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
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Within Shakespeare's era madness was perceived as a lack of faith, or even the work of Satan. ... Arguably Shakespeare makes madness relevant to expose the true nature of revenge, which like madness, he depicts through plot and action that it is unpredictable and often without morals. Shakespeare presents madness in many forms, in pretence, rage and true insanity. ... It could be perceived that Shakespeare intended for the audience to see the true negative nature of madness through these aspects, to show that it cannot be controlled, but it manipulates you. ... Through these charact...

• Word Count: 1550
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Another example is when Polonius asks if Hamlet knows who he is and hamlet replies, "Excellent well; you are a fishmonger"" (Shakespeare 1633). ... Hamlet is both pretending to be mad here and to not like Ophelia while being angry at the same time. ... Other times his madness is real like the time during his soliloquy, "To be, or not to be: that is the question"" (Shakespeare 1645). ... (Shakespeare 1660). ... "But so much was our love we, would not understand what was most fit; but, like the owner of a foul disease" "(Shakespeare 1666). ...

• Word Count: 1402
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In Shakespeare's theatrical masterpiece, "Hamlet," manipulation and stimulation encircles the two leading ladies. ... Shakespeare's Elsinore is patriarchal on many levels; the men continuously use women to their degrading advantage. ... You speak like a green girl, Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his tenders as you call them?" ... He is not about to let his daughter make him look like a fool. ...

• Word Count: 1649
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

He tells her to "not believe his vows; for they are brokers, Not of that dye which their investments show, But mere implorators of unholy suits, Breathing like sanctified and pious bonds, The better to beguile"(Shakespeare, 1.3.127-131). ... She is oppressed by every male she encounters in the play, this is particularly evident when Hamlet verbally attacks her for seemingly no reason: "Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them" (Shakespeare, 3.1.138). ... Let in the maid that out a maid Never departed more"...

• Word Count: 1574
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• 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
• Approx Pages: 5
• 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
• Approx Pages: 7
• 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...

• Word Count: 1415
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Hamlet's first appearance is in court; here he seems like an outsider even though he is the Prince. ... This contrasts to Shakespeare's slant on a revenge tragedy. ... This is Shakespeare's most interesting element in the presentation of Hamlet. ... Shakespeare here uses hyperbole "Now could I drink hot blood". ... In this scene Hamlet acts and speaks with violent intensity "Come, come and sit down, you shall not budge". ...

• Word Count: 2065
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

GROWING PAINS In the epic tragedy Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Prince Hamlet is entrapped in a world of evil that is not of his own creation. ... The Hamlet that Shakespeare begins to develop in Act I is a typical mortal, bowed down by his human infirmities and by a disgust of the evils in a world which has led him to the brink of suicide. ... Hamlet must become like Horatio. ... He says, 'I never gave you aught' ( III.i. 96). ... GROWING PAINS In the epic tragedy Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Prince Hamlet is entrapped in a world of evil that is not of his...

• Word Count: 1879
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Hamlet Disguised as Oedipus William Shakespeare stated, "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind (Shakespeare (A Midsummer ))." This quote simply means that love is not just focused on beauty, but what a person has on the inside, like personality. ... Relating back to Shakespeare's quote, love has caused Hamlet great confusion. ... The Ghost appears when Hamlet is caught in an act that looks like he is forcing his mother into a sexual position. ... Hamlet states, "Not this, by no means, that I bid you do: / Let the bloat king tem...

• Word Count: 1901
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

William Shakespeare's Hamlet, deals with many issues relevant to today's society. ... He wants Laertes to act like a responsible man and succeed in his life. ... You speak like a green girl, / Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. / Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?" ... Then he says, "Marry, I will teach you: think yourself a baby; / That you have these tenders for true pay, / Running it thus- you"ll tender me a fool." ... William Shakespeare's Hamlet, tackles many present day issues. ...

• Word Count: 1575
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• Grade Level: High School

With this line, Shakespeare develops the theme of appearance versus reality and that he intends to stress Hamlet's dedication to truth in contrast to appearances which serve others, notably Claudius. ... Polonius appears like a man who loves and cares about his son, Laertes. ... This conduct of Claudius gives him the appearance of being kind in front of council that accepts him even more for his family values: "How is it that the clouds still hang on you?" ... This reveals a love and care for Hamlet to the council and Gertrude making Claudius appear to be kind, loving person: "You are the...

• Word Count: 1306
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

In Shakespeare's "Hamlet", the main character offers a puzzling and ambiguous persona. ... He had already pledged revenge, but again acquiesces, "Must like a whore unpack my heart with words And fall a-cursing, like a very drab, A scullion!" ... Clearly, in this most famous Shakespeare soliloquy, Hamlet displays thoughts of self that questions the worth of living. Moreover, Hamlet recognizes the importance of his affections towards Ophelia, and in regards to Ophelia's beauty, Hamlet states "That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty" (1083, ...

• Word Count: 2118
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• Grade Level: High School

I never gave you aught". ... Next he asks, "Are you fair?" ... He is saying sarcastically that bad men like himself should not have the pleasure of crawling from his sinful flesh (earth) and a virtuous angel like her (heaven). ... In Shakespeare's writings, a knave can mean a servant that cares for the horses as well, which is an insult to a noble man. ... He says, "I have heard of your paintings too, well enough; God has given you one face, and you make yourselves another: you jig, you amble, and you list, and nick-name God's creatures, and make your wantonness your ignorance." ...

• Word Count: 2206
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The Act of Madness In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince Hamlet is believed by everyone to have gone mad. ... Hamlet does indeed act in madness like ways. ... When you think about it, yes Hamlet is mad but so is everyone else the further the play goes. When someone you care and love dies you have no choice but to go a little mad and that is what ends up happening. ... However, Shakespeare never specifies whether he is admitting that it is faked madness or true insanity that...

• Word Count: 1944
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Hamlet is a revenge tragedy of Elizabethan drama, written in about 1602 by William Shakespeare. ... In Shakespeare's play, the death of Old King Hamlet triggers different actions in its major characters; especially Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius, Laertes, and to a lesser extent Polonius and Ophelia. ... Assume a virtue if you have not Refrain and that shall lend a kind of easiness to the next abstinence," (III. iv. 180-188). ... He also jests sardonically with people he dislikes, like Polonius. ... (Shakespeare 'Introduction', 13) Each one of these speculations can lead to num...

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

Shakespeare's Hamlet is a stirring play about a troubled young man. ... Shakespeare uses many recurring images to show the underlying themes in the play. ... "How is it that the clouds still hang on you [Hamlet]" (Iii66)? ... Claudius, like Hamlet is torn in two, he knows he did wrong but is unwilling to repent. ... Society has become appearance with only a hint of truth, innocence, like Ophelia's, could never survive...

• Word Count: 1544
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The tragedy of Hamlet was an extremely fascinating play with a lot of people exceptionally intriguing characters that did an incredible numerous chivalrous and baffling things regardless of the complexity and difficulty to comprehend the genuine identity William Shakespeare expected for each. ... This paper will analyze what sort of individual Shakespeare depicts her as, why she is so effectively influenced, the variables creating her madness and the criticalness each of them play. ... This is described in the beginning of Act 3 when Hamlet says, "that if you be honest and fair, should ...

• Word Count: 1795
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

If he reacts the way you would react, that makes him a very easy to relate to and sympathetic character. ... [Hamlet]" (Act1, Scene2) They make a choice, and like Judas, they make the "wrong" one. ... This struggle to over come in an unfamiliar situation, especially when there are foes against you (of whose strength and capacities you do not know) is easily sympathetic. ... Rosencrantz and Guildenstern could be like Hamlet, if they had not risen to their ambition, and thereby made the "wrong" choice. ... Shakespeare may have chosen this to reflect the infallibility of that people will ...

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

To Trust or not to Trust In William Shakespeare's tragic play Hamlet, many relationships are put to the test throughout the play. ... That beetles o"er his base into the sea, And there assume some other horrible form Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason And draw you into madness? ... If there is one person in Shakespeare's play Hamlet who proves that he does not care at all for Hamlet, it is the King; Claudius. ... 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, b...

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

The play Hamlet by William Shakespeare revolves around the issue of trust. ... Claudius confides in Laertes: Hamlet comes back: what would you undertake, To show yourself in deed your father's son More than in words? ... I'll have these players Play something like the murder of my father Before mine uncle, I'll observe his looks . ... Hamlet can not believe his mother would do such a thing like betray her own husband. ... I did love you once. ...

• Word Count: 1278
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Caught between his agony of mind and indecision Hamlet's nature is neither treacherous like Claudius' nor rash like Laertes'. ... "You are the Queen, your husband's brother's wife, And, would it not so, you are my mother." ... In Shakespeare's time a ghost was often regarded as a misleading spirit so in this way Hamlet's procrastination coupled with his conscience makes it understandable that he does not act quickly. ... Whilst we can never be certain of Shakespeare's intent it seems most likely that Hamlet's madness was feigned in part, as a ...

• Word Count: 2354
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School