Hamlet is not only a representation of the world, but it is a presentation of the theatricality of the world, and it aims to acquire the detachment that allows self-reflection. According to Catherine Jo Dixon, the word “meta-theatre” is derived from the Greek prefix meta, which signifies a “level beyond the subject that it qualifies” (1). Arguably one of the most memorable examples of meta-theatricality is from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in Act III, Scene II, where Hamlet stages a play in an attempt to “catch the conscience of the King” (2.2.526). However, while this is one instance of meta-theatre in Hamlet, Shakespeare created an entire work infused with meta-theatre, either through the direct use of theatre or theatrical metaphors and imagery. Others include Polonius’ praise and report on the Players (Ham. 2.2.325-29), Hamlet’s advice to the Players (Ham. 3.2.1-39), and Hamlet’s antic disposition. The effect of this was that it allowed the emphasis of the contrast between truth and pretence, reality and illusion.
Within Hamlet, there are numerous uses of theatrical metaphors and imagery (Lois Potter 129). The text is filled with words such as, applaud, prologue, act, prompted, perform, globe, and play. For instance, Hamlet responds to his father’s Ghost after being begged to remember him, “Remember thee? / Ay, thou poor ghost, whiles memory holds a seat / In this distracted globe” (Ham. 1.5.95-7). Moreover, Gertrude reflects, “To my sick soul, as sin’s true nature is, / Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss” (Ham. 4.5.17-18). These metaphors are examples of a more subtle form of meta-theatricality—and are more integrated into the fabric of the text—but assist in forming a continuous theatrical context.
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...threat in the nunnery scene, “all but one—shall live” (Ham. 3.1.147); a warning to Claudius that his life is in danger. It is as if Hamlet wants to provoke Claudius to act so he will not have to—and that is exactly what happens.
In conclusion, within Hamlet, meta-theatre provides space for the “moving parts”, or the ‘actor’, necessary to the drama (Flaherty 17). Meta-theatre develops this space of play by provoking acceptance of the unique nature of each performance of the play (Flaherty 17). Meta-theatricality is a device in which a play may comment on itself, attracting awareness to the true circumstances of its own production, such as the audience or the reality that the actors are in fact actors (Dixon 1). Meta-theatrical moments in Hamlet contribute to the play’s elaborate dialogue of play by calling upon the many, and interrelated meanings of the word ‘play’.
Hamlet makes extensive use of the idea of theatrical performance; from revealing characters to not be what they seem - as they act to be - to Hamlet’s play The Mousetrap and his instruction of acting to the players. The extensive use of the stage in the stage directions, as well as numerous monologues and asides, have Hamlet itself acting as a literary device for the motif of theatrical performance.
Corum, Richard. Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport: Greenwood, 1998. Print. Literature in Context.
Manning, John. "Symbola and Emblemata in Hamlet." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 11-18.
Venkova, Savina. “Theatrical Analysis: Hamlet, Shakespeare.” Rev. of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. Helium. Helium Inc., 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
An understanding of William Shakespeare’s philosophies reinforces the meaning of the human condition found in the play Hamlet. The revenge tragedy is an example in the exploration of good versus evil, deceit, madness, inter-turmoil, and utter existence. Shakespeare, fascinated by the human mind and human nature, clearly and completely illustrates the meaning of “self.” Hamlet is a drama that examines one’s personal identity. From the beginning of the story atop the castle when the guards enter the platform to the conclusion of the performance as Hamlet lies, dying in Horatio’s arms every characters’ psychological type is
Different adaptations of William Shakespeare’s works have taken various forms. Through the creative license that artists, directors, and actors take, diverse incarnations of his classic works continue to arise. Gregory Doran’s Hamlet and Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet bring William Shakespeare’s work by the same title to the screen. These two film adaptations take different approaches in presenting the turmoil of Hamlet. From the diverging takes on atmosphere to the characterization of the characters themselves, the many possible readings of Hamlet create the ability for the modification of the presentation and the meaning of the play itself. Doran presents David Tenant as Hamlet in a dark, eerie, and minimal setting; his direction highlighting the
Manning, John. "Symbola and Emblemata in Hamlet." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 11-18.
Through the elements of technique portrayed in this essay, it is clear to see that Shakespeare is able to influence the reader through soliloquies, imagery, and dual understanding. This overall influence being both the communication of a deeper meaning, and a more complex understanding of the events and statements within Hamlet.
In Hamlet’s speech, Shakespeare’s efforts to target his Elizabethan audience develop the theme of the frailty of man. Shakespeare conveys this underlying theme of the play by subt...
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.
Furthermore, Shakespeare introduces the Players to add an extra dimension to his ideas on the effects of disassembly. The juxtaposition of the `play within a play' acts as a subtle literary device that suggests that, as Hamlet's play occurs in the middle of the play, the play itself revolves around the pretence undertaken by the majority of Shakespeare's characters.
Milward, Peter. "Chapter 1: Meta-Drama in Hamlet and Macbeth." Shakespeare's Christianity: The Protestant and Catholic Poetics of Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and Hamlet. Ed. Beatrice Batsona. Waco, TX: Baylor UP, 2006. 1-18. Questia. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
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.
Hamlet is one of the most often-performed and studied plays in the English language. The story might have been merely a melodramatic play about murder and revenge, butWilliam Shakespeare imbued his drama with a sensitivity and reflectivity that still fascinates audiences four hundred years after it was first performed. Hamlet is no ordinary young man, raging at the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Hamlet is cursed with an introspective nature; he cannot decide whether to turn his anger outward or in on himself. The audience sees a young man who would be happiest back at his university, contemplating remote philosophical matters of life and death. Instead, Hamlet is forced to engage death on a visceral level, as an unwelcome and unfathomable figure in his life. He cannot ignore thoughts of death, nor can he grieve and get on with his life, as most people do. He is a melancholy man, and he can see only darkness in his future—if, indeed, he is to have a future at all. Throughout the play, and particularly in his two most famous soliloquies, Hamlet struggles with the competing compulsions to avenge his father’s death or to embrace his own. Hamlet is a man caught in a moral dilemma, and his inability to reach a resolution condemns himself and nearly everyone close to him.
A common motif in Shakespeare’s many plays is the supernatural element, to which Hamlet , with the presence of a ghost, is no exception. The story of Hamlet, the young prince of Denmark, is one of tragedy, revenge, deception, and ghosts. Shakespeare’s use of the supernatural element helps give a definition to the play by being the catalyst of the tragedy that brings upon Hamlet’s untimely demise. The ghost that appears at the beginning of the play could possibly be a satanic figure that causes Hamlet to engage in the terrible acts and endanger his soul. The supernatural element incorporated into the play is used as an instigator, a mentor, as well as mediation for the actions of the protagonist that ultimately end in tragedy, with the loss of multiple lives, as well as suscept Hamlet’s soul to hell. Shakespeare’s portrayal of the ghostly apparition causes a reader to question whether the ghost is a demonic force on the basis of its diction, conduct towards others as well as Hamlet, and it’s motive to kill.