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All about the hamlet play
Interpretive Lit. Analysis of Hamlet
An analysis of hamlet
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Hamlet and Disease
Throughout the play Hamlet, Shakespeare displays many underlying themes by way of imagery. Throughout the story, disease plagues Denmark and the people in it, shown by imagery that Shakespear delivers consistently throughout.
In the opening scene, Horatio makes an interesting statement: "As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, Disasters in the sun; and the moist star upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse (1.1.117-120)." He compared the ghost as a possible sign of disaster or catastrophe in Denmark, as to what happened before the death of Julius Caesar. From the start of the play, Denmark was already tainted and wrought with disease that would eventually continue over the course of the play.
In Hamlet's first soliloquy, he states that the world is "an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature possess it merely (1.2.135-137)." Like a spreading weed in a garden, the world is being spread with disease, all starting with the incestuous marriage of Gertrude and Claudius.
At the end of act one scene four, as the ghost and Hamlet exit, officer Marcellus states that "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark (1.4.90)." They are starting to realize that things aren't right with the world they live in, and that more is on the way.
The final scene of act one has the ghost telling Hamlet how he died, and how it was from poison poured into his ear which spread throughout his body causing a scab to form over his body. He also gives Hamlet the idea for revenge against Claudius. Again, disease relates to this particu...
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...nks from the poisoned "back-up plan" glass of wine, and dies. Hamlet is then informed by Laertes that the sword was laced, and Hamlet proceeds to kill Claudius. In the scene, everyone gets infected by the poison that Claudius created. The rotten state of Denmark reaches a final peak, until the last of the disease is killed off. Horatio is the only survivor, and lives to tell the story of Hamlet.
To summarize, the theme of disease reoccurs and repeats itself many times throughout the play. Shakespear used similar types of imagery and words, such as "rank" and "sick" throughout Hamlet that keeps reminding the reader of what's going on. From the beginning rotten state of Denmark, to the later infection of poison of most all of the main characters, the disease theme affected everyone in the story.
After this initial sighting, Hamlet’s desire for revenge becomes the main driving force throughout the play yet there is a need for action to be taken. Hamlet is unable to act without knowing for certain that the Ghost is not a demon in disguise so he formulates a grand plan. Hamlet proceeds to performs The Mousetrap in front of the Claudius looking for telltale signs that the Ghost was telling the truth, thus, creating a suspenseful moment. With confirmation of Claudius’s wrongdoing, Hamlet proceeds to kill Claudius but not before he is stabbed by Laertes poisoned tipped sword. The play concludes with the deaths of Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, Ophelia, and Laertes leaving Young Fortinbras as the new King of Denmark. Shakespeare’s Hamlet continues to inspire modern generations as seen from countless movie and video game adaptations such as The Lion King and Elsinore which have proven to be major hits with the modern audiences
In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, poison, decay, and rotting are motifs that can be related to the theme breaking down of society, or the downfall of the state of Denmark, during this time in Hamlet’s life. Considering Claudius’s malicious acts to gain the throne, one can say he is being punished by God, and since he is the king, the punishment reflects the state of the kingdom of Denmark as well. As the play progresses, references to rotten things, repellent animals, and vile circumstances are mentioned numerous times, and one can make a connection to these allusions as the truth about Claudius is revealed, and other corrupt events unravel.
Early on in Hamlet, a guard slightly mentions that there is “something rotten in the state of Denmark” (Shakespeare, I.iv.90). The tranquility of Denmark is suddenly shattered by Claudius’s marriage to Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, only a short time following the death of King Hamlet. To Hamlet was revealed the murder of his father and becomes determined to avenge his father’s death no matter the cost. This sets off a trail of pretending, backstabbing, plotting, luring, and deadly accidents that ultimately lead to a clash of hatred between the characters and the doom of Denmark. Shakespeare animates the characters with these sinful deeds and vengeance to illustrate that these corruptions strips the innocence and sanity in human kind. Had Hamlet not gone on a tangent and lost his mind about the murder of his father, there might not have been a domino effect of madness knocking down everyone else in this royal chain. Hamlet pretends to have app...
Death, Decay and Disease in Hamlet Within ‘Hamlet’, Shakespeare makes a number of references to Denmark's degraded state due to the deceit that lies within. These references are made by Hamlet, Horatio as well as the apparition, thus enforcing the strong theme of death, decay and disease. As aforementioned, Hamlets makes a number of references to Denmark. Preceding the death of his father and the marriage of his mother, his mental state begins to fall into demise. Although he appears to not have much courage at first, his focus remains on avenging his father, whose murder is described as being "most foul." As noted in one of Hamlet's first soliloquies, his downward spiral has already begun and already he is contemplating suicide; "O that this too too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew (I, II, 130)" and "seems to me all the uses of this world.
Shakespeare’s plays show the complexity of human beings. Everyone is different in reactions, actions, and thought. Shakespeare explores various themes throughout his writing career. Each play is unique, and their themes are handled in a very distinct way as Shakespeare writes each work with great care. Two major themes are appearance versus reality and relationship between motive and will; Othello, Hamlet, and Henry IV, Part 1 all portray these two themes in similar and different ways.
Virtually every scene or element in the play relates to these themes. In other words, the purpose of Hamlet is simply to delineate and comment upon an individual’s psychological response to feeling the rare type of obsession that Hamlet feels in the play.. The above themes are phenomena associated with that response, or with Shakespeare’s model of that response.
Throughout the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, themes make up very important ingredients for the entire play. The most prominent and important theme is Revenge. Some Shakespeare critics may argue that guilt is the most important theme. However revenge is the most important theme and the reader sees this through revenge advancing the plot, the idea of seeking vengeance allows the reader to learn more about characters, foreshadowing of characters deaths and in the end seeking vengeance causes the majority of main characters deaths.
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.
Disease Imagery and Hamlet Imagery is used by writers to describe the setting of a piece of work. I will be able to do that. Not only does this imagery give more description, but also gives a philosophical twist to the interpretation of the piece of work. I will be able to do that. William Shakespeare uses imagery throughout his works.
... his father’s ghost, and whether or not to get revenge. Hamlet is still unsure about the ghost being real or a hallucination from him going mad. This also adds suspicion about Claudius's true motives in marrying Gertrude and his concern for his country of Denmark. Shakespeare opts to let Hamlets character possesses these certain characteristics so early on so that it will set the scene for the rest of the play. I predict Hamlet will become so delirious and mad; he will listen to what the ghost tells him. He only wants the best for his country, but there about to go to war with Norway under the direction of a king who in Hamlets eyes is not worthy. I believe there will be a power struggle between Hamlet and Claudius over the throne and for Hamlet to claim what is rightfully his.
Death threads its way through the entirety of Hamlet, from the opening scene’s confrontation with a dead man’s ghost to the blood bath of the final scene, which occurs as a result of the disruption of the natural order of Denmark. Hamlet is a man with suicidal tendencies which goes against his Christian beliefs as he is focused on the past rather than the future, which causes him to fall into the trap of inaction on his path of revenge. Hamlet’s moral dilemma stems from the ghost’s appearance as “a spirit of health or a goblin damned”, making Hamlet decide whether it brings with...
The imagery in the play of Hamlet is composed of disease, poison, and decay this adds to the overall atmosphere of horror and tragedy. First, hamlet uses images of disease to show the state of the country of Denmark and his mother. Second, the imagery of poison is used to describe his father’s death. Lastly, Hamlet describes his feelings toward himself and Claudius and his feelings toward his mother by using images of decay. In Hamlet, as in all literature, imagery adds to reader’s ability to imagine the feeling of the story.
There are certain points to be made which are about ghosts in general. To a superstitious Elizabethan audience a ghost would be less improbable than it seems to a sceptical modern audience, but it would signify that something is wrong with the natural order. In Act I scene i the characters indicate that they believe this; the rational Horatio observes that "This bodes some strange eruption to our state"; Marcellus says that "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark". Even before the arrival of the Ghost the scene is tense - the first words ("Who's there?") are terse and nervy and even Francisco (whom we never see again and so perhaps represents the unseen population of Denmark) admits that he is "sick at heart". The presence of the Ghost, then, adds to this sense that something is deeply wrong - like many such superstitious entities (Horatio refers to other omens that preceded the death of Julius Caesar: the allusion to which makes the audience yet more uncertain of what is to happen) the ...
Old Hamlet is killed by his brother Claudius. Only two months after her husband’s death a vulnerable Gertrude marries her husband’s brother Claudius. Gertrude’s weakness opens the door for Claudius to take the throne as the king of Denmark. Hamlet is outraged by this, he loses respect for his mother as he feels that she has rejected him and has taken no time to mourn her own husband’s death. One night old Hamlets ghost appears to prince Hamlet and tells him how he was poisoned by his own brother. Up until this point the kingdom of Denmark believed that old Hamlet had died of natural causes. As it was custom, prince Hamlet sought to avenge his father’s death. This leads Hamlet, the main character into a state of internal conflict as he agonises over what action and when to take it as to avenge his father’s death. Shakespeare’s play presents the reader with various forms of conflict which plague his characters. He explores these conflicts through the use of soliloquies, recurring motifs, structure and mirror plotting.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragedy that revolves around three central themes. These themes are death, betrayal, and revenge. In order to both advance the plot and produce character motivations, Shakespeare uses a plethora of literary devices; including foreshadowing, imagery, symbolism, and indirect characterization. These devices have the additional effect of conveying a sense of suspense and danger, while also offering psychological insight into the characters’ minds.