Drama Analysis

Bre’Aun C. Glasper
October 22, 2010
English 115
Composition II
Ms. Evans

As one of the most famous tragedies written by William Shakespeare around 1600, Hamlet, the prince of Denmark seeks revenge on his uncle, who murdered the King and married Hamlet’s mother, the Queen. Hamlet is considered to be well versed in both polite letters and martial arts. I believe Hamlet is a tragic hero because his irresolution becomes his fatal flaw and it eventually brings him to his downfall.
The first appearance of Hamlet is in Act I- Scene 2, he is mourning his father’s, the King’s death."But two months dead-- …my poor father’s body…why she married with my uncle, My father’s brother, but no more like my father…Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears…But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue" Hamlet cannot accept what presents in front of him. Not only his father’s death but also Queen’s marriage makes Hamlet immense sense of grief, obvious feelings of anger and frustration. The combinations of these emotions at the beginning tell us that Hamlet is a very complex and conflicted man. Hamlet’s contradiction personality makes him irresolvable. Prince Hamlet both his father’s death and his mother, Queen Gertrude’s remarriage to Claudius took a major toile on him. The ghost of Hamlets father appears to him and tells him that Claudius has poisoned him. Hamlet swears revenge. He arranges an old play whose story has a parallel to that of Claudius. Hamlets behavior is considered mad. He kills the eavesdropping Polonius, the court chamberlain, by thrusting his sword through a curtain. Polonius’s son Laertes returns to Denmark to avenge his father’s death. Polonius’s daughter Ophelia loves the prince but his brutal behavior drives her to madness. Ophelia dies by drowning. A duel takes place and ends with the death of Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet. The themes discussed in the plot include indecision, seeking revenge and retribution, deception, ambition, loyalty, and fate. Hamlet faced many trials, most people become stronger with experience but in Hamlets case I think that it honestly made him crack, and had A lot to do with his death.
"With an auspicious and a dropping eye,
With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,
In equal scale weighing delight and dole."
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet
It is reasonable to wonder what Shakespeare had in mind while writing Hamlet. After all, Shakespeare wasn't a philosopher or historian, or even a literary critic. He was a playwright. He didn't leave us
critical essays examining his work. It is left to us to examine his work and decide for ourselves, if we care to, what Shakespeare was thinking. Did he know that he was writing a drama of deep
psychological significance, a play which would eventually be viewed and read the all over the world, produced many times over hundreds of years, taught in schools, and thought of as one of the world's greatest plays? I, for one, imagine him dotting the I in the last word of the play, silence, putting down his pen, and saying I hope it runs a year. Yet Hamlet is an extremely complex play. To appreciate the imagination which went into the creation of this tragedy, let's first delve into what is putatively Shakespeare's most complex tragedy, King Lear. Lear has three daughters: Cordelia, who is faithful and unappreciated by Lear, and Regan and Goneril who receive everything at his hands and betray him. These themes of misplaced love and filial betrayal are mirrored in the subplot of the play, the relationship between the Earl of Gloster and his two sons, Edmund, who is supported and approved by Gloster and betrays him, and Edgar, who unjustly becomes a fugitive from his father's wrath. The mirror is whole. In it we view Cordelia's reflection and see Edgar, while Regan's and Goneril's reflections, which are of one face, show us Edmund. In the main plot of Hamlet, Hamlet's father has been murdered. Hamlet swears revenge, but feign's madness and delays. In the subplot, the chamberlain, Polonius, is murdered by Hamlet. One of Polonius's children, Laertes, swears revenge, while the other, his daughter Ophelia, goes mad. Here, the mirror is cracked. Hamlet's reflection is splintered. We see one part of him, his revenge motive, in Laertes' action, and we see his pretended madness in Ophelia's piteous condition. More than this, Hamlet's image is dimmed compared to those of his counterparts. Hamlet speaks of revenge, but procrastinates; Laertes instantly raises and army and attacks the kingdom, but he must be satisfied over his father's murder. Hamlet only acts mad; Ophelia's madness is too real. In this play they use a lot of foreshadowing to show remembrance of someone, or even just to remind the audience of someone. A great example of foreshadowing is when Hamlet's father came to him as a ghost to inform him of his murder, this caused a rage within Hamlet that foreshadows his revenge. This revenge led to the death of his uncle, mother, and himself. It also created Hamlet's wild behavior, and caused him possibly to become insane… I honestly feel that those events had a lot to do with the way Hamlet viewed things. He became sort of a realist; someone who has their own way of thinking, doing everything in opposite of everyone else. Another example is Hamlet's sudden unusual behavior toward Ophelia, which foreshadows a fatal outcome for the two lovers. His treatment toward Ophelia was so horrible and devastating that it caused her great pain. After the death of her father she went crazy and ended up killing (drowning) herself, When she died you could tell apart of Hamlet died his self.
Although, you can compare this play to many things I immediately thought of a piece I learned about in high school by Kenneth Branagh. The play “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”, being of such a complicated variety of themes, contains many different story lines as well as being very extensive in nature makes it quite a challenge to be produced and acted. On paper, the reader can translate things, as they like. Since Shakespeare is not around to tell us the meaning of every theme or the truth about every nook and cranny about his works. It is up to the reader to decide what the importance of everything is. Thus when a producer decides to create a film based on “Hamlet” it is most certain that his creation will vary from any others. Each will create their own version of the story, stressing some issues more than others as well as completely leaving sections out. In this essay I will compare Kenneth Branagh’s presentation of the ghost with Franco Zeffirelli’s. In Kenneth Branagh’s version, the ghost is introduced at the very beginning of the film. We are unclear as to the purpose of the ghost’s visit through this vague first impression we are presented. Is he a good or evil spirit? He most certainly does not seem to be friendly and is reluctant to speak. One might question the whole purpose of the visit in the first place. It does not state the nature of its appearance and seems to almost attack the guards. However, Zeffirelli skips this first interlude completely and we are aware of the encounter with the ghost through a conversation...This automatically reminded me of the ghost (Hamlets father) coming back to tell him something. When he quoted
"It faded on the crowing of the cock.
Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time."
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet
It seems as if he’s speaking about his father. A man who was of great importance to Hamlet, but then it seems as if hes speaking about his God… It’s up to you how you preserve this caption, but I do feel that it’s very inspirational.
Hamlet is truly a great play. Any work of literature that generates so much debate and has lasted for four hundred years must be pure genius. One question that has puzzled readers and audiences alike is Hamlet's delay. Why does he wait so long to kill Claudius?

During and immediately following Hamlet's conversation with the Ghost, he is determined to fulfill the Ghost's wishes. Hamlet already has a plan to catch Claudius. However, the next time he appears in the play, which is long after the Ghost's visit, he has not yet done the deed. He admits he may have been deceived by the ghost.
"The spirit that I have see May be a devil, and the devil hath power T' assume a pleasing shape”
-William Shakespeare, Hamlet

To fully understand Hamlet’s inaction, it is important to look at revenge. In Richard III revenge is not exacted until Richard is dead and his fowl deeds found out. In Othello, Iago will not be revenged until Othello is completely destroyed. In Merchant of Venice Shylock wants to humiliate and then kill Antonio. Thus revenge is not exacted until the evil deeds of the offender are revealed and the public knows the truth. Only then does the thought of death come into revenge. Under this light, Hamlet cannot kill Claudius until he can prove that he poisoned the late king. Thus the first two acts are not only for the reader to understand Hamlet, but to allow Hamlet to gather needed evidence against his uncle.

It is not until act three, when Hamlet has not been able to prove his uncle is a murder that he decides to force Claudius’ hand. Hamlet comes up with the idea of the play to prove whether or not Claudius is guilty. But the play also causes another problem. Hamlet discovers Claudius’ guilt but has no evidence to present to the people. Thus, when Hamlet sees Claudius praying he stays his hand until he can absolutely prove his guilt. Another reason why Hamlet stays his hand is because Claudius is praying. It is Hamlet’s fervent belief that if he kills Claudius while he prays he might go to heaven; which makes the final lines of that scene so ironic. After Hamlet has left, Claudius says,
“My words fly up, my thought remain below, Words without thoughts never to heaven go”
-William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Claudius does not think that his words are reaching God. Thus if Hamlet would have killed Claudius, he still would have gone to hell.

Some critics attribute Hamlets inability to act to an Oedipus complex. These proponents say that Hamlet, in his subconscious mind, has a desire to do exactly what his uncle has done; that is, get rid of the husband so that he can have Gertrude for himself. If this is true, Hamlet cannot act because he is fighting against his subconscious; he knows he wants something that is entirely evil, and if he were to go through with it, he would be no better than Claudius.

Still other critics believe that Hamlet simply thinks too much. He wants the murder of the King to be perfect. Claudius has to go to hell. The people have to know about the murderer Claudius. Hamlet spends too much time planning and not enough time doing; thus, making the King's murder more complicated than other murders he has orchestrated. Also, he has to be careful around Claudius after the play because it revealed his sanity to the King as it revealed the guilt of Claudius to Hamlet. After the play within a play, Hamlet has proof and still cannot act. Not until everybody is dying, including himself, does he realize that he should not have waited so long. He understands the consequence of his delay, all of his pent-up rage explodes, and he murders the King; getting the revenge he was after from the beginning.

Fortunately, because of the great writing of Shakespeare any of these interpretations are valid and can be supported by the text.