... . The character Hamlet from William Shakespeare's Hamlet experiences this kind of lonely isolation. Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes isolated from his family, friends, and society at large. He then attempts to contend with his alienation yet in the end he is not successful in overcoming his isolation ... to any extent. Hamlet becomes isolated from family, friends, and society: his mother, Queen Gertrude, girlfriend Ophelia, and homeland country, Denmark. First, Hamlet becomes isolated from his mother because she ... married his uncle Claudius shortly after his father was killed. Haml...

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... put Ophelia into the hall where Hamlet is known to spend hours pacing each day and hide behind a tapestry and see what happens. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two old friends of Hamlet arrive and are greeted warmly by Hamlet who immediately drops all pretense of madness. They tell him that a theatrical group has arrived in Denmark with then and ... people think he is weak now and not capable of anything. He may be doing this as part of a plot to kill his father's murderer, yet he may also be a little insane deep down inside. In today's world, many people can't be trusted at all. I know I h...

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... ;insanity" as a weapon, applying insanity into the form of actions or words. Hamlet seemed to be constantly taken aback by the corrupt nature of everything around him, including his friends and family. This is why he is only insane towards his enemies or his enemy's allies. On top of that, his run-ins with the ghost of his father and ... ; so that he may revenge his father's murder. From the beginning of the play, Hamlet disliked his step-father and uncle, King Claudius, and didn't even try to hide it: "A little more than kin and less than kind," stated Hamlet mockingly. King Claudius kne...

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... Guildenstern.Many people have questioned the significance and what was Shakespeare's intent on including these characters at all.They hold relatively small parts as old childhood friends of the title character, Hamlet.Early in the play, these two men seem to be genuinely concerned about their friend and the rumors surrounding him.Soon ... your modesties have not craft/ Enough to color."Its obvious Hamlet knows them very well.They rekindle their friendship immediately by making childish, immature jokes as good friends do.2"On fortune's cap, we are not the very button. /Then you live abou...

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... is clearly sane though because he acknowledges that he is putting on an act whenever he is acting crazy, he never acts crazy in front of his close friends and Bernardo and Marcellus also saw the ghost of his father. Hamlet is depicted as insane in many scenes during the play. One instance in act one, ... in around certain characters. When he is around Polonius, Claudius! When he is around Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern he acts crazy. However when he is around his friends, Horatio, Bernardo, The Players and the Grave Diggers, he acts quite sane. Even King Claudius confes...

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... 's childhood companions, to find out what is troubling the young prince, both help to contribute to the theme by showing their appearance of being Hamlet's friends. The pair go to Hamlet pretending to be his friends when in truth they are only there because the king asked them to be. There is some irony within the twins, they are asked by the ... king to find out the truth by hiding within a lie, by pretending to be Hamlet's friends. Claudius is probably the character most hiding behind a mask. On the surface he appears to be an honest and honorable man but he is rotten with lies and evi...

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... are many instances where Hamlet is left lone with nobody to talk with about his pain and how it upsets him. This along with the betrayals of his former best friends torments young Hamlet throughout the play. These factors not only torment the young man but lead to his untimely demise as well. Hamlet learns rather quickly who is loyal to ... him and whom not to trust. The very first line he speaks gives away the feelings he has towards his uncle "A little more than kin, and less than kind." (I; ii; 65). He already distraught with the loss of his father but the addition of his cold, cruel...

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... him. Hamlet's mental illness causes others around him to lose it as well. For example, Ophelia drowns herself and it is his entire fault. It is understandable that he is a little inconsiderate to her because he knows she is told not to be involved with him anymore, but his rudeness is far too cruel. When Ophelia tries to return some of ... worth it Hamlet? To cause all these deaths and drama for one death, the death of the king? If only he had friends besides Horatio to think it through with. Hamlet gets mad enough that he sends his old friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to be killed...

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... hero is Blanche. Her fatal flaw is all the lies she tells. In the end she gets taken to a mental institute and loses the love and respect of family and friends. The seventh quality of a Greek Tragedy is that all parts are played by men. This quality is true in the plays Antigone and Hamlet. During those times only men could ... act in the theatre. Even the women's roles were played by men. Most of the time, writers would make little to no love scenes. If there was an obscure love scene the two men would be laughed at because they acted in a sexual way towards each other. Since A Streetc...

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... it possible for a young royal prince to go insane for no apparent reason? Is his world so cold that no one can be trusted? The ones he loved and called friends are used against him. Through his outward insaneness the only thing that kept his inward soul from breaking down was getting revenge for his fathers death. Thus making him a true ... queen can't see. "Madness in great one's," the king insists "must not unwatched go."(Shakespeare 135) From this statement, the king derives a plan to use Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet's old friends, to find the source of Hamlet's insanity. The...

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... mind to deteriorate, leaving him in anguish to fulfill his, and his dead father's, desires. Hamlet's "pretend" madness suddenly became a little too real. Throughout the play, our protagonist was the object of deceit, plotted against him by his own king and friends. He was the only one being loyal (to his father), and yet he suffered the greatest as a result of the ... their trickery. In particular Claudius, who, after murdering his father, and marrying his mother, still abused his power over Hamlet. For example, by using his servants, who were supposedly Hamlet's friends, to spy on Haml...

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... she couldn't snap out of her phase. She was truly insane and could not change her ways. Even as she killed herself she was still singing little songs and playing with the flowers, while when Hamlet was dying he was calm and rational, his true sane self. Secondly, truly insane people can ... that's for remembrance, pray, love, remember: and there is pansies, that's for thoughts." (Act 4, Scene 5, Lines 173-175) It is like she is a little kid again, yet Hamlet has not lost any of his smartness and is still very alert. Hamlet was even attentive enough to realize that Rosencrantz and Guilden...

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... southern states in the USA. Though the scene I picked to direct in my own way does not involve all of the characters in the play, it is necessary to tell a little about whom they are, and how they are tied to the main story line. In my version, King Hamlet would have been a very wealthy plantation owner who lives in a giant ... . Claudius had been living in a different part of the country until recently, and now resides in one of the plantations guesthouses. Claudius soon becomes jealous of Hamlet Sr. and becomes friends with Gertrude. Eventually Claudius feels that his life is greatly i...

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... drinking a poisoned drink that was intended for Hamlet from Claudius. "Hamlet: The point envenom"d too! Then, venom, to thy work. [Stabs the King] All: Treason! treason! King: O, yet defend me, friends: I am but hurt. Hamlet: Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, Drink off this poison. Is thy union here? Follow my mother. [King dies]" (Shakespeare, Hamlet, V, ii, 314-319) Laertes avenges ... of the fencing sword and puts a very lethal poison on the end of it so all he has to do is scratch Hamlet and he will die. Laertes accomplishes his little mission on killing Hamlet and says...

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... hand, I thought to be very disappointing. His acting was at best weak in my opinion. He always had the same stupid look on his face, like he hit his head a little too hard falling out of a tree as a child. As if that was not enough, there was no weight to what he said, it was all said too lightly and left ... really say. What do you think about when somebody mentions Hamlet? Probably a castle, surrounded by trees and grass, a brook here or there, with immense emotional distraught among the royalty and friends. This only comes through in one of the movies, while the other places all the ...

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... ? Who would be held responsible then? True loyalty is shown through Horatio's friendship with Hamlet. Indeed, throughout the entirety of the play, Horatio is the only one out of Hamlet's friends that were not spying on him in any way, shape, or form. When Horatio is called to witness something extraordinary-the appearing of a ghost that's form is remarkably like the ... ;countenance more in sorrow than anger" (1. 2. 247.) as if he was looking for someone who wasn't there. Hamlet. His son. The only one who could avenge him. Intrigued-and a little scared, (though he would never mention that...

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... the woman you are in love with. Another example of acting crazy only around key characters, when Hamlets has conversations with Horatio. Horatio is possibly one of Hamlets only true friends; without a doubt the only one he trusted. When he talked with Horatio there was no sign of any craziness. He was very calm and had his thoughts collected. Out of ... have gone crazy as well? It doesn't add up to Hamlet really being insane. In summary, anyone who just lost his father and is bent on revenge, might act just a little crazy to the innocent bystander. Hamlet had to act crazy to keep from a...

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... be with him, which proves just how childish and immature she is. Her poor decision making and naive way of thinking leads to the tragic ending of both family and friends. "My child is yet a stranger in the world." Juliet is viewed by her father as just a young child, which she proves several times throughout the book that she ... , but the outcomes of her poor decision making tell a different story. "When such criticism explores Juliet, it is often influenced by her young age of fourteen, reading her as little more than a child - naive, immature, inexperienced."(Barnes) In the end everyt...

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... ; when Hamlet is around he is in around certain characters. When he is around Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern he acts crazy. However when he is around his friends, Horatio, Bernardo, The Players and the Grave Diggers, he acts quite sane. Even King Claudius confesses that Hamlet's is sane when he says "...His affections do not that way tend ... ; Nor what he spoke, though it lacked form a little, was not like madness. There's something in his soul...." [Clauduis ActII, Scene i.] Even though Polonius accuses Hamlet of being mad he also admits that Hamlet'...

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... and a noble who was involved with Shakespeare's acting company, Edward Devere. Devere led "an existence more Shakespearean than Shakespeare's" (Chua-Eoan 75). The well known Shakespeare led a life that had little, if any parallels to his writings, plays and sonnets. The more likely candidate, Devere, led a very similar life to his writings. All the evidence points to the well educated, respectable ... Devere there is a lion shaking a spear, a sign that Oxfordian's point to as the reason to pick Shakespeare as the pseudonym for Devere, as an inside joke that only his close friends would ...

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... crown." After hearing this from his father's ghost he becomes angry even more at his mother, who has married this "serpent" barely a month after her husband's death. Yet, Hamlet feels a little excited knowing that he was right about his father's death, it was on purpose. Horatio asks Hamlet after his visit with the ghost, ""What news, my Lord?" [Hamlet replies,] "O, wonderful ... "". After telling his friends about his father, Hamlet would not reveal the secret because he knew that they "would reveal it". In spite of this, Hamlet is so enraged that he hallucinates his father ... ...

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... her relationship with Hamlet. Laertes was surprised by Ophelia's rhetorical response and suddenly realized that Ophelia was actually a lot more mature than he remembered. She was no longer the nave little girl whom he protected. Laertes was disturbed by the thought, but the entering of his father ended his conversation with Ophelia. Polonius hurried him out to go catch his flight ... consequences. Be kind and friendly, but not someone to be taken advantage off. The world of business is tricky, don't fall for the flowery words and use your judgment. Loyal friends are the ones who will he...

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... you in fine together, and wager on your heads. He, being remiss, most generous, and free from all contriving, will not peruse the foils, so that with ease, or with a little shuffling, you may choose a sword unbated, and in a pass of practice requite him for your father. Laertes: I will do "t, and for that purpose I"ll anoint my sword. I bought an unction ... the afterlife. After killing his wife, Othello's whole world was taken from him. The respect of other's was gone, his position was taken from him, his wife destroyed, and his friends feared him. It can be argued that God was punishi...

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... being the instigator of many of these crimes. Polonius is mistaken by Hamlet to be Claudius, and Hamlet instantly kills him without thought. When he sees his mistake, eh shows little remorse for having killed a relatively innocent man: "Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!" (3.4.32). This same act of evil is again committed by the Prince, as it is discovered he ... England come too late.../ To tell him his commandment is fulfilled,/ That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead" (5.2.369,371-372). Hamlet wants them dead simply because they were not true friends; this is hardly te...

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... ii, pg 73) He knows that Hamlet's persona has more meaning than just being mad. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern too, try to test Hamlet's madness. He plays mind games with his friends and reveals his madness by stating " I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw."(Act II, scene ii, pg 79) Knowingly admitting to ... watching this rather unpleasant scene the king begins to be suspicious with Hamlet's actions, "Love? His affections do not that way tend, nor what he spake, though it lacked form a little, was not like madness. There's something in hi...

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