Hamlet Essay

In this essay I’m going to consider the relationship between Hamlet and three other characters from the play, Claudius, Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother) and Ophelia. I think these characters determine Hamlet‘s moods and actions strongly. Hamlet doesn’t seem to have a close relationship with any of the major characters in the play. He is actually quite isolated from the people around him. Throughout this essay I’m going to consider how Hamlet’s relationships with Claudius, Gertrude and Ophelia change.

At the start of the play Hamlet’s father dies. His father’s brother then marries his mother. Then Hamlet sees his father’s ghost, who tells him about how he was murdered. Hamlet is determined to get revenge. He is so angry he practically breaks up with Ophelia by hurling insults and shouting at her. He then asks a group of travelling actors to perform the scene of his father’s death in front of the King and Queen. Afterwards in the Queen’s bedroom Hamlet stabs Polonius, who is hiding behind the curtain, by accident, thinking it was Claudius. Ophelia starts going a bit mad and later on Hamlet finds her dead in a stream. The play ends tragically with the death of Hamlet, the Queen, the King and Laertes.

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In many ways Hamlet and Claudius are very similar characters. They are both very determined and will go to any lengths to get what they want. We can see this characteristic in Claudius when he says ‘I’ll have prepared him a chalice for the nonce, where on but sipping, if he by chance escape your behoved stuck, our purpose may hold there.’ Hamlet too won’t let anything stand in his way. He sees killing Claudius as a goal that he must achieve. This is shown by ‘The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.’ As a result Hamlet and Claudius may be more closely liked then they first thought. However Hamlet differs from Claudius in the respect that he prolongs his goals. This is shown by ‘I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put a antic disposition.’ Hamlet on the other hand jumps straight into the deep end without thinking about the consequences that could occur. Both the characters’ actions lead to extreme reactions. At the beginning of the play, we learn of how Claudius has murdered Hamlet’s father. We know this by ‘the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown.’

Throughout the play Hamlet’s relationship with his Mother (Gertrude) is getting further and further apart. Hamlet doesn’t really respect his mother or any other woman in fact; it’s because he doesn’t understand them this is shown by ‘frailty, thy name is woman.’ Hamlet hasn’t really got over his father’s death while his mother, the Queen has. She wants Hamlet to move on as well because she got a new start with her new husband and Hamlet’s holding their relationship back by making accusations about him. Also the Queen isn’t trying to understand things from Hamlet’s point of view this is shown by ‘Good Hamlet, cast thy knighted colour off.’ And ‘all that lives must die.’ She’s not thinking about Hamlets feelings only about herself and she’s being selfish towards the situation. The Queen always sides with the King (Claudius) this is show by ‘It maybe, very likes.’ This quotation shows how little she understands about her son. She is agreeing with her new husband, that Hamlet is upset over Ophelia. However, she might be too weak to say anything that her husband might not agree with. Claudius has Gertrude wrapped around his finger so it is hard for her to show Hamlet that she really cares about him, but she does. This is shown by ‘Here Hamlet, take thy napkin and rub thy brows.’ She wants to show that she loves Hamlet but also that she loves Claudius and she thinks that Hamlet will always be there for her because he’s her son and that Claudius won’t if she doesn’t show him any love because they are not blood relatives.

Ophelia and Hamlet’s relationship is close at the start of the play but then Hamlet gets stressed from everything that has happened. This is shown by ‘I did love you once.’ Hamlet still does love Ophelia but is just really stressed and can’t be bothered to be part of Ophelia’s silly games. She responded to Hamlet by saying ‘Indeed, my Lord you made me believe so.’ At the start of the play Ophelia wanted to play hard to get so her father gave her some advice this is shown by ‘no my good lord, but as you did command, I did denied his access to me.’ Hamlet didn’t understand what she was doing and thought she was being rude and says ‘Get thee to a nunnery.’

I think Hamlet is a nice person really but he’s quite stressed from the recent events so he not really himself. Also he treats people how he treats himself, which isn’t very nicely at the moment. He doesn’t really understand women so he doesn’t respect them. If he understood them better I think he would be a bit nicer to them and then maybe have some closer relationships with some of the characters.

Peer Reviews

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pictureperfect

13th of Jul 2012

Quality of writing

At this level of qualification I would expect the candidate to discuss Shakespeare's use of linguistic techniques, such as metaphors, smilies and syntax (use of questions). Which the candidate fails to do, discussion of these techniques and their effect is necessarily in order to achieve a higher grade at this level. However there are no real issues with spelling, punctuation or grammar.

Level of analysis

The candidate has written a fairly suitable introduction, they clearly introduce what they plan to discuss and give a brief personal reaction to the set topic. However, there are a few ways in which this introduction could be improved, firstly it is always a good idea to give a brief description of the play that you will be discussing, then you should state exactly what you plan to discuss, i.e specific scenes or characters. You should then try and make your introduction interesting, this can be done by adding relevant facts or quotes as this helps to engage the reader. That said, the candidate makes a reasonable attempt at analysing the play, they have picked out some suitable quotations and they do discuss the characters. However there are times in which the candidate simply retells parts of the story. When you are analysing a play you should discuss the characters thoughts and feeling, you should consider the following questions; What do you think they are going through? Why? Where is the evidence from the play to suggest this?. Then when you discuss these matters you should find appropriate quotations from the play to back up your ideas. Finally, though the candidate ends the essay with a personal reaction, their overall conclusion is weak. A good conclusion should summarise your key points and answer the initial question or discuss the essay title. By linking your ideas to together and providing a personal response, you draw the essay to a close and leave the reader with a good impression.

Response to question

The candidate gives a fairly simplistic response to the set topic, they do discuss the play in detail but are mostly retelling parts of the story. Therefore their response is limited, in addition to this their analysis is weak and they have not shown a good understanding of the way in which this type the of essay should be composed.

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