The Outlander by Gil Adamson and Hamlet by William Shakespeare share a few similarities, in plot as well as style. The Outlander is the story of Mary Boulton, a widow of her own doing, who is being chased by her husband’s brothers. The reader follows her on her trek through the wild that ultimately results in her return to mental clarity. The story of Hamlet is somewhat the inverse of The Outlander. It starts with Hamlet meeting the ghost of his late father, who then urges Hamlet to avenge him. This journey of revenge ultimately results in Hamlets loss of mental clarity and untimely death. In both Hamlet and The Outlander, the authors make use of natural imagery and the natural world respectively to demonstrate the characters emotional struggle.
Throughout The Outlander, the use of water imagery is often a symbol for several negative feelings – for example the feeling of being drowned or out of control – she experiences and how she eventually overcomes them. It is used as a metaphor for the turbulence in her relationships, for example in a flashback it is stated that “For Mary, [the courtship with her late husband] was like slipping into water and letting the current carry her faster and faster” (139), the water here demonstrates her lack of control over her own life. Another example of this occurs when she has met someone new and doesn’t know where she’s being escorted or what will happen, “Her dark hair whipped about her face and Helen’s about hers, as if the two women were underwater plants waving in a river’s anxious current” (135). The use of water in this metaphor gives us the idea that Mary is quite nervous about what will happen to her in the future, this is shown by the personification of the water. A third example of n...
... middle of paper ...
...f to England, to do this, Hamlet must cross a sea. This is where Hamlet eventually breaks free of the sorrow he has and decides to come back and fight for what he needs. This missing part of the play when Hamlet is overseas is where he finds his freedom. Following this is Ophelia’s death. Gertrude describes her death to Laertes beautifully, despite the morbidity of it. All Laertes says is “Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia,” (IV. v. ___). The use of water in Hamlet is less of a movement through sanity; it rather demonstrates the result of said sanity.
Therefore the use of water in both texts is different; however all the same it is used to demonstrate the emotional struggle the characters have had. In The Outlander it is used throughout the passage from insane to sane. In comparison, the use of water in Hamlet shows aftermath of the loss or gain of sanity.
Even though Hamlet is a prince, he has little control over the course of his life. In that time many things were decided for the princes and princesses such as their education and even who they married. This was more or less the normal way of life for a child of the monarch. But in the case of Hamlet, any of the control he thought he had, fell away with the murder of his father. Having his father, the king, be killed by his own brother, sent Hamlet into a state of feeling helpless and out of control. Cooped up in a palace with no real outlet, he tries to control at least one aspect of his life. Hamlet deliberately toys with Ophelia's emotions in order to feel in control of something since he cannot control the situation with Claudius.
Water. It expresses its’ power in the form of hurricanes and flash floods. It displays its gentleness, washing dirt off a child's scabbed knee. Water has been used to quench the thirst of many longing throats; and it has been the cause of death to those who unfavorably crossed its path. It possesses the power of total destruction, yet it holds the bases of all life. Generally, water has symbolized cleanliness and renewal. In the Bible, water was used in Baptism, cleansing the soul of original sin and offering a new life in the light of God. Water in itself is a natural purifier, washing the dirt from our bodies. Water is a symbol of transition-from dirty to clean. In Beloved, Morrison uses water to introduce a transition between stages in a character's life. Water separates one stage of a character's life from another.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a story about a king that was murdered by his brother and the prince has been asked by his father?s ghost to avenge his murder. The original story line has been altered a few times since it has been written. The original Hamlet the play and the altered Hamlet the movie are shown differently in many different ways. Hamlet the movie with Mel Gibson shows different things than the play, but there are three major differences between the two. The three major differences are in the way both of the productions start out, differences in the scene that the players put on a play, and differences in the way the productions end.
Some of the most popular uses of water in literature include representing themes such as life, death, the soul, a cleansing, as well as creation and destruction. The sea in particular has often been cast in the past as its own ominous presence. A being of uncertainty and infinite depths, the sea is often a mysterious force in literature with many different meanings. The sea can be seen as the start of new beginnings and adventures as well as a dark end all. Throughout The Awakening, water is used to symbolize fear, frustration, rebirth, and liberation.
Through her usage of water as a motif, Morrison expresses her feelings and helps us to better understand the novel. Water comes to represent birth, re-birth, and freedom and escape from slavery. There is also a deeper meaning to all of this. Water also comes to represent a sort of life force for Beloved. When she just appears for the first time, she comes out of the water. But she also needs to drink a vast amount of water. It seems as though she needs the water to survive. For Sethe, water comes to mean both a sort of re-awakening and a symbol of freedom. This is apparent through her actions and emotions when she was bathed by Baby Suggs. Water also represents freedom for Paul D. This is because he escaped due to the mud created by the water. The motif of water is well used throughout the book to come to signify many things to the characters.
It is widely believed that “Living life without honor is a tragedy bigger than death itself” and this holds true for Hamlet’s Ophelia. Ophelia’s death symbolizes a life spent passively tolerating Hamlet’s manipulations and the restrictions imposed by those around her, while struggling to maintain the last shred of her dignity. Ophelia’s apathetic reaction to her drowning suggests that she never had control of her own life, as she was expected to comply with the expectations of others. Allowing the water to consume her without a fight alludes to Hamlet’s treatment of Ophelia as merely a device in his personal agenda. Her apparent suicide denotes a desire to take control of her life for once. Ophelia’s death is, arguably, an honorable one, characterized by her willingness to let go of her submissive, earth-bound self and leave the world no longer a victim.
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, written by William Shakespeare, is considered to be one of his most perplexing plays. The tragedy follows the story of Prince Hamlet as he undergoes states of insanity, depression, and eventual death. Theories regarding Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia are developed through subplots and leave the reader questioning as to whether Hamlet truly loved her. Arguments can be made that Hamlet and Ophelia love one another, but there are many obstacles that prevent them from rightly being together. The couple face a series of cascading problems, including the high expectations set forth by their friends and family. As the story develops, these problems cause major setbacks that become impossible to
The interesting contrast between Ophelia’s and Prince Hamlet’s madness comes from Shakespeare’s ability in presenting the mental illness. Shakespeare uses Prince Hamlet’s ambiguous characterization to drive the plot of Hamlet; while Shakespeare clearly divulges to Ophelia’s being mad, at the hands of King Hamlet and Polonius, he presents Prince Hamlet’s characterization with more subtlety as to whether Hamlet only feigns his entire madness or actually succumbs to to a mental breakdown.
Melancholy, grief, and madness pervade Shakespeare's great tragedy, Hamlet. The emotional maladies presented within Hamlet, not only allow the audience to sympathize with prince Hamlet, but also with the tragic lady Ophelia as well. It is Ophelia who suffers at her lover's discretion because of decisions she was obligated to make on behalf of her weak societal position.
William Shakespeare was a very famous English poet, playwright, and actor. One of the famous plays that he wrote was “Hamlet”. Hamlet is a very famous play and many play writers or directors interpret Shakespeare’s play differently. A Great scene to compares is Act5 scene 2. The two films that will be compared are “Hamlet” from 1996 directed by Kenneth Branagh and “Hamlet” from 2009 directed by Gregory Doran. The two different directors took the same play and made it reflect their own interpretation. The films are very different, but similar in many ways. “Hamlet” from 1996 directed by Kenneth Branagh and “Hamlet” from 2009 directed by Gregory Doran both use the theme guilt. The theme of guilt will be explain through the comparison of how Gertrude
Ernest Hemingway uses water as a metaphor that foreshadows events in A Farewell to Arms. He distributes water through the entire story. Escape, or a cleansing effect, of Frederic Henry takes place in a river. Rain predicts unfortunate events, such as the death of Catherine, which causes Frederic to sadly begin a new life. However, this time he does not have a companion - he must learn to survive alone. Hemingway uses a lot of water to show many symbols and affect the story.
In Hamlet, Ophelia is unaware of the evil is spreading around her. She is an obedient woman, and is naive in that she takes what people say at face value, which makes her an innocent lady. "You should not have believed me, for virtue/ cannot so inculate our old stock but we shall relish of/ it. I loved you not." (III.ii. 117-119). Hamlet says these lines as a mask of his madness, but Ophelia does not understand his true motives and takes Hamlet's words very seriously to heart. The words that Hamlet says to Ophelia both confuse and hurt her greatly. Hamlet's lines are what eventually lead Ophelia to insanity, and Ophelia's insanity is what causes her death by drowning.
life. In particular, Ophelia agrees not to see Hamlet anymore after the request from her
Ophelia loves Hamlet; her emotions drive her to perform her actions. Some would say that Ophelia’s emotions could have actually been what ended her young
interest of Hamlet, but is driven crazy by Hamlet’s sudden disregard of Ophelia and her feelings.