Hamlet: How does Shakespeare build up to the climax in the final scene?

Hamlet: How does Shakespeare build up to the climax in the final scene? Although Shakespeare wrote many plays, one would not be criticised for saying that Hamlet is his most famous. Based on the true story of Amleth, Prince of Jutland, Hamlet tells the story of a young boy in turmoil after he suspects that his Uncle murdered his father to marry his mother and become king. Although the play is full of drama, the climax of the play is the final scene (Act 5 Scene 2) which Shakespeare has built up to in a number of different ways. The character development of Hamlet is one of the most important ways he built up to the climax. At the start of the play Hamlet is very shy and moody. The King has noticed, as he says "How is it that the clouds still hang on you?" (Act 1 Scene 2) The only outward sign of the person he will become is when he says "A little more kin, and less than kind!" after the King says that Hamlet is his son (Act 1 Scene 2) Although this could just show that Hamlet is more outgoing and cheeky than he seems, it also shows a deep mistrust and dislike for Claudius right at the start of the play, before Hamlet even knows that he killed his father. This shows an intelligence and understanding of character, but it could also show a deep mistrust for people. Shakespeare has cleverly used these layers of meaning to make the audience wonder just exactly what Hamlet is

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Shakespeare use language in Hamlet to teach the reader valuable lessons in life ?

Hamlet Q. How does Shakespeare use language in Hamlet to teach the reader valuable lessons in life ? Shakespeare's tragedy , Hamlet is written during the Elizabethan period . The tragedy , Hamlet was written at a time of intellectual and political controversy . Hamlet's popularity is global and it is one of Shakespeare's frequently performed plays. Hamlet's popularity is due to its artistic exuberance, rich and varied incidents, characters and language. Shakespeare has deep insight into human nature and can intrigue and excite the reader or the audience . Shakespeare's plays are written specially to be acted on the stage . Performances took place in the open air and spectators were seated all around the stage. Shakespeare richly depicts his interest in his own profession . Obvious examples include the players and the play-within-a-play to reveal Claudius's guilt resonates with the language and the imagery of the theatre . Shakespeare's Tragedy - Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is based on a 12th century tale by Saxo Grammaticus, which Shakespeare most certainly never saw, and is part of a spate of revenge dramas which were extremely popular around the turn of the seventeenth century. Hamlet was written in the 17th Century . In Elizabethan times revenge was taught to be noble and man made . According to the Elizabethans there could only be order only if man could control his

  • Word count: 3690
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Criticism of Mel Gibson's Hamlet; How well did he maintain the character?

Daros Koding NAD U6 Criticism of Mel Gibson's Hamlet; How well did he maintain the character? The aspects of Hamlet's character that Mel Gibson "played up", in the movie production in which Gibson was acting in, were the characteristics of Hamlet's strong affections for his mother, Gertrude, along with his subsequent hatred and deep resentment of his step-father, Claudius. Also, his fear and subservient reverence for the ghost of his late father, his scholarly, perceptive, sometimes introspective mind, and his charisma, to the extent of the Castle Ellsinore, for the people's love for him is mentioned in a few instances, but there is not much advancement on this apparent love, or what Hamlet himself did to be awarded it, save a few laughs at jokes he makes. Gibson plays the Hamlet afflicted with the oedipal complex quite blatantly. This passionate affection is displayed in many of the scenes between Hamlet and his mother, as they are very physical with each other, more so than in a normal mother-and-son relationship, with a lot of touching faces with their hands, and full-lip kissing. In the 'pictures' scene (III.4) Hamlet becomes very indecently physical with his mother, almost as if he is raping her. I personally felt that the oedipal aspect had been taken a bit too far at that point, but those actions did serve to illustrate that Hamlet may indeed have been confused in

  • Word count: 736
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comment on the dramatic significance of any 3 scenes in Hamlet.

Question- Comment on the dramatic significance of any 3 scenes in Hamlet. Shakespeare , has been one of the most remembered names in the world of ancient literature. He was well known for his romantic comedies and tragedies , which gained a lot of fame , and recognition. As we see , in Hamlet , how he has made use of different techniques in order to bring out the dramatic significance in the play. In Elizabethan times , revenge was considered to be manly , and courageous. They believed , society would function in a better manner if man could control his passion , and this has been beautifully shown in the play . Hamlet has been one of Shakespeare's most remembered plays. Through this play , Shakespeare once again told that era of his deep insight into the human mind , and the rich use of language , reveals a lot about the Elizabethan era . His passages , reflect philosophical thoughts , which were usually spoken in rhyme or verse . Since there was no effective back drop , the essence and style of Shakespeare was created only through his words. In the opening scene of the play, the reader begins to guess what is going to happen. The first line itself creates a sense of curiosity , and it is in the form of a question , "Who's there?". The use of certain details creates an eerie atmosphere , phrases such as "struck twelve" and , " bitter cold" , are just

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Caliban is often regarded as a complex character. Choose two scenes from the play ‘The Tempest’ in which he appears and discuss how Shakespeare reveals to an audience, the complexities of Caliban’s character.

Jennifer Pennington Caliban is often regarded as a complex character. Choose two scenes from the play 'The Tempest' in which he appears and discuss how Shakespeare reveals to an audience, the complexities of Caliban's character. William Shakespeare's play 'The Tempest' was thought to be one of his last completed pieces and conveys a lot of his own thoughts and emotions. The approximate date of when the play was written is 1611. There is no direct source for the founding of the play but there are some similarities in a German play called 'Comedia von der schonen Sidece' which told the story of a Prince was had a spirit assistant and had an only daughter who fell in love with the son of his enemy. It is known that stories of magicians with only daughters are common in fairy tales. The Bermuda shipwreck happened around the time Shakespeare wrote 'The Tempest' so some of his ideas may have developed from this. The idea of Caliban may have come from tales of sailors about savage beasts. 'The Tempest' is a mystical drama full of magic, romance and disaster ending happily like a fairy tale. The story is about a magician named prospero who is taken from his dukedom in Milan and shipwrecked on a Island with his only daughter Miranda. Prospero takes over the Island and it's inhabitants Caliban and Ariel and works his magic on an enemy. There is a lot of

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Character of Hamlet.

Character of Hamlet "Wer gar zu viel bedenkt wird wenig leisten" -Schiller " He who reflects too much will accomplish little" It is impossible to attain completeness in the assessment of any one's character and more so in the case of Hamlet's, for its note are complex and mysterious. But on rigorous study, Hamlet's character can be described though partly but adequately by the above quote. 'Hamlet' is the most famous, the most popular play in the English language. But to quote T.S.Eliot -"So far from being Shakespeare's masterpiece, the play is most certainly an artistic failure.... And probably more people have thought Hamlet a work of art because they found it interesting, than have found it interesting because it is a work of art. It is the "Mona Lisa " of literature." "The grounds of Hamlet's failure are not immediately obvious."T.S.Eliot in his essay "Hamlet and His Problems", says this and after his analysis he concludes that in order to understand Hamlet - the play and the character - we need to understand things, which Shakespeare did not understand himself. A similar view is aired by A.C.Bradley who says that the character of Hamlet as one can understand from the play cannot answer several questions which pertain to the logic and rationality of Hamlet's deeds like his idea to pretend madness and in order to get a reasonable answer one must try history where we

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Essay on Prospero

Darren Marsh 0B Essay on Prospero William Shakespeare's last play The Tempest is a story about Prospero, the rightful duke of Milan. He is betrayed by his brother Antonio and left on a ship with his daughter Miranda to die. Only things are not going according to plan and Prospero and Miranda arrive on an island. Prospero is seeking his revenge. Coming back from a wedding in Africa a ship containing Prospero's enemies is attacked by a tempest and scatters its passengers about the island. Prospero uses three major character traits throughout the story including being powerful, protective and forgiving that will help him gain his place back in Milan. Prospero lost his dukedom because he failed to recognise his brother's ambition and because he neglected his first duty, the governing of Milan. Prospero's name is an indication of his function in the play. It is Latin for 'I cause to make prosperous, happy and successful'. He plays the most significant role in the play in that he is on the stage longer than any other character and he controls the fate of all others on the island. Our first sight of Prospero is as a father and a magician. We see his love or Miranda and the spectacular magic powers he commands. Prospero is a very powerful person and using his spell books he is able to conjure up astonishing magic. Possibly the most powerful thing he controls is Ariel, a spirit.

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The Evil Hero in Hamlet and Macbeth

The Evil Hero in Hamlet and Macbeth Although it is somewhat masked by Shakespeare, both Hamlet and Macbeth are portrayed as pernicious, vile villains whose atrocities echo the machinations of other conniving characters; they lose their heroism in their blatant lack of repentance and ignorance of morality. Hamlet himself states that even though "one may smile," he can also "be a villain" (Ham. 1.5.8), and he sacrifices human dignity in his insatiable bloodlust by wishing the praying Claudius a "more horrid hent" (Ham. 3.3.88). The alleged hero of the play is wickedly twisted under the Avon Bard's representation of a vicious young prince who fancies his shameless act of murder to transcend mere revenge, moving towards the barbaric slaughter of an obviously distressed king. While Hamlet is conniving new heinous plots at the instruction of the audacious apparition, Claudius is crying out for "all [to] be well" among "angels" and for a heart as "soft as sinews of the new-born babe" (Ham. 3.3.69-72). The previously evil king thus jilts this notion - he is, at heart, seeking reconciliation and has a dream for a better Denmark. Despite his obvious selfish interests in the kingship, it cannot be overlooked that he maintains a sense of grief and woe for his actions, yet Hamlet sees nothing wrong in his lumbering lust for death. The people of Denmark, though they love Hamlet, cannot

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Shakespeare present the action in Act three?

How does Shakespeare present the action in Act three? The point of Act three Scene one is to show the audience the political side of Antony and Cleopatra. All of the triumvirate are worried about their reputations and this short scene suggests that they are not that generous. Shakespeare makes Scene two seem comic because Enobarbus and Agrippa mock Lepidus and say that he is Caesar and Antony's 'beetle', 'They are his shards, and he their beetle'. The way in which Shakespeare has presents Enobarbus's and Agrippa's speech, allow the audience to have a bit more background information about the main characters from a completely different, unbiased point of view. Shakespeare gets rid of Lepidus quickly and quietly. Act three Scene two is his last scene and he only speaks one line. I think Shakespeare wants to get rid of Lepidus to emphasise the action that is about to happen between Caesar and Antony and other main characters. At the end of this scene, Enobarbus begins to mock Antony. Shakespeare is making it seem as though Antony is fake and he isn't what he says he is. Scene three concentrates on Cleopatra's messenger giving Cleopatra the description of Octavia. It is a very comic scene because the messenger was 'scared out of his wits' last time he was with Cleopatra and so this time, he tells Cleopatra everything that will make her feel happy and friendly towards him. I

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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VERCHANT OF MENACE

In Act Four all the major themes of love, revenge, money, justice and mercy can be observed. This is the dramatic heart of the play. Discuss Act Four is the main part of the Merchant of Venice, where all the major themes are brought together. In Act Four, the trail scene begins and the audiences, both then and now, are on the edge of their seats, waiting to hear the court's verdict. Will Antonio live? Or will Shylock win, by getting his pound of flesh? Shakespeare uses a variety of dramatic techniques to make Act Four the dramatic heart of the play. This part of the play is where the audiences are right at the point where they can't take any more of the tension, but they have to keep on watching. The Merchant of Venice is a successful play because of Act Four and how brilliantly Shakespeare has put all the themes together to create an audience full of anxiety and bewilderment. Love, revenge, money, justice and mercy are the major themes in Act Four, which make The Merchant of Venice a success. Act Four is the dramatic heart of the play, as all the themes are put together to create further tension in the courtroom scene. The courtroom is an intense room where further dramatic tension is created simply because it is a court of law. The Merchant of Venice clearly states that no man is above the law but despite that, Shylock thinks he is. Society would fall

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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