Discussing the strongly debated play Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

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Shakespeare coursework

Hamlet

This essay is about the strongly debated play of "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, one of the most hotly debated views from the play is hamlets state of mind, this essay will be using three soliloquies these are not the only three but I feel that they help portray the state of mind of hamlet. The three soliloquies are act one scene two, act two scene two and act three scene one, I have chosen these as I feel that all of these best portray hamlets varying states of mind. Many critics have seen him as a "lacerating self critic", an "angry adolescent" and a "puritanical fundamentalist" In the first soliloquy hamlet begins by saying "Oh that this too too sullied flesh would melt" this shows a desperate state of mind to the audience, as for a prince to declare that he wishes to die would have shocked them, this is because "the almighty one [had] fixed his cannon 'gainst self slaughter", hamlet then goes on to describe Denmark as an "unweeded garden that grows to seed", meaning that with this new king Denmark is not being ruled as well as it was when his father was king, in essence he is saying that his uncle is a bad king, he also goes on to compare his father and his uncle, describing his father as a sun god or "hyperion" and his uncle as a "satyr" which is a mythical beast of lust this is showing his state of mind as being an angry son and a "noble prince" protecting his fathers good name, next he talks about the relationship between his mother and father he shows signs of an unhappy adolescent when he says "frailty thy name is woman" and despises all women just because of his mothers mistakes, this I feel shows a very childish state of mind. The reason he despises all women is because he is angry with his mum for marrying so quickly. This soliloquy has a large relevance to the rest of the play with the irony of the idea of "self slaughter" with Claudius killing the king and even more at the end when he drinks the poison himself after hamlet forcing him into it. How ever it does also enhance the theme of death in the play. Also he sees Claudius as a sexual beast, which prefigures Gertrude's chamber when hamlet makes her compare the two brothers. The overall effect on the audience is one of shock and sympathy, the audience would be shocked at him wanting to kill himself especially because he is a prince, and people believed that prince's lives were perfect. Also the line "frailty thy name is women" would have probably shocked the women in the audience and also angered them. He would have got extreme sympathy for him when he said "but break my heart for I must hold my tongue" which is also showing his troubled mind,
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In soliloquy two he starts "now I am alone" also showing a troubled mind, he then goes on to describe himself as a "rogue and peasant slave" this gives the impression of a self critic. He is also very confused that an actor can cry so convincingly at nothing and he cant shed a tear with so much to cry about, "but in a fiction a dream of passion" I feel that he is jealous of the actor and wishes he was as good as the actor. He then goes on to talk about what the actor would ...

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