|
Side comments: Factual knowledge of the play. |
Hamlet
1. Who is Fortinbras?
2. How many acts are in "Hamlet"?
3. How did Laertes die?
4. What is the name of the city, where action takes place?
5. What is the name of Hamlet's mother?
6. What is the climax of "Hamlet"?
7. Who is Ophelia's father?
8. Is Claudius younger or older than the old Hamlet?
9. Why do we call "Hamlet" a tragedy?
10. Who are Marcellus and Bernardo?
11. Who is Guildenstern?
(see Hamlet Online)
Mini-Essay (sample)
Herschel Warner Aesthetics 200 Anatoly Hamlet The Great Tragedy of Hamlet Shakespeare masterfully wove together many elements and brought together the great tragedy "Hamlet". Hamlet was not infallible and committed just as many crimes as well as carry out justice because of his own inner conflict caused him to be rash at times. At the beginning of the play we learned some of the past month of Hamlet's life. We find that his father, the King of Denmark, had died and that Hamlet's uncle married Hamlet's mother and now sits on the throne as King. The ghost of his father imparts this to us through Hamlet. Also through the ghost we learn that the old King's death was caused by murder, and the murderer was Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet was already struggling to come to terms with his mother marrying so soon after his father's death, but this added a whole new conflict. Now instead of fight over his love of his mother and his feeling of her betraying his father's memory, he has to deal with the conflicting emotions of love for his uncle, revenge for his father, and fear of being miss lead. He is also at conflict over how many others where involved and what he should do to them, since it was supposedly his uncle who dealt the fatal blow. His conflict of love for Ophelia brings him to outer conflict with her and her father. Luckily Hamlet decides to prove his uncle's guilt before fully believing the ghost. But this doesn't stop him from being depressed and coming to conflict with others over trivial matters. For the beginning minor conflict Hamlet has he is pretty justified in. His mother got married fairly quickly and Hamlet is still in mourning. He does feel threatened that his parents where sending people to spy on him. When he is finally able to prove to himself that his uncle had killed his father, Hamlet's planed revenge was then justifiable. Unfortunately justice has a greater price than revenge. In his actions to carry out justice for his father, Hamlet made a couple of mistakes. He mistook Polonius as his Uncle and killed him, sending Laertes into a vengeful rage, and his love Ophelia into madness that ultimately lead to her death by drowning. In the climax, Hamlet finally gets his chance of revenge on his uncle, but Laertes has challenged him to a duel. In this duel, Hamlet's mother is the first to fall from drinking of a poisoned wine glass, Hamlet is stabbed with a poisoned rapier by Laertes, who in turn gets stabbed by his own poisoned weapon when Hamlet gets a holed of it. Hamlet is then able to kill his uncle and fulfill his mission of justice and revenge. This is when Laertes learns that his revenge against Hamlet was unjustified, and should have belonged to Hamlets Uncle Claudius. With his dieing breath Laertes apologizes to Hamlet for the part he played in Hamlet's death, and Hamlet apologized for his. Hamlet is the tragic hero of the story. He is not a hero because of his actions; they were pretty bad, but because of his cause. He had a duty as the Prince of Denmark and as a son to find the murderer of his father if his father had by chance been in fact murdered. When he learned from the ghost that his father had been murdered by Claudius, Hamlet could have went for revenge right then and there, but that would not of made him feel or seem justified. He decided to prove whether or not Claudius was guilty of such a heinous crime. He found the proof he needed and proceeded with justice. Hamlet was unfortunately unjustified in the death of Polonius. The death of Polonius could have easily been avoided, and there-for the death of Ophelia. Hamlet at the end paid the price for the unjustifiable murder and subsequent suicide with his precious life, which was taken by Polonius' son Laertes. The death of everyone else that died by Hamlet's own hand or orders and by the death of the Queen can be attributed to Claudius. It was Claudius' desire and greed that led to the death of so many innocents that he deserved what he had received. Hamlet's inner conflict with love, hate, and revenge, play a central role in developing his character throughout the play. The interaction of these emotions creates times of joy as well as depression. His emotions lead to his final justification of the execution of his uncle Claudius, but also to the murder of Polonius, even if by accident.The conflict between justice and revenge then lead to Hamlet's own death, in the name Laertes' revenge. This set Hamlet as afallible hero who tragically paid for his mistakes.