Shakespeares Universal Appeal as Shown in Hamlet - Research Paper Example

Shakespeare’s Universal Appeal as Shown in Hamlet Discussing Shakespeare is a continuous dealing with superlatives. The superlatives that apply tothis great writer not those that come cheaply, even in this day and age where adulation is cheap. There are countless instances when the adulation is well deserved. The strongest argument in favor of Shakespeare is his universal appeal. He is for all people, of all times. The reading public may be fickle, ungrateful, even cruel, but their loyalty to Shakespeare has not changed. Eternal relevance is a permanent quality of greatness. What gives rise to this perpetual and universal appeal? The first quality that captures the ordinary reader like myself is the characterization of Shakespeare. What stands out about his characters is their variety. Shakespeare has an array of the ambitious, the innocent, the melancholy – name it, he has written about it. What is even more meaningful than variety is the truth, the clarity, the intensity and power of Shakespeare’s characterization. In this, he has no equal for as though by magic he combines uniqueness and universality. The characters’ situations are individual but their human conditions are universal. The more one reads Shakespeare, he discovers along the way that this great genius has much to tell – the truths of life that he expounds on in his narrative are profound and significant. Mention any universal theme or conflict that has rocked life and literature – death, suffering, guilt, love, joy, hope, despair – Shakespeare has gone through the entire gamut. Through his works, Shakespeare has exposed the very heart of human nature and whether he is in Denmark or Venice (or even China where I come from), he breathes life and truth in each of us. And making his characters and his themes come alive is the language of Shakepeare. What mystery is contained in his language that it can be understood by the profound as well as by the simple reader? This reader is an émigré from the East – from China and have b een residing in this country for four years now. Having read Shakespeare for quite some time, I have grown to appreciate his greatness as a writer and have come to regard his tragedy “Hamlet” as crowning glory the fact that the character Hamlet is an enigma poses no problem for me. In fact, the play lures me on to read more of Shakespeare’s works and also more about the author himself and the Elizabethan Age in which he lived. Critics maintain that “the style of Hamlet is the man”. We can no more understand him than we can doubt him. He is an enigma because he is real.” The drama’s stock of varying and exciting incidents, its store of pregnant utterances and maxims, its fairly equal division into scenes of tragedy and comedy, above all – the appeal of its leading characters have made Hamlet the most popular of all Shakespeare’s plays (Grolier Encyclopedia, 1961). Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” is perhaps the most famous soliloquy in Literature. Hamlet has been adjudged the best of men and the worst of men. Mark van Doren in his introduction to the play states that something in his personality renders him superior to decision and incapable of acting. His antic disposition has been analyzed as both a sign of abnormality as well as a device for seeming to be mad. One judgment is as good as another. Very little can be said that will be untrue of this brilliant and astounding young man. Opinions have differed as to which other character can best bring out Hamlet’s character to the fore. Many writers would probably choose Horatio, his close friend and ally who supports Hamlet throughout the story, Horatio echoes Hamlet’s way of thinking and is all praises for him. For purposes of this paper, Claudius has been chosen as our anti-hero, Claudius is Hamlet’s uncle and brother of the king. The former ascends to the throne after the death of his brother and marries the Queen. King Claudius is the very antithesis of his nephew, Hamlet. To put it bluntly, Hamlet is the protagonist while Claudius is the antagonist of the play. Mark Van Doren claims that “neither the hero nor his play can be taken apart. The joints are invisible. The character of Hamlet would appear to be no character at all because a name cannot be found for it, or – which is the same thing – because too many can be found. Yet no reader or beholder of the play has ever doubted that he knew him better than most men. He is so singular in each particular… that all his acts are kings.” (Mc Spadden, 1930) When Hamlet becomes deranged, there are several conjectures as to the cause of his mental condition. The king, his uncle, admits no other explanation other than the death of his father, the king’s brother. Claudius also develops the theory that Hamlet is mad because Ophelia, his lady-love, has rejected him. The Queen, on the other hand, believed that her overly hasty marriage is the cause of it all. Polonius, Ophelia’s father is convinced that Hamlet is indeed afflicted with love-melancholy though Hamlet’s only state would appear to be boredom with old fools and anxiety for his own safety – “except my life, my life.” (Act II, Scene 2). The audience at one point is set to wondering – is Hamlet a coward that so far he has done nothing to avenge his father’s murder? The question enrages him and he falls to cursing the King. He must act, but he still must be sly about it, for the spirit he has seen may not have been his father’s but the devil himself (Bloom, 2004). Therefore, he decides, he will act to gain the knowledge he needs. He will put on a play that will make the King blanch if he is guilty. And if he blanches, Hamlet will know the course he will take. The king and queen, on the other hand are unsuspecting. It’s either they are smug about their position as rulers, or that they underestimated the mental ability of the prince. They may also be plain stupid in contrast with Hamlet who was always one step ahead of everyone. Hamlet is an intellectual. He is that unique thing in literature – a credible genius. Shakespeare has kept our view restricted to the surface. Here is an intellectual seen altogether from the outside. We learn to understand him from the way he behaves, not from the things he says he believes. It is said of him that he is an agitated soul since his equilibrium has been lost. This noble mind whose harmony was like that of “sweet bells in tune”; this courtier, soldier, scholar whose disposition has hitherto been generous and free from all contriving; this matchless gentleman who has never been known to overstep the modesty of nature, is not himself save for a few minutes towards the end when his calmness comes back like magic when he and Laertes apologize to each other (Goddard & Bloom, 1986). Laertes: Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet, mine and my father’s death come not upon thee nor thine on me! (Act V, Scene 2) Hamlet is not below hurling invectives on the king, his father’s murderer. Hamlet: The point - envenom’d-tool Then venom do you word (stabs the King) King: O, yet defend me, friends; I am but hurt. Hamlet: Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damed Dane, Drink off this potion. Is thy union here? Follow my mother (Act V, Scene 2). No one is there to rescue the cowardly king from impending death for he has not a single ally to save him. Hamlet has a bevy of friends but they are not in a position to save Hamlet, alas! For a flashback, the following details are provided: Sensiing the animosity of Laertes towards Hamlet, the king decides to make use of it to work Hamlet’s undoing. He secretly advises Laertes to engage Hamlet in a friendly fencing match. Laertes’ foil is to be naked and envenomed. Hamlet consents. The king prepares a poisoned drink for Hamlet to perchance. The latter escapes the tipped foil. In the scuffle they exchange weapons. The queen, to do honor to her son toasts him with the poisoned cup. Laertes wounds Hamlet who in turn wounds the former with the tipped foil. The queen dies and with his remaining strength, Hamlet stabs the treacherous monarch of his death. Of all the characters in the play, “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”, the evil usurper to the throne, King Claudius, is by far the one who glorifies Hamlet as the true protagonist of the story, of only because he is the exact opposite of Hamlet when it comes to positive character traits. “What a piece of work is a man!” observes Hamlet. In these immortal lines, he utters the credo underlying all of Shakespeare’s tragedies. “Many attempts have been made to “explain” Shakespeare’s tragic phase as the result of circumstances in his own life. We know that Hamnet, his only son, died in 1596, his father in 1601, and his mother in 1608. The last years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign were darkened by trouble at home and abroad. All over Europe, the end of the Renaissance was a time of confusion and frightening premonitions of change. All of this and probably more intimate experiences of which we know nothing about, must have been grist to Shakespeare’s mill. But the crucial question, how experience is transmitted into tragic poetry, is unanswerable”. Ther are innumerable other reasons for the many an varied attractions of Shakespeare. His storytelling ability is one. His knowledge of England’s history is another. His sense of humor even in his tragedies is ever present is still another. Personally, Shakespeare is number one on my list if only because he puts a high premium on morals. In Macbeth, the hero is imbued with intelligence, strength, courage, honor even in the face of death, respect for parents and the like. He fights for decency, friendship and everything else there is to live for. I find all these in China where I came from and I find it here in the new land where I now live. I feel that I am not far from home. The three excellences of Shakespeare: great characterization, thematic fullness and excellence of style in generous proportions have contributed to his universal appeal in the world of literature. Ben Johnson’s Tribute to Shakespeare may be well be ours too – “He was not of an age but for all time.” England must indeed share Shakespeare with the rest of the world, including and especially China, the land of my birth. Works Cited Bloom, H.,”A.D. Nuttall On Hamlets Conversations With The Dead”. Blooms Guides: Hamlet, 2004 Ferguson, F. William Shakespeare, The Tempest. 1961 Goddard, H. & Bloom, H. “Hamlet: His Own Falstaff”, Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet, 1986 Grolier Incorporated, Grolier Encyclopedia, 1961 Mc Spadden, J.W. William Shakespeare, Four Tragedies. 1930 Shakespeare, W., Hamlet. Read More