essay on hamlet movie

There is early in Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” a wedding celebration, the Danish court rejoicing at the union of Claudius and Gertrude. The camera watches, and then pans to the right, to reveal the solitary figure of Hamlet, clad in black. It always creates a little shock in the movies when the foreground is unexpectedly occupied. We realize the subject of the scene is not the wedding, but Hamlet’s experience of it. And we enjoy Branagh’s visual showmanship: In all of his films, he reveals his joy in theatrical gestures.

His “Hamlet” is long but not slow, deep but not difficult, and it vibrates with the relief of actors who have great things to say, and the right ways to say them. And in the 70-mm. version, it has a visual clarity that is breathtaking. It is the first uncut film version of Shakespeare’s most challenging tragedy, the first 70-mm. film since “Far and Away” in 1992, and at 238 minutes the second-longest major Hollywood production (one minute shorter than “Cleopatra”). Branagh’s Hamlet lacks the narcissistic intensity of Laurence Olivier’s (in the 1948 Academy Award winner), but the film as a whole is better, placing Hamlet in the larger context of royal politics, and making him less a subject for pity.

The story provides a melodramatic stage for inner agonies. Hamlet (Branagh), the prince of Denmark, mourns the untimely death of his father. His mother, Gertrude, rushes with unseemly speed into marriage with Claudius, her husband’s brother. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. And then the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears and says he was poisoned by Claudius What must Hamlet do? He desires the death of Claudius but lacks the impulse to act out. He despises himself for his passivity. In tormenting himself he drives his mother to despair, kills Polonius by accident, speeds the kingdom toward chaos and his love, Ophelia, toward madness.

What is intriguing about “Hamlet” is the ambiguity of everyone’s motives. Tom Stoppard’s “Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” famously filtered all the action through the eyes of Hamlet’s treacherous school friends. But how does it all look to Gertrude? To Claudius? To the heartbroken Ophelia? The great benefit of this full-length version is that these other characters become more understandable.

The role of Claudius ( Derek Jacobi ) is especially enriched: In shorter versions, he is the scowling usurper who functions only as villain. Here, with lines and scenes restored, he seems more balanced and powerful. He might have made a plausible king of Denmark, had things turned out differently. Yes, he killed his brother, but regicide was not unknown in medieval times, and perhaps the old king was ripe for replacement; this production shows Gertrude ( Julie Christie ) as lustfully in love with Claudius. By restoring the original scope of Claudius’ role, Branagh emphasizes court and political intrigue instead of enclosing the material in a Freudian hothouse.

The movie’s very sets emphasize the role of the throne as the center of the kingdom. Branagh uses costumes to suggest the 19th century, and shoots his exteriors at Blenheim Castle, seat of the duke of Marlborough and Winston Churchill’s childhood home. The interior sets, designed by Tim Harvey and Desmond Crowe, feature a throne room surrounded by mirrored walls, overlooked by a gallery and divided by an elevated walkway. The set puts much of the action onstage (members of the court are constantly observing) and allows for intrigue (some of the mirrors are two-way, and lead to concealed chambers and corridors).

In this very public arena Hamlet agonizes, and is observed. Branagh uses rapid cuts to show others reacting to his words and meanings. And he finds new ways to stage familiar scenes, renewing the material. Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy (“To be or not to be . . .”) is delivered into a mirror, so that his own indecision is thrust back at him. When he torments Ophelia, a most private moment, we spy on them from the other side of a two-way mirror; he crushes her cheek against the glass and her frightened breath clouds it. When he comes upon Claudius at his prayers, and can kill him, many productions imagine Hamlet lurking behind a pillar in a chapel. Branagh is more intimate, showing a dagger blade insinuating itself through the mesh of a confessional.

One of the surprises of this uncut “Hamlet” is the crucial role of the play within the play. Many productions reduce the visiting troupe of actors to walk-ons; they provide a hook for Hamlet’s advice to the players, and merely suggest the performance that Hamlet hopes will startle Claudius into betraying himself. Here, with Charlton Heston  magnificently assured as the Player King, we listen to the actual lines of his play (which shorter versions often relegate to dumb-show at the back of the stage). We see how ingeniously and cleverly they tweak the conscience of the king, and we see Claudius’ pained reactions. The episode becomes a turning point; Claudius realizes that Hamlet is on to him.

As for Hamlet, Branagh (like Mel Gibson  in the 1991 film) has no interest in playing him as an apologetic mope. Branagh is an actor of exuberant physical gifts and energy (when the time comes, his King Lear will bound about the heath). Consider the scene beginning “Oh, what a rogue and peasant knave am I . . .,” in which Hamlet bitterly regrets his inaction. The lines are delivered not in bewilderment but in mounting anger, and it is to Branagh’s credit that he pulls out all the stops; a quieter Hamlet would make a tamer “Hamlet.” Kate Winslet  is touchingly vulnerable as Ophelia, red-nosed and snuffling, her world crumbling about her. Richard Briers  makes Polonius not so much a foolish old man as an adviser out of his depth. Of the familiar faces, the surprise is Heston: How many great performances have we lost while he visited the Planet of the Apes? Billy Crystal  is a surprise, but effective, as the gravedigger. But Robin Williams , Jack Lemmon and Gerard Depardieu are distractions, their performances not overcoming our shocks of recognition.

At the end of this “Hamlet,” I felt at last as if I was getting a handle on the play (I never expect to fully understand it). It has been a long journey. I read it in high school, underlining the famous lines. I saw the Richard Burton film version, and later Olivier’s. I studied it in graduate school. I have seen it onstage in England and the United States (most memorably in Aidan Quinn’s punk version, when he scrawled graffiti on the wall: “2B=?”). Franco Zeffirelli’s version with Gibson came in 1991. I learned from them all.

One of the tasks of a lifetime is to become familiar with the great plays of Shakespeare. “Hamlet” is the most opaque. Branagh’s version moved me, entertained me and made me feel for the first time at home in that doomed royal court. I may not be able to explain Hamlet, but at last I have a better idea than Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Hamlet (1996 Film)

By kenneth branagh, hamlet (1996 film) analysis.

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.

Written by Timothy Sexton

Kenneth Branagh ’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy of Hamlet , Prince of Denmark is justifiably famous and admired for being the very first attempt—not to mention successful attempt—to put on screen every last scene and every single one of the more than 30,000 words of dialogue conjured by the Bard. Just that alone makes Branagh’s film a cinematic achievement of renown. At the same time, however, it is also what puts a dent in the critical appreciation of that achievement.

Six years earlier Franco Zeffirelli directed the version starring Mel Gibson which was released with a running time of 134 minutes. By contrast, Branagh’s film rolls in at 242 minutes in the full uncut version. That is nearly twice as long which means, naturally, that Zeffirelli followed in the tradition of previous directors in making judicious edits in the story including the elimination of characters and the excision of entire scenes and subplots. In this way, Branagh’s version diverges from a tradition which met its apex in 1949 when a version also starring the director became the first—and so far, only—Shakespeare adaptation to win the Best Picture Oscar. That version has a running time of 155 minutes. Any two-and-a-half hour long film is nothing to sneeze at but consider that even the legendary Olivier’s definitive (to date) adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy still runs nearly an hour-and-a-half shorter than Branagh.

So it stands to reason that any fully intact, unabridged, mostly faithful adaptation (the setting has been moved to the 19th century) would be considered the greatest version ever made since, after all, Hamlet is routinely referred to as the greatest play ever written. Whether or not that is actually true is certainly up for debate, but the majority of people think it or at least assume other who know better think it. Putting every single word of the greatest play ever written (let’s say) would just seem to naturally translate into the best film version ever made.

And yet that is not an opinion universally shared by literary critics, college instructors and the academic world in general. The Mel Gibson version ranks number 14 (as of this writing) on the all-time list ratings by IMDB voters for the best Shakespeare adaptation ever. Number one? Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet. Moviegoers may consider Zeffirelli and Olivier to be submissive to Branagh’s achievement, but that is not necessarily the case with those approaching the film with a more critical eye. Not that Branagh is appreciated and even held in the highest esteem by many, but even then there is an asterisk attached. Many appreciated this version on a purely cinematic level and, indeed, how could they not. It is a sumptuous feast for the eyes that revolutionizes the traditional visual approach: Elsinore is a colorful feast for the eyes rather than dank, sparsely decoration place whose palette reflects the melancholia of its title character. In addition to these visual flourishes, Branagh also comes closest to making his film “feel” like one is watching a live performance as a result of his long takes and epic compositions. Put all those things together and only the most doggedly dogmatic of Shakespearean critics could complain. No, there is a much more simple—and yet aesthetically complicated—reason behind the lower placement of appreciation for what Branagh did among both film and literary scholars. And that reason is perhaps the height of irony.

It’s not Branagh’s film, it’s Shakespeare’s. (Or, to be more precise, Branagh's and Shakespeare's.)

What that means is that the vision of a director who chooses to attempt putting Hamlet on screen is judged more by what he decided to leave out rather than how much he kept in. Hamlet is perhaps the ripest play ever written for a director to put his visionary stamp upon. The reasoning goes thusly: while it is a feast for the eyes, Branagh’s vision is limited merely to making the first unabridged adaptation. By choosing what to cut, every other director makes a film that is less Shakespeare than his own. (Or, at the very least, a film that is shared equally.) Olivier’s version opens with a line that comes straight from the 20th century and not from the Bard:

"This is the tragedy of a man who could not make up his mind."

So right there, from the start, viewers know what Olivier wants to convey and any element which doesn’t adhere to that overarching theme is out.

Gibson’s Hamlet is far closer to one of his actions heroes than to a depressed man who can’t make up his mind and so Zeffirelli is credited with taking an alternative—some might say too alternative—approach to Hamlet . At the very least, Gibson’s Hamlet is nearly the complete opposite of Olivier’s and neither can truly be said to fully represent the nuanced complexity of the title character which inexorably draws every actor toward it as a test case for his (or her) talent.

Which is exactly what Branagh delivers. To suggest that his performance as the title character should not at the very least be considered the definitive portrayal of Hamlet on film is simply to be ornery for ornery’s sake. Indeed, when one considers that Branagh did receive an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, but for neither Best Actor no Best Director, many can sit back and shake their head in wonder.

Others, however, will smile secretly and nod their heads. Because what’s missing from that Oscar nomination is an essential collaborator. And if Branagh’s Hamlet can be called nothing else, it can certainly be called the faithful cinematic adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet that has ever been. And may very well be the most faithful version that will ever be. As for being the most singular vision of the tragedy, well, alas, that is not to be.

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Hamlet (1996 Film) Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Hamlet (1996 Film) is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Study Guide for Hamlet (1996 Film)

Hamlet (1996 Film) study guide contains a biography of director Kenneth Branagh, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Hamlet (1996 Film)
• Hamlet (1996 Film) Summary
• Character List
• Director's Influence

Essays for Hamlet (1996 Film)

Hamlet (1996 Film) essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Hamlet (1996 Film), directed by Kenneth Branagh.

• Whether Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Deserve Sympathy: Hamlet and Its Film Adaptations

Wikipedia Entries for Hamlet (1996 Film)

• Introduction

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Jeffrey R. Wilson

Essays on hamlet.

Written as the author taught Hamlet every semester for a decade, these lightning essays ask big conceptual questions about the play with the urgency of a Shakespeare lover, and answer them with the rigor of a Shakespeare scholar. In doing so, Hamlet becomes a lens for life today, generating insights on everything from xenophobia, American fraternities, and religious fundamentalism to structural misogyny, suicide contagion, and toxic love.

Prioritizing close reading over historical context, these explorations are highly textual and highly theoretical, often philosophical, ethical, social, and political. Readers see King Hamlet as a pre-modern villain, King Claudius as a modern villain, and Prince Hamlet as a post-modern villain. Hamlet’s feigned madness becomes a window into failed insanity defenses in legal trials. He knows he’s being watched in “To be or not to be”: the soliloquy is a satire of philosophy. Horatio emerges as Shakespeare’s authorial avatar for meta-theatrical commentary, Fortinbras as the hero of the play. Fate becomes a viable concept for modern life, and honor a source of tragedy. The metaphor of music in the play makes Ophelia Hamlet’s instrument. Shakespeare, like the modern corporation, stands against sexism, yet perpetuates it unknowingly. We hear his thoughts on single parenting, sending children off to college, and the working class, plus his advice on acting and writing, and his claims to be the next Homer or Virgil. In the context of four centuries of Hamlet hate, we hear how the text draws audiences in, how it became so famous, and why it continues to captivate audiences.

At a time when the humanities are said to be in crisis, these essays are concrete examples of the mind-altering power of literature and literary studies, unravelling the ongoing implications of the English language’s most significant artistic object of the past millennium.

Publications

Why is Hamlet the most famous English artwork of the past millennium? Is it a sexist text? Why does Hamlet speak in prose? Why must he die? Does Hamlet depict revenge, or justice? How did the death of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, transform into a story about a son dealing with the death of a father? Did Shakespeare know Aristotle’s theory of tragedy? How did our literary icon, Shakespeare, see his literary icons, Homer and Virgil? Why is there so much comedy in Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy? Why is love a force of evil in the play? Did Shakespeare believe there’s a divinity that shapes our ends? How did he define virtue? What did he think about psychology? politics? philosophy? What was Shakespeare’s image of himself as an author? What can he, arguably the greatest writer of all time, teach us about our own writing? What was his theory of literature? Why do people like Hamlet ? How do the Hamlet haters of today compare to those of yesteryears? Is it dangerous for our children to read a play that’s all about suicide? 

These are some of the questions asked in this book, a collection of essays on Shakespeare’s Hamlet stemming from my time teaching the play every semester in my Why Shakespeare? course at Harvard University. During this time, I saw a series of bright young minds from wildly diverse backgrounds find their footing in Hamlet, and it taught me a lot about how Shakespeare’s tragedy works, and why it remains with us in the modern world. Beyond ghosts, revenge, and tragedy, Hamlet is a play about being in college, being in love, gender, misogyny, friendship, theater, philosophy, theology, injustice, loss, comedy, depression, death, self-doubt, mental illness, white privilege, overbearing parents, existential angst, international politics, the classics, the afterlife, and the meaning of it all. 

These essays grow from the central paradox of the play: it helps us understand the world we live in, yet we don't really understand the text itself very well. For all the attention given to Hamlet , there’s no consensus on the big questions—how it works, why it grips people so fiercely, what it’s about. These essays pose first-order questions about what happens in Hamlet and why, mobilizing answers for reflections on life, making the essays both highly textual and highly theoretical. 

Each semester that I taught the play, I would write a new essay about Hamlet . They were meant to be models for students, the sort of essay that undergrads read and write – more rigorous than the puff pieces in the popular press, but riskier than the scholarship in most academic journals. While I later added scholarly outerwear, these pieces all began just like the essays I was assigning to students – as short close readings with a reader and a text and a desire to determine meaning when faced with a puzzling question or problem. 

The turn from text to context in recent scholarly books about Hamlet is quizzical since we still don’t have a strong sense of, to quote the title of John Dover Wilson’s 1935 book, What Happens in Hamlet. Is the ghost real? Is Hamlet mad, or just faking? Why does he delay? These are the kinds of questions students love to ask, but they haven’t been – can’t be – answered by reading the play in the context of its sources (recently addressed in Laurie Johnson’s The Tain of Hamlet [2013]), its multiple texts (analyzed by Paul Menzer in The Hamlets [2008] and Zachary Lesser in Hamlet after Q1 [2015]), the Protestant reformation (the focus of Stephen Greenblatt’s Hamlet in Purgatory [2001] and John E. Curran, Jr.’s Hamlet, Protestantism, and the Mourning of Contingency [2006]), Renaissance humanism (see Rhodri Lewis, Hamlet and the Vision of Darkness [2017]), Elizabethan political theory (see Margreta de Grazia, Hamlet without Hamlet [2007]), the play’s reception history (see David Bevington, Murder Most Foul: Hamlet through the Ages [2011]), its appropriation by modern philosophers (covered in Simon Critchley and Jamieson Webster’s The Hamlet Doctrine [2013] and Andrew Cutrofello’s All for Nothing: Hamlet’s Negativity [2014]), or its recent global travels (addressed, for example, in Margaret Latvian’s Hamlet’s Arab Journey [2011] and Dominic Dromgoole’s Hamlet Globe to Globe [2017]). 

Considering the context and afterlives of Hamlet is a worthy pursuit. I certainly consulted the above books for my essays, yet the confidence that comes from introducing context obscures the sharp panic we feel when confronting Shakespeare’s text itself. Even as the excellent recent book from Sonya Freeman Loftis, Allison Kellar, and Lisa Ulevich announces Hamlet has entered “an age of textual exhaustion,” there’s an odd tendency to avoid the text of Hamlet —to grasp for something more firm—when writing about it. There is a need to return to the text in a more immediate way to understand how Hamlet operates as a literary work, and how it can help us understand the world in which we live. 

That latter goal, yes, clings nostalgically to the notion that literature can help us understand life. Questions about life send us to literature in search of answers. Those of us who love literature learn to ask and answer questions about it as we become professional literary scholars. But often our answers to the questions scholars ask of literature do not connect back up with the questions about life that sent us to literature in the first place—which are often philosophical, ethical, social, and political. Those first-order questions are diluted and avoided in the minutia of much scholarship, left unanswered. Thus, my goal was to pose questions about Hamlet with the urgency of a Shakespeare lover and to answer them with the rigor of a Shakespeare scholar. 

In doing so, these essays challenge the conventional relationship between literature and theory. They pursue a kind of criticism where literature is not merely the recipient of philosophical ideas in the service of exegesis. Instead, the creative risks of literature provide exemplars to be theorized outward to help us understand on-going issues in life today. Beyond an occasion for the demonstration of existing theory, literature is a source for the creation of new theory.

Chapter One How Hamlet Works

Whether you love or hate Hamlet , you can acknowledge its massive popularity. So how does Hamlet work? How does it create audience enjoyment? Why is it so appealing, and to whom? Of all the available options, why Hamlet ? This chapter entertains three possible explanations for why the play is so popular in the modern world: the literary answer (as the English language’s best artwork about death—one of the very few universal human experiences in a modern world increasingly marked by cultural differences— Hamlet is timeless); the theatrical answer (with its mixture of tragedy and comedy, the role of Hamlet requires the best actor of each age, and the play’s popularity derives from the celebrity of its stars); and the philosophical answer (the play invites, encourages, facilitates, and sustains philosophical introspection and conversation from people who do not usually do such things, who find themselves doing those things with Hamlet , who sometimes feel embarrassed about doing those things, but who ultimately find the experience of having done them rewarding).

Chapter Two “It Started Like a Guilty Thing”: The Beginning of Hamlet and the Beginning of Modern Politics

King Hamlet is a tyrant and King Claudius a traitor but, because Shakespeare asked us to experience the events in Hamlet from the perspective of the young Prince Hamlet, we are much more inclined to detect and detest King Claudius’s political failings than King Hamlet’s. If so, then Shakespeare’s play Hamlet , so often seen as the birth of modern psychology, might also tell us a little bit about the beginnings of modern politics as well.

Chapter Three Horatio as Author: Storytelling and Stoic Tragedy

This chapter addresses Horatio’s emotionlessness in light of his role as a narrator, using this discussion to think about Shakespeare’s motives for writing tragedy in the wake of his son’s death. By rationalizing pain and suffering as tragedy, both Horatio and Shakespeare were able to avoid the self-destruction entailed in Hamlet’s emotional response to life’s hardships and injustices. Thus, the stoic Horatio, rather than the passionate Hamlet who repeatedly interrupts ‘The Mousetrap’, is the best authorial avatar for a Shakespeare who strategically wrote himself and his own voice out of his works. This argument then expands into a theory of ‘authorial catharsis’ and the suggestion that we can conceive of Shakespeare as a ‘poet of reason’ in contrast to a ‘poet of emotion’.

Chapter Four “To thine own self be true”: What Shakespeare Says about Sending Our Children Off to College

What does “To thine own self be true” actually mean? Be yourself? Don’t change who you are? Follow your own convictions? Don’t lie to yourself? This chapter argues that, if we understand meaning as intent, then “To thine own self be true” means, paradoxically, that “the self” does not exist. Or, more accurately, Shakespeare’s Hamlet implies that “the self” exists only as a rhetorical, philosophical, and psychological construct that we use to make sense of our experiences and actions in the world, not as anything real. If this is so, then this passage may offer us a way of thinking about Shakespeare as not just a playwright but also a moral philosopher, one who did his ethics in drama.

Chapter Five In Defense of Polonius

Your wife dies. You raise two children by yourself. You build a great career to provide for your family. You send your son off to college in another country, though you know he’s not ready. Now the prince wants to marry your daughter—that’s not easy to navigate. Then—get this—while you’re trying to save the queen’s life, the prince murders you. Your death destroys your kids. They die tragically. And what do you get for your efforts? Centuries of Shakespeare scholars dumping on you. If we see Polonius not through the eyes of his enemy, Prince Hamlet—the point of view Shakespeare’s play asks audiences to adopt—but in analogy to the common challenges of twenty-first-century parenting, Polonius is a single father struggling with work-life balance who sadly choses his career over his daughter’s well-being.

Chapter Six Sigma Alpha Elsinore: The Culture of Drunkenness in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Claudius likes to party—a bit too much. He frequently binge drinks, is arguably an alcoholic, but not an aberration. Hamlet says Denmark is internationally known for heavy drinking. That’s what Shakespeare would have heard in the sixteenth century. By the seventeenth, English writers feared Denmark had taught their nation its drinking habits. Synthesizing criticism on alcoholism as an individual problem in Shakespeare’s texts and times with scholarship on national drinking habits in the early-modern age, this essay asks what the tragedy of alcoholism looks like when located not on the level of the individual, but on the level of a culture, as Shakespeare depicted in Hamlet. One window into these early-modern cultures of drunkenness is sociological studies of American college fraternities, especially the social-learning theories that explain how one person—one culture—teaches another its habits. For Claudius’s alcoholism is both culturally learned and culturally significant. And, as in fraternities, alcoholism in Hamlet is bound up with wealth, privilege, toxic masculinity, and tragedy. Thus, alcohol imagistically reappears in the vial of “cursed hebona,” Ophelia’s liquid death, and the poisoned cup in the final scene—moments that stand out in recent performances and adaptations with alcoholic Claudiuses and Gertrudes.

Chapter Seven Tragic Foundationalism

This chapter puts the modern philosopher Alain Badiou’s theory of foundationalism into dialogue with the early-modern playwright William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet . Doing so allows us to identify a new candidate for Hamlet’s traditionally hard-to-define hamartia – i.e., his “tragic mistake” – but it also allows us to consider the possibility of foundationalism as hamartia. Tragic foundationalism is the notion that fidelity to a single and substantive truth at the expense of an openness to evidence, reason, and change is an acute mistake which can lead to miscalculations of fact and virtue that create conflict and can end up in catastrophic destruction and the downfall of otherwise strong and noble people.

Chapter Eight “As a stranger give it welcome”: Shakespeare’s Advice for First-Year College Students

Encountering a new idea can be like meeting a strange person for the first time. Similarly, we dismiss new ideas before we get to know them. There is an answer to the problem of the human antipathy to strangeness in a somewhat strange place: a single line usually overlooked in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet . If the ghost is “wondrous strange,” Hamlet says, invoking the ancient ethics of hospitality, “Therefore as a stranger give it welcome.” In this word, strange, and the social conventions attached to it, is both the instinctual, animalistic fear and aggression toward what is new and different (the problem) and a cultivated, humane response in hospitality and curiosity (the solution). Intellectual xenia is the answer to intellectual xenophobia.

Chapter Nine Parallels in Hamlet

Hamlet is more parallely than other texts. Fortinbras, Hamlet, and Laertes have their fathers murdered, then seek revenge. Brothers King Hamlet and King Claudius mirror brothers Old Norway and Old Fortinbras. Hamlet and Ophelia both lose their fathers, go mad, but there’s a method in their madness, and become suicidal. King Hamlet and Polonius are both domineering fathers. Hamlet and Polonius are both scholars, actors, verbose, pedantic, detectives using indirection, spying upon others, “by indirections find directions out." King Hamlet and King Claudius are both kings who are killed. Claudius using Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet mirrors Polonius using Reynaldo to spy on Laertes. Reynaldo and Hamlet both pretend to be something other than what they are in order to spy on and detect foes. Young Fortinbras and Prince Hamlet both have their forward momentum “arrest[ed].” Pyrrhus and Hamlet are son seeking revenge but paused a “neutral to his will.” The main plot of Hamlet reappears in the play-within-the-play. The Act I duel between King Hamlet and Old Fortinbras echoes in the Act V duel between Hamlet and Laertes. Claudius and Hamlet are both king killers. Sheesh—why are there so many dang parallels in Hamlet ? Is there some detectable reason why the story of Hamlet would call for the literary device of parallelism?

Chapter Ten Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: Why Hamlet Has Two Childhood Friends, Not Just One

Why have two of Hamlet’s childhood friends rather than just one? Do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have individuated personalities? First of all, by increasing the number of friends who visit Hamlet, Shakespeare creates an atmosphere of being outnumbered, of multiple enemies encroaching upon Hamlet, of Hamlet feeling that the world is against him. Second, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not interchangeable, as commonly thought. Shakespeare gave each an individuated personality. Guildenstern is friendlier with Hamlet, and their friendship collapses, while Rosencrantz is more distant and devious—a frenemy.

Chapter Eleven Shakespeare on the Classics, Shakespeare as a Classic: A Reading of Aeneas’s Tale to Dido

Of all the stories Shakespeare might have chosen, why have Hamlet ask the players to recite Aeneas’ tale to Dido of Pyrrhus’s slaughter of Priam? In this story, which comes not from Homer’s Iliad but from Virgil’s Aeneid and had already been adapted for the Elizabethan stage in Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragedy of Dido, Pyrrhus – more commonly known as Neoptolemus, the son of the famous Greek warrior Achilles – savagely slays Priam, the king of the Trojans and the father of Paris, who killed Pyrrhus’s father, Achilles, who killed Paris’s brother, Hector, who killed Achilles’s comrade, Patroclus. Clearly, the theme of revenge at work in this story would have appealed to Shakespeare as he was writing what would become the greatest revenge tragedy of all time. Moreover, Aeneas’s tale to Dido supplied Shakespeare with all of the connections he sought to make at this crucial point in his play and his career – connections between himself and Marlowe, between the start of Hamlet and the end, between Prince Hamlet and King Claudius, between epic poetry and tragic drama, and between the classical literature Shakespeare was still reading hundreds of years later and his own potential as a classic who might (and would) be read hundreds of years into the future.

Chapter Twelve How Theater Works, according to Hamlet

According to Hamlet, people who are guilty of a crime will, when seeing that crime represented on stage, “proclaim [their] malefactions”—but that simply isn’t how theater works. Guilty people sit though shows that depict their crimes all the time without being prompted to public confession. Why did Shakespeare—a remarkably observant student of theater—write this demonstrably false theory of drama into his protagonist? And why did Shakespeare then write the plot of the play to affirm that obviously inaccurate vision of theater? For Claudius is indeed stirred to confession by the play-within-the-play. Perhaps Hamlet’s theory of people proclaiming malefactions upon seeing their crimes represented onstage is not as outlandish as it first appears. Perhaps four centuries of obsession with Hamlet is the English-speaking world proclaiming its malefactions upon seeing them represented dramatically.

Chapter Thirteen “To be, or not to be”: Shakespeare Against Philosophy

This chapter hazards a new reading of the most famous passage in Western literature: “To be, or not to be” from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet . With this line, Hamlet poses his personal struggle, a question of life and death, as a metaphysical problem, as a question of existence and nothingness. However, “To be, or not to be” is not what it seems to be. It seems to be a representation of tragic angst, yet a consideration of the context of the speech reveals that “To be, or not to be” is actually a satire of philosophy and Shakespeare’s representation of the theatricality of everyday life. In this chapter, a close reading of the context and meaning of this passage leads into an attempt to formulate a Shakespearean image of philosophy.

Chapter Fourteen Contagious Suicide in and Around Hamlet

As in society today, suicide is contagious in Hamlet , at least in the example of Ophelia, the only death by suicide in the play, because she only becomes suicidal after hearing Hamlet talk about his own suicidal thoughts in “To be, or not to be.” Just as there are media guidelines for reporting on suicide, there are better and worse ways of handling Hamlet . Careful suicide coverage can change public misperceptions and reduce suicide contagion. Is the same true for careful literary criticism and classroom discussion of suicide texts? How can teachers and literary critics reduce suicide contagion and increase help-seeking behavior?

Chapter Fifteen Is Hamlet a Sexist Text? Overt Misogyny vs. Unconscious Bias

Students and fans of Shakespeare’s Hamlet persistently ask a question scholars and critics of the play have not yet definitively answered: is it a sexist text? The author of this text has been described as everything from a male chauvinist pig to a trailblazing proto-feminist, but recent work on the science behind discrimination and prejudice offers a new, better vocabulary in the notion of unconscious bias. More pervasive and slippery than explicit bigotry, unconscious bias involves the subtle, often unintentional words and actions which indicate the presence of biases we may not be aware of, ones we may even fight against. The Shakespeare who wrote Hamlet exhibited an unconscious bias against women, I argue, even as he sought to critique the mistreatment of women in a patriarchal society. The evidence for this unconscious bias is not to be found in the misogynistic statements made by the characters in the play. It exists, instead, in the demonstrable preference Shakespeare showed for men over women when deciding where to deploy his literary talents. Thus, Shakespeare's Hamlet is a powerful literary example – one which speaks to, say, the modern corporation – showing that deliberate efforts for egalitarianism do not insulate one from the effects of structural inequalities that both stem from and create unconscious bias.

Chapter Sixteen Style and Purpose in Acting and Writing

Purpose and style are connected in academic writing. To answer the question of style ( How should we write academic papers? ) we must first answer the question of purpose ( Why do we write academic papers? ). We can answer these questions, I suggest, by turning to an unexpected style guide that’s more than 400 years old: the famous passage on “the purpose of playing” in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet . In both acting and writing, a high style often accompanies an expressive purpose attempting to impress an elite audience yet actually alienating intellectual people, while a low style and mimetic purpose effectively engage an intellectual audience.

Chapter Seventeen 13 Ways of Looking at a Ghost

Why doesn’t Gertrude see the Ghost of King Hamlet in Act III, even though Horatio, Bernardo, Francisco, Marcellus, and Prince Hamlet all saw it in Act I? It’s a bit embarrassing that Shakespeare scholars don’t have a widely agreed-upon consensus that explains this really basic question that puzzles a lot of people who read or see Hamlet .

Chapter Eighteen The Tragedy of Love in Hamlet

The word “love” appears 84 times in Shakespeare’s Hamlet . “Father” only appears 73 times, “play” 60, “think” 55, “mother” 46, “mad” 44, “soul” 40, “God" 39, “death” 38, “life” 34, “nothing” 28, “son” 26, “honor” 21, “spirit” 19, “kill” 18, “revenge” 14, and “action” 12. Love isn’t the first theme that comes to mind when we think of Hamlet , but is surprisingly prominent. But love is tragic in Hamlet . The bloody catastrophe at the end of that play is principally driven not by hatred or a longing for revenge, but by love.

Chapter Nineteen Ophelia’s Songs: Moral Agency, Manipulation, and the Metaphor of Music in Hamlet

This chapter reads Ophelia’s songs in Act IV of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the context of the meaning of music established elsewhere in the play. While the songs are usually seen as a marker of Ophelia’s madness (as a result of the death of her father) or freedom (from the constraints of patriarchy), they come – when read in light of the metaphor of music as manipulation – to symbolize her role as a pawn in Hamlet’s efforts to deceive his family. Thus, music was Shakespeare’s platform for connecting Ophelia’s story to one of the central questions in Hamlet : Do we have control over our own actions (like the musician), or are we controlled by others (like the instrument)?

Chapter Twenty A Quantitative Study of Prose and Verse in Hamlet

Why does Hamlet have so much prose? Did Shakespeare deliberately shift from verse to prose to signal something to his audiences? How would actors have handled the shifts from verse to prose? Would audiences have detected shifts from verse to prose? Is there an overarching principle that governs Shakespeare’s decision to use prose—a coherent principle that says, “If X, then use prose?”

Chapter Twenty-One The Fortunes of Fate in Hamlet : Divine Providence and Social Determinism

In Hamlet , fate is attacked from both sides: “fortune” presents a world of random happenstance, “will” a theory of efficacious human action. On this backdrop, this essay considers—irrespective of what the characters say and believe—what the structure and imagery Shakespeare wrote into Hamlet say about the possibility that some version of fate is at work in the play. I contend the world of Hamlet is governed by neither fate nor fortune, nor even the Christianized version of fate called “providence.” Yet there is a modern, secular, disenchanted form of fate at work in Hamlet—what is sometimes called “social determinism”—which calls into question the freedom of the individual will. As such, Shakespeare’s Hamlet both commented on the transformation of pagan fate into Christian providence that happened in the centuries leading up to the play, and anticipated the further transformation of fate from a theological to a sociological idea, which occurred in the centuries following Hamlet .

Chapter Twenty-Two The Working Class in Hamlet

There’s a lot for working-class folks to hate about Hamlet —not just because it’s old, dusty, difficult to understand, crammed down our throats in school, and filled with frills, tights, and those weird lace neck thingies that are just socially awkward to think about. Peak Renaissance weirdness. Claustrophobicly cloistered inside the castle of Elsinore, quaintly angsty over royal family problems, Hamlet feels like the literary epitome of elitism. “Lawless resolutes” is how the Wittenberg scholar Horatio describes the soldiers who join Fortinbras’s army in exchange “for food.” The Prince Hamlet who has never worked a day in his life denigrates Polonius as a “fishmonger”: quite the insult for a royal advisor to be called a working man. And King Claudius complains of the simplicity of "the distracted multitude.” But, in Hamlet , Shakespeare juxtaposed the nobles’ denigrations of the working class as readily available metaphors for all-things-awful with the rather valuable behavior of working-class characters themselves. When allowed to represent themselves, the working class in Hamlet are characterized as makers of things—of material goods and services like ships, graves, and plays, but also of ethical and political virtues like security, education, justice, and democracy. Meanwhile, Elsinore has a bad case of affluenza, the make-believe disease invented by an American lawyer who argued that his client's social privilege was so great that it created an obliviousness to law. While social elites rot society through the twin corrosives of political corruption and scholarly detachment, the working class keeps the machine running. They build the ships, plays, and graves society needs to function, and monitor the nuts-and-bolts of the ideals—like education and justice—that we aspire to uphold.

Chapter Twenty-Three The Honor Code at Harvard and in Hamlet

Students at Harvard College are asked, when they first join the school and several times during their years there, to affirm their awareness of and commitment to the school’s honor code. But instead of “the foundation of our community” that it is at Harvard, honor is tragic in Hamlet —a source of anxiety, blunder, and catastrophe. As this chapter shows, looking at Hamlet from our place at Harvard can bring us to see what a tangled knot honor can be, and we can start to theorize the difference between heroic and tragic honor.

Chapter Twenty-Four The Meaning of Death in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

By connecting the ways characters live their lives in Hamlet to the ways they die – on-stage or off, poisoned or stabbed, etc. – Shakespeare symbolized hamartia in catastrophe. In advancing this argument, this chapter develops two supporting ideas. First, the dissemination of tragic necessity: Shakespeare distributed the Aristotelian notion of tragic necessity – a causal relationship between a character’s hamartia (fault or error) and the catastrophe at the end of the play – from the protagonist to the other characters, such that, in Hamlet , those who are guilty must die, and those who die are guilty. Second, the spectacularity of death: there exists in Hamlet a positive correlation between the severity of a character’s hamartia (error or flaw) and the “spectacularity” of his or her death – that is, the extent to which it is presented as a visible and visceral spectacle on-stage.

Chapter Twenty-Five Tragic Excess in Hamlet

In Hamlet , Shakespeare paralleled the situations of Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras (the father of each is killed, and each then seeks revenge) to promote the virtue of moderation: Hamlet moves too slowly, Laertes too swiftly – and they both die at the end of the play – but Fortinbras represents a golden mean which marries the slowness of Hamlet with the swiftness of Laertes. As argued in this essay, Shakespeare endorsed the virtue of balance by allowing Fortinbras to be one of the very few survivors of the play. In other words, excess is tragic in Hamlet .

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Hamlet Research Paper & Essay Examples

When you have to write an essay on Hamlet by Shakespeare, you may need an example to follow. In this article, our team collected numerous samples for this exact purpose. Here you’ll see Hamlet essay and research paper examples that can inspire you and show how to structure your writing.

✍ Hamlet: Essay Samples

• What Makes Hamlet such a Complex Character? Genre: Essay Words: 560 Focused on: Hamlet’s insanity and changes in the character Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Ophelia
• Shakespeare versus Olivier: A Depiction of ‘Hamlet’ Genre: Essay Words: 2683 Focused on: Comparison of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Laurence Olivier’s adaptation Characters mentioned: Hamlet, the Ghost, Claudius, Ophelia, Gertrude
• Drama Analysis of Hamlet by Shakespeare Genre: Essay Words: 1635 Focused on: Literary devices used in Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia
• Hamlet’s Renaissance Culture Conflict Genre: Critical Essay Words: 1459 Focused on: Hamlet’s and Renaissance perspective on death Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Ophelia, Horatio
• Father-Son Relationships in Hamlet – Hamlet’s Loyalty to His Father Genre: Explicatory Essay Words: 1137 Focused on: Obedience in the relationship between fathers and sons in Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Laertes, Ophelia, Polonius, Fortinbras, Polonius, the Ghost, Claudius
• A Play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare Genre: Essay Words: 1026 Focused on: Hamlet’s personality and themes of the play Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Ophelia, Gertrude, Polonius
• Characterization of Hamlet Genre: Analytical Essay Words: 876 Focused on: Hamlet’s indecision and other faults Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Ophelia, Claudius, the Ghost, Gertrude
• Hamlet’s Relationship with His Mother Gertrude Genre: Research Paper Words: 1383 Focused on: Hamlet’s relationship with Gertrude and Ophelia Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Gertrude, Ophelia, Claudius, Polonius
• The Theme of Revenge in Shakespeare’s Hamlet Genre: Research Paper Words: 1081 Focused on: Revenge in Hamlet and how it affects characters Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, the Ghost
• Canonical Status of Hamlet by William Shakespeare Genre: Essay Words: 1972 Focused on: Literary Canon and interpretations of Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Horatio, Claudius
• A Critical Analysis of Hamlet’s Constant Procrastination in Shakespeare’s Hamlet Genre: Essay Words: 1141 Focused on: Reasons for Hamlet’s procrastination and its consequences Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Polonius
• Role of Women in Twelfth Night and Hamlet by Shakespeare Genre: Research Paper Words: 2527 Focused on: Women in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Hamlet Characters mentioned: Ophelia, Gertrude, Hamlet, Claudius, Laertes, Polonius
• William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Genre: Essay Words: 849 Focused on: Key ideas and themes of Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Ophelia, Laertes
• Shakespeare: Hamlet Genre: Essay Words: 1446 Focused on: The graveyard scene analysis Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Ophelia, Laertes, Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius
• Oedipus Rex and Hamlet Compare and Contrast Genre: Term Paper Words: 998 Focused on: Comparison of King Oedipus and Hamlet from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet . Characters mentioned: Hamlet
• The Play “Hamlet Prince of Denmark” by W.Shakespeare Genre: Essay Words: 824 Focused on: How Hamlet treats Ophelia and the consequences of his behavior Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Ophelia, Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Laertes
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare Genre: Explicatory Essay Words: 635 Focused on: Key themes of Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Fortinbras
• Hamlet’s Choice of Fortinbras as His Successor Genre: Essay Words: 948 Focused on: Why Hamlet chose Fortinbras as his successor Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Fortinbras, Claudius
• Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras: Avenging the Death of their Father Compare and Contrast Genre: Compare and Contrast Essay Words: 759 Focused on: Paths and revenge of Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras, Claudius
• Oedipus the King and Hamlet Genre: Essay Words: 920 Focused on: Comparison of Oedipus and King Claudius Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude
• Hamlet Genre: Term Paper Words: 1905 Focused on: Character of Gertrude and her transformation Characters mentioned: Gertrude, Hamlet, Claudius, the Ghost, Polonius
• Compare Laertes and Hamlet: Both React to their Fathers’ Killing/Murder Compare and Contrast Genre: Compare and Contrast Essay Words: 1188 Focused on: Tension between Hamlet and Laertes and their revenge Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Laertes, Ophelia, Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude
• Recurring Theme of Revenge in Hamlet Genre: Essay Words: 1123 Focused on: The theme of revenge in Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Laertes, Ophelia
• The Function of the Soliloquies in Hamlet Genre: Research Paper Words: 2055 Focused on: Why Shakespeare incorporated soliloquies in the play Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude
• The Hamlet’s Emotional Feelings in the Shakespearean Tragedy Genre: Essay Words: 813 Focused on: What Hamlet feels and why Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius
• Blindness in Oedipus Rex & Hamlet Genre: Research Paper Words: 2476 Focused on: How blindness reveals itself in Oedipus Rex and Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Horatio, the Ghost
• “Hamlet” and “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” Genre: Essay Words: 550 Focused on: Comparison of Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern
• The Role of Queen Gertrude in Play “Hamlet” Genre: Essay Words: 886 Focused on: Gertrude’s role in Hamlet and her involvement in King Hamlet’s murder Characters mentioned: Gertrude, Hamlet, the Ghost, Claudius, Polonius
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Genre: Explicatory Essay Words: 276 Focused on: The role and destiny of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Hamlet Characters mentioned: Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Hamlet, Claudius
• Passing through nature into eternity Genre: Term Paper Words: 2900 Focused on: Comparison of Because I Could Not Stop for Death, and I Died for Beauty, but was Scarce by Emily Dickinson with Shakespeare’s Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, the Ghost, Claudius, Gertrude
• When the Truth Comes into the Open: Claudius’s Revelation Genre: Essay Words: 801 Focused on: Claudius’ confession and secret Characters mentioned: Claudius, Hamlet
• Shakespeare Authorship Question: Thorough Analysis of Style, Context, and Violence in the Plays Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night Genre: Term Paper Words: 1326 Focused on: Whether Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night Characters mentioned: Hamlet
• Measuring the Depth of Despair: When There Is no Point in Living Genre: Essay Words: 1165 Focused on: Despair in Hamlet and Macbeth Characters mentioned: Hamlet
• Violence of Shakespeare Genre: Term Paper Words: 1701 Focused on: Violence in different Shakespeare’s plays Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Horatio, Claudius, Gertrude, Palonius, Laertes,
• Act II of Hamlet by William Shakespeare Genre: Report Words: 1129 Focused on: Analysis of Act 2 of Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Polonius, Ronaldo, Laertes, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, First Player, Claudius
• The Value of Source Study of Hamlet by Shakespeare Genre: Explicatory Essay Words: 4187 Focused on: How Shakespeare adapted Saxo Grammaticus’s Danish legend on Amleth and altered the key characters Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Ophelia, Gertrude, Claudius, the Ghost, Fortinbras, Horatio, Laertes, Polonius
• Ophelia and Hamlet’s Dialogue in Shakespeare’s Play Genre: Essay Words: 210 Focused on: What the dialogue in Act 3 Scene 1 reveals about Hamlet and Ophelia Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Ophelia
• Lying, Acting, Hypocrisy in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” Genre: Essay Words: 1313 Focused on: The theme of deception in Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius, Ophelia
• Shakespeare’s Hamlet’s Behavior in Act III Genre: Report Words: 1554 Focused on: Behavior of different characters in Act 3 of Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius
• The Masks of William Shakespeare’s Play “Hamlet” Genre: Research Paper Words: 1827 Focused on: Hamlet’s attitude towards death and revenge Characters mentioned: Hamlet, the Ghost
• Ghosts and Revenge in Shakespeare’s Hamlet Genre: Essay Words: 895 Focused on: The figure of the Ghost and his relationship with Hamlet Characters mentioned: Hamlet, the Ghost, Gertrude, Claudius
• Macbeth and Hamlet Characters Comparison Genre: Essay Words: 1791 Focused on: Comparison of Gertrude in Hamlet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth Characters mentioned: Gertrude, Claudius, Hamlet
• Depression and Melancholia Expressed by Hamlet Genre: Essay Words: 3319 Focused on: Hamlet’s mental issues and his symptoms Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Ophelia, Laertes, the Ghost, Polonius
• Meditative and Passionate Responses in the Play “Hamlet” Genre: Essay Words: 1377 Focused on: Character of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play and Zaffirelli’s adaptation Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Polonius
• Portrayal of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s Play and Zaffirelli’s Film Genre: Essay Words: 554 Focused on: Character of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play and Zaffirelli’s adaptation Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Ophelia
• Hamlet in the Film and the Play: Comparing and Contrasting Genre: Essay Words: 562 Focused on: Comparison of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Zeffirelli’s version of the character Characters mentioned: Hamlet
• Literary Analysis of “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare Genre: Essay Words: 837 Focused on: Symbols, images, and characters of the play Characters mentioned: Hamlet, the Ghost, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia
• Psychiatric Analysis of Hamlet Genre: Essay Words: 1899 Focused on: Hamlet’s mental state and sanity in particular Characters mentioned: Hamlet, Claudius, Ophelia, Laertes, Polonius
• Hamlet and King Oedipus Literature Comparison Genre: Essay Words: 587 Focused on: Comparison of Hamlet and Oedipus Characters mentioned: Hamlet

Thanks for checking the samples! Don’t forget to open the pages with Hamlet essays that you’ve found interesting. For more information about the play, consider the articles below.

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Essay on William Shakespeare's Hamlet movie

William Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" has been adapted into numerous movies, each offering a unique interpretation of the timeless tale. The complexity of the characters, the depth of the plot, and the enduring themes explored in the play have made it a rich resource for filmmakers. One of the most notable film adaptations of "Hamlet" is the 1996 movie directed by Kenneth Branagh. This essay will delve into the portrayal of the characters, the visual spectacle, and the director's interpretation in Branagh's rendition of "Hamlet."

In Branagh's "Hamlet," the characters are brought to life with emotional depth and complexity. The titular character, played by Branagh himself, is portrayed as a tormented soul, grappling with the weight of his father's death and the betrayal by his mother and uncle. Branagh's portrayal captures the inner turmoil of Hamlet, showcasing his conflicting emotions of grief, anger, and a desire for justice. Ophelia, played by Kate Winslet, is depicted as a fragile and tragic figure, driven to madness by the events surrounding her. The movie effectively captures the psychological intricacies of the characters, making them relatable and engaging for the audience.

Visually, Branagh's "Hamlet" is a spectacle to behold. The film's grandeur is exemplified through its opulent set designs, lavish costumes, and sweeping cinematography. The elaborate staging of scenes, particularly the iconic "To be or not to be" soliloquy, adds a sense of theatricality that enhances the story's dramatic impact. The use of grandiose sets and intricate details in the film's production design creates a heightened sense of the world in which the characters exist. The visual elements of the movie contribute to the overall immersive experience of watching "Hamlet."

Branagh's interpretation of "Hamlet" is characterized by its faithfulness to the original text of Shakespeare's play. The director's decision to retain the complete dialogue from the play, rather than abridging it, emphasizes the depth and complexity of the characters and their interactions. This fidelity to the source material allows the film to capture the essence of Shakespeare's language and the profound themes explored in the play. Additionally, Branagh's direction brings a sense of urgency and relevance to the story, ensuring that the timeless themes of betrayal, revenge, and moral ambiguity resonate with contemporary audiences.

In conclusion, Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" stands as a testament to the enduring power of the classic play. Through compelling character portrayals, stunning visuals, and a faithful interpretation of the source material, the movie offers a captivating and immersive cinematic experience. Branagh's "Hamlet" brings the timeless tale to life in a way that honors the depth and complexity of Shakespeare's work, making it a noteworthy addition to the lineage of "Hamlet" film adaptations.

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• William Shakespeare 's The Tragedy Of Hamlet Essay

The Tragedy Of William Shakespeare 's Hamlet Essay

The Tragedy of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet William Shakespeare’s Hamlet stands as one of the most celebrated and influential tragedies in the history of English literature. Set in the kingdom of Denmark, the play revolves around Prince Hamlet, who is tasked with avenging his father’s murder by his uncle, Claudius, who has usurped the throne. Throughout the play, Shakespeare explores themes of revenge, madness, and moral corruption, captivating audiences with its complex characters and timeless dilemmas. At the heart of Hamlet lies the theme of revenge, driving the actions of the protagonist and shaping the trajectory of the plot. Hamlet’s desire to avenge his father’s murder consumes him, leading to a series of tragic events that culminate in the deaths of multiple characters, including himself. Shakespeare intricately weaves the theme of revenge into the fabric of the play, portraying its devastating consequences and questioning the morality of seeking vengeance. Moreover, Shakespeare delves into the theme of madness, blurring the lines between reality and illusion. Throughout the play, Hamlet’s sanity comes into question as he grapples with the weight of his father’s death and the burden of his mission. His erratic behavior and cryptic speeches leave both the characters within the play and the audience wondering about the true nature of his madness. Shakespeare’s exploration of madness adds depth to Hamlet’s character and serves as a vehicle for probing the complexities of the human psyche. Additionally, Hamlet is rife with instances of moral corruption, as characters navigate a world fraught with deceit and betrayal. Claudius’s murder of King Hamlet sets the stage for a web of lies and manipulation, as he schemes to maintain his grip on power. Meanwhile, Hamlet himself wrestles with his conscience as he grapples with the moral implications of his quest for revenge. Through the moral dilemmas faced by its characters, Hamlet forces audiences to confront the inherent ambiguity of right and wrong. In conclusion, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet remains a timeless masterpiece that continues to captivate audiences with its exploration of themes such as revenge, madness, and moral corruption. Through its richly drawn characters and intricate plot, the play offers profound insights into the human condition, inviting audiences to contemplate the complexities of life and morality. Hamlet stands as a testament to Shakespeare’s enduring legacy as one of the greatest playwrights in history....

Death in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet Essay

Death in William Shakespeare's Hamlet Death permeates William Shakespeare's tragic play, Hamlet, serving as a central theme that shapes the characters' actions and the overall narrative. Throughout the play, death is not merely an event but a complex and multifaceted concept that reflects the characters' struggles with mortality, revenge, and existential questions. The play opens with the death of King Hamlet, whose sudden demise sets the stage for the subsequent events. This event triggers a chain reaction of deaths, as the characters grapple with grief, guilt, and the desire for revenge. The protagonist, Prince Hamlet, is particularly consumed by thoughts of death, contemplating its inevitability and pondering the nature of existence. His famous soliloquy, "To be, or not to be," encapsulates his existential crisis as he weighs the pros and cons of life and death. Moreover, the theme of death is intertwined with themes of betrayal and deceit. The murder of King Hamlet by his brother Claudius not only sets the plot in motion but also symbolizes the corruption and moral decay within the Danish court. Hamlet's quest for vengeance against Claudius becomes inextricably linked with the theme of death, as he navigates moral dilemmas and grapples with the consequences of his actions. The character of Ophelia also becomes a poignant symbol of death and tragedy. Her descent into madness and eventual suicide are tragic consequences of the chaos unleashed by King Hamlet's death. Ophelia's death, like many others in the play, highlights the destructive power of grief and the fragility of human sanity in the face of overwhelming loss. In conclusion, death permeates every aspect of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, shaping the characters' motivations, actions, and ultimately, their fates. Through its exploration of mortality, revenge, and existential angst, the play offers profound insights into the human condition and the inevitability of death's grip on life. Hamlet's haunting portrayal of death serves as a timeless reminder of the fragility of existence and the complexities of the human psyche....

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Act 3 Scene 1 Of William Shakespeare 's Hamlet Essay

Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's play is a pivotal moment in the story. It is the scene where the conflict between the two main characters, Romeo and Tybalt, reaches its climax. The scene takes place in the streets of Verona, where Romeo and his friends are confronted by Tybalt and his gang. The tension between the two groups is palpable, and the audience can sense that something significant is about to happen. The scene begins with Benvolio, Romeo's friend, trying to defuse the situation and prevent a fight. He urges Romeo to walk away and avoid any confrontation with Tybalt. However, Romeo, who has just married Tybalt's cousin Juliet, is unwilling to back down. He refuses to fight Tybalt, which only angers Tybalt further. Tybalt insults Romeo and challenges him to a duel. Romeo's refusal to fight is seen as a sign of weakness by Tybalt, who is determined to avenge the Montague family's intrusion into the Capulet's affairs. As the tension escalates, Mercutio, another one of Romeo's friends, steps in to defend Romeo's honor. He engages Tybalt in a sword fight, but Romeo tries to intervene and stop the violence. In the chaos that ensues, Tybalt fatally wounds Mercutio, who dies cursing both the Montagues and the Capulets. This tragic turn of events marks a turning point in the play, as it sets off a chain of events that ultimately leads to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. The scene is significant for several reasons. Firstly, it highlights the theme of fate and the role it plays in the lives of the characters. Despite Romeo's attempts to avoid violence, he is drawn into the conflict and ultimately pays the price for it. Secondly, the scene explores the destructive power of hatred and the consequences it can have on individuals and society as a whole. The feud between the Montagues and the Capulets is shown to be senseless and destructive, leading to the deaths of several characters. In terms of the specified topic list, the essay belongs to the category of Literary Analysis Essays. The main topics related to this essay are Arts, Art Movements, and Famous Artists. The scene from Romeo and Juliet is a prime example of Shakespeare's mastery of the dramatic arts and his ability to create memorable characters and scenes. It also showcases the influence of the Renaissance art movement on Shakespeare's work, as he incorporates elements of humanism and individualism into his plays. Finally, the play itself has become a classic of world literature and has been performed and studied by countless artists and scholars throughout history....

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Food in Hamlet by William Shakespeare Essays

Food plays a significant role in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Throughout the play, various references to food and drink are made, which serve to highlight the themes of decay, corruption, and manipulation. These references not only shed light on the characters' state of mind but also add depth and symbolism to the overall narrative. One of the most notable instances where food is used symbolically is in the scene where Hamlet interacts with the ghost of his father. The ghost describes the circumstances of his death, revealing that he was poisoned by his own brother, Claudius. To emphasize the treacherous act, the ghost compares the poison to "a serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark is by a forged process of my death rankly abused," (I.v.42-44). The imagery of a serpent and the corruption of Denmark due to Claudius's actions evoke biblical references to the original sin and the fall of man. By associating the poison with a serpent, Shakespeare alludes to the story of Adam and Eve, where a serpent tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, thus leading to the fall of humanity. In Hamlet, the poison not only physically kills King Hamlet but also metaphorically represents the moral decay and corruption that has engulfed the kingdom. Another instance where food is used symbolically is during the play within the play, where the characters watch a performance that mirrors the murder of King Hamlet. In this scene, Hamlet asks Ophelia, "Lady, shall I lie in your lap?" (III.ii.111). This seemingly innocent question has a deeper meaning as it alludes to the act of consumption and manipulation. By lying in Ophelia's lap, Hamlet metaphorically illustrates his control over her. This act of consuming her lap is a symbol of his desire to consume and possess her, much like how Claudius consumed and possessed the throne by killing his brother. In conclusion, food serves as a powerful symbol in Shakespeare's play Hamlet. It is used to highlight themes of decay, corruption, and manipulation. The references to poisonous food and the act of consumption depict the moral decline of the characters and the kingdom as a whole. By incorporating these symbols, Shakespeare adds depth and complexity to the narrative, elevating Hamlet to a timeless work of literature....

Hamlet By William Shakespeare : A Bias Point Of View Essay

Hamlet By William Shakespeare A Bias Point Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, is a play that has been analyzed and critiqued from various perspectives. One such perspective is the bias point of view, which focuses on the biases present in the play and how they shape the narrative and characters. This essay will explore the bias point in Hamlet and discuss its implications. One of the main biases in Hamlet is the bias against women. Throughout the play, female characters are portrayed as weak, manipulative, and deceitful. This bias is evident in the treatment of Ophelia, who is constantly controlled and manipulated by the male characters. She is portrayed as a fragile and unstable character, which reinforces the stereotype of women being emotionally unstable. Additionally, Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, is portrayed as a weak and submissive character who is easily swayed by the men in her life. This bias against women reflects the patriarchal society in which the play is set. Another bias in Hamlet is the bias against madness. The play explores the theme of madness through the character of Hamlet, who feigns madness in order to seek revenge. However, this portrayal of madness is biased and stigmatizing. It perpetuates the stereotype that people with mental illness are dangerous and unpredictable. This bias is evident in the way Hamlet's madness is portrayed as a threat to the stability of the kingdom. It reinforces the idea that mental illness is something to be feared and avoided. The bias point in Hamlet also extends to the portrayal of the supernatural. The play includes the appearance of a ghost, which plays a significant role in the plot. However, the portrayal of the supernatural is biased towards a Christian worldview. The ghost is portrayed as a figure of authority and truth, which aligns with Christian beliefs about the afterlife. This bias excludes other religious and cultural perspectives on the supernatural, reinforcing the dominance of Christianity in Shakespeare's time. In conclusion, Hamlet by William Shakespeare can be analyzed from a bias point of view, which reveals the biases present in the play. The biases against women, madness, and the supernatural shape the narrative and characters, reflecting the patriarchal society and Christian worldview of Shakespeare's time. By recognizing and critiquing these biases, we can gain a deeper understanding of the play and its implications. ...

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William Shakespeare 's Hamlet - Father And Son Relationship Essay

William Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" delves deeply into the complex relationship between fathers and sons, a theme that is central to the narrative. Throughout the play, the dynamics between Hamlet and his father, King Hamlet, as well as between Hamlet and his stepfather, King Claudius, provide insight into the complexities of familial bonds and the impact of paternal influence on a son's psyche. At the outset of the play, Hamlet is mourning the death of his father, King Hamlet, whose passing casts a shadow over the entire kingdom of Denmark. The intense grief and sense of loss experienced by Hamlet serve as the catalyst for the unfolding drama, setting the stage for his subsequent actions and decisions. Hamlet's deep admiration for his father is evident in his impassioned soliloquies, where he mourns not only the loss of a king but also the loss of a beloved parent and mentor. The ghost of King Hamlet emerges as a pivotal figure in the play, appearing to Hamlet and revealing shocking truths about his death. Through their interactions, the audience gains insight into the paternal bond between father and son, as well as Hamlet's sense of duty and loyalty to his family. The ghost's haunting presence serves as a constant reminder of the past and a driving force behind Hamlet's quest for justice and revenge. In contrast to his relationship with his deceased father, Hamlet's interactions with his stepfather, King Claudius, are fraught with tension and mistrust. Hamlet harbors deep-seated resentment towards Claudius, whom he perceives as a usurper and a villain responsible for his father's death. The strained relationship between Hamlet and Claudius underscores the theme of betrayal and underscores the challenges faced by sons in navigating complex familial dynamics. Ultimately, "Hamlet" is a timeless exploration of the intricate bonds between fathers and sons, depicting the profound impact of paternal influence on the development of individual identity and moral conscience. Shakespeare's masterful portrayal of these relationships invites audiences to reflect on their own experiences with family and the enduring power of love, loyalty, and legacy....

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The Exposition Of Hamlet By William Shakespeare Essay

Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, is a renowned tragedy that explores themes of revenge, madness, and the complexity of human nature. Set in Denmark, the play follows Prince Hamlet as he seeks to avenge his father's murder by his uncle, Claudius, who has taken the throne and married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. The play begins with the appearance of the ghost of Hamlet's father, who reveals the truth about his death and urges Hamlet to seek justice. This exposition sets the stage for the unfolding of a gripping and thought-provoking story. One of the main topics explored in Hamlet is the theme of revenge. Hamlet's quest for vengeance drives the plot and shapes the actions of the characters. The ghost's revelation about Claudius's treachery fuels Hamlet's desire to avenge his father's death, leading him to contemplate the moral implications of his actions. This theme raises questions about the nature of justice and the consequences of seeking revenge. Another significant theme in Hamlet is madness. Throughout the play, Hamlet's sanity is called into question as he feigns madness to deceive his enemies and gather information. The portrayal of madness in the play serves as a reflection of the characters' inner turmoil and the psychological impact of their actions. Hamlet's struggle with his own sanity adds depth to his character and highlights the complexity of human nature. The complexity of human nature is a central theme in Hamlet. The characters in the play are multi-dimensional and exhibit a range of emotions and motivations. Hamlet himself is torn between his duty to avenge his father and his moral qualms about violence. Other characters, such as Ophelia and Claudius, also grapple with conflicting desires and emotions. This exploration of human nature adds depth and realism to the play, making it relatable to audiences across time. In conclusion, Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a captivating tragedy that delves into themes of revenge, madness, and the complexity of human nature. The exposition of the play sets the stage for the unfolding of a gripping story that raises thought-provoking questions about justice, sanity, and the intricacies of the human psyche. Through its exploration of these themes, Hamlet continues to resonate with audiences and remains a timeless masterpiece of literature....

The Role of Women in Hamlet in William Shakespeare's Play Essay

Shakespeare's Hamlet is a complex tragedy that explores various themes, including the role of women in society. In this play, female characters are depicted with intricacy, contributing significantly to the overall narrative and character development. While some may argue that women in Hamlet are marginalized or passive, a closer examination reveals the depth of their roles and their impact on the plot. One of the prominent female characters in Hamlet is Gertrude, Hamlet's mother and the Queen of Denmark. Gertrude's character is multifaceted, embodying both strength and vulnerability. Throughout the play, Gertrude is portrayed as a complex figure who grapples with conflicting emotions and loyalties. Her hasty marriage to Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, after the death of King Hamlet raises questions about her character's moral integrity and her motivations. However, Gertrude's actions also reflect the societal pressures and expectations placed upon women during Shakespeare's time, particularly regarding marriage and obedience to male authority figures. Ophelia, another significant female character in Hamlet, is depicted as a young woman who becomes entangled in the political and personal conflicts of the play. Ophelia's character undergoes a tragic transformation, from a naive and obedient daughter to a broken and mentally unstable individual. Her relationships with both Hamlet and her father, Polonius, shape her character arc, highlighting the constraints imposed upon women by patriarchal society. Ophelia's descent into madness serves as a commentary on the societal pressures faced by women, as well as the consequences of their marginalization and lack of agency. Despite the challenges they face, the female characters in Hamlet also demonstrate resilience and agency in navigating their circumstances. Gertrude's attempts to mediate between Hamlet and Claudius, as well as her eventual realization of the truth, showcase her inner strength and capacity for growth. Similarly, Ophelia's tragic fate is not merely a passive victim of circumstance but a reflection of her agency in choosing her actions, albeit within the limitations imposed upon her by society. In conclusion, the role of women in Hamlet is complex and nuanced, reflecting the broader societal attitudes towards gender and power during Shakespeare's time. While female characters may be marginalized or constrained by patriarchal norms, they also possess agency, resilience, and depth that contribute to the richness of the play's narrative and themes. Through the characters of Gertrude and Ophelia, Shakespeare offers a poignant commentary on the complexities of womanhood and the enduring struggle for autonomy and identity....

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Essays on Hamlet

Hamlet essay topics and outline examples, essay title 1: the tragic hero in "hamlet": analyzing the complex character of prince hamlet.

Thesis Statement: This essay delves into the character of Prince Hamlet in Shakespeare's "Hamlet," examining his tragic flaws, internal conflicts, and the intricate web of relationships that contribute to his downfall, ultimately highlighting his status as a classic tragic hero.

• Introduction
• Defining Tragic Heroes: Characteristics and Literary Tradition
• The Complex Psychology of Prince Hamlet: Ambiguity, Doubt, and Melancholy
• The Ghost's Revelation: Hamlet's Quest for Justice and Revenge
• The Theme of Madness: Feigned or Real?
• Hamlet's Relationships: Ophelia, Gertrude, Claudius, and Horatio
• The Tragic Climax: The Duel, Poisoned Foils, and Fatal Consequences

Essay Title 2: "Hamlet" as a Reflection of Political Intrigue: Power, Corruption, and the Tragedy of Denmark

Thesis Statement: This essay explores the political dimensions of Shakespeare's "Hamlet," analyzing the themes of power, corruption, and political manipulation as portrayed in the play, and their impact on the fate of the characters and the kingdom of Denmark.

• The Political Landscape of Denmark: Claudius's Ascension to the Throne
• The Machiavellian Villainy of Claudius: Murder, Deception, and Ambition
• Hamlet's Struggle for Justice: The Role of Political Morality
• The Foils of Polonius and Laertes: Pawns in Political Games
• The Fate of Denmark: Chaos, Rebellion, and the Climactic Tragedy
• Shakespeare's Political Commentary: Lessons for Society

Essay Title 3: "Hamlet" in a Contemporary Context: Adaptations, Interpretations, and the Play's Enduring Relevance

Thesis Statement: This essay examines modern adaptations and interpretations of "Hamlet," exploring how the themes, characters, and dilemmas presented in the play continue to resonate with audiences today, making "Hamlet" a timeless and relevant work of literature.

• From Stage to Screen: Iconic Film and Theater Productions of "Hamlet"
• Contemporary Readings: Gender, Race, and Identity in "Hamlet" Interpretations
• Psychological and Existential Interpretations: Hamlet's Inner Turmoil in the Modern World
• Relevance in the 21st Century: Themes of Revenge, Justice, and Moral Dilemma
• Adapting "Hamlet" for New Audiences: Outreach, Education, and Cultural Engagement
• Conclusion: The Timelessness of "Hamlet" and Its Place in Literature

Exploring Sanity in Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Insanity in Hamlet

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The Tragic Story of Hamlet

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"Act": The Theme of "Acting" in Hamlet

The question of hamlet's madness, analysis of ophelia's story through the context of gender and madness, death and revenge in hamlet, a play by william shakespeare, existentialism as a part of hamlet, revenge and its consequences in hamlet, claudius as the master of manipulation in hamlet, the important theme of madness in hamlet by william shakespeare, trickery and deception in hamlet by william shakespeare, the role of grief in shakespeare’s hamlet, reflection on the act 2 of shakespeare’s hamlet, hamlet by william shakespeare: the impact of parents on their children, the relationship between hamlet and horatio, revenge and justice in william shakespeare’s hamlet, justice and revenge in shakespeare's hamlet, hamlet's intelligence is the factor of his procrastination nature, the dishonesty of the ghost in hamlet, king lear and hamlet: freudian interpretation of the two plays, hamlet's procrastination: a study on his unwillingness to act, shakespeare's use of machiavellian politics in hamlet.

1603, William Shakespeare

Play; Shakespearean tragedy

Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius

The play Hamlet is the most cited work in the English language and is often included in the lists of the world's greatest literature.

"Frailty, thy name is woman!" "Brevity' is the soul of wit" "To be, or not to be, that is the question" "I must be cruel to be kind" "Why, then, ’tis none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. To me, it is a prison."

1. Wright, G. T. (1981). Hendiadys and Hamlet. PMLA, 96(2), 168-193. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/pmla/article/abs/hendiadys-and-hamlet/B61A80FAB6569984AB68096FE483D4FB) 2. Leverenz, D. (1978). The woman in Hamlet: An interpersonal view. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 4(2), 291-308. (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/493608?journalCode=signs) 3. Lesser, Z., & Stallybrass, P. (2008). The first literary Hamlet and the commonplacing of professional plays. Shakespeare Quarterly, 59(4), 371-420. (https://academic.oup.com/sq/article-abstract/59/4/371/5064575) 4. De Grazia, M. (2001). Hamlet before its Time. MLQ: Modern Language Quarterly, 62(4), 355-375. (https://muse.jhu.edu/article/22909) 5. Calderwood, J. L. (1983). To be and not to be. Negation and Metadrama in Hamlet. In To Be and Not to Be. Negation and Metadrama in Hamlet. Columbia University Press. (https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7312/cald94400/html) 6. Kastan, D. S. (1987). " His semblable is his mirror":" Hamlet" and the Imitation of Revenge. Shakespeare Studies, 19, 111. (https://www.proquest.com/openview/394df477873b27246b71f83d3939c672/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1819311) 7. Neill, M. (1983). Remembrance and Revenge: Hamlet, Macbeth and The Tempest. Jonson and Shakespeare, 35-56. (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-06183-9_3) 8. Gates, S. (2008). Assembling the Ophelia fragments: gender, genre, and revenge in Hamlet. Explorations in Renaissance Culture, 34(2), 229-248. (https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA208534875&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=00982474&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Eebb234db)

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Hamlet Movie Analysis Essay

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Hamlet Essay | Essay on Hamlet for Students and Children in English

February 12, 2024 by Prasanna

Hamlet Essay:  The tragic play written by William Shakespeare, Hamlet, is a milestone in Shakespeare’s dramatic development in the world of literature. It is believed that Hamlet was written sometime in 1601 or 1602.

The playwright, Shakespeare has achieved a very creative matureness in work by his depiction of the main character’s struggle with two polar opposite forces: one being the need to avenge his father’s assassination and other being moral integrity. Hamlet is known as Shakespeare’s most successful, ideal and best plays in his lifetime, along with another tragic play, Romeo and Juliet.

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Long and Short Essays on Hamlet for Students and Kids in English

We are providing students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic Hamlet for reference.

Long Essay on Hamlet 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Hamlet is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Hamlet also was known as The Tragedy of Hamlet; Prince of Denmark is a tragedy play written by William Shakespeare. It was written sometime between the year 1599 and 1601. The play is set in Denmark, and it is based on the main character, Hamlet, whose father the king Hamlet was murdered by his uncle Claudius who then hastily remarried his mother to seize the throne.

The heftiest and influential works in the world of literature, Hamlet is a story efficient of seemingly limitless recurring and adaptation by others. Shakespeare’s Hamlet originated from the legend of Amleth which was conserved by Saxo Grammaticus, a 13th-century chronicler, in his GestaDanorum and was retold by scholar Francois de Belleforest in the 16th century. From Charles Dickens and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to Iris Murdoch and James Joyce, Hamlet has inspired many other.

An earlier Elizabethan play known as Ur-Hamlet was also believed to have been drawn by Shakespeare, though many scholars suspect that the well-known Hamlet is the revised version of Ur-Hamlet written by Shakespeare. It is almost certain that Shakespeare wrote his version for the title role for his fellow actor and the leading tragedian of Shakespeare’s time, Richard Burbage. The role has been performed many a time by famous actors even after 400 years of its inception.

The First Quarto; the Second Quarto and the First Follo are the three early different versions of the play, and each version includes entire scenes and lines which are missing from the other versions. The critical scrutiny of the play was inspired by the play’s structure and depth of characterization. An example of one such scrutiny in the play is Hamlet’s hesitation while killing his uncle as some saw it as a dramatization of the complicated ethical and philosophical issues surrounding the calculated revenge, foiled desire and the cold-blooded murder. At the same time, some argued that it is merely a plot device to elongate the action of the play.

You can now access Essay Writing on Hamlet and many more topics.

Recently feminists’ critics have examined and attempted to reintegrate the often-scorned characters of Gertrude and Ophelia while psychoanalytic critics have evaluated Hamlets’ unconscious desires. The play topped the performance list of the Royal Shakespeare Company and its forerunners in Stratford upon Avon since 1879.

The Hamlet-like legends are extensively found in Spain, Byzantium, Italy, Arabia and Byzantium and theme is possibly from an Indo-European origin with the core as “hero-as-fool”. According to Stephen Greenblatt’s argument, Hamlet was written tragically by Shakespeare due to his grief for the loss of his son, Hamnet Shakespeare, who died in 1596 at age eleven. But this idea was rejected by many scholars.

As recommended by Baldassare Castiglione’s 1528 etiquette guide, The Courtier, much of Hamlet’s language is courtly that is elaborate and witty discourse. As death is the main cause and result of the revenge for Hamlet, it is very intimately tied with the theme of revenge and justice. The start of the quest is caused by Hamlet’s uncle, who caused his father’s death, and the quest ends with the death of his uncle in the play.

Short Essay on Hamlet 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Hamlet is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Hamlet is argued as one of the greatest tragedy pieces, which was written by William Shakespeare all through his life. The plot of the play disputes between a variety of dispositions all in the chase of power and their interruption of moral authority. It surrounds the theme of deceit, deceives and maliciousness to create the “perfect storm” of chaos, misuse and perhaps lunacy. The personality of the main character, Hamlet, the son of the old King Hamlet and the rightful inheritor of the throne, is the most perplexing element throughout the play.

Although Hamlet receives celestial affirmation that his uncle Claudius secretly assassinated his father, and spectates a hasty remarriage of his uncle to his mother, Hamlet remains unable to take any revenge on behalf of his father. Hamlet is based on a Latin Norse legend by Saxo Grammaticus around 1200 AD. There are sixteen books in total, which tells about the stories of the great rulers of Denmark.

10 Lines on Hamlet Essay in English

1. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, also known as Hamlet is a play written by William Shakespeare. 2. Hamlet is said to behave written between 1599 to 1601. 3. Hamlet is the longest play written by Shakespeare with 30,557 words. 4. The plot of the play is about the revenge of Prince Hamlet against his uncle, Claudius, who murdered his father, to get his throne and marry his Hamlet’s mother. 5. Hamlet is one of the most popular plays written by Shakespeare. 6. It is considered that Hamlet is the most influential and powerful works in the world of literature. 7. The performance of Hamlet topped the list of Royal Charles Dickens since 1879. 8. Hamlet is described as the world’s most filmed movie right after Cinderella. 9. The play has been performed many times over the 400 years since its inception by highly well-known actors in each successive century. 10. There are three versions of the play which are surviving known as the First Quarto, the Second Quarto and the First Follo.

FAQ’s on Hamlet Essay

Question 1. Which of the character has the most lines in the play Hamlet?

Answer: The most lines, of any character in the play Hamlet, is the character Hamlet himself with 1569 lines.

Question 2. When was the play Hamlet, first performed?

Answer: The play was first performed in the year 1609.

Question 3. What does the word Hamlet mean?

Answer: The word Hamlet means small human settlement. A hamlet may also mean the size of a village, parish or a town.

Question 4. Is Hamlet based on a true story?

Answer: The characters in the play Hamlet are not based on real persons. But the story of Hamlet has been around the world for centuries.

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Literary Analysis of Lean on me

How it works

Lean On Me , a movie directed by John G. Avildsen and released in 1989, tells a gripping story about the ups and downs of fixing a broken school system. The film is based on the true story of Joe Louis Clark, a tough but caring high school principal who tries to turn around Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey. This essay looks at the characters, themes, and the social issues that make up the movie’s story.

• 1 Characterization and Development
• 2 Thematic Concerns
• 3 Sociocultural Context
• 4 Conclusion

Characterization and Development

Joe Clark, played by Morgan Freeman, is a bit of a tough guy who leads with a mix of strictness and care.

His character is pretty complicated; he uses harsh methods but really cares about his students. This mix is key to understanding the story. A study by Leithwood and Jantzi (2005) says that leaders who change things often take risks and push against the usual ways, which is exactly what Clark does.

The other characters, like the teachers and students, show the bigger problems that the school faces. Take Thomas Sams, for example. He starts off as a troublemaker but changes a lot because of Clark’s guidance. This change shows the film’s idea that people can turn their lives around. The interactions between Clark and the teachers also show different views on how to fix the school, adding more depth to the story.

Thematic Concerns

One big theme in Lean On Me is the fight for fair education. Eastside High is a symbol of a system that’s been ignored, where the gaps between rich and poor are clear. The movie asks if strict rules and high expectations can help overcome the problems of poverty. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2018), schools in poor areas often struggle with not enough money and high dropout rates. Clark’s tough methods aim to break this cycle of failure.

Another important theme is the idea of community and shared responsibility. The movie shows that a school’s success isn’t just up to the principal; parents, teachers, and students all play a part. This is shown in the scene where parents support Clark when he’s about to lose his job. This group effort highlights how important a supportive community is for a school to succeed.

Sociocultural Context

The social and cultural backdrop of Lean On Me is tied to the racial and economic issues of the late 1980s. The film came out during a time of big changes in U.S. education, especially after the “A Nation at Risk” report in 1983, which pointed out the problems in the American school system. The issues in the report are similar to those at Eastside High, like poor grades and violence.

Also, the movie shows an African American principal standing up against a failing system, which is a powerful image. It challenges common stereotypes about black leaders in urban schools and shows the tough problems they deal with. According to Ladson-Billings (1995), teaching that respects students’ cultures is key to helping marginalized communities. Clark’s focus on high standards and cultural pride fits this way of teaching.

Lean On Me isn’t just about fixing a school; it looks at the bigger social and economic problems that affect education in America. Through its rich characters, deep themes, and relevant social context, the film gives us a lot to think about concerning leadership in schools. By looking at Joe Clark’s actions and the environment at Eastside High, we get a better idea of the complex nature of educational fairness and the community effort needed for success. The film is a strong reminder of the ongoing fight for social justice and the power of leadership and community to make a difference.

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Literary Analysis of Lean on Me. (2024, Sep 17). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/literary-analysis-of-lean-on-me/

"Literary Analysis of Lean on Me." PapersOwl.com , 17 Sep 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/literary-analysis-of-lean-on-me/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Literary Analysis of Lean on Me . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/literary-analysis-of-lean-on-me/ [Accessed: 17 Sep. 2024]

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"Literary Analysis of Lean on Me," PapersOwl.com , 17-Sep-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/literary-analysis-of-lean-on-me/. [Accessed: 17-Sep-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Literary Analysis of Lean on Me . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/literary-analysis-of-lean-on-me/ [Accessed: 17-Sep-2024]

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