... dramatic irony. Later on in the play we learn that Ophelia herself has been driven to madness. The cause of her madness is either of loss of Hamlet's love or the dead of her father: Polonius. However, the reason behind this is never completely clear as Shakespeare integrates Ophelia's speech with double meanings. "No, no, he is dead", for example could mean ... to befriend Laertes. "I lov"d your father". Laertes is understandably angry over the death of Polonius and "his obscure funeral". His desire for revenge is fuelled more when he witnesses Ophelia's madness. "A sister driven into d...

• Word Count: 2360
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... the conversation between Hamlet and Gertrude. During this conversation Claudius main advisor, Polonius, is in hiding because he is listening in on the conversation. Hamlet informs Gertrude of Claudius" actions and then hears Polonius eaves dropping. Hamlet kills Polonius. I chose this as the rising action because Laertes, the son of Polonius, challenges Hamlet to a dual, which is the reason for Hamlet's death. The ... climax of the play would be when Gertrude dies to the poisoned glass of wine. In this scene, Hamlet unveils the truths ... because all the characters had unique relationsh...

• Word Count: 1576
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... behind the arras reacts when he hears the Queens cries and calls out also " What ho, help, help, help!" at which Hamlet reacts in a fit of rage and panic, which it should be noted seems reckless on his part, and kills Polonius. Hamlets is a reacts to situation throughout the play, he very rarely creates them. The anticipation of will he or will he ... has totally disgusted him and dented his faith in women " I will speak daggers to her, but use none" (line 394) At this point in the play Hamlet reprimands his mother with all his feelings and accidentally kills Polonius in a fit of rage t...

• Word Count: 2334
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... jokes to make light of the situation. For example, he makes a joke about Polonius being "at supper- (IV.iii.18). He then goes on to joke about Polonius being eaten by worms! This is very facetious behaviour, considering that Hamlet is the one who has killed Polonius! Despite his redeeming qualities, Hamlet possesses a major character flaw: misogyny. He has a disdainful and distinct attitude towards women ... does go mad, or if it is all simply an act. Many things point toward the conclusion that Hamlet is really insane. By killing Polonius, he does something that is completely out of ch...

• Word Count: 1991
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... send Hamlet to England but Polonius suggests that they should arrange a meeting with Hamlet and his mother. Polonius goes to spy on Hamlet and Gertrude. Polonius hid behind a hanging curtain and overheared Hamlet and Gertrude's conversation. Hamlet's behavior started to get out of hand which frightened Gertrude and she calls out for help, Polonius came out from behind the curtains to help her but Hamlet kills him ... thinking that he was Claudius. Hamlet then warns the ... queen about her unworthy behavior. (Schucking12) The ghost of Hamlet's father appears and tells hamlet that it is ...

• Word Count: 2059
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... 't. (2.2.174-186) Even so, there is a purpose behind his ridicule - in this passage he refers to Polonius' daughter, and later he mocks Polonius' age. Polonius realizes this: "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." (2.2.204) However, Hamlet has confirmed Polonius' suspicions about his daughter being responsible for Hamlet's descent into madness. Immediately afterwards, when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to talk to him, he mocks ... the same trick as he did with Ophelia in the next scene, however this time using Gertrude as bait. Hamlet comes to speak with her and scolds h...

• Word Count: 1952
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... Scene 5. "O thou vile King, Give me my father." However, as the ripples of revenge spread Hamlet rashly kills a hidden Polonius whilst in a rage, believing him to be Claudius. When his error is revealed Hamlet's sorrow is evident, even though this was a man he did not trust or like. Hamlet is shocked that this "intruding fool" should have come to such an end by his hand ... . Hamlet is excused for this murder , it being done so passionately, however the two that follow it ... are under the false impression that Ophelia is the source of his madness. In Act Three Scene One Ophelia is set ...

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

... in general are helpless and feeble. Another instance where Gertrude is manipulated is when she is forced into confrontation with Hamlet in her chamber. Hamlet enters her chamber blind to the fact that Polonius is secretly present, gathering details for Claudius. Polonius says, "He will come straight. Look you lay home to him. Tell him his pranks have been too ... : she is haughty and accusatory at the beginning, then afraid that Hamlet will hurt her, shocked and upset when Hamlet kills Polonius, overwhelmed by fear and panic as Hamlet accosts her, and disbelieving when Hamlet sees the gh...

• Word Count: 1456
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... Is now most still, most secret and most grave, / Who was in life a foolish prating knave." (III, iv, __) Hamlet speaks of Polonius in this quote after he commits the act of murder. Hamlet, thinking that it was the King who was listening in on his conversation with his mother, becomes edgy and acts out of ... character, stabbing Polonius, the King's assistant and Ophelia's father, through the curtain. Hamlet also acts out of character when he meets with his precious Ophelia whom he loves very much, but cannot express his ... of better and less harmless ways of getting revenge. "That woul...

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

... in plain terms from this time forth Have you so slander any moment leisure As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet."" (Iiii.132-134) Ophelia obeys her father and rejects Hamlet. Later, Polonius believes he has made a mistake - Hamlet does love Ophelia: "I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity of love Make up my sum."" (Vi.236 ... tragedy and loss builds upon the previous. Hamlet learns of his father's murder and so plans revenge on Claudius. He feels abandoned by his mother and turns against her. He pretends madness, "though this be madness, yet ...

• Word Count: 1437
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... ' death. Last to die was Laertes, it is easily seen how Laertes, in the heat of his anger could conspire to murder, though he kills Hamlet he is avenging his fathers' death, an act, with reference to the moral climate of the 1600's. Therefore it is overlooked. Laertes in his ... from dust and eventually will return. It is possible that Shakespeare was trying to indirectly warn us of Hamlets fate or of the fate of Polonius or Claudius. Hamlet is young, handsome, daring, and witty with an emotional soul and a violent temper. He exhibits a puzzling two-faced nature. He contradicts himself ...

• Word Count: 1486
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... these characters by changing the way the characters act and react in different situations. This is first seen when Hamlet kills Polonius, and Hamlet's words "Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! ..." are an impact on those who were on his side, because they realize that Hamlet is capable of murder, and is not even concerned that he killed the wrong person. Shakespeare's technique of manipulating ... no signs of having a guilty conscience. Her innocence is further proven by the astonishment in her reply "as kill a king" to Hamlet. This is after his comparison of Polonius's murd...

• Word Count: 2226
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... it is something that leads us to question his decency and compassion. In this same scene the first murder to fall within the play occurs and the murderer is Hamlet. Upon killing Polonius, Hamlet is not surprised or remorseful, but continues to speak angrily to his mother and ignores the fact that he has slain an innocent man. His response to the death ... the poisoned sword. In the scuffle, they exchange rapiers and Hamlet slices Laertes with the venomous weapon. Queen Gertrude falls dead from the poisoned chalice. In the commotion, Laertes confesses to Hamlet that the sword, which woun...

• Word Count: 1476
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... become Denmark will never be destroyed. Gertrude and Ophelia are the only two innocents. They have no control over their lives. Polonius and Laertes control Ophelia. While Gertrude is blind to all that goes on. Both are casualties of war. Yet the readers ... and send him to heaven; which shows that Hamlet does indeed have a vengeful spirit. All the disease and death has at last made Hamlet bitter. But Hamlet, in taking to long, is directly responsible for nine deaths. Once Hamlet kills Polonius, he is no longer the grieved party "My ... thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth" (Ivv67). ...

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

... Hamlet seems to stand by itself. He is not shown by his strength of will or even passion, but by his refinement of both thought and sentiment. He seems incapable of deliberate action, and is only hurried into extremities on the spur of the occasion, when he has no time to reflect, as in the scene where he kills Polonius ... . At other times, when he is most expected to act, he remains puzzled, undecided and sceptical, as in the prayer scene. This draws attention to his unbalanced state as a character and rises more speculation as to why he is delaying his revenge, not only by the readers ...

• Word Count: 2036
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... excellent acting and direction make the doubt between danger and illusion come alive on the screen. There is a supernaturally sharp focus to this scene, and hamlet father's eyes are a deathly shade of blue and strangely distorted. At times his face and eyes fill the screen. The ghost's highly processed voice ... thunders across the surrounding area, cracking open the ground under Hamlet's feet. Dramatic tension is maintained throughout the film, on the other hand in the text you don't get the feel of dramatic tension. Another ... character; she bends to the will of everyone: the king an...

• Word Count: 1422
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... against. Never has there been a more fitting definition written for one character, never has there been a more sorrowful, pitifully tormented human being than Hamlet. Our hero walks on the cliff's edge of sanity and insanity through out his single-minded task of bittersweet revenge, drifting closer to the ... passing were not enough, this deceitful, hideous act of treasonous lust is thrust upon Hamlet's weary mind, leading his head and heart in a downward spiral to despair and madness. This explains why Hamlet's love for Ophelia, the alluring daughter of Polonius, was buried within his f...

• Word Count: 1514
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... make a "model of irresolution, a case for psychopathology, or an illustration of the Oedipus complex." Arnold Kettle claims that "It is unforgivable to act Hamlet as though he were a neurotic instead of a hero" (Szenczi 1990: 124). William Guthrie calls him "everyman" because there is nothing heroic in him ... and emotionally, then a symbol of melancholy and Weltschmerz (1995). According to an unknown author: "A tragic hero doesn't need to be good." Hamlet dies, but it is the best that can happen to him under the circumstances: without his parents and Ophelia he could not have much ... ...

• Word Count: 1493
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... a play that would help him figure out if his uncle Claudius was truly responsible for his father's death. Although Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Polonius were all present when Hamlet presented his ideas to the head player, they were not aware that Hamlet's changes to the play would have a devastating impact towards their grateful King (II, ii.421-529). They never thought a so-called madman ... death, yet there is another side to where he should not make all of the other comments and action toward the other characters in the play such as Ophelia or Polonius. It is all a matter of how th...

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

... has difficulties in coping with his fathers sudden death and to see his mother kiss and cuddle her new treacherous husband almost drives Hamlet over the edge. Hamlet, not wanting to offend his mother by telling her about his disapproval, hides his true feelings about the marriage. His disapproval then ... 42-45). Her spirits rise for a moment when she sees Hamlet's excited involvement with the play and his attentions to Ophelia, but then they immediately drop as Claudius rises from the performance in anguish. Finally she is pushed by Polonius to do the one thing that she has avoided for ...

• Word Count: 1861
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... his plans will not be found out by Claudius, Polonius or any other person that may be suspicious of his actions. The ghost informs Hamlet of his father's murder and demands that Hamlet takes vengeance. Without the ghost, Hamlet's actions would seem much more insane. Hamlet is a very angry character in the play. He ... in others that he is in a crazy and senile state of mind. By doing that it prevents others in the royal family from thinking that Hamlet was planning actions of vengeance against his uncle, presently King of Denmark. In act three scene one, readers speculate to whether wha...

• Word Count: 1516
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... 5th edition. Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 1999. 1564-1612. Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: Signet, 1947. The Portrayal of Women in Shakespeare's "Hamlet- and Moliere's "Tartuffe- The portrayal of women has been a particularly daunting challenge for writers of English literature for several reasons. First, until recently the vast majority of writers were men ... her father and other males, fickle in her affections and loose with her morals. When she agrees to spy on Hamlet, she is metaphorically doomed - but Hamlet is unaware of the damage she wil...

• Word Count: 2278
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate