The personality traits of insanity and intellectuality also contribute greatly to the death of Hamlet. Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his procrastination. Without a doubt, Hamlet portrays procrastination and indecisiveness multiple times in the play. The ghost of Hamlet’s father visits him in the beginning of the play informing Hamlet that he was murdered by his own brother, Claudius: “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/ Now wears the crown”(I.v.44,45). Furthermore, Shakespeare exhibits how Hamlet chose to devise a plan of acting mad, rather than avenging his father’s death immediately, progressing to his demise.
Old Hamlet’s ghost appears for the second time to remind Hamlet of his mission of revenge for his father’s murder. Hamlet suggests to his mother he is not actually mad at all, he is just pretending to be. Shakespheare shows us many conflicts with characters throughout this scene and also the consequences which the scene puts out, including Ophelia’s madness due to her fathers death. The ‘closet scene’, as it is commonly referred to, is significant in a number of ways. On one level it helps develop the reader’s understanding of some of the play’s key themes.
In Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, death is a reoccurring factor. Hamlet, who has recently faced the death of his father, is stricken with grief as he does not understand exactly what death is. Elizabethans all believed in the afterlife. Everyone strongly believed in ghosts, God, witches, and eventually ending up in either heaven or hell. Due to these beliefs and the complexity of Hamlet’s character, it is inevitable that his thoughts of death would wander outside the lines of his religion.
‘Shakespeare’s Hamlet continues to engage audiences through its dramatic treatment of struggle and disillusionment.’ In the light of your critical study, does this statement resonate with your own interpretation of Hamlet? In your response, make detailed reference to the play. Shakespeare’s Hamlet engages themes of death, madness, loyalty and corruption which help engage the audience through the dramatic treatment of struggle and disillusionment. Although the text is set during the Elizabethan period, it still maintains textual integrity which means audiences are still engaged by its meaning today. The struggle to act upon his father’s murder is a key factor in Hamlet’s disillusionment with the world.
In The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare demonstrates the build of guilt and remorse that Macbeth and his Queen begin to develop, consequently aids and foreshadows their demise. Shakespeare uses a wide variety of imagery to emphasize how guilt affects Macbeth’s life. Also, throughout the play, multiple pieces of evidence are displayed to prove how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both change drastically from the beginning to the end of this piece. Finally, towards the end of the play, Macbeth finally comes to terms with himself and his devious actions, thus restoring his old mentality. Guilt is a factor of human nature and touches just about everyone at some point.
It is also loyalty, which causes her to faint when the murdered body of Duncan is found in order to prevent Macbeth from exposing his fear before the others. Both these characters have betrayed their own humanity by falling victims of evil, and both end up the ‘prey of wicked dreams.’ They are truly tragic figures who show in their lives how evil is totally
Brooks contrasts a strong feminist theme and positions us to see their heroic gestures to the weaknesses of men as the villagers are faced with great tragedies. Joss Bont is one of the villains of the plague year. Brooks positions us to see that Joss views the tragedy merely as an opportunity, and his extreme greed and insensitivity know no bounds. His exploitation of the dying and their families makes us see that Anna is glad she no longer shares a last name with him. When Bont adds attempted murder to his other crimes, the demoralized village finally calls him to account.
When this is juxtaposed with Ophelia’s legitimate insanity, it becomes clear that Hamlet is still performing. Ophelia speaks cryptically in Act 4, using metaphors and imagery of nature. Her use of rhyme and poetry also adds to the audiences understanding of true madness. Hamlet’s performance turns to reality directly after he murders Polonius in cold-blood. If Hamlet were sane he would have shown an emotional reaction.
Commentary on Queen Extract - Act 4 Scene 7 This short extract from Act 4 Scene 7 of the play gives a deep visual description of the death of Ophelia as described by the Queen. The description is vital to the closure of the scene because it sets a melancholic tone inciting deep sadness into Laertes and bringing the audience to sympathize with him on two levels: that of a brother who has tragically lost his sister and that of a son who has lost his father to a gruesome murder. For this reason the audience is able to discern Laertes’ role as a parallel avenger to Fortinbras as well as being able to see the marked difference between Laertes’ approach to revenge and that of Hamlet’s approach. The way by which the Queen delivers the tragic news is also important to note, it seems that the description has been embellished and romanticized in order for the Queen to acquit herself from any blame which could possibly be placed on her for Ophelia’s death. As with many of the play’s characters the Queen uses her embellished and romanticized language to achieve a level of ambiguity surrounding Ophelia’s death leading the audience to ask many questions which go unanswered.
This scene is majorly action driven; it starts and ends with action. Furthermore it can be argued that Shakespeare to have an effective ending uses the impact of six deaths including the death of the main protagonist in the final scene. In this essay I will present a critical interpretation of how the language and dramatic effects of the play help build the action and contribute to the meaning to help have an impactful ending to the play. The scene begins with Hamlet announcing the death of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to Horatio. The revelation is in itself a dramatic effect as the audience becomes more intrigued and excited on how Hamlet has managed to get them killed.