The struggle to act upon his father’s murder is a key factor in Hamlet’s disillusionment with the world. The Elizabethan period was a time that demanded revenge and this is even true in our present time to some extent. An eye for an eye approach was considered socially correct which Hamlet initially suggests ‘May sweep to my revenge’. Since Claudius has become the new king, he is considered a false king and imposter to the throne by Hamlet and this leads to the collapse of the natural hierachy that was in place. He states ‘tis an unweeded garden’ alluding to the fact that a false king leads to corruption which finally leads to the collapse of the hierarchy.
Shakespeare uses incessant word play, and constant mockery between key characters to portray the comedic effect. An example of constant mockery could be the ‘merry war’ between Beatrice and Benedick which continues throughout the entire play. Early on in the play Claudio and Hero fall in love at first sight. This leads Don Pedro to act like Claudio offering to woo Hero evidently fooling her at the masked ball. This is dramatic irony because the audience know who the masked characters are but the actual characters don’t.
Check your notes; below is a succinct synopsis of that introductory discussion: “Waiting for Conventions” In Waiting for Godot, Beckett implements broken conventions of traditional theatre in order to successfully satirize the detrimental nature of the human condition symbolized throughout this absurdist play (which seems to have no plot). A certain level of tension is created by this plays lack of plot which leaves the audience expecting something to happen that never comes. This lack of plot to some overshadows the reasoning behind why Beckett does this. Although these broken conventions can act as a looking glass into the true meaning of the play, they require the audience to do a certain amount of searching to crack the nut which is Waiting for Godot. Waiting for Godot, unlike many plays follows no specific plot, a concept in which most conventional plays ought to have in order to rope in an audience member to the contents and morals of the play.
Jared Gnyp SPBHS 5-27-12 ELA 1. Dramatic Irony- occurs when the audience or the reader knows something that a character in a play or story does not know. 2. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet has dramatic irony through out the whole play. Some of them were hard to point out but some were easy.
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. Hamlet also exerts control over his actions, which is the main reason why it could be argued that he is sane. He actively tries to convince Polonius that he has gone mad - mocking him when he would usually be respectful, acting cruelly towards Ophelia whom he was clearly affectionate to earlier in the play. He does this in the hope that Polonius will tell the court of his madness. Hamlet is often hesitant to do things, for example where he had the chance to kill Claudius in the chapel but couldn’t bring himself to do it, not because he would be killing another human but because he wanted Claudius to suffer and not go straight to Heaven.
Polonius is worried that Hamlet’s relationship with his daughter, Ophelia, will damage his reputation with the king. He tells her to stay away from him “In few, Ophelia, do not believe his vows…I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth have you so slander any moment leisure as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet”
How does Polonius react to the news of Hamlet’s strange behavior? · He thinks Hamlet is just mad because Ophelia dissed him. 3. What evidence of Hamlet’s affections for Ophelia exists? · He tells Ophelia he loves her and does not love her, thinks she should never have trusted him but wants her to go away to a nunnery for her own protection.
In Shakespeare’s play, ‘King Lear’, we are shown an array of characters that are multi-dimensional and extremely complex. Shakespeare has the ability to reveal a human character with an exceptional use of language. The three characters that I believe have large roles and functions within the play are, understandably, King Lear himself, The Fool, and Kent. The Fool acts as Lear's conscience and trusted guide, yet he is also a critic of Lear, a truth teller. In effect this makes a true friend, however some believe it was the Fool's constant remarks that drove Lear to madness.
April 15, 2013 OTHELLO Extra Credit Response According to Aristotle’s six elements of drama, Othello was the tragic hero whose weakness for having faith in those who he thinks tell the truth (Iago) allows him to be manipulated and blinded his jealousy that Iago created as an illusion. This downfall of his led to the death of Desdemona. Othello’s lack for evidence, such as proof of the handkerchief, allowed tragedy to occur in the play. Seeing the play Othello live rather than reading it from a book allowed me to understand the writing and meaning of Shakespeare. Watching Othello, I already knew the underlined themes and symbolism, etc.
This underlines the thin wall between pretending in real life and acting in a play. When Claudius asks Hamlet if the play has any offense in it Hamlet answers: “No, no, they do but jest, poison in jest.”(lines 256-257) He says that it is just pretending and that they are just actors in a play. During the whole plot of Hamlet, characters use lies, stage situations and manipulate each other to find out truths. They are all acting. In this passage, language is also used to play.