Hamlet Interpretation

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In the renowned play Hamlet, the reader becomes aware of Hamlets two sided character, one side of Hamlet is known to the readers as someone who is delicate and intelligent and is capable to depict himself through the act of poetry and who expresses the truth. Another side of Hamlet, the not so bright side, is someone who treated Ophelia so heartlessly without any compassion, kills Polonius and says he will lug his guts into another room, and slaughters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with no guilt. Yet, many interpreters of Hamlet view him as a hero of a tragedy with a strong but sacred duty to slay Claudius. He has very many external problems, which prevents him from slaying Claudius immediately. Shakespeare intended for Hamlet to prolong the deaths of each character. If Hamlet would have immediately chased after vengeance then Polonius, Ophelia, Queen Gertrude, Claudius, Laertes, would have died and the play would have been short. Also Hamlet would have survived and Shakespeare would not have succeeded with all the tragedy in Hamlet. There are a wide range of justifications for Hamlet...

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  • Claudius, the Central Antagonist in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

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    An important factor of any fictional story is the antagonist, or a person who conflicts with the protagonist – the “hero” of the story (Encarta). As many have come to the realization already, Claudius is the main antagonist to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Uncle to Prince Hamlet, King of Denmark and Husband of Gertrude, Claudius is quite a character. Imagine the guilt and anxiety brought about by killing one’s own brother, claiming his kingdom as your own, and then going so far as to marry his widow. These were the crimes of King Claudius of Denmark, and one can see that he was pretty much written to be despised by the reader, a noticeable aspect of Shakespeare’s age-old work. Moreover, many often quickly assume, upon their first reading of the play, that Prince Hamlet ought to kill the king (Goddard).

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    Throughout a variety of movie interpretations of a given film, one version proves to be the most effective for distinct reasons. Within Act 3, Scene 4 of Hamlet, Shakespeare provides little direction by which the scene should be interpreted, but the play, taken in its entirety, proposes a certain way in which Hamlet and Gertrude express their emotions. This has led to distinctive cinematic interpretations of this scene, all in which portray the storyline in a unique way. Kenneth Branagh’s version of the closet scene provides a more realistic portrayal of the conflict between Hamlet and Gertrude than the Gregory Dovan and Campbell Scott versions; Branagh’s view on the mother-son relationship, Hamlet’s reaction to the ghost and Gertrude’s guilt is closer to the original text in which Shakespeare leaves room for audience interpretation.

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  • Free Hamlet Essays: Interpretation of Hamlet

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    Keys to Interpretation of Hamlet & nbsp; William Shakespeare's Hamlet is, at heart, a play about suicide. Though it is surrounded by a fairly standard revenge plot, the play's core is an intense psychodrama about a prince gone mad from the pressures of his station and his unrequited love for Ophelia. He longs for the ultimate release of killing himself - but why? In this respect, Hamlet is equivocal - he gives several different motives depending on the situation. But we learn to trust his soliloquies - his thoughts - more than his actions.

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