Laura Bohannan tries to explain Hamlet, a 17th century European revenge drama, to a group of Tiv tribal elders who have never seen, read, or heard of this Shakespearean work. The Tiv are a tribe of people who live on the banks of the river Benue in central Negeria. Laura Bohannan is on the field t...

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Elizabethan gentlemen only in appearance. Apart from one joke about the 'fashionable theory' of earth going round the sun no attempt at all is make to link their mental processes to the Renaissance world of corrupt grandeur in which they have roles to play...

Is Hamlet mad? Well, this question is simple to answer for some people. Isn't the term "mad" a little harsh? Maybe not. In my opinion, he's insane. But I also think he has a right to be. There is so much drama going on in Hamlets life, it's literally driving him out of his mind. And I understa...

Hamlet\'s Delay Everyone contains a tinge of Hamlet in his feelings, wants, and worries, and proudly so, for Hamlet is not like the other tragic heroes of his period. He stands apart from other Shakespeare\'s heroes in his today much-discussed innocence. Is this supposed tragic hero may be an ideal ...

A tragedy is a play, story, or other literary work, which arouses terror or pity by a series of misfortunes or sad events. The plot is usually about the downfall of a great man. Many take it a step farther and say that the main character or the person who experiences the downfall brings it upon hi...

Though William Shakespeare\'s drama Hamlet is one of his longest plays, it is also one of his least engaging ones. Due to its lack of action, it\'s perplexing why high school seniors, like myself, would find this play entertaining and enlightening. Since today\'s teenagers only interest themselves i...

Evolution of British Literature The historical events and mentality of a time period are a major influence on the context and style of that particular times literature. British Literature experienced many metamorphoses through the year's 449-1660. The literature traveled through four di...

A Violet Named Ophelia In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses many symbols to refer to characters. He mentions flowers and herbs to indirectly refer to Ophelia. This can be seen in Act 5, Scene 5, where Ophelia is giving out flowers to Laertes, the King and the Queen. Each flower has an implied symbolic mean...

Hamlet and Prince Hal initially strike the reader or viewer of their respective dramas as miserable adolescents, albeit of different types. Both Hamlet and Hal seem to live in a state of anger, alienated from their respective societies. Over the course of Prince Hamlet\'s tragedy and Prince Hal\'s h...

By 1600, international trade routes, which had been centered around the Mediterranean Sea for centuries, were almost entirely based around Northern Atlantic countries like Spain, France, and England. The economic explosion and widespread circulation of money that came with this were accompanied by ...

One of the most important scenes in the play Hamlet, is the scene in which Hamlet orchestrates a scheme to prove the guilt of his uncle Claudius through mimicking his crime in front of him. The scene is important in the play to expose certain aspects of the plot, as well as led a hand to character...

The character of Ophelia, in the play Hamlet, is a very interesting and important role in the elaboration of the plot. Hamlet had fell in love with Ophelia. And even though the insults, from his madness, had affected Ophelia's own sanity, Hamlet did very much love her "I loved Ophelia; forty thousa...

Many might say that the cost of Hamlet's revenge is death. True that is one outcome of his revenge, but that is not all. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, we find out about the other consequences of revenge. This is a story of murder and that is indeed what Hamlets revenge is. As Lord Hamle...

\"Hamlet,\" by William Shakespeare, is considered one of the greatest plays ever written. It is a dynamic story, with characters so well-developed that the audience understands what each character is going through. The events that occur throughout the play flow together, with one always situation le...

Enclosed in William Shakespeare\'s Hamlet lies the greatest gallery of captivating characters. The role of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, in particular, is considered one of the theater\'s greatest acting challenges, as well as an aspect, noted for the success of the play. Shakespeare focused the traged...

Of all of Shakespeare's characters that I have studied thus far, Hamlet is an enigmatic standout. The complexity of so intriguing a character as Hamlet commends the immense skill of Shakespeare to create characters that seem almost more real and believable than people we meet daily. It is d...

Although playwright Tom Stoppard established his reputation for excellence with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966), he often appears reluctant to talk about his second play. Stoppard, who most critics report to be a very private person, repeatedly offers his interviewers only cryptic respo...

1.Compare and contrast Hamlet's madness and Ophelia's madness. What do the similarities and differences tell you about the characters and /or their roles in the play? Hamlet is a prince of the Denmark . He came back from England to attain the funeral for his father, the former king of Denma...

In the drama Hamlet, ideas have been formed to explain Hamlet's inability to avenge his father's murder. Such premises are that Hamlet is pretending to be emotionally disturbed and is secretly plotting to carry out his revenge and that Hamlet is so corrupted by grief that he is really ins...

The story of Hamlet takes place in Denmark and involves the royal family of Denmark. The play begins with Hamlet deeply depressed over his father\'s (King Hamlet) death and his mother\'s marriage, after only two months, to his uncle, Claudius, who is now the new King. Hamlet\'s best friend, Horati...

A Tragic Mistake Many elements are compiled to create a tragedy. These increments of drama consist of everything from the murderous villain to the fallen hero. One element that who significance may have often been overlooked is that of the "tragic mistake." In the other words, that o...

In the Arden\'s performance of Tom Stoppard\'s \"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,\" the production is able to surprise the audience with a brilliant display of theatricality. Tom Stoppard has even said he enjoys the theater because it incorporates many different characteristics, which help to...

On tonight\'s episode of Denmark 90210, the tension between Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude, finally erupts in a heated discussion on the marriage between Gertrude and Hamlet\'s recently deceased father\'s brother, Claudius. Hamlet refers to the marriage as incestuous and runs to his girlfriend, Oph...

Over time many opinions have been formed about William Shakespeare's work Hamlet. Yet through the quagmire of confusion surrounding the tragedy none have spoken than T.S. Eliot. Eliot sees hamlet as somewhat of an artistic failure due to its confusion between the main plot and the main character. ...

When do you know a work of literature has stood the test of time? When William Shakespeare wrote it. But why are his works so respected and cherished? One of his most famous works, Hamlet, is still a favorite among actors and occasional readers, alike, but why? Why is Shakespeare's work...