Hamlet also describes mortality as an eternal sleep, although dreams are, "the rub; for in that sleep what dreams may come, when [he has] shuffled off this mortal coil" (3.1.64-66). He is fearful of what choices or actions may come back to torment him, in these dreams for an eternity, if he takes revenge on immoral people, or does not. ... He sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two close friends of Hamlet, to account "which dreams indeed are [his] ambition; for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream" (2.2.257-59). ... Claudius's wife, Gertrude, also initiate...

• Word Count: 1258
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Hamlet compares Denmark to an "unweeded garden" to symbolize the corruption within his country, that is seeded within Claudius and his incestuous marriage to Gertrude. ... "To die-/ to sleep-perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub! / For in that sleep what dreams may come-(III, i, 72-74). Hamlet would like to die only if he can enter a state of oblivion in which he would not be able to dream. ...

• Word Count: 1431
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Not only does his use of supernatural elements within his works reveal the Elizabethans' obsession with mythical beliefs, but it also reveals his attitude toward these beliefs at different points of his writing career. ... Witches appear in Macbeth, a ghost appears in Hamlet, and fairies appear in A Mid-Summer Nights Dream. ... The form of supernatural used by Shakespeare in Mid-Summer Night's Dream is the harmless fairies. ...

• Word Count: 1725
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

To die, to sleep; To sleep, perchance to dream-ay, there's the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come. (3.1.56-66) In other soliloquies Hamlet explores the faults of passion and how emotions can be faked as well as his own character flaws such as his inability to take action. ... True madness is an illness that inhibits the mind of an individual and assumes total control of thought and action within that person. ...

• Word Count: 1678
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Guildenstern: "Which dreams indeed are ambition; for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream. " (1.5.257-259) Rosencrantz: "Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and light a quality that it is but a shadow's shadow. " (1.5.261-262) Since Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Hamlet's old friends, Claudius thinks Hamlet might reveal his ideas to them before he is put to death. ... But, good Laertes,/ Will you do this, keep close within your chamber. " (4.7.129-130) Of course, Claudius has a much different plan than that given to Laertes. ... He engineers the p...

• Word Count: 1918
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Things within the play appear to be true and honest but in reality are infested with evil. Many of the characters within the play hide behind a mask of falseness. ... There is some irony within the twins, they are asked by the king to find out the truth by hiding within a lie, by pretending to be his friend: A dream is but a shadow Act II. ... Both show that it will be very difficult for Hamlet to uncover the fidelity hidden within the lies. ... As Hamlet finds out, all contain lies and have hidden intentions within them. ...

• Word Count: 1669
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

What would it have been like for a man to fulfill his dreams of the stage while battling the uncertainty of each arriving day? ... He understood the beats within a play. ... Love, betrayal, and death were all the aspects in which Shakespeare based his plays plots within. ...

• Word Count: 1428
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

As a result of this evil, Hamlet suffers greatly when he learns of his mother's rushed marriage: "a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer-married with my uncle, my father's brother, but no more like my father than I to Hercules: within a month, she married. ... To die, to sleep-to sleep, perchance to dream....

• Word Count: 1979
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

However, through this age of materialism people forget their beloved children because they are either dreaming of money or fame. ... Several people have had the dream to correct the sins and errors of the human society. ... Hamlet was a victim and a hero within his kingdom. ...

• Word Count: 2132
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

There are many characters within Hamlet, which most often change depending on what characters he is surrounded by. ... He returns back to the self critic, calling himself a "coward," :"john-a dreams" and "pigeon-livered" He is truly disgusted at his own behaviour and his inability to act on his passions and emotions like the actors do, even though his are real and much stronger. ... If you compare it to the opening line, the tone is very unlike, showing that within a short space of time or lines, Hamlet can quickly change his mood and feelings. ... His role playing is genuinely part of his tr...

• Word Count: 1574
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The play "Hamlet" is one of the greatest works of William Shakespeare. One of the major themes that surround the play is the difference between what something appears to be, and what something is in reality: in other words, to make out what the lie and what truth is. "Appearance vs. Reality" remains...

• Word Count: 1361
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Whoever has become thoughtful and melancholy through his own mishaps or those of others; whoever has borne about with him the clouded brow of reflection, and thought himself "too much i' th' sun;" whoever has seen the golden lamp of day dimmed by envious mists rising in his own breast, and could find in the world before him only a dull blank with nothing left remarkable in it; whoever has known "the pangs of despised love, the insolence of office, or the spurns which patient merit of the unworthy takes;" he who has felt his mind sink within him, and sadness cling to his heart like a ...

• Word Count: 1299
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

In fact, the Ghost fulfills all of Hamlet's wildest dreams regarding a conspiracy against his father, a strange coincidence, lending weight to the idea that it may quite well have not been coincidental. ... The idea that he should keep his revelations to himself, or at least solely within the circle of himself, Horatio, and Marcellus remains entirely over his head, or at least out of his conscious mind's reach. ...

• Word Count: 1273
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The tragedy and situation in the play "Hamlet" has been commented on as "universal." Audiences of many different cultures can enjoy "Hamlet" even though it is set in an alien culture to them. The reasons for this are that many people can relate to the play, they feel that they are living though a pr...

• Word Count: 1998
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

More than his father's death, that thus hath put him, So much from th"understanding of himself I cannot dream of, I entreat you both That, being of so young days brought up with him, And sith so neighbour"d to his youth and haviour To draw to him on pleasures and to gather, So much from occasion you may glean, Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him this That open"d, lies within our remedy. ...

• Word Count: 1781
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School