Her clothes spread wide, / And mermaid-like awhile they bore her up" (4.7.174-176). ... But to make sure, Shakespeare throws in a riddle. ... A guy who hangs around the royal palace and is extremely polite, like a "suck up." ... Shakespeare now chose to throw in a pun, Hamlet and the "Clown" continue, " I think it be thine indeed, for thou liest in't / You lie out on't , sir, and therefore "tis not / yours; for my part, I do not lie in't, yet it is mine (5.1.121-124). ... Dividing the play up like this, Shakespeare has created an up, down effect that allows the reader to still p...

• Word Count: 1229
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Shakespeare's Hamlet constantly points out the paradoxical nature of human action when it comes to making rational or emotion-driven decisions. ... What think you on't? ... As the gravedigger spoke, If the man go to this water and drown himself, it is, will he nill he, he goes- mark you that. ... Shakespeare contrasts these irrational behaviors with the practical concerns of several of the characters. ... Laertes does not rationally guide himself, and like Ophelia, dies at the course of his own actions. ...

• Word Count: 1742
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• Grade Level: High School

Do you think Hamlet and Laertes are a like, or different? In the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare Hamlet and Laertes show some signs that they are a like and some show there different, taking revenge, having feelings for people and the thoughts and actions of people. ... Ophelia: Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so. ... (Shakespeare, Hamlet, III, i, 115-119) he really does have strong feelings for her. ... Now that you have these thoughts in your head, do you think they are alike?...

• Word Count: 1071
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• Grade Level: High School

In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare uses the "foil" technique where the characters of Fortinbras and Laertes serve as ones to Hamlet. To understand how Shakespeare intends to use this technique, first it is important have an in-depth comprehension of the characters that are used in this method. ... Fortinbras serves as a foil to Hamlet due to his striking similarities and differences that Shakespeare exposes throughout the play. ... "I humbly thank you, sir- (4.4.26-30). ... But till that time I do receive your offer'd love like love, And will not wrong it. (5. 2. 225-235). ...

• Word Count: 903
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• Grade Level: High School

Hamlet is a revenge tragedy, a common genre in Shakespeare's day. ... Unless one is willing to claim that Shakespeare was appealing to Elizabethan bloodlust, his point is obvious. ... As the Proverb says, "The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so abandon the quarrel before it breaks out" (17:14). Hamlet and Laertes do not exhaust Shakespeare's store of avengers. ... Shakespeare's use of Fortinbras, prince of Norway, clarifies beyond reasonable doubt his own and the play's evaluation of revenge. ...

• Word Count: 1931
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• Grade Level: High School

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet is the prince of Denmark and the protagonist. ... Hamlet's immediate reaction in Act 1, scene 5 is to avenge his father's death, " So uncle, there you are. ... Like Hamlet, Laertes is a good warrior but spontaneous and seeks revenge for his father's death. ... Like Hamlet, Hortaio is able to sense trouble in Denmark "There is something rotten in Denmark". ... In Hamlet, Shakespeare defines Hamlet through Laertes, Fortinbras and Horatio. ...

• Word Count: 857
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• Grade Level: High School

Look to 't, I charge you. ... Her clothes spread wide, and, mermaid-like awhile they bore her up, Which time she chanted snatches of old lauds, as one incapable of her own distress or like a creature native and endued unto that element. ... This shows as Hamlet speaks to Ophelia, "Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. ... Gertrude and Ophelia are minor but powerful characters in the play that Shakespeare focuses on. ... Evidently this image Shakespeare displays of women has gone a long way. ...

• Word Count: 1097
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• Grade Level: High School

By 1590 Shakespeare began to write plays for the stage. ... (III.4.119), "to whom do you speak this?" ... d to us, was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, thereto prick?... er me with your wings, you heavenly guards"(l.116-117). ... He states to Horatio that "it is an honest ghost, that let me tell you" (I.5.201). ...

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His sympathy seems sincere, but you could also see it as tainted because he says nothing about being sorry for the act, only that he's sorry it was commited against Laertes. You might say that for all he's done Hamlet is a corrupt bastard, plain and simple. ... Hamlet isn't corrupt at all at least not in the same sense you would call someone like Claudius or Stalin (two very different cases). ... Shakespeare is trying to tell us that violent revenge is not the answer. ... Shakespeare is also saying something about people in general. ...

• Word Count: 866
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• Grade Level: High School

William Shakespeare is buried in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. ... One of the main techniques is how Shakespeare represented characters. ... Assume a virtue, if you have it not". ... He berates her with sharp edged comments, "you are the queen, your brother's wife and -would it were not so- you are my mother"; but he loves her just the same. ... Instead of continuing his accusations he surprisingly tells his mother to sleep with Claudius "Not this, by no means, that I bid you do: Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed". ...

• Word Count: 2226
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

Shakespeare portrays the female characters in Hamlet as being stereotypical for the Elizabethan time period. ... , These words like daggers enter in my ears. ... Shakespeare demonstrates this belief using Ophelia and the male members of her family. ... In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the female characters as whole are inferior to the male characters. ... Queen : "I shall obey you." ...

• Word Count: 669
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• Grade Level: High School

When do you know a work of literature has stood the test of time? When William Shakespeare wrote it. ... Shakespeare's work, though complicated, will never have just one meaning. ... Shakespeare will always be powerful and applicable throughout time. ... If you read through the play, you will always find something to take from it. ...

• Word Count: 1178
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Gertrude's character made it seem like she didn't care for Hamlet and her only priority was King Claudius. Gertrude has a conversation with Hamlet stating, "... cast thy nighted color off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. ... -Your sister's drowned, Laertes" (Shakespeare,99) . ... (Shakespeare, 109). ... Most readers might see Gertrude as a loving mother, but when they go more into depth with that character you can see why Gertrude is not the queen people think she really is. ...

• Word Count: 942
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You also may see it as foolishness or stupidity; whichever way you do madness is viewed by many as insanity. ... She is overwhelmed with emotion when she sees him and starts talking like she has gone crazy. ... This could possibly be a trademark of Shakespeare's in this specific play. ... Or Shakespeare could just leave everything to us and think what we want about "what could have been" and "what if- It can be interpreted in many ways depending on how you view it. Reading is not only what you think of it, but also what you make of it. ...

• Word Count: 719
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• Grade Level: High School

"On numerous occasions, the prince tries to make sense of his . . . dilemma through personal meditations, which Shakespeare presents as soliloquies. ... (www.goldenessays.com) This problem, so much like Laertes" poison, seeps through Hamlet's conscience and kills any action of revenge (paraphrase of Joel Sommer Littauer). ... Epictetus once said that "Remember that you are an actor in a play, the character of which is determined by the Playwright: if He wishes you to play ! ... For this is your business, to a play admirably that role assigned you, but the selection of that role is ...

• Word Count: 1334
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• Grade Level: High School

"Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage". ... To the audience this could look like the ghost is suggesting that Hamlet feign madness in order to avenge his father. ... Shakespeare uses the line " You are the Queen, your husband's brother's wife. ... "Do you not come your tardy son to chide", so he is obviously aware that he is procrastinating. ... Polonius does not like his daughter seeing Hamlet and forbids her to talk to Hamlet. ...

• Word Count: 2360
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

William Shakespeare's Hamlet goes both hand in hand and contrasts with this trend. ... Scolding, "you are the queen, your husband's brother's wife; and -would it were not so!... It is the very idea that men were superior to women and the higher status you had, the more powerful you were that caused Hamlet to act rudely to the women throughout the play. ... I believe that Shakespeare gave men the higher position in the play. ... Maybe Shakespeare did not believe in women as strong characters due to the age he lived in. ...

• Word Count: 1273
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• Grade Level: High School

William Shakespeare's Hamlet goes both hand in hand and contrasts with this trend. ... Scolding, "you are the queen, your husband's brother's wife; and -would it were not so!... It is the very idea that men were superior to women and the higher status you had, the more powerful you were that caused Hamlet to act rudely to the women throughout the play. ... I believe that Shakespeare gave men the higher position in the play. ... Maybe Shakespeare did not believe in women as strong characters due to the age he lived in. ...

• Word Count: 1274
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The play, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, is the perfect example of a "coming of age" archetype. ... Shakespeare doesn't describe to the audience exactly what Hamlet was like while in college, but we can piece together a picture of him. ... Instead of discussing his hurt feelings in a mature and productive way, Hamlet goes on to state, "I loved you not" (3.1.129). ... He asks for forgiveness, saying, "I have done you wrong" (5.2.240). ... Shakespeare used the coming of age archetype to show delaying adulthood is what caused this entire tragedy. ...

• Word Count: 1669
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• Grade Level: High School

The classic question of Hamlet, by Shakespeare, is referred to as "the Hamlet problem.... Hamlet damns himself "[I] must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words" (2.2.548). ... It would be foolish to kill a man based on what a specter tells you without doing further investigation. ... In the last act, Shakespeare's idea of the nature of revenge is very clear. ... Shakespeare provides many insightful thoughts about revenge in Hamlet. ...

• Word Count: 1080
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• Grade Level: High School

The Mad Hamlet William Shakespeare wrote "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark". ... William Shakespeare was born 1564 and died 1616. William Shakespeare himself, was one of the greatest play writers of all times. ... When Ophelia went mad she said, "Tomorrow is Saint Valentine's Day" Never departed more," (IV, 5) and "Young men will do't, if they come to't" You promised me to wed." ... He talked to his mother like a son shouldn't talk to his mother; "Come, come, and sit you down"" (III, 4) ""here's metal more attractive." ...

• Word Count: 650
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• Grade Level: High School

William Shakespeare's Hamlet demonstrates a plethora of complications due to the conflict between reality and appearance. ... I loved you not." ... In order spark interest, Shakespeare added a twist that prolonged the tragic ending to this drama. ... Claudius states, "For your intent In going back to school in Wittenberg, It is most retrograde to our desire, And we beseech you bend you to remain Here in the cheer and comfort of our eye Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son." ... William Shakespeare's Hamlet is immensely strengthened by his use...

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This is something that Shakespeare leaves fairly ambiguous. ... The Branaugh version takes place too late to have properly fit Shakespeare's vision because they use advanced bolt-action rifles in the movie, which were invented long after Shakespeare died. ... The ghost in this situation is much more statue like. ... This version, like the Olivier, makes use of a type of introduction. ... The film really begins with Act 1 Scene 2, like the Zeffirelli version. ...

• Word Count: 1694
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Throughout the sixteenth century, many of Shakespeare's most famous plays, including Hamlet, were tragedies that readers could feel strong emotional connections with. ... Even Claudius in Act IV scene five says to Laertes (in regards to killing Hamlet) "Laertes, was your father dear to you? Or are you like the painting of sorrow, a face without a heart?" ...

• Word Count: 1323
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

William Shakespeare's flamboyant and versatile style of writing exhibited in the world-known tragedy – Hamlet, attracts readers of all kind and stands the centuries, often as a ground to heated debates. ... While Satyrs were animal-like men, having horse's tail, pug noses and were always busy with amusement (dancing, playing or drinking). ... "Like Niobe, all tears:" Niobe is described in dictionaries as "boastful Queen of Thebes, who wept when her 14 children were killed". ... It is even more surprising, that William Shakespeare is not only drawing parallel...

• Word Count: 938
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