite clear to the audience that Edgar is only pretending to be a mad beggar (“Whiles I may escape I will preserve myself, and am bethought to take the basest and most poorest shape that ever penury, in contempt of man brought near to beast”), it is somewhat less clear whether Hamlet has crossed the line and lost control of his “antic disposition”. Shakespeare gives evidence which suggests that Hamlet is sane by having three other men also witness the manifestation of the ghost of Hamlet’s father. If Hamlet were to have seen his father’s ghost by himself, there would be a greater argument for him being insane from the outset of the play.
“To be or not to be, that is the question; whether’ tis nobler in the mind to suffer...” (Shakespeare Act 3, Scene 1). This quotation proves Hamlet becomes inferior to others and the environment through his madness, causing him to express himself explicitly towards others. Hamlet’s madness not only causes his loved ones lives but it allows his “end” to come because he accepts every challenge from his opponent. Hamlet’s madness not only affects him but Ophelia, who is mentally torn apart by Hamlet. Ophelia was once flawless, but since her encounter with Hamlet she has fallen into the same madness and wants to kill herself.
A detailed analysis of the dramatic contribution that Friar Lawrence makes to William Shakespeare’s tragic love story ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Ben Jonson once claimed that William Shakespeare (1564-1616) “wanted art” (lacked skill) and this viewpoint can be instantly refuted by the manner in which Shakespeare handles the role of Friar Lawrence in ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The conventional love play, featuring characters who are supposedly doomed from the start and whose “outcome is destined to be lose-lose” (Pam Marshall), can be viewed as a simple story with an outcome which will move the Elizabethan audience. However, Shakespeare can be seen to challenge the ideas of fate, belief through the character of Friar Lawrence and the themes of light and darkness. In this essay, I will look at the role of Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet – in particular, the eventual tragic deaths of the “star-crossed” lovers – and the manner in which Shakespeare uses Friar Lawrence as a means to challenge ideas of fate and light/darkness through his use of language, imagery and metaphor.
The two texts ultimately depict the difficulties that are linked in the treatment of insanity, presenting sobering measures in which to cure the mind of madness. In the plays Equus and Hamlet [->0] of the main characters portrayed (Alan and Hamlet) are insane, "Being unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of their acts." (The Legal definition) which is established through their actions and in Hamlet's case via an insight into his "madman" like thoughts. The paired texts project two different types of insanity, an event induced mental state and a "nurtured" madness. In Equus, Alan experiences the latter of the two, with it being raised in him through out his life, largely on account of his mother.
While Shakespeare does use Iago’s soliloquy to encourage the audience to admire him, the soliloquy also highlights his incredible aptitude for malice. The continued metaphor of Iago’s jealousy being an ailment to him, “doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards” and expressed further on where he vows to give Othello “a jealousy so strong/that judgment cannot cure”, brings a sense of paranoia and mania to him. This paranoid side to Iago is further emphasized when he alleges Othello of having “leaped into my [his] seat”, his
A tragic flaw is defined as “a weakness or error in judgment that brings about a tragic hero's downfall” (Clugston 2010). Ambition was Macbeth’s tragic flaw. An idea was planted inside Macbeth’s mind by the three witches’ prophecy that he would be King. This was what drove Macbeth to madness, in a sense, stopping at nothing, not even murder, to achieve this goal. He is tempted to evil by the
Shakespeare's Presentation of Othello as Responsible for his Own Downfall Shakespeare’s Othello consists of the themes betrayal, love and dishonesty. At the centre of this play is the tragic downfall of Othello at the hands of his so called friend Iago. In this essay I will be discussing the reasons for and against Othello being responsible for his downfall through looking at critical interpretations of his character and actions. In some ways you could say that Othello was highly responsible for his own downfall as he was easily manipulated by Iago showing him to be gullible and naïve. Iago manipulates Othello by making him suspicious through inference, “Ha I like not that”.