Minor characters are often left out of the light and aren’t given the credit they are due. Even a skull such as Yorick can be important to the plot and development of characters in a story. In Hamlet, a minor character is one with few or no lines as well as an outsider to the main relationships of the story. Shakespeare uses these minor characters to develop the background of major characters as well as use them to drive plot forward and help major characters grow. One example: the Players, a comical theater troupe, function as one of these minor characters to develop Hamlet as well as his weapon. Fortinbras, the prince of Norway, is used as a foil to Hamlet in many ways, highlighting his flaws and strengths indirectly. Fortinbras could …show more content…
Yorick’s skull has a quality of duality to it in multiple respects. Although he has been dead for “three-and-twenty years” one of the grave diggers gives him life; in some adaptations of the play he is personified to actually dance and laugh (V.i.179). This retelling of old times reminds Hamlet of his youth but at the same time his death. Despite all of Hamlet’s hardships, he still eulogizes the poor old man. This is significant in that it shows Hamlet’s humility and respect. Despite celebrating Yorick’s life and his own youth, the skull drives Hamlet to contemplate death. Hamlet compares the skull of this jester to that of Alexandre the Great, claiming that while life is a long journey, everyone comes to the same end. Similarly he alludes to Julius Caesar: “Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, might stop a hole to keep the wind away. Oh, that that earth, which kept the world in awe, should patch a wall t ' expel the winter’s flaw!” (V.i.223-226). The comparison of Julius Caesar and Yorick to being nothing more than dust or clay is juxtaposed by Polonius’ glorification of Julius Caesar in trying to boast of his acting. Ironically, another duality Yorick digs up is that both silliness and nobility are one in the end. Hamlet being able to see this irony shows that he has matured beyond Polonius. Yorick finally awakens Hamlet to come to a conclusion about death, complementing the termination of his analysis paralysis in the previous
The significance of the players exceeds the sole purpose of entertainment, as each possesses the power to unveil the "occulted guilt" (3.2.75) and conscience of the King. Hamlet assumes the responsibility to advise these players with precise and adequate direction so that a "whirlwind of passion" (6) may not effectively separate Claudius from personally identifying with the play. Hamlet's enthusiastic approach toward direction may be so that he encourages the players to "suit the action to the word, the word to the/ action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not/ the modesty of nature" (16-18). However, this exercise of caution may justify Hamlet's too often delayed attempt toward the action of avenging his father's murder. His direction confines him to the overflow of words as he experiences imprisonment within the truth of his own identity.
In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the character of Fortinbras, has been used as a foil for the main character, Hamlet. Hamlet and Fortinbras have lost their fathers to untimely deaths. Claudius killed Hamlet's father, King Hamlet, and King Hamlet killed Fortinbras' father. Both Hamlet and Fortinbras have vowed to seek revenge for the deaths of their fathers. Since the revenge tactics of Hamlet and Fortinbras are completely different, Hamlet perceives the actions of Fortinbras as better than his own and the actions of Fortinbras, then, encourage Hamlet to act without hesitating.
In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, is infuriated with his mother, Gertrude, for marrying his uncle, Claudius, less than two months after his father’s death. Hamlet, the main protagonist, has two characters who act as foils to him, and they are Fortinbras and Laertes. Not only do they want revenge on their father’s murderers, but they are willing to do so at all costs, even if it means destroying their reputation and independence. They also find different ways to cope with their troubles. These foils enhance the importance of Hamlet’s character throughout the play.
The Role of Minor Characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet Minor characters play a very crucial role in Shakespeare's Hamlet. They serve as narrators for events that occurred outside the immediate play: the Dane's ghost. Distinct contrasts are created through the usage of the play's minor characters. The reader gains a new perspective on Hamlet's character when he is compared to Laertes. The presence of these minor characters can also have a direct effect on the action of the play.
When Hamlet begins discussion with the gravedigger, he is presented with a skull of someone he finds out is rather close and dear to him. It also brought Hamlet to reality with Ophelia’s death, as he resumes discussions with Yoricks skull, he jokingly says “Now get you to my lady’s chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come. Make her laugh at that.” (170) revealing how one wastes so much time putting make up on their face, to mask over the inevitable aging process; and how ones fate lies within the very ground we stand on at this moment, no matter how great one is.
Jean-Paul Sartre and William Shakespeare, while centuries and mindsets apart, both examined through drama the meaning of existence and the weight that man’s actions bear on his soul. In Sartre’s No Exit and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, their characters struggle with the mere concept of death and the mysteries that accompany it as they also struggle to accept choices and decisions made during life. Spirituality and the quest for life’s meaning conflict the protagonists of both works. Sartre and Shakespeare chose symbolic representation of spiritual ideals through props, specifically the bronze ornament resting on the mantelpiece of No Exit’s Hell, and the skull of Yorick, Prince Hamlet’s former court jester. While both catalysts for philosophical introspection, and employed by the authors in similar manners, the ornament and skull are contrasting representations of the uncertainty in death that looms over both plays.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet struggles with the abrupt death of his father at the hands of his uncle. It is in the very beginning of the play that Hamlet voices his opinion that death would be a peaceful release. But as the play progresses his attitude begins to slowly doubt the serenity in death. Hamlet had been surrounded by death but had yet to come face to face with it, escaping the lessons the world was trying to teach him. It is within Act 5 scene 1 that Hamlet has a direct confrontation with death, manifested primarily through the discovery of Yorick’s skull, a dear friend from his green world childhood. It is through this experience that Hamlet realizes that death is the true equalizer, that all men are the same in death, stripped of all power and position, and that he too will crumble into dust.
Also in act V, Hamlet and Horatio watch two clowns while they dig a grave. While the clowns dig, they come across a skull. Hamlet pronounces, “This might be the pate of a politician, which this ass now o’er reaches; one that would circumvent God, might it not?” (V.I.66-67). This skull resembled Hamlet’s jester who has passed away over 20 years ago. The skull represented the dead smell in Denmark. This is a turning point in the drama. Everything around Hamlet was falling; first his father, the incest of marriage, and his fair Ophelia.
... So in essence, Hamlet believes that a person’s soul is to go to either hell or heaven, but still part of it is left behind. What part of them that is left behind Hamlet does not specify, but there has to be something since he refers to a dead physical body of an important person having meaning. The finding of Yorick’s skull troubles Hamlet greatly because he remembers him when he was alive, and how he affected Hamlet’s life in a positive way.
William Shakespeare's “Hamlet” is one of the most tragic plays ever written. It is about a young prince trying to keep his word to his dead father by avenging his death. Hamlet procrastinates when avenging his father’s death, which is his tragic flaw. Hamlet appears to be a coward as well as depressed. He finds himself questioning his own ambitious motives such as revenge and hatred toward his murderous uncle. Hamlet tells Horatio, his friend that he is going to fake madness as he loses his determination. It is Hamlet’s hubris that makes me begin to believe he is mad. Hamlet does at one point have doubt concerning the honesty of the ghost. His various reasons for delay in seeking revenge is that he wants to make sure his uncle Claudius is one hundred percent guilty and at the same time does not want to hurt his mother. He has too much Oedipus complex, love for his mother.
The Complex Character of Shakespeare's Hamlet. 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.
Shakespeare’s plays were written in the 14th and 15th century in England, yet until this day it still has a huge influence on American English class. Why? Well because Shakespeare has a universal appeal with a rich language, complex characters with a theme that is timeless. Shakespeare should be taught more, one play per semester because it is part of American literature culture, it challenges students reading levels and as it expands students vocabulary and enriches their speaking. Shakespeare plays are relevant today as the themes of the plays involved what teenagers like and experience such as love, betrayal, courage,politics and corruption.The themes can be set in such basic forms that the plays are universal and timeless, it can set in
To understand a play, you must first understand the fundamentals for the play: protagonist, antagonist, exposition, rising action, crisis, climax and resolution. I will examine Hamlet by William Shakespeare. This is a great example for the purpose of this paper it provides a clear and great examples.
Hamlet: one of the most analyzed tragic heroes in all of literature. Hamlet, the main character in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is conflicted throughout the whole play. He obsesses over avenging his father’s death, and this leads to rash, irresponsible actions that cause others to suffer, as well. He plans to kill Claudius, his uncle, for murdering his father and then marrying his mother. In an act of outrage, Hamlet unknowingly kills Polonius, the King’s assistant, instead. This creates even more problems because now someone else’s father is dead. Hamlet is somewhat of an inconsistent character; he’s different almost every time we see him. Hamlet displays characteristics of depression, irony, timidity, and being hurt.
The perfection of Hamlet’s character has been called in question - perhaps by those who do not understand it. The character of Hamlet stands by itself. It is not a character marked by strength of will or even of passion, but by refinement of thought and sentiment. Hamlet is as little of the hero as a man can be. He is a young and princely novice, full of high enthusiasm and quick sensibility - the sport of circumstances, questioning with fortune and refining on his own feelings, and forced from his natural disposition by the strangeness of his situation.