Labyrinth In Hamlet

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“Hamlet”, perhaps the most well-known play in English literature, was written by William Shakespeare in around 1601. At its essence, “Hamlet” is a “tangled web of obsession, family secrets and betrayal”, and has been received as such by many past critics, productions and audiences. However, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the play, we must explore the psychological labyrinth of Hamlet and other characters such as Claudius and Ophelia. That is, their thoughts and feelings in relation to the obsession, family secrets and betrayal that surround them, as this is what allows modern audiences to be engaged by them. Shakespeare skilfully uses construction, language and dramatic techniques and features to create flawed and complex characters.
Hamlet is at the centre of the play and, as a reactive rather than active character, is betrayed by almost every character he has a relationship with. This climate of deception within his family imbues within Hamlet an obsession with truth and a search for a meaning to life below the secrecy, seen in the ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy. “…whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles…”. The rush of battle imagery used by Hamlet appears conflicting. This communicates Hamlet’s chaotic state of mind as he attempts to wrestle with the complex issues of the meaning of life and his
It is in Shakespeare characterisation of the mad Ophelia that audiences are able to see another side of Ophelia’s character that is especially confronting when contrasted her original “chaste” and “green” character. Traditionally, in Elizabethan plays, mad characters served a specific function – since social decorum is not observed the ambiguous language of the mad can reveal personal, moral and political truths that would have otherwise been repressed. In Ophelia’s case, her madness allows Shakespeare to delve deeper into this originally one-dimensional character to reveal her true, suppressed and repressed feeling and desires. Ophelia’s song “Young men will do’t if they come to it – by Cock, they are to blame…” shows a sexual knowledge and worldliness that Ophelia had never before revealed. Therefore, Shakespeare constructs a more complex character that, while a victim, indicates some strength and experience that endears her to a post feminist audience. While this would not be valued in an Elizabethan audience, to a modern context, especially women responders, this depth allows them to engage and empathise with the character. Feminist critics focus on the character of Ophelia and her subjugation in her patriarchal world, In “The Ophelia Versions: Representations of a Dramatic Type” Fiona Benson says that Ophelia’s “…subversive potential in

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