How do the themes of Hamlet relate to modern life?

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Carlos Gomez

English 1320

Swann 12:00-12:50

Word count – 827

03/06/06

There are some people who think that the theme in Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, is general and applies to our modern life.  The truth is that there are a lot of differences between our modern world and Hamlet's world.  Hamlet does not apply to our modern life.  This is because is Shakespeare's time, women seem to be weak and easy to control, revenge appears to be in every family and Shakespeare makes it clear that there are a lot of problems within the royal families and they seem very unstable.

        One difference between our modern life and Hamlet's life, are the women,  In the story Hamlet is describing her mother:  "By what it fed on; and yet, within a month-Let me not think on't!  Frailty, thy name is woman!"  (1224)  This lets us know that no one could have married another man within 2 months of being widowed, but a woman.  It seems that women are just a symbol in the story because they don't play a very important role at all.  "Will you ha' the truth an't?  If this had not been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o' Christian burial."  (1299)  This shows that women were often not buried as christians.  Shakespeare also puts Ophelia as a weak person.  She dies because of Polonius' death, and that was a way to evade all that suffering.  In Hamlet, women appear as beings that represent love and most of the time men die

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because of that love.  In our modern life, we see women and men equally capable;  However, women in Hamlet show weaknesses and are referred as inferior beings that work as by-standards.  

        A second reason why Hamlet is not universal is because Shakespeare based Hamlet on revenge.  In our modern world we can still avenge a loved one, but usually do not do it.  It is rare that somebody kills their father or uncle.  In Hamlet, Laertes, Hamlet's father's ghost, Ophelia, and Hamlet himself wants to avenge a loved one.  "I am satisfied in nature, whose motive in ...

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