The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet have demonstrated how the protagonists’ action of concealing and revealing their true selves impacts themselves and the surrounding. Amir’s escaping from the alley in the year of 1975 and Hamlet’s supernatural conversation with the ghost respectively trigger the aggressive plot development in the stories. Second, Amir’s desperation for paternal love and Hamlet’s grief for the death of Old Hamlet cause them to act differently and lead to a life dilemma. Nevertheless, Amir’s redemption saves him from further concealing the sorrow of betraying Hassan, whereas Hamlet’s life, without forgiveness, forebodes the remarkable tragedy, death. Being evasive to best friend’s …show more content…
Hamlet is extremely proud of Old King and respects him.“He was a great human being. He was perfect in everything. I’ll never see the likes of him again” (I.ii.185-188). Hamlet loves his father and gives the greatest praise at the funeral. Grief driven by love tempts Hamlet to think his father’s goodness, and more, the loss of such a favorable figure. Hamlet believes that the ghost that is said to look like the dead king is indeed his father.”He waxes desperate with imagination”(I.ii.92). The Prince, who is deep in sadness and does not think sufficiently, is convinced that the spirit is the Old Hamlet, he is the only person that can physically communicate with the ghost. Hamlet for the second time talks to the apparition in his mother’s chamber, where Gertrude does not see any. What Horatio and other witnesses encounter at the gate at night proves the possibility of the existence of the ghost, Hamlet later in the play is considered to be truly mad on the account of his unusual ability to see and talk to the spirit, which is obviously conjured up by his mind. Rising actions in both the book and the play are implied at the beginning of the stories: Amir’s memory of 1975 and Old Hamlet’s death. The journey of redemption or revenge takes actions of concealing their true emotions and implementing devised
A Comparison of the Character Hamlet, of Shakespeare's Hamlet, and McMurphy of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
This play takes place mostly in Elsinore, Denmark between the fourteenth and fifteen century following the death of the late King Hamlet, who has been dead for two months prior to the beginning of the play (Shmoop Editorial Team). Act One commences in the middle of a routine nightly shift where Horatio, Hamlet’s friend, and two other guards witness the coming of a spirit that bears an uncanny resemblance to the recently deceased king. Meanwhile at Elsinore Claudius is crowned King with Hamlet’s mother as his queen. This chain of events causes discontent within Prince Hamlet as he delays his mourning time out of spite for the coronation. Afterwards, Horatio and the guards come to the consensus and tell Hamlet of their encounter so that the Prince may meet with the Ghost. The Ghost reveals to Hamlet that he was a victim of a well-planned murder at the hands of Claudius.
Throughout the play Hamlet is in constant conflict with himself. An appearance of a ghost claiming to be his father, “I am thy father’s spirit”(I.v.14) aggravates his grief, nearly causing him to commit suicide and leaving him deeply disgusted and angered. Upon speaking with his ghost-father, Hamlet learns that his uncle-stepfather killed Hamlet the King. “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown”(I.v.45-46) Hamlet is beside himself and becomes obsessed with plotting and planning revenge for the death of his father.
The question of why Hamlet delays in taking revenge on Claudius for so long has puzzled readers and audience members alike. Immediately following Hamlet's conversation with the Ghost, he seems determined to fulfill the Ghost's wishes and swears his companions to secrecy about what has occurred. The next appearance of Hamlet in the play reveals that he has not yet revenged his father's murder. In Scene two, act two, Hamlet gives a possible reason for his hesitation. "The spirit that I have seen / May be a devil, and the devil hath power / T' assume a pleasing shape" (2.2.627-629). With this doubt clouding his mind, Hamlet seems completely unable to act. This indecision is somewhat resolved in the form of the play. Hamlet comes up with the idea of the play that is similar to the events recounted by the ghost about his murder to prove Claudius guilty or innocent. Due to the king's reaction to the play, Hamlet attains the belief that the Ghost was telling the truth the night of the apparition.
I personally disagree with the author W.W. Greg’s interpretation of Hamlet’s ghost, and believe that his assumption that Hamlet is simply hallucinating his father’s ghost is without merit. Many of W.W. Greg’s claims relate Hamlet to other plays that were written by Shakespeare, claiming that due to how Shakespeare portrayed ghosts in his previous works, it would follow that Hamlet also fits into the same mold as these past writings. W.W. Greg even states, “I should like to be told what Shakespeare's views were of ghosts in general ... I am forced to turn to Shakespeare's other plays for suggestions as to how he represented these phenomena” (Greg 395). W.W. Greg is simply claiming that trends in Shakespeare’s writings in the past logically must take the same form in the character of Hamlet’s ghost. This method of thinking simply does not hold up when examined critically, mainly due to the fact that there were multiple witnesses to the ghost, a...
In William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” there are many different events throughout the play that affect and shape the main character Hamlet. The biggest event being when Hamlet meets the ghost of his father, the king, who then proceeds to tell him that his uncle murdered him. This event will lead Hamlet to madness with sanity while plotting his revenge on his uncle which will ultimately end in his, his uncle and several other’s deaths at the end of the play.
All throughout the play Hamlet mourns the loss of his father, especially since his father is appearing to him as a ghostly figure telling him to avenge his death, and throughout the play it sets the stage and shows us how he is plotting to get back at the assassinator. Such an instance where the ghost appears to Hamlet is when Hamlet and his mother are in her bedchamber where the ghost will make his last appearance. Hamlet tells his mother to look where the ghost appears but she cannot see it because he is the only one who that has the ability to see him.
Prior to the ghost's appearance Hamlet is beginning to define himself as an individual person instead of as the son of his father. He has been away at school forging his own path in life. When his father's ghost demands him to exact revenge on Claudius, Hamlet struggles trying to decide if he will take the role of "son" and blend with his father or to become the "self" and breakaway from his father.
In Act I Scene I, there was a lot of uncertainty pertaining to the ghost and why he is showing up. Bernardo and Marcellus, watchmen, are uncertain of what the mysterious “thing” is that’s appeared for the last two nights. They bring Horatio to watch with them, but Horatio thinks that the guards are imagining it. There is a mixture between preparation and surprise when the ghost appears. The reader knows that there is something unexplained wandering in the night by listening to the watchmen. However, one can sense the surprise when the ghost shows up as they all agree that it looks like the recently decease King of Denmark. The reader learns that Denmark is preparing for war with Norway. Therefore, Horatio believes that the ghost could signify that Denmark is going to lose the battle with Norway (1.1.158-162). He believes the ghost’s presence could be a bad omen. The speeches introduce a note of hope as Marcellus explains that the ghost left as the cock crowed and when the cock crows, spirits do not stir. Horatio and Marcellus believe that the spirit will speak to Hamlet if it is his father so they decide to get Hamlet to try to speak to the ghost to see what it is trying to tell them (1.2.163-170). In Act I, Scene II, Hamlet is thinking about committing suicide but is uncertain if there is a heaven or hell. He believes that killing himself would be a disgrace to religion, but if there is no God then suicide would allow him to be in peace without worry (1.2.129-159). In Act I, scene IV uncertainty comes up again when Hamlet decides that speaking with the ghost cannot harm him because he does not care if he is alive (1.4.64-68).
Different adaptations of William Shakespeare’s works have taken various forms. Through the creative license that artists, directors, and actors take, diverse incarnations of his classic works continue to arise. Gregory Doran’s Hamlet and Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet bring William Shakespeare’s work by the same title to the screen. These two film adaptations take different approaches in presenting the turmoil of Hamlet. From the diverging takes on atmosphere to the characterization of the characters themselves, the many possible readings of Hamlet create the ability for the modification of the presentation and the meaning of the play itself. Doran presents David Tenant as Hamlet in a dark, eerie, and minimal setting; his direction highlighting the
Hamlet's life has changed drastically with the death of his father and his mother marrying his uncle, which he considers to be " a little more than kin, and less than kind." Hamlet has issues with the fact that he is the only one who is grieving for his father's death, and it seems like everyone have forgotten about the demise of his father. When Hamlet learned about the ghost, he figured that there was foul play. However, he had second thoughts about the
In Act 1, Scene 5 , Hamlet’s suspicions of his father’s homicide were confirmed , when he encounters his father's ghost. On (page 58 line 29) the former king relentlessly stated “ Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder”. King Hamlet encourages his son to seek vengeance against his uncle. Eventhough Hamlet tends to experience internal
Michael Almereyda’s movie adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet brings about a new perspective through its performance. The movie adaptation, Hamlet (2000), retells the original play in a modernized setting, bringing out various different elements of characters, which highlights a new reading of these characters as individuals, and a newfangled reading of the play as well. Throughout the movie, Ophelia and Gertrude, the woman-leads, are advanced in a progressive manner compared to the original play. In particular, Gertrude from Hamlet (2000) is noticeably altered from Hamlet, the play. This new interpretation of Gertrude and the play created by the movie adaptation advances the position of Gertrude as a woman, as well as motifs of incest, misogyny,
What text has been handed down to his ancestors of the works of the Great Bard is rife with examples that seem to support the madness of Hamlet. Within the first act, Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father, two month’s dead (1.2.141-2; 1.4.44-62). The late king tells Hamlet of his death, procured by the will of Claudius. So distraught and infuriated, Hamlet decides to take vengeance on his uncle-made-king (1.5.31-47). Seeing such an apparition may bring the sanity of Hamlet into question, as too would the deliberation he has with the poltergeist. This, however, is an improper perception to take. The use of ghosts within the play, and of all Shakespearean plays, is common. This follows from a wide-spread belief in the supernatural that most of England held at that time. For the young Dane to spot a specter would have been understood by the audiences of the day to either the spirit of his father or of an evil spirit who wishes to use Hamlet to do his bidding (Waters). In the play, Hamlet decides that this spirit must be “an honest ghost,” with Horatio concurring (1.5.24). It is also of note that this vision is seen by a group of people, not just Hamlet, which further rules out the possibility of it being a figment of Hamlet’s lost mind. Although at first glance a phantom may seem to be a clue into the madness of Hamlet, it is very easily proved a literary device employed by Shakespeare to set the play into action.
The ghost reveals to Hamlet that his uncle was the one who murdered him and this sparks Hamlet search and desire for vengeance, which becomes a central theme of the play. More than anything, this hunt for vengeance provided something monumental for Hamlet, for the first time he is passionate about something. That something, is killing the king. He even says that he “will wipe away all trivial records”(Act 1) and only think about how he will kill the king. Finally Hamlet has found something that he can do with his life, he has a reason to exist, and he will devote himself to his