Tom Stoppard And Shakespeare Comparison

1222 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: William Shakespeare essay on English

Tom Stoppard and Shakespeare – Is there any Comparison? Hamlet is one of the most historically remembered plays identified among the numerous credible works by the world renowned William Shakespeare. The author has utilized a wide range of reactions and tones for the leading character – Hamlet – who is keen on avenging the death of his father by his uncle – the new King Claudius. Though Hamlet is not aware of the fact earlier that Claudius killed his father, as soon as it is revealed to this through the ghost, he engages on the journey to seek revenge and ends up being portrayed as a tragic hero. The play in itself is a tragedy that explains in detail the path taken up by its lead character in avenging the death of his father and how his friends turn against him and end up with the killer of his father – the king Claudius. The aim of my essay is to read into the details of the play Hamlet and compare it with that of the play written by Tom Stoppard to identify that common factors that link them together. The factor that sets the play Hamlet apart from other notable works from other artists is that Shakespeare is able to influence his audience by weaving a gripping yet tragic tale of a revengeful son. Soon after the death of his father, Hamlet’s Mother marries Claudius that makes his the new king of Denmark. Hamlet is heartbroken to find that none in his family nor the royals are able to display grief over the death of his father – the late king. The play Hamlet is written in the form of a poem that is constant throughout the play. One good example of the poetic stance of the author is through ‘Seems, madam! Nay, it is, I know not seems. Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother’ (Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, page 199). Unlike the p... ... middle of paper ... ...tz and Guildenstern have received much limelight and focus from the author. He has been able to describe the mundane everyday life and their view on Hamlet and their ability to make decisions. Though the play has instances of bring derived from the play of Hamlet, it is quite different and doesn’t speak about the main character of Hamlet – the son of the dead king. Also, both the plays have their own setting for the theater wherein players re-enact the murder of the old king, they have their own distinguishing features that sets that apart. Through this essay, I have been able to understand the difference in the use of language, prose and poem by the two authors who are considered two of the most reputed authors. The Hamlet and the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead are focused on offering the audience a distinct experience that is unrelated to the regular life.

Show More
Related

  • Topics Deeply Hidden in Hamlet by Williams Shakespeare

    2200 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are many topics deeply hidden in the works of William Shakespeare. One of his greatest pieces of works is the story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Not only are the words of Shakespeare meaningful, but there are also many follow up pieces of literature that contain important interpretations of the events in this play. These works about Hamlet are extremely beneficial to the reader. I have found four of these works and will use them as sources throughout this essay. The first source is “The Case of Hamlet’s Conscience,” by Catherine Belsey, and it focuses on the topic of Hamlet’s revenge in the play. The second source is “’Never Doubt I Love’: Misreading Hamlet,” by Imtiaz Habib, and it explains a lot of information about Hamlet’s “love” for Ophelia. The third source is “Shakespeare’s Hamlet, III.i.56—88,” by Horst Breuer, and it talks in depth about the issue of suicide in Hamlet. The fourth and final source is “Shakespeare’s Hamlet 1.2.35-38,” by Kathryn Walls, and it describes the significance of the role the Ghost plays throughout Hamlet. There are many different confusing parts in Hamlet and the best way to fully understand the play is to understand all of these parts. By understanding every miniscule detail in the play, it creates a different outlook on the play for the reader. In this essay, I will explain these confusing topics, as well as explain why the sources are helpful and what insight they can bring. At the end is this essay, the reader will have a complete understanding and appreciation of the play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.

    Read More

  • Hamlet Acts Morally, Harms Others by his Actions, and Realizes his Tragic Limits

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous work of tragedy. Throughout the play the title character, Hamlet, tends to seek revenge for his father’s death. Shakespeare achieved his work in Hamlet through his brilliant depiction of the hero’s struggle with two opposing forces that hunt Hamlet throughout the play: moral integrity and the need to avenge his father’s murder. When Hamlet sets his mind to revenge his fathers’ death, he is faced with many challenges that delay him from committing murder to his uncle Claudius, who killed Hamlets’ father, the former king. During this delay, he harms others with his actions by acting irrationally, threatening Gertrude, his mother, and by killing Polonius which led into the madness and death of Ophelia. Hamlet ends up deceiving everyone around him, and also himself, by putting on a mask of insanity. In spite of the fact that Hamlet attempts to act morally in order to kill his uncle, he delays his revenge of his fathers’ death, harming others by his irritating actions. Despite Hamlets’ decisive character, he comes to a point where he realizes his tragic limits.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Human Condition in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Waiting for Godot

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as minor characters exist within Shakespeare’s world, providing Stoppard with his protagonists. However, the play is not an attempt to rewrite ‘Waiting for Godot’ in a framework of Shakespeare’s drama. In studying these texts, the reader is provoked to analyse, compare and contrast them. In particular, the characters in ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ provide intriguing material to consider the human condition. The characters, their personality traits and responses to stimuli, as well as what directs and motivates them, are worthy of discussion.

    Read More

  • Rosencrantz And Guildenstern And Hamlet

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hamlet written by the well-known William Shakespeare is one of the most established works that has been identified to capture the intensity and elegance of the leading character ‘Hamlet’. The tale of Hamlet as a dramatic character who is reckless yet ferocious, and the death of the two characters ‘Rosencrantz’ & ‘Guildenstern’ who were assigned orders to undertake the death assignment of Hamlet. On one hand, the play of Shakespeare is based on the leading character ‘Hamlet’, whereas the play of T. Stoppard is based on the journey of the other two characters in finding themselves in the un-avertable situation of destined death. The aim of this essay is to identify the scenarios that will allow me to compare & contrast the plays. The essay examines the situations wherein Hamlet is associated with Rosencrantz & Guildenstern and how distinguished are the characters in themselves. Also, the essay also deals with the revelation made by Shakespeare in Stoppard through his two characters ‘Rosencrantz & Guildenstern’.

    Read More

  • Ambiguity within Shakespeare's Ambiguous Hamlet

    2867 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Shakespearean tragic drama Hamlet, though recognized as an unexcelled classic of tragedy by many literary critics, is nevertheless ambiguous in various words and actions. This problematic dimension of the drama will be considered in this essay.

    Read More

  • Hamlet: The Bewildering Human Condition

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is a complex and ambiguous public exploration of key human experiences surrounding the aspects of revenge, betrayal and corruption. The Elizabethan play is focused centrally on the ghost’s reoccurring appearance as a symbol of death and disruption to the chain of being in the state of Denmark. The imagery of death and uncertainty has a direct impact on Hamlet’s state of mind as he struggles to search for the truth on his quest for revenge as he switches between his two incompatible values of his Christian codes of honour and humanist beliefs which come into direct conflict. The deterioration of the diseased state is aligned with his detached relationship with all women as a result of Gertrude’s betrayal to King Hamlet which makes Hamlet question his very existence and the need to restore the natural order of kings. Hamlet has endured the test of time as it still identifies with a modern audience through the dramatized issues concerning every human’s critical self and is a representation of their own experience of the bewildering human condition, as Hamlet struggles to pursuit justice as a result of an unwise desire for revenge.

    Read More

  • Hamlet-identity Crisis

    1845 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Hamlet is arguably one of the best plays known to English literature. It presents the protagonist, Hamlet, and his increasingly complex path through self discovery. His character is of an abnormally complex nature, the likes of which not often found in plays, and many different theses have been put forward about Hamlet's dynamic disposition. One such thesis is that Hamlet is a young man with an identity crisis living in a world of conflicting values.

    Read More

  • Explore the ways in which Hamlet makes use of the idea or motif of theatrical performance

    1420 Words  | 3 Pages

    The motif of acting is a central literary device of Hamlet – the audience witnesses Hamlet, as well as the other characters of the play, adopt ‘roles’ as no one is truly who they ‘seem’. This is first addressed by Hamlet in the beginning of the play when he responds to his mothers’ request to “cast thy nightly colour off”, and not to forever mourn his father as “all that lives must die,/Passing through nature to eternity”. He expresses that his “shows of grief” can ‘seem’ as “they are actions a man might play”. This is the first instance the play directly addresses the motif of theatrical performance, as it insinuates that Hamlet is the only one who truly mourned his fathers loss – this is especially stressed during his first monologue, in which he expresses moral struggle with his mothers marriage to Claudius, and his suggestion she never mourned her husband: “Within a month?/Ere yet the sa...

    Read More

  • Comparision Of Hamlet With Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead

    1314 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Hamlet was written in the sixteenth century Elizabethan historical context, where certainty was questioned and there was a growing importance of individuals and their choice as opposed to fate. Influenced by the Renaissance, Shakespeare wrote in the tradition of the revenge tragedy. Stoppard however, who was living in a time of disillusionment due to the tragedies of two world wars, was influenced by the existential movement. Disregarding the past and future due to a lack of trust, Stoppard wrote in a tradition known as the Theatre of the Absurd incorporating existentialism. He uses various processes to adapt and transform the values and ideas influenced by the sixteenth century Elizabethan context in Hamlet to reflect the twentieth century evasion of reality unless it is in a reflexive and directionless present.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Hamlet as a Tragic Hero

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the play’s tragic hero, Hamlet exhibits a combination of good and bad traits.  A complex character, he displays a variety of characteristics throughout the play’s development.  When he is first introduced in Act I- Scene 2, one sees Hamlet as a sensitive young prince who is mourning the death of his father, the King.  In addition, his mother’s immediate marriage to his uncle has left him in even greater despair.   Mixed in with this immense sense of grief, are obvious feelings of anger and frustration.  The combination of these emotions leaves one feeling sympathetic to Hamlet; he becomes a very “human” character.  One sees from the very beginning that he is a very complex and conflicted man, and that his tragedy has already begun.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Oedipus Complex

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet’s attachment to his mother is quickly made evident within the first act of the famous tragedy. Hamlet, who sulks around wearing black clothing to mourn the death of his father, first speaks in the play to insult his stepfather. He voices his distaste at his new relationship with his uncle by criticizing that they are, “A little more than kin and less than kind” (I.ii.65). He believes that it...

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Fatal Flaw

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet is a scholar, speaker, actor, and prince. For some reason, Hamlet is not able to avenge his father's death without considerable delay. There is one major flaw in Hamlet's character which causes him to postpone the murder of Claudius. I believe that this flaw is Hamlet's idealism. While his idealism is a good trait, in this case, Hamlet's environment and his...

    Read More

  • Conflict in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

    2442 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Hamlet as the Tragic Hero

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet is the best known tragedy in literature today. Here, Shakespeare exposes Hamlet’s flaws as a heroic character. The tragedy in this play is the result of the main character’s unrealistic ideals and his inability to overcome his weakness of indecisiveness. This fatal attribute led to the death of several people which included his mother and the King of Denmark. Although he is described as being a brave and intelligent person, his tendency to procrastinate prevented him from acting on his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage, and his uncle’s ascension to the throne.

    Read More

  • Hamlet- A Revenge Tragedy

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society, coupled with his innate tendency to over-think his actions, leads to an unfocused mission of vengeance that brings about not only his own death, but also the unnecessary deaths of nearly all of the other main characters in the revenge tragedy.

    Read More

More about Tom Stoppard And Shakespeare Comparison

Open Document