Shakespeare's Hamlet is a most mysterious and complex character; his mind is the subject of more detailed psychoanalysis than any other character in English literature. It's not often that readers come across a man who fakes madness, and ultimately plunges himself so deep into this artificial madnes...

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the theme of betrayal is a major focus of the play. All the characters turn their backs on one another at some point in the play; this leads to misjudgements, lying, characters being un loyal to one another and untruthful as well as acting out of pure rage rather than u...

"The world of Shakespeare is the world transformed into images and metaphors; an object becomes a word which turns it into an idea or an emotion. There are also double meanings, puns and wordplay, at times ironic, often obscene, always witty, even in the greatest tragedies." (Delville) as ...

Hamlet is continuously wanting to do something but does nothing. He is forced to make decisions based on his moral and religious beliefs. Hamlet is as little of the hero as a man can be. He is incapable of action, and is only hurried into extremities on the spur of the occasion when he has no t...

Hamlet is often regarded as one of Shakespeare's greatest tragediesbecause it is timeless in its preoccupation with the dilemmas and theuncertainties that are at the heart of life (Hibbard, p. 2). Indeed, it isthe playwright's preoccupation with the internal conflicts in a man's soulthat are i...

Hamlet presents the dramatisation of the helplessness of the "feminine" qualities in the context of a patriarchal society. The two main female characters in Hamlet are Ophelia, Hamlet's lover and daughter of the lord chamberlain, Polonius and Gertrude, Hamlet's mother who is now in an incestuous ma...

Hamlet the Dane loves his mother dearly. Like many, however, his seemingly pure and innocent love contains the seeds of jealousy, sprouting when the reciprocation of that love becomes stunted and turned to the affectations of another. A love tainted by feelings of jealousy and betrayal many times ...

Throughout the entire play of Hamlet, Hamlet battles with the question of, "will I or will I not kill King Claudius?" There are times during the play where he allows his passion to take over and almost commit the crime, but then his reason takes hold of him and changes his mindset. He do...

Hamlet was a man that will be studied for the rest of time. The complication of the story is enough to raise argument let alone Hamlet the man. Was Hamlet crazy? Nobody knows and will ever know. The entire play there are signs of his insanity but there are also signs that he was putting a big jo...

Hamlet as a madmanHamlet is one of Shakespeare's most analysed plays. The Danish prince is developed into a mysterious and fascinating man. A philosopher and a fencer, he is a man disgusted with the rottenness of life around him and is obligated to set things right. Under the guise of madness he ...

Hamlet infamously declared 'Frailty, thy name is woman' (1.2.146). To a modern audience this may seem deplorable, however Elizabethan philosophy relied heavily on the grossly misogynistic Great Chain of Being. Gertrude and Ophelia, as the only female characters in the play, provide us wit...

In Hamlet the play is mainly about the trials and hardship faced by Prince Hamlet in his quest to avenge his father. Hamlet starts out as a mournful young man as he grieves for his father who recently died. When Hamlet finds out that his father was murdered by his brother Claudius he becomes first...

A tragedy can be defined as, out of the ordinary events that happen to ordinary people with extraordinarily negative consequences. Tragedies deal with the faults and weaknesses of men, and how these can bring about a dangerous, desperate end. Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, is a perfect example of...

Character DescriptionHamletOphelia:Ophelia has the potential of becoming a tragic heroine by overcoming adversities, but instead she crumbles into insanity, becoming simply tragic. Through Ophelia we see Hamlet's newfound view of women not as the innocent virtuous beings he had once thought they wer...

Hamlet’s procrastination led to his depressionHamlet is the Prince of Denmark, who is seeking revenge for his father’s death. The ghost of the King, Hamlet’s father, tells Hamlet to “ . . . revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” . Since his father asked him, he f...

Who's There?Ben BonomaIn Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, the protean characters mask their true identity with misrepresentations, appearing to be one person on the outside, but on the inside we see an entirely different person. It is as almost the characters walk around with masks on to hide who th...

Hamlet Everyone lives behind a wall of lies that possesses us to act out life. Hamlet discovered early on that all truth remains hidden because expression portrays acting. Our emotions and thoughts are too complex to understand with tears or mourning. Their true meaning cannot be shown, which ...

"Hamlet" is often thought of as a drama primarily about one man's relationship with a dead father and a living and murderous stepfather. According to the Bedford Introduction to Literature, one of the critical components of any story, drama or novel, is that of "Plot," forming one of the d...

Heaven's Above"Shame and guilt are noble emotions essential in the maintenance of civilized society, and vital for the development of some of the most refined and elegant qualities of human potential - generosity, service, self-sacrifice, unselfishness and duty." -Willard GaylenBefore 1900, mankind ...

THE PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN Strong, ambitious, and independent. These are all characteristics that are associated with many of the women today. The role of women has made great strides over past eras, as we move closer toward a state of equality. From labels such as, "Frailty, thy name ...