The Significance of the Players in Hamlet Most characters in Hamlet present themselves as something other than themselves or how as we, the audience, or another character thinks they should appear. Two of the main characters in this play, Hamlet and King Claudius, are constantly acting as something other than their true nature. Ironically, the characters that invoke changes in Hamlet and King Claudius to reveal their real personalities are the players, merely actors themselves, not showing true emotion: (in this short analysis, I will attempt to display the truth revealed by the players) they agitate King Claudius and allow Hamlet to see their appearance as more accurate to the truth than the appearance of "real life characters," therefore triggering him to take action. Despite their fraudulent feelings, the players play a key role in showing the audience, not to mention Hamlet and King Claudius themselves, their true emotions on a tragic situation. One of the most difficult feelings is being a teenager - as some believe Hamlet to be - and not yet understand how you are supposed to react to certain situations. In act 2, scene 2, Hamlet sees one of the players perform a dramatic monologue to showcase his talents. His performance is very dramatic and filled with emotion. At the end of the scene in Hamlet's soliloquy, he reveals he cannot believe that an actor can muster up more emotion about a story than he can about his real life. "What would he do / Had he the motive and [ the cue ] for passion / That I have? He would drown the stage with tears" { 2. 2. 540-42 }. What if the player had on his mind what Hamlet does? Would he kill Claudius? Hamlet appears to conclude that indeed he wou... ... middle of paper ... ...s to do so. If it was not for the players, we would not understand King Claudius (or would get to) if Hamlet was not influenced to test his character by reenacting the murder. The theme of appearance versus reality in Hamlet could not be revealed with such depth without the help of the players, acting to invoke reality. The situations they create are vital to the play and to the development of Hamlet and King Claudius. Works Cited Bradley, A.C.. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. Danson, Lawrence. "Tragic Alphabet." Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. Rpt. from Tragic Alphabet: Shakespeare's Drama of Language. N. p.: Yale University Press, 1974. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. T. J. B. Spencer. New York: Penguin, 1996.
Hamlet (The New Folger Library Shakespeare). Simon & Schuster; New Folger Edition, 2003.
Danson, Lawrence. "Tragic Alphabet." Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York City: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 65-86
The actors in the play within the play are used to expose the guilt of Claudius; Hamlet then has proof of the King's crimes. The expertise use of these characters - either to exemplify good and purity, or to spread the vile corruption which permeates Elsinore - is one of the main reasons for Hamlet's success as one of the greatest plays ever written. Some events in Hamlet must be narrated to the reader, and to the major characters, through minor characters which have a direct link to the events. Shakespear builds the entire play around information which was narrated to Hamlet by his father's ghost. The ghost tells Hamlet of events which the reader would otherwise never know about: the murder of the former Dane by Claudius.
Naturally, it is human nature to yearn for some sort of evil. Sinning is common on a daily basis. Kids lean towards destruction. Countless people have the urge to gamble at casinos. Human beings are lustful creatures and have sexual notions constantly in their minds. Evil is not something that can be avoided. For those who appear perfect, their "evil" is well hidden. Thus, ."..humanity is...synonymous with the struggle of good and evil" (Abbey, et al. 328). Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde centers on the dual nature of the human personality through the good and evil facets of Dr. Jekyll's character.
In this story, “Never Marry a Mexican”, written by Sandra Cisneros, a woman named Clemencia, who is also the narrator of the story, portrays her experiences about cultural, social, sexual and economic difference between her parents and shares her negative experience resulting in forming a real-life relationship. Clemencia goes through seeing different events in her parents’ life, which turned her to be different than others. Clemencia wants to be a normal lady, but her past leads her in the reverse direction. Clemencia’s mom, American born Mexican and father from Mexico and their family structure, which totally forces Clemencia to turn into disrespectful and cruel human being.
I sleep with this boy, their son. To make the boy love me the way I love his father”. Revenge is the way clemencia tried solving her problem. In the story Never Marry A Mexican, Sandra Cisneros discusses the theme of how hurting others, because you’re hurt, will not help you in anyway. Clemencia’s mom makes her think in a negative way towards men, Clemencia herself doesn’t have the best self esteem because she’s mexican.
Danson, Lawrence. "Tragic Alphabet." Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York City: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 65-86
The significance of the players exceeds the sole purpose of entertainment, as each possesses the power to unveil the "occulted guilt" (3.2.75) and conscience of the King. Hamlet assumes the responsibility to advise these players with precise and adequate direction so that a "whirlwind of passion" (6) may not effectively separate Claudius from personally identifying with the play. Hamlet's enthusiastic approach toward direction may be so that he encourages the players to "suit the action to the word, the word to the/ action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not/ the modesty of nature" (16-18). However, this exercise of caution may justify Hamlet's too often delayed attempt toward the action of avenging his father's murder. His direction confines him to the overflow of words as he experiences imprisonment within the truth of his own identity.
The obvious push-and-pull between Dr. Jekyll’s good intentions and Mr. Hyde’s desires to create corruption sparks an innovative conflict between the forces of good and evil within one’s self, specifically the inherent evil that exists within humans. This issue is evident in various parts of the book as Jekyll constantly tries to control his evil self, but fails frequently. Jekyll recognizes this evil is portrayed in himself:
In Hamlet's speech to the players he tells them, "Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature; for anything so o'erdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end both at the first, and now, was and is, to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature, to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure." What Hamlet wants is for the actors to be moderate and natural in their depiction of life, not exaggerated, and not dull. The speech shows us the significance of how the fictional reality of art, can bring out the reality that Hamlet seeks in his uncle. He also believes that the theater exists to "hold the mirror up to nature" and hopes that Claudius will see his evil nature reflected in the performance.
Penny Fielding highlights his point of view on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that the novel paints ‘a damning portrait of society defined by repression and its inevitable twin, hypocrisy’. Fielding also insists later that the relation between repression and hypocrisy is one theme of this novel that cannot be overlooked. This opinion can be approved of a truth after reading the novel. Repression and hypocrisy run through the whole story which reflect on descriptions of every character. In this essay, I will focus on the repression and hypocrisy that appear to be connected in the novel by analyzing the background and main characters. Especially, I will quote some fragments from the novel to discuss in details.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet revolves around Hamlet’s quest to avenge his father’s murder. Claudius’ first speech as King at the beginning of Scene 2, Act 1 introduces the themes of hierarchy, incest and appearance versus reality and plays the crucial role of revealing Claudius’ character as part of the exposition. The audience is left skeptical after Horatio’s questioning of King Hamlet’s ghost in the first scene of the play. By placing Claudius’ pompous speech immediately after the frightening appearance of Hamlet’s ghost, Shakespeare contrasts the mournful atmosphere in Denmark to the fanfare at the palace and makes a statement about Claudius’ hypocrisy. Through diction, doubling and figurative language, Shakespeare reveals Claudius to be a self centered, hypocritical, manipulative and commanding politician.
Stevenson is not only revealing human nature’s deeply intertwined double nature; he is also castigating Victorian hypocrisy. The doctor could not unite his role as a respectable and famous doctor with his passions and secret instincts, so he did not accept the multiple sides of his personality and tried to separate them, without success. The clash becomes the image of the contrast between oppression and pure pleasure, between firm control and too much freedom. Robert Louis Stevenson strives to portray and explore man’s inner dual between the need for evil satisfaction and the rigid moral contract of society. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are one fictional cause of the detrimental effects of subduing one’s innate desires and conforming to the social norm.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet very much rests on major themes of death, revenge, action, and deception. Shakespeare uses a series of soliloquies in the play in order to convey these messages and present characters, Hamlet in particular, in a way that is in depth, contemplative, and known to the audience while hidden from the remaining characters. The soliloquies seen in Hamlet provide structure and depth to the play as a whole, creating and exemplifying dynamics between characters and action, and the way in which characters respond to differing situations, often bring an existential element of the conflict between two realities (life and afterlife). The audience also sees Hamlet’s own character come through very strongly in these soliloquies, and we see his internal struggles and turmoil with notions of life versus death, taking action, and seeking vengeance against his father’s murder. It is in these soliloquies that the audience sees into the inner thoughts of Hamlet and his reactions to the world around him. While not all soliloquies in Hamlet are Hamlet’s, for example Claudius’s, the combination acts as an outlet for understanding the motivations and thought processes behind the events that take place throughout the course of the play. For example, we see Hamlet and Claudius placed in opposition to each other and we discover their intentions thorugh their soliloquies. They act as a function to propel characters to action, and reflect back on that action (or lack there of) as a means of furthering the depth and development of each character as the play progresses. Even though a particular soliloquy is only spoken by one character, what they reveal in these inner reflections are reflective of the nature of the cast of characters as a wh...
...with the sharpness of an experienced leader and decisively acting on every issue of importance. Therefore, the actor must have an imposing and confident presence on stage, for Claudius dominates Elsinore and is in full control of Denmark. However, by the third act, the King must be depicted as a man who is growing increasingly fearful of Hamlet, and during the play, Claudius is so startled that he must appear as though he has seen the ghost of Old Hamlet. But in my opinion, Claudius’ defining moment comes during his lengthy soliloquy in which he acknowledges his guilt. As he mourns his condemned soul, he should seem so helpless that the audience views him with intense pity, for the character of Claudius, like Macbeth, is not intended to represent evil but instead to show the universal ability of power to corrupt and to destroy lives in the process.