An Analytical Essay on Comic Relief in Hamlet

642 Words2 Pages

An Analytical Essay on Comic Relief in Hamlet

In Hamlet, the majority of the comic relief is dark and depressing. The main character is obsessed with death and makes morbid jokes about old age, deception, and corpses. This side of the character is shown so that the reader can understand how much this disturbs the prince. The result of this is a play with some very depressing scenes.

Hamlet's negative attitude gives way to many sadistic jests at the events surrounding him. He tells his friend Horatio that the food brought for the funeral was served at the wedding, also. This joke is sad because Hamlet is still grieving while he is forced to endure the pungent incestuous image of his mother sharing a bed with his uncle. This disturbing time for him leads to most of his depressing humor. His family's blatant deception causes him to state sarcastically that if the world is honest, then the end of the world must be near. The reader can identify with Hamlet's feelings of bitterness and disillusionment because of his sarcastic reactions.

Fairly soon after, Polonius becomes the object of Hamlet's ridicule. The appearance of this aspect of humor is not surprising due to the cruel nature of the play. Polonius is an older man who forgets what he is saying in the middle of a sentence and absolutely cannot come to a point quickly. Hamlet calls him a "great baby," and Rosencrantz says that when men grow old, they mentally become children. After Polonius is killed, Hamlet refers to removing the body from room as "{lugging} the guts." Since the body has been stabbed, the reader can assume that Hamlet is making light of the bloody, most likely disemboweled corpse. First Polonius is mocked because of his age; then Hamlet returns to him dark humor.

The most prevalent form of macabre humor is Hamlet's way of trivializing death. He makes many jokes about this . When he describes how a king could be digested by a beggar, one could envision Claudius cringing. Along with the image of death, Hamlet uses the word "progress," which indicates a royal journey. He taunts the king and death at the same time. Later during the graveyard scene, he asks Yorick's skull: "Quite chapfall'n?" He is asking if the skull is down in the mouth or depressed, which is a sick question to ask of a long dead cranium.

Show More
Related

  • George Lucas' film Star Wars

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    on the screen is 'In a galaxy far far away.' This shows a fairy tale

    Read More

  • An Analytical Essay on the Humor in Hamlet

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    Humor was added to Hamlet by two major scenes, along with Hamlet's use of his antic-disposition. These two were: the scene between Hamlet and Polonius in the library, and the scene with the grave diggers (the clowns).

    Read More

  • An Analytical Essay Of The Tragedy Of Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    Originally titled The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke, this tragedy has been reproduced more times than any other play written by William Shakespeare (en.wikipedia.org 1 of 9). Prince Hamlet also has the lengthiest appearance of any character in all of Shakespeare's plays (en.wikpedia.org 6 of 9). In the play, Prince Hamlet is caught between balancing his need to avenge his father's death, dealing with the disgust he felt for Gertrude and Claudius' love affair, and maintaining the relationship he has with Ophelia without exposing his plans to kill his uncle Claudius for the murder of King Hamlet.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Grief

    953 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sadness is the first emotion that is usually related to death. In the play, Hamlet does not try to disguise his sorrow after his father’s murder. This sadness is intermingled with disgust for the others around him who moved on with their grief and criticized him for continuing to mourn. After being criticized by Gertrude and Claudius, Hamlet chooses to talk to open space to reveal his feelings (1.2.129-158). Hamlet clearly shows the sadness in his heart, as well as the idea of bitterness. He continually attacks his mother’s quick grieving: “O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason / would have mourned longer” (1.2.150-151). This sadness continues in his fake madness, seeping into conversations that show his need for escape. In a confrontation with Polonius, Hamlet ends the con...

    Read More

  • Hamlet and his battle with depression

    1756 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hamlet gives many clues in this play that he is beyond feeling upset and anger over what is happening in his life. His soliloquies and speeches give excellent indications that he is actually depressed. People do not understand why he acts the way he does and even try to tell him to move on with his life. However, depression is a very serious disorder that cannot be easily detected or treated. Because the people do not detect that Hamlet is depressed, they obviously do not treat him for it. Hamlet's case continues to get worse and eventually aids in the cause of his death. Hamlet reveals too many obvious symptoms of depression to disclaim that he is inflicted with the disorder. Hamlet, a young prince, his heart filled with years of sadness and hardship, cannot escape his misery and develops major depression disorder.

    Read More

  • Topic of Death in Hamlet

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    Being that death is a universally explored topic, William Shakespeare, a master of English literature, opted to thoroughly investigate this complex notion in his play Hamlet. Shakespeare cleverly and sometimes subtly brings the reader/viewer through a physical and spiritual journey of death via the several controversial characters of Hamlet. The chief element of this expedition is undoubtedly the funerals. Every funeral depicts, and marks, the conclusion of different perceptions of death. Shakespeare uses the funerals of the several controversial characters to gradually transform the simple, spiritual, naïve, and somewhat light view of death into a much more factual, physical, serious, and down to earth outlook.

    Read More

  • Hamlet, the Existentialist

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was forced upon him.Death is something he struggles with as an abstract idea and as relative to himself. He is able to reconcile with the idea of death and reality eventually.

    Read More

  • The Comedy of Hamlet

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, a comic relief is used to relieve tension and to contrast serious scenes to increase the ultimate tragic nature of the play. Polonius uses his self absorbed dull personality to create humor in his scenes. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern act as the fool by their tactless actions and dialogue, their lightheartedness makes the tragic parts of the play seem all the more tragic. And finally Hamlet uses his morbid humor to intensify scenes of sorrow while he also bitterly teases others to relieve tensions at times. The comic relief in Shakespeare’s Hamlet contrasts intense scenes as to make them more intense.

    Read More

  • Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the restaurant, Willy, Biff and Happy are discussing Biff’s encounter with Bill Oliver, the man Biff goes to see about getting money to start his sporting goods business. During the conversation, Willy begins being drawn into a delusional flashback with The Woman, and he is unable to continue his discussion with his sons:

    Read More

  • To Be or Not to Be: Hamlet

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tragic death plays a really big role in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Hamlet often considers death in many different perspectives, and definitely obsesses with the idea more so after his fathers’ death. Hamlet’s soliloquy is one of the most famous in literature, “To be or not to be, that is the question…” Hamlet’s dilemma is the pain of life that he must endure or the uncertainty of death. From the beginning of the play to the very last scene, the fascination between life and death plays a role throughout. Hamlet is troubled through the play after realizing that his uncle was the one who murdered his father and is now married to his mother. He wants to avenge Hamlet Sr. death and kill Claudius but feels that killing himself would be an easier resolution. After the death of his murdered father and appearance at his funeral, Hamlet will not leave anywhere without making the statement of his all black attire on the inside and out. The turn of events throughout the play only help the reader understand the debt of each character and their specific role to Hamlet and to the story in regards to life and death.

    Read More

  • Sanity In Hamlet

    2032 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the most popular characters in Shakespearean literature, Hamlet endures difficult situations within the castle he lives in. The fatal death of his father, and urge for revenge leads Hamlet into making unreasonable decisions. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet’s sanity diminishes as the story progresses, impacting the people around him as well as the timing and outcome of his revenge against Claudius.

    Read More

  • The Social And Social Impacts Of The Industrial Revolution

    1253 Words  | 3 Pages

    When discussing industrialization much of what is discussed occurs during the industrial revolution. Unlike other revolutions which mostly impacted borders, territorial expansions, change in political regimes, etc., the Industrial revolution was change of a different sort. Occurring mostly within America and Europe, the Industrial Revolution impacted society as a whole by introducing innovations which impact the way one generally lives on a day-to-day basis. New machinery, methods, and techniques of producing goods such as the way clothes are made, or the way waste is produced changed the way society functioned. Overall, the Industrial Revolution improved quality of life. Initially, however such rapid change also caused human suffering of a

    Read More

  • The Effect of the Industrial Revolution on the Wider World

    2008 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Industrial Revolution was a period from 1750 to 1850 where agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and technology went through a period of significant change. These changes had a profound impact on the social and cultural conditions of the time, beginning in the Untied Kingdom and spreading throughout Western Europe, North America, and the rest of the world. The Industrial Revolution, considered a major turning point in history, effected almost every aspect of daily life; through new discoveries in technology came new jobs; through new jobs came new working conditions; through new working conditions came new laws and new politics, the repercussions of which extend to today. As Crump emphasizes: ‘The world as we have come to know it in the twenty-first century is impossible to understand without looking at the foundations laid – mainly in the English-speaking world of the eighteenth century – in the course of what is now known, but not then, as the ‘Industrial Revolution’ .

    Read More

  • Condemned: Hamlet’s Moral Dilemma

    1663 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hamlet is one of the most often-performed and studied plays in the English language. The story might have been merely a melodramatic play about murder and revenge, butWilliam Shakespeare imbued his drama with a sensitivity and reflectivity that still fascinates audiences four hundred years after it was first performed. Hamlet is no ordinary young man, raging at the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Hamlet is cursed with an introspective nature; he cannot decide whether to turn his anger outward or in on himself. The audience sees a young man who would be happiest back at his university, contemplating remote philosophical matters of life and death. Instead, Hamlet is forced to engage death on a visceral level, as an unwelcome and unfathomable figure in his life. He cannot ignore thoughts of death, nor can he grieve and get on with his life, as most people do. He is a melancholy man, and he can see only darkness in his future—if, indeed, he is to have a future at all. Throughout the play, and particularly in his two most famous soliloquies, Hamlet struggles with the competing compulsions to avenge his father’s death or to embrace his own. Hamlet is a man caught in a moral dilemma, and his inability to reach a resolution condemns himself and nearly everyone close to him.

    Read More

  • Hamlet – A Psychological Drama

    1933 Words  | 4 Pages

    The psychological aspect of Hamlet which is most prominently displayed is his melancholy. This condition is rooted in the psyche and the emotions, the former causing the latter to go awry. Lily B. Campbell in “Grief That Leads to Tragedy” emphasizes ...

    Read More

More about An Analytical Essay on Comic Relief in Hamlet

Open Document