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Language use in.hamlet
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The literary lens in Hamlet
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Language use in.hamlet
The literary lens in Hamlet
The literary lens in Hamlet
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Sadie DeCoster Dr. M. Clermont-Ferrand 4-13-23 The Demise of Ophelia: PTSD and Psychotic Breaks in Shakespeare’s Hamlet Have you ever wondered why an author adds a character just to further the plot? Well William Shakespeare, in his play Hamlet, creates a character Ophelia who suffers from PTSD due to the murder of her father, Polonius, in Act 4 Scene 3. This ultimately leads her into a psychotic break where she experiences having disordered thoughts, speaking irregularly, and behaving inappropriately. Shakespeare created Ophelia to show how the events that occur in one’s lifetime can have a lasting effect on the people it impacts. To begin, to the demise of Ophelia, she suffers from PTSD which is, “An anxiety disorder that develops in reaction
Denmark’s Demise through Foil Characters in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet In his quest for revenge in order to retaliate the responsible party for the death of his father, the character of Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s famed play Hamlet is coincidentally supported by a range of characters through their actions that emphasize the protagonist’s idiosyncrasy of inaction – thus, justifying the conclusion of the play. His lover, Ophelia, emphasizes Hamlet’s hypothesized lack of masculinity which makes him subject to the “female-like” decision making process. Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, brings light to Hamlet’s inability to act promptly enough as intended. Lastly, his opposition, Fortinbras, draws attention to Hamlet’s lack of presence within the
Emily Dickinson once said “Much madness is divinest Sense— To a discerning Eye—“. This type of madness can be found in the play “Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Though many characters show madness throughout the play, Ophelia’s madness is the most prevalent. Ophelia has good reason for this irrational behavior because of the trauma she has gone through. First, her boyfriend dumps her, then he calls her vulgar names, and lastly, he kills her father.
Hamlet repeatedly acknowledges his faults, most precisely to her. In conversation, he tells Ophelia how he is guilty of such terrible things that he shouldn’t have been born, and that he proud, revengeful, and ambitious (3.1.132-135). Hamlet is fully telling her his faults and that, while being scathing towards her, he is no better. Even after her death, he continues to express his flaws around her presence. This is seen at her funeral, for which he says to her brother, Laertes, “For though I am splenitive and rash, I have in me something dangerous, which let thy wisdom fear,” (5.1.275-276).
The story of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a story of betrayal, revenge, and intrigue. Hamlet, the title character discovers that his uncle killed his father and married his mother effectively stealing the throne. Hamlet decides he must kill his uncle Claudius as revenge for what he had done. However, as the new king, Hamlet isn't sure how to get to him, so he decides to fake madness, but his plan backfires as Claudius doesn't trust him and makes sure he is always watched. In his fumbled plan for revenge, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, forces Polonius's son Laertes to seek revenge against him, and drives Ophelia crazy causing her to kill herself.
Ophelia’s Theme There are many themes throughout Hamlet - revenge, love, betrayal, and loss. These are all important to certain characters throughout the play. Loss, for example, is centered around Ophelia. She loses everything as the play goes on. At the beginning, she is forced to stop seeing and Hamlet and obey her father, because that is what girls in her time period did.
Sometimes in life people do not portray things how the really mean to. Sometimes people treat the people they truly love harshly. Sort of like how in the play of Hamlet, Hamlet acts like he does not really love Ophelia. But, in the tragedy of Hamlet, the protagonist, Hamlet, really did love Ophelia. This can be seen through his actions toward her before he found out about his father’s death being a murder, pretending to be crazy simply to prove to the king and Polonius, and by his actions after Ophelia 's death.
Hamlet: The Influence of Trauma Towards Madness Trauma and negative experience has a direct influence on how one acts. The play, Hamlet revolves around the character's failure to grieve their pain and trauma, leading to their tragic deaths. It uses the idea of seeking revenge as a motive to illustrate Hamlet’s and Laertes’ neglected trauma. It also provides insight into Ophelia's helplessness that results from her unresolved grief. Ultimately, William Shakespeare uses Hamlet to argue that madness emerges as a result of the inability to cope with traumas.
Another way that changes how we behave is the things that we hear from others. When we are presented with some shocking news, like a loved one has passed away, our emotions seem to shift and we start behaving differently. For instance, Hamlet’s behavior changes when he finds out that Ophelia has died. In Shakespeare’s play, we are presented a scene where Hamlet, still known as a lunatic, stays hidden in a cemetery to eavesdrop and finds out that Ophelia is dead. As the priests brings forth a coffin to be buried, Laertes jumps into his sister’s grave and ask to bury him with her.
Words are the greatest poison. They enter through the ear and deteriorate the deepest regions of their victims mind, subjecting them to a prolonged period of intense mental/emotional suffering. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, this is especially true, as it is a story of familial betrayal and revenge. The poison in this tragedy literally is the poison that is poured into Old Hamlet’s ear by Claudius, but the greater poison is that which is exchanged through words among characters throughout the play. Hamlet is the one most afflicted by this poison as he is the prince of Denmark, the son of Old Hamlet, and is closely involved with developments in Elsinore.
Saying this, Hamlet’s behavior towards Ophelia is crude, rough, and full of anger. Despite Hamlet’s harsh treatment towards Ophelia, he really did love her, but because she was not his main focus, the
Hamlet once again fails to understand that Ophelia much like himself is only trying to stay loyal to her father, much like what he is doing himself. In addition, Hamlet blames woman for giving birth to such evil and deceiving men like Claudius and himself. When he was talking to Ophelia he told her "Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better
Ophelia’s death results from Hamlet's madness, his telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery, and Polonius's death. Hamlet telling Ophelia to go to a nunnery made Ophelia feel insecure. Especially when Hamlet told Ophelia that he would marry her just so she would sleep with him. Then, Hamlet comes back to Ophelia telling her that she needs to go to a nunnery. Which is basically calling Ophelia a whore, because a nunnery is like a whorehouse. Ophelia at this point felt very insecure about herself and she questioned her relationship with Hamlet.
In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Hamlet has a unique relationship with Ophelia. Throughout the beginning of the play you learn very little about their relationship. Their relationship was referenced however. In the beginning of the play, Laertes warns Ophelia about Hamlet, claiming he does not actually love Ophelia. Throughout the play it is implied that Hamlet and Ophelia were involved with one another, but never showed the details of their "love."
In “Hamlet” a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, the death of a character is an occurring event. William Shakespeare uses imagery and allusion to demonstrate the result of manipulation from other characters upon Ophelia, daughter of Polonius, and leading up to her death. Her death was not the consequence of disgraceful actions of her own, but rather by the involvement of others and their influence on her life. Hamlet’s apparent rejection of her love and her father’s personal vindictive leads up to her simple-minded state, entering a world of madness. She has now gone mad, singings nonsense songs and giving people flowers that she has picked from the garden.