A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PLAY HAMLET BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

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  • Foreshadow
  • The appearance of the ghost and the directive it gives to Hamlet foreshadows the tragic catastrophe at the end of the play. Its subsequent appearances help to propel Hamlet to action.

    1. Language

    The play is written in verse and not in prose. It is written in blank verse which “…has no end rhyme; its rhythm is particularly suited to drama because it so closely resembles the rhythm of normal English speech” (Introduction to Hamlet by A. L. Rowse, p xvii).

    1. Setting

    The playwright captures the beauty of the environment. It is however a turbulent and fearful environment which symbolically reflects the turbulent state of Hamlet’s mind. You see that just as the kingdom of Denmark is about to collapse, Hamlet’s consciousness is also on the brink of collapse. The play is set in Denmark. The actions take place mainly in the Castle of Elisnore. It is not easy to locate the historical setting as the play is based on the legend of Hamlet which is found in the folk literature of Iceland and Denmark

    8a. Characterization

    The characters are round/realistic/multi-dimentional. Hamlet, for instance, grows from innocence and indecision to maturity and takes a definite decision to revenge his father’s death. It is difficult to predict his actions. The perfection of character development in this play is reflected in a pattern of events as the characters take over the plot and change as it progresses.

    8b. Character Analysis

    Hamlet

    He is the tragic hero of the play. He is the son of Queen Gertrude and King Hamlet, murdered by his brother, Claudius. The ship that was to carry him to England to be executed suffered in the hands of the sea pirates and he sees himself rescued by fate and comes back home to avenge the death of his father in the hand of (king Claudius) who had planned and executed these evils. The Ghost urges Hamlet to avenge but could not guide him to live to tell the story; rather, the story is relayed to the entire Danish people by Horatio his bosom friend.

    Ophelia says of Hamlet “what a noble mind is here o’erthrown”. Thus Hamlet is noble minded, gentle but dignified. Hamlet is a moralist who condemns his mother’s “quick but unthoughtful” second marriage to the king. He also criticizes the king’s life of pleasure and debauchery. Hamlet is a philosopher and a deep thinker. He refuses to kill Claudius when he had the opportunity because Claudius was praying at that time,

    and he feels that Claudius will go to heaven, if he is killed at his prayer moment. His love of Ophelia is incontestable to the point of jumping into her grave possibly to be buried with her. While Hamlet feigns madness, Ophelia’s madness is caused by an emotional turmoil and that of Hamlet a deranged mind occasioned by the tragic death of his father, the late king. Thus, Hamlet and Ophelia share the same experience in this respect. Hamlet is one who can wilt in the face of hardship and difficulties; thus, he contemplates committing suicide when he reflects on the futility of life and the whole melancholic situation that have engulfed him.

    Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is a scholar and is very intelligent and these virtues guide him to escape from the wiles and evil machinations of Claudius. Hamlet feels that, though the Ghost’s directives should be followed, there is no need to be credulous and sheepish, rather the advice of the apparition had to be subjected to a test by staging a drama on the theme of murder and seeing how the king will react to it. Hamlet is a good student of drama and he usually quotes easily the lines of plays he has studied.

    Claudius, King of Denmark

    He murdered his brother, the late king and becomes the king and married his brother’s wife. He is a schemer who knows what he wants and how to get it, but his last plot to kill Hamlet boomeranged and he died in the process. He married Gertrude after eliminating her husband, though he later regrets his actions, but refuses to give up the throne and his illegal wife. He does not seriously atone for his sins but plans complete liquidation of the dynasty of the former king by plotting and executing the death of the Prince.

    He is a selfish ruler who wastes his kingdom’s resources in revelries and drunken orgies. The king is vulgar and coarse-natured and is not a man of the people as one can say of the former king. When Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes and Hamlet die, it is the body of Hamlet that Fortinbras asks to be brought to the foyer and not that of the king. His reign as a king is marked by violence and turbulence because he is a hypocrite who came to power by murdering his brother, the late king. Claudius has the ability to seduce with smile and cunning.

     

    Queen Gertrude

    She is the wife of both the late king and the present one. Her hasty marriage to King Claudius which was condemned by her son, Hamlet, brings out clearly her weakness of character for she lacks the moral strength to say ‘no’ to evil. She is capricious as she emotionally changes from the grief of her late husband to savour the happiness of her second marriage to Claudius. No doubt, Gertrude loves her son, Hamlet but does not do much to warrant the return of his love. Many examples abound in the play to show that Gertrude would do everything possible to preserve the love she has for Hamlet. The king for instance sends Polonius to eavesdrop and find out the outcome of the meeting between Gertrude and Hamlet because the king is sure that Gertrude would not disclose to him all that transpired in the meeting.

    CONCLUSION

    Hamlet remains one of the best tragedies written by Shakespeare. It is full of philosophies about life and living that have timeless relevance. You may have heard people say from time to time, “to be or not to be, that is the question”. I hope you have identified where it is in the play and its significance in the dilemmas inherent in the plot of the play. Hamlet shows Shakespeare’s skill as a playwright and a stage director. It is a remarkable play because of its thematic concern and unique form. The play condemns immorality, murder and vaulting ambition.

     

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