Hamlet Hsc Essay
- Submitted by: nmcorist
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- Category: English: Plays
- Date Submitted: 10/11/2013 08:51 PM
- Pages: 5
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‘Shakespeare’s Hamlet continues to engage audiences through its dramatic treatment of struggle and disillusionment.’
In the light of your critical study, does this statement resonate with your own interpretation of Hamlet?
In your response, make detailed reference to the play.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet addresses themes of contemplation and inaction, mortality, madness and themes of loyalty and corruption which help engage the audience through the dramatic treatment of struggle and disillusionment. Although the text is set in the Elizabethan period, it still maintains textual integrity thus meaning audiences are engaged by its meaning.
The struggle to act about his father’s murder is a key factor in Hamlet’s disillusionment with the world. The Elizabethan period was a time that demanded revenge and this is even true in our present time to some extent. An eye for an eye approach was considered socially correct which Hamlet initially suggests ‘May sweep to my revenge’. Since Claudius has become the new king, he is considered a false king by Hamlet and this leads to the collapse of the natural hierarchical system. He states ‘tis an unweeded garden’ alluding to the fact that a false king leads to corruption which finally leads to hierarchical collapse. Initially Hamlet has no conflict when it comes to avenging his father’s murder, but he is very quickly drawn into contemplation about the world and mortality.
Hamlet as a character is enigmatic and it is these aspects of his personality that allow for his musings about the world. His studies in Wittenberg have caused him to be extremely philosophical and contemplative. In his Act 3 Scene 3 soliloquy, Hamlet finally appears to the audience that he is going to avenge his father’s death. However, his reasoning behind hesitation is that Claudius will go to heaven with a forgiven soul ‘and so ‘a goes to heaven’. This disillusionment of Hamlet’s uncle is unseen by him because at the end of the scene, Claudius states that...
In the light of your critical study, does this statement resonate with your own interpretation of Hamlet?
In your response, make detailed reference to the play.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet addresses themes of contemplation and inaction, mortality, madness and themes of loyalty and corruption which help engage the audience through the dramatic treatment of struggle and disillusionment. Although the text is set in the Elizabethan period, it still maintains textual integrity thus meaning audiences are engaged by its meaning.
The struggle to act about his father’s murder is a key factor in Hamlet’s disillusionment with the world. The Elizabethan period was a time that demanded revenge and this is even true in our present time to some extent. An eye for an eye approach was considered socially correct which Hamlet initially suggests ‘May sweep to my revenge’. Since Claudius has become the new king, he is considered a false king by Hamlet and this leads to the collapse of the natural hierarchical system. He states ‘tis an unweeded garden’ alluding to the fact that a false king leads to corruption which finally leads to hierarchical collapse. Initially Hamlet has no conflict when it comes to avenging his father’s murder, but he is very quickly drawn into contemplation about the world and mortality.
Hamlet as a character is enigmatic and it is these aspects of his personality that allow for his musings about the world. His studies in Wittenberg have caused him to be extremely philosophical and contemplative. In his Act 3 Scene 3 soliloquy, Hamlet finally appears to the audience that he is going to avenge his father’s death. However, his reasoning behind hesitation is that Claudius will go to heaven with a forgiven soul ‘and so ‘a goes to heaven’. This disillusionment of Hamlet’s uncle is unseen by him because at the end of the scene, Claudius states that...