The Significance Of Universal Themes In Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'

1148 Words3 Pages

Explore how relationships have been represented in this scene, evaluating the significance of this scene in the play as a whole. In your response include a discussion of the composers’ language and stage techniques.

The relationships in ‘Hamlet’ represent the play’s universal themes that resonate through generations due to the ubiquity of human condition. Through the employment of the Senecan revenge tragedy and Machiavellian characters, Shakespeare depicts the Elizabethan social climate in Hamlet’s militarised relationship with Claudius as well as Hamlet’s altering inclination towards mortality and madness. Franco Zeffirelli’s artistic choices in his 1990 film adaptation of hte play re-contextualises the continuity of the themes in line with intrinsic human attitudes. Essentially, the dynamics portrayed in the text carry thematic significance in its ability to reflect the …show more content…

The atmosphere if doubt originates from the presence of obscure royal opposition and espionage, furthered by the Queen’s lack of a successor as well as the expanding intellectual and philosophical awareness of the age. The composer utilises the melodramatic appeal of Senecan revenge tragedies to contemplate religious absolutes on the afterlife and the divine judgment of crime, evident in the self-dramatising Hamlet whose fixation on intense rumination is his hamartia. Despite the supplement of Greek elements such as Hamlet’s anagnorisis of the Ghost, or Claudius’ hubris in his schemes, Shakespeare deviates from unity to ambiguity, “capturing within himself the essence of the Age” according to critic John Bell. The relationships in the play, therefore, simulates the precarious attitudes of humanity regarding the primary themes of the text to contribute to the enduring relevance of

Open Document