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Hamlet, Sons & Lovers and A Streetcar Named Desire

 

            With three texts spanning over four centuries, not only does the style of writing change, but the presentation of relationships becomes arguably more realistic. In terms of love, it is arguable that all three texts; "Hamlet," "Sons and Lovers," and "A Streetcar Named Desire," present it as a destructive and negative force. However, there are differences with the way it is presented. Shakespeare's 17th Century revenge tragedy differs greatly to the other texts, mainly because it is set within the court so all relationships are portrayed to have political influences. "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Sons & Lovers" are comparatively more concerned with ordinary society not that of a monarch. The clear similarity in the presentation of love is that it is an ultimately destructive yet defining force.
             Despite the differences in time, familial love is still presented in a similar way. Both "Sons and Lovers" and "Hamlet" display extremely strained and almost oedipal relationships between the mothers and the children in the respective texts. Both Gertrude's are blamed by audiences for their arguably strained relations with their children. Yet this could be viewed as unjustified as both texts present them as arguably formidable; Gertrude in Hamlet may be viewed critically by audiences as she seems to act without grief when referring to her late husband's death as "common"" in Act One, Scene Two. This causes resentment from Hamlet due to the grief and love he feels for his late father, which affects his familial relationship with his mother in a negative way. However this could be due to the fact that Gertrude is, more than any other character in the play, the antithesis of her son, Hamlet. He is the epitome of the Renaissance man who cares nothing for his "mortal coil " and the iniquities and lifestyle of which Claudius, for example, is bound to. .
             Gertrude, on the other hand, could be viewed by audiences to be superficial and only to think about herself.


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