Hamlet Literary Elements

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Literary Elements Setting: The late medieval era in Denmark Conflict: * man vs. self * Hamlet has to make a great decision on whether to kill his uncle in order to avenge his father’s murder so that his father’s ghost can be at rest. * man vs. man * Hamlet has conflict with Claudius because he believes it was Claudius who killed the King so that he could take his place as king. * Hamlet also has conflict with his mother because he disapproves of the way she married her dead husband’s brother so quickly after the King’s death. He thinks that she has offended his father. Tone: The writer’s attitude toward the material * Dark * Violent * Passionate Universal themes * The Impossibility of Certainty * There are so many things that separate Hamlet from other revenge plays. The main theme of this play is the impossibility of knowing things for sure. * Hamlet knows what he wants to do * Even thought Hamlet is presented with opportunities to carry out his plan, he doesn’t because he’s constantly trying to gain more and more information * He knows subconsciously that Claudius killed his father, but it seems like he keeps second guessing himself * For example, the ghost: is it actually the ghost of his father coming to tell Hamlet to avenge his death or is it a misleading fiend to throw Hamlet off? * How can anyone really know the facts about the King’s death if there was nobody around? It’s not like today where we have CSI: Miami and we can take the forensic evidence and turn it into a crime investigation. * It’s all of these things that ultimately keep Hamlet from killing Claudius right

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