Research Paper On Hamlet

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Jonathan Benton English 102 Mrs. Sellman May 1st, 2023 Final Paper:Hamlet The play Hamlet is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous works, and as his longest, Hamlet develops its extremely rich drama and dramatic elements, wealth of characters, and hard-hitting and deep theme as it follows the madness, feigned or otherwise, of the play’s namesake, Prince Hamlet of Denmark. The Bard’s work demonstrates how the twisted aspects of the human condition such as greed, lust and vengefulness, the latter developing from a distortion of justice, can tear not just families but even entire nations apart. In the play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, William Shakespeare uses language and dialogue, irony, and plot and structure to advance the theme …show more content…

It is also one potential example of situational irony in the text, that Hamlet takes the word of an apparition as more or less fact with little sound basis, and while other characters have seen the ghost, they never heard it speak, nor would the others be able to see the ghost, as seen with Queen Gertrude, and so do not assume any of Prince Hamlet’s actions as a result of his encounter with the ghost, save for perhaps what they see as his madness and insane ramblings. One critic affirms this, writing, “The play establishes dramatic irony as early as the first act, when the ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius killed him by pouring poison into his ear while he slept. For the rest of the play, only Hamlet and the audience are aware of this history. The other characters' lack of knowledge about the truth regarding King Hamlet's death places the responsibility of avenging his father firmly on Hamlet himself, who wavers constantly under the pressure.” (Untermacher) The previous quote also justifies an interesting aspect of the play that strongly reinforces the work’s theme of human uncertainty when analyzed with the element of dramatic irony. While few characters consider attributing Hamlet’s moodiness to his father’s death, they quickly conclude that he is simply going mad when he starts acting differently, …show more content…

To Be or Not to Be, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2007. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.cochise.idm.oclc.org/lib/cochise-ebooks/detail.action?docID=711024. Carroll, Joseph. "Intentional Meaning in Hamlet: An Evolutionary Perspective." Style, vol. 44, no. 1, 2010, pp. 230-260,282,288. ProQuest, https://cochise.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/intentional-meaning-hamlet-evolutionary/docview/608536377/se-2. Eliot, T. S. “Hamlet by T. S. Eliot.” Poetry Foundation, 13 Oct. 2009, www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69399/hamlet. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, Floating Press, The, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.cochise.idm.oclc.org/lib/cochise-ebooks/detail.action?docID=390904. Untermacher, John. Miller, W.C. ed. "Hamlet Irony". GradeSaver, 30 August 2009 Web. 10 May