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Analysis of the character Ophelia in Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Hamlet literary devices
Hamlet structure and thematics
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For centuries scholars, directors, and actors have been trying to puzzle out the one unified meaning of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The lack of consensus continues as Hamlet remains a prominent source of dramatic and scholarly conversation. Hamlet’s ambiguity is often noted as the reason the play has endured, partly stemming from the three different print versions of the play. Each version loses some important aspect of the play and thus creates a completely new interpretation of certain characters and events. Any version of Hamlet read today is likely a “patchwork quilt” of the three different print additions, tailored together in what is believed the spirit of what Shakespeare intended (Rosenbaum 30). Without the benefit of asking Shakespeare himself, it is difficult to definitively select what he intended. Even though a definitive version of Hamlet has yet to be printed, the patchwork Hamlet has given scholars an uneasy compromise yet provides an encompassing text for the classroom. Since this version contains a cohesive narrative, the ambiguity stems predominately from the characters. Many of the characters, Hamlet in particular, are disjointed in their behaviors and seem like completely different people as the play progresses. The duality of dispositions that many of the actors portray conveys the universal truth that human behavior is not black or white but is instead a mix of different and often conflicting behaviors.
Ophelia provides a prime example of the duality of human behavior that is prevalent in the play. At the beginning, Ophelia is the good spirited, innocent, and stable-minded maid. As the play progresses, Ophelia seems to lose her good nature and innocence until finally she succumbs to madness. Claudius comme...
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...ost concentrated on conflicted personalities and characteristics. Shakespeare’s focus on multifaceted personalities gives the characters more depth and realism. In effect, Shakespeare is reflecting the reality of the world in which individuals act very differently from one situation to another. Depending on their disposition, subsequent actions may be at odds with their personality. Shakespeare allows audiences to view a play with realistic characters who provide insight into the frailties of human nature. William Shakespeare’s ability to craft dialogue, which creates complex characters, has endeared Hamlet to scholars and audiences alike over the centuries.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Corum, Richard. Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport: Greenwood, 1998. Print. Literature in Context.
Shakespeare, William. The Tradegy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992
Much of the dramatic action of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet is within the head of the main character, Hamlet. His wordplay represents the amazing, contradictory, unsettled, mocking, nature of his mind, as it is torn by disappointment and positive love, as Hamlet seeks both acceptance and punishment, action and stillness, and wishes for consummation and annihilation. He can be abruptly silent or vicious; he is capable of wild laughter and tears, and also polite badinage.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most produced plays of all time. Written during the height of Shakespeare’s fame—1600—Hamlet has been read, produced, and researched by more individuals now than during Shakespeare’s own lifetime. It is has very few stage directions, because Shakespeare served as the director, even though no such official position existed at the time. Throughout its over 400 years of production history, Hamlet has seen several changes. Several textual cuts have been made, in addition to the liberties taken through each production. In recent years, Hamlet has seen character changes, plot changes, gender role reversals, alternate endings, time period shifts, and thematic alternations, to name only a few creative liberties modern productions of Hamlet have taken.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. The New Cambridge Shakespeare: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Philip Edwards. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1985.
Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The. “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Eds. X. J. Kennedy, Dana. Gioia.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is arguably one of the best plays known to English literature. It presents the protagonist, Hamlet, and his increasingly complex path through self discovery. His character is of an abnormally complex nature, the likes of which not often found in plays, and many different theses have been put forward about Hamlet's dynamic disposition. One such thesis is that Hamlet is a young man with an identity crisis living in a world of conflicting values.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2012. Print.
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Washington Square Press new Folger ed. New York: Washington Square, 2002. Print.
Upon examining Shakespeare's characters in this play, Hamlet proves to be a very complex character, and functions as the key element to the development of the play. Throughout the play we see the many different aspects of Hamlet's personality by observing his actions and responses to certain situations. Hamlet takes on the role of a strong character, but through his internal weaknesses we witness his destruction.
Corum, Richard. Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. Print.