Hamlet

First performed between the years 1600-01, first printed in 1603.

Throughout Shakespeare's plays, the maintenance of identity is a very common conflict, as it was shown in Macbeth and now in Hamlet. In this play Shakespeare has portrayed young Hamlet to convey the two sides to him; one side shows his insane behaviour towards his family, the other side determines his thoughts of either doing right or wrong according to what he has seen. The play trembles with conflicts: one being identity, which shows all the characters in different disputes of their own. We also see the problems of lack of self-confidence, misjudgement, and betrayal.--Submitted by imran.

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What are some solid examples of action and inaction in Hamlet the evil it caused?

Posted By lift4life17 at Sun 17 Jan 2010, 4:18 PM in Hamlet || 0 Replies

How does the play Hamlet demonstrate this idea from Martin Buber?

"There are three principles in a man's being and life, the principle of thought, the principle of speech, and the principle of action. The origin of all conflict between me and and my fellow-men is that I do not say what I mean and I don't do what I say."

Posted By lift4life17 at Sat 16 Jan 2010, 12:19 PM in Hamlet || 1 Reply

Need Help urgent.... Does Hamlet act honorably or nobly?

the prompt is as goes: Analyze the play to argue whether or not Hamlet acts honorably,nobly. Using Hamlet as the primary example, explain whether or not Shakespear portrays mankind gennerally as honorable and noble. Refer to the most important aspects of the plot to support your answer. 5pg MLA format:flare: My view on Hamlet is simple he is honorable because he well avenges his familys honor but then its like how do i support that, or iono i just wnat to know a way to simplify it and structure iit in a way where it is easy to write. PLease help...

Posted By juicyndkarma11 at Fri 8 Jan 2010, 1:01 AM in Hamlet || 5 Replies

Hamlet: Thought versus action

Hamlet is a man of thought, reason and intellect. He responds to events by thinking about them. When the Ghost tells him that his father had been murdered, he says: “Haste me to know it, that I with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love may sweep to my revenge.” (1.5.29-31). When the ghost leaves, he says: ”Yea, from the table of my memory I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records, all saws of books, all forms, all pressures past that youth and observation copied there and thy commandment all along shall live within the book and volume of my brain unmixed with baser matter.” (1.5.98-104). To Rosencrantz and Guildernstern he says: “Denmark’s a prison . . . for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” (2.2.239, 244-245). When Fortinbras passes through Denmark, he ponders about reason and thinking. (4.4.32 –66). “Sure he that made us with such large discourse . . . gave us not that capability and god like reason to fust in us unused. Now, whether it be bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple of thinking too precisely on the event (A thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom and ever three parts coward), I do not know. . . O, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth”. (4.4.36-43, 65-66). When he contemplates action, he thinks about it, and finds reasons not to act. The first time he contemplates suicide, he decides not to act because it is against cannon law. “The Everlasting . . .fixed his cannon against self-slaughter” (1.2.131-132). The next time he thinks about suicide, he again finds reasons not to act. “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; and thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, and enterprises of great pitch and moment with this regard their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action”. (3.1.83-87). When he is about to kill Claudius after the play, he ponders the matter and reasons that it would not be revenge, since Claudius would go to heaven if he were killed while in prayer. (3.3.73-96). “And now I’ll do it, and so he goes to heaven. And so am I revenged . . . A villain kills my father, and for that I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. Why this is hire and salary, not revenge.” (3.3.74-79). Hamlet is also an irrational man. When he does act, he does so impetuously, impulsively, rashly and without thought. He visits Ophelia in her chambers and frightens her with his irrational and bizarre behavior. (2.1.74-97). He stabs Polonius to death behind the Arras without investigating, thinking it was Claudius. Hamlet: “: Dead for a ducat, dead” . . . Queen: “O me, what hast thou done?” Hamlet: “Nay, I know not. Is it the king?” Queen: “O what a rash and bloody deed is this.” (3.4.24-28). He jumps aboard the Pirate ship in the heat of battle. (4.6.14-17). He jumps into Ophelia’s grave and fights with Laertes (5.1.248-254). Of this action, he says to Horatio “But sure, the bravery of his grief did put me into a towering passion” (5.2.78-79). When he tells Horatio of substituting the letters on board the ship in Rosencrantz and Guildernstern’s cabin, he describes the action as being rash and shaped by fate. (5.2.4-62). “Rashly-and praised be rashness for it: let us know our indiscretion sometimes serves us well when our deep plots do pall, and that should learn us there’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will.” (5.2.6-11).. When doubtful about whether to dual with Laertes, he again reveals his fatalism and lets it overrule his reason. Hamlet: “I shall win at the odds; but thou wouldst not think how ill all’s here about my heart--but it is no matter . . . Horatio: “If your mind dislike anything, obey it.” . . . Hamlet: “Not a whit, we defy augury. There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come it will be now; if it be not now, yet if will come; the readiness is all.” (5.2.196-207). Finally, he kills Claudius in a rage, stabbing and poisoning him. (5.2.315-319). Hamlet represents a conflict between a paralyzing intellect and a destructive irrationality.

Posted By billwic at Tue 5 Jan 2010, 11:53 AM in Hamlet || 0 Replies

hello everybody .. can you help me??

good evening ... :wave: l have a question as a research and i want you to help me.. -------------------------- * q: the prince (hamlet) himself is the sacrificial victom of his superior morality .. discuss your view ?? -------------------------- if you know any website or if you have essays about this question please tell i am waiting ..!! nesmah

Posted By nesmah at Fri 1 Jan 2010, 10:12 AM in Hamlet || 0 Replies

The best Hamlet?

Please note that in the poll, I've included famous TV or film portrayals of Hamlet as more people are likely to have seen them than theatre productions (plus it's been done so many times on stage that it'd be hard to choose).

Posted By kelby_lake at Mon 28 Dec 2009, 9:50 AM in Hamlet || 38 Replies

Help With a Thematic Essay

Okay, I have a 750 word essay due after the Christmas break on hamlet. We have to find important words and write an essay on this. We are supposed to use a hamlet concordance(which I can't find) to find words that come up a lot because they should be "important themes" within Hamlet. I can not even figure out which word or group of words (eg. lunacy distemper and madness) to choose. We are supposed to write a standard 5 paragraph essay with a 3 point balanced thesis statement Any help i could get at all would be extremely helpful as I am EXTREMELY bad at understanding things like shakespeare - I am a very linear thinker and these more abstract concepts just do not make sense to me. Here is my assignment sheet I typed up given to us by our teacher. Hamlet Thematic Essay Your task is to write a 750 word essay that identifies and explores one key theme ofthe play. This assignment will be worth 10% of your final grade. Step One: Using your Hamlet text and a concordance, do a keyword analysis of the play (we did this in class). Select a word, or related set of three words, that are essential to an interpretation of the play. Don't forget to search for related words like marry, marries, married, marriage. You may wish to group your words by central themes like Biblical/Mythological, Astrological/Elemental, Psycho-Analytical (Jungian), Spiritual, Body Politic/Anatomy of Melancholy, Dystopia, Animal Imagery, and Sexual (Freudian). Example: Blood (29) or Bleed (2) appears 31 times in Hamlet. Something related to blood must be a key theme within the play. Example #2: Madness is expressed in multiple ways like Lunacy (2), Distemper (4) and ecstacy (5). Each represents a different aspect of madness (like the three sides of a triangle). Step Two: Look at the entire list of quotations that contain your word and try to generalize the treatment of the topic. In other words, begin to generate a thesis. Select the three best quotations that exemplify this thesis and it is best if you choose quotations that appear throughout the play with one early (I, II), one middle (II, III, IV), and one late (IV, V). If you are struggling with generating a thesis, go back and brainstorm your word. Check an etymological dictionary, consider what that word means to Elizabethans in contrast to what it means to us today. Consider how that word is used in hamlet as opposed to other Shakespearean plays or works of literature. You can even use the Virtual library to see if someone else has written on the topic – just don’t plagiarize and also be sure to include a reference in your works consulted. Example: Shakespeare mentions Hercules three times in Hamlet, which is relatively significant because Shakespeare only uses the word 36 times in all of his works. O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn'd longer-married with my uncle, My father's brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules Ay, that they do, my lord; Hercules and his load too. Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew and dog will have his day. Step Three: Do a little research on Hercules and his family. Alcmene was the mother of Hercules and the wife of Amphitryon, but the night she conceived Hercules and his twin brother Iphicles, Alcmene mated with both Zeus, who had disguised himself as her husband, and Amphitryon. As a result, Zeus was Hercules' father, but Amphitryon was the father of Iphicles. Begin to note the parallels between Alcmene, Amphitryon,& Zeus and Gertrude, King Hamlet, & Claudius! We also know that Hercules goes mad (Hera interferes) and kills his wife and and children. For that, he is punished with the Twelve Labours (also-mentioned in the play). My fate cries out, And makes each petty artery in this body As hardy as the Neamean lion’s nerve Still am I call 'd. Is Shakespeare telling us that hamlet is a form of Hercules even though hamlet himself appears to be denying it? Don’t just start that Hercules is a symbol of hamlet – explain how a full understanding of the quotations is essential to our understanding of the thematic “world view” of the play. If we need to share some of this information, we may wish to write a "parameters paragraph" that would appear between the introduction and the first body paragraph. Step Four: Now that you have selected a word, found three Quotations and done some research, develop a three point balanced thesis statement. Make sure that you have a full and complete understanding of what you are arguing before you begin to write. Write an introduction that is error free so that the teacher is impressed from the start Write your body paragraphs using the structure learned in class. Whenever you get lost or go off on a tangent, refer to your quotation and your thesis statement. Do not retell the story or write a book report! Tack on your conclusion at the end. Step Five: Let somebody else read your essay (parent, older sibling, email it to a friend). Let it sit 24-48 hours before rereading it. Do a final draft. Include your MLA title row, proper parenthetical referencing of quotations, and works cited or works consulted. Step Six: Submit to Mr. Krys, January 4 2010 Thanks ahead of time guys!

Posted By tdunks at Thu 24 Dec 2009, 8:23 PM in Hamlet || 2 Replies

Portrait of Gertrude

Gertrude is a fascinating character. While we have many specific facts about her, much of the information is ambiguous and incomplete. However, from wht we know, we can create a fairly accurate portrait. In act 3, we learn from the player king and queen who represent King Hamlet and Gertrude that they were married for 30 years. (3.2.147-152). At first it was a loving marriage (1.2.140-145; 1.5.48-50). Hamlet who is 30 (5.1.133-39, 152-53) was born during first year of their marriage. She may have been a foreign princess. She says to the mob which breaks into the palace: “You false Danish dogs” (4.5.110), implying that she may not be Danish. Apparently she married King Hamlet when she was quite young and he was much older. If she were 18 when they married and King Hamlet was 35, then, at the time of the play, she would be 48 and he 65. He is old: he takes naps every afternoon and has a gray beard. (1.5.59-60; 1.2.237-239). Gertrude, now bored with her old husband, is seduced by King Hamlet’s younger brother, Claudius, with whom she seeks diversion and sexual satisfaction, and with whom she has an adulterous and incestuous affair. (1.5.42-52) Her love of Claudius is so great that she marries him right after King Hamlet’s funeral, without even waiting a reasonable time. (1.2.145-157) She herself admits to her “O’r hasty marriage”. (2.2.56). As Hamlet tells Horatio: “the funeral baked meats coldly brought forth the marriage table.” (1.2.180-181). Hamlet says: ” A beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer”. (1.2.150-151) In choosing Claudius, Gertrude betrayed her son. While she loved Hamlet, she loves Claudius more. Hamlet wanted to become king after his father’s death, but was thwarted by Claudius, who “popped in between the election and my hopes.” (5.2.65). Instead of supporting her son’s claim to the throne, Gertrude supports her lover’s claim in the strongest possible way, by marrying him. She criticizes Hamlet for continuing to mourn for his father two months after his death and one month after his funeral. (1.2.68-73). Hamlet says it is genuine grief and implies that Gertrude is guilty of hypocrisy. (1.2.76-86; 1.2.145-151). Perhaps she is embarrassed by the contrast of Hamlet’s mourning and her hasty marriage. What did Gertrude know of the murder of King Hamlet? The ghost hints at her guilt and says to Hamlet: “But howsoever thou pursuest this act, taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven, and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her.” (1.5. 84-88) Hamlet believes she may have been involved in the murder. He says of her: “O most pernicious woman!” (1.5.105). During the play, the player queen accuses Gertrude:“In second husband let me be accurst: None wed the second, but who killed the first.” (3.2.172-173; 175-178). Gertrude observes: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” (3.2.223) Before visiting her, Hamlet suggest she is guilty and says: “O heart, lost not thy nature: let not ever the soul of Nero enter this firm bosom; let me be cruel, not unnatural. I will speak daggers to her, but use none.” (3.2.378-382). After the play Gertrude realizes that Hamlet knows that Claudius killed King Hamlet and how he did it. Guildernstern tells Hamlet: “The Queen, your mother, in most great affliction of spirit hath sent me to you.” (3.2.299-300). At the meeting in her apartments, she criticizes him for revealing the murder to the court. She says to Hamlet,” you have your father much offended.” (3.4.9). Hamlet replies “you have my father much offended” (3.4.10). She says she will call others to speak to him. He then forces her to sit down. (3.4.17-20). She is frightened and fearful that Hamlet might take revenge against her. She believes that he wants to harm her and she cries out for help: “What wilt thou do? Thou wilt not murder me? Help, help, ho.”. (3.4.21-22) Her violent reaction seems to imply guilt on her part and her fear that Hamlet will take revenge against her. Her cries cause Polonius to cry out and Hamlet kills him in front of Gertrude believing him to be Claudius. Hamlet says: “Is it the King?” (3.4.27). Gertrude replies: “what a rash and bloody deed is this!”, to which Hamlet replies, directly accusing her: “A bloody deed. Almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry with his brother. (3.4.24-27). At this point Gertrude must have been petrified with fear, realizing that Hamlet wants to revenge the murder by killing Claudius and also believes that she was involved and he might also want to kill her. She shows extraordinary courage and self-control. She tries not to antagonize Hamlet, and says very little during the scene. When Hamlet severely chastises her for her relations with Claudius, she says: “O Hamlet speak no more. Thou turn’st my eyes into my very soul, and there I see such black and grained spots as will not leave their tinct” (3.4.86-89). He continues his tirade, calling Claudius a murderer and a villain. Gertrude replies: “O speak to me no more. These words like daggers enter in mine ear. . . no more” (3.4.94-96, 99). When Hamlet sees the ghost and she does not she is convinced that he is truly mad. (3.4.104) She promises not to reveal what Hamlet said to her. (3.4.195-197) At first she tells Claudius that Hamlet killed Polonius in madness, saying it was a rat. (4.1.8-12) Later, it appears that she told Claudius that Hamlet killed Polonius believing him to be Claudius. Claudius tells Laertes that Hamlet wanted to kill him. (4.7.4-5) He must have learned this from Gertrude. We never know for sure the full extent of Gertrude’s guilt in connection with the murder. She never confesses as does Claudius. When Laertes breaks in with the mob, she again shows her love for Claudius by stepping between them and physically restraining Laertes to keep him from harming Claudius. (4.5.122, 126) Gertrude seems to have known of Claudius’ plan to have Hamlet murdered by the English. Since Hamlet was to have been executed without delay by beheading, presumably this would have been reported back to Claudius as it was when Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern were killed (5.2.363-364). She again had to make a choice between Claudius and Hamlet, each wanting to kill the other, and chooses Claudius. During the planning of the conspiracy between Laertes and Claudius to kill Hamlet using the poisoned rapier, Claudius says: “And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe, but even his mother shall uncharged the practice and call it accident.” (4.7.65-67) She must have been aware of Claudius’ intention to kill Hamlet and would be more suspicious than others about his death, unless it were made to appear an accident. There are many other ambiguities about Gertrude and her conduct. At first, she refuses to see Ophilia. (4.5.1) Is she embarrassed by the fact the her son had killed Ophilia’s father? She talks of her guilt: “To my sick soul, as sin’s true nature is, each toy seems prologue to some great amiss. So full of artless jealousy is guilt, it spills itself in fearing to be spilt.” (4.5.17-20). Later, she reports the details of the death of Ophelia. (4.7.162-182). Did she witness it or was it reported to her? What does she know or suspect about Claudius’ plan to kill Hamlet after his return? Does she know or suspect the wine to be drunk by Hamlet is poisoned? Does she want to die with Hamlet? She drinks despite Claudius’ attempt to stop her and she offers Hamlet the wine after she drinks it. He refuses. (5.2.281-286) After collapsing she immediately says that the drink was poisoned. (5.2.304-305) Did she know it was poisoned? Gerturde dies, leaving us uncertain about many aspects of her life, yet she remains a most fascinating and enigmatic figure.

Posted By billwic at Sun 6 Dec 2009, 3:52 PM in Hamlet || 2 Replies

Hamlet beliefs in the Elizabethan World View (The Great Chain of Being)

I have an AP Literature project due and its described as is: Trace the origin and rapidly overwhelming deterioration of Hamlet's once securely held beliefs in the Elizabethan World View. (The Great Chain of Being) The source of your analysis should be Hamlet's soliloquy only. (Ex. To be or not to be...) Does anyone know the beliefs that Hamlet had in the Great Chain of Being in the beginning of the play until the end of the play. So the before and after. I need help on this project.

Posted By TonyPhan at Sun 15 Nov 2009, 3:16 PM in Hamlet || 1 Reply

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