Hamlet by William Shakespeare - Essay Example

HAMLET Hamlet by William Shakespeare is undoubtedly the greatest play ever written. It tells the story of the Prince of Denmark who is unhappy that his father is dead and that his mother has remarried his uncle. He walks around the palace at Ellsinore at first moping, then acting increasingly erratic. Throughout the course of the play he must deal with many intrigues and plots, and spend a great deal of time philosophizing about the meaning of life and mortality. Shakespeare’s play captures the human dilemma in all its fullness. Most of the play Hamlet takes place within the palace at Ellsinore, the seat of the Danish crown. There are only a few scenes that happen outside of it, most famously the scene at the graveside when Hamlet laments the loss of his old jester, Yorick, and then fights in Ophelia’s grave with her brother Laertes. The play is set sometime in the middle ages and there are clearly delineated family relations and moral codes of honour that drive much of the play’s action. Because most of the characters are members of the royal family they are responsible for Denmark. The family is under threat from within because of the actions of Claudius and the revenge that Hamlet seeks, but it is also under threat from the outside as the Swedish under Fortinbras are preparing to invade it. There are existential threats everywhere—and this is an important aspect to consider. Indeed, this is an important theme of the story: the threat of death that seems omnipresent. Ellsinore still has a cloud over it: the death of Hamlet’s father. It affects everyone, but Hamlet worst of all. From his first words in the play we understand the state of mind he has: O, that this too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fixd His canon gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie ont! ah fie! tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely. That it should come to this! He is virtually suicidal after meeting his uncle and mother, married so shortly after his father’s death. The threat from within is a theme personified by Hamlet’s suicidal feelings which are later further explored in the famous soliloquy: “To be or not to be . . .” People worry about Hamlet, but as the play continues their worry is extended to others. Ophelia, spurned by Hamlet, goes mad and drowns herself. A fear begins to grip everyone. Hamlet, anxious for revenge, kills Ophelia’s father behind the arras when visiting his mother’s room. The threat is not just at the point of the knife—it is that people are listening everywhere. Throughout the play characters are always spying on one another and reporting to others. Even Rosencrantz and Guilderstern, Hamlet’s best friends are convinced to betray him—for this they are rewarded with death (Hamlet allows them to deliver themselves to their own execution). It is clear that the protagonist of the play is Hamlet. He has the most lines and we listen to him speak both publicly and privately. We know his innermost feelings and indeed he wins our sympathy by telling us them. We see him as ambitious and his ambition is what drives the plot forward. Ophelia is also something of a protagonist. She is an innocent character caught in the middle of a drama which she can’t really understand. It is hard to tell who drives her to her death—whether it is Hamlet or Polonius. The antagonists are the play’s villains—Claudius and Polonius, especially. They represent the fatuous and corrupt old order and are obstacles to Hamlet achieving his goal. We see how Hamlet has no time for them, especially Polonius who is portrayed as an annoying old fool: HAMLET Do you see yonder cloud thats almost in shape of a camel? LORD POLONIUS By the mass, and tis like a camel, indeed. HAMLET Methinks it is like a weasel. LORD POLONIUS It is backed like a weasel. HAMLET Or like a whale? LORD POLONIUS Very like a whale. HAMLET Then I will come to my mother by and by. They fool me to the top of my bent. Polonius has no spine. He will say whatever it takes to get his own way. Both Polonius and Claudius die dishonourable deaths as their reward. How could Hamlet be marketed to a contemporary audience? There have been several film adaptations of the play that may shed light on this question. Some say a good way to promote the play would be to set it in the contemporary world and have the main characters all dress like us and talk on cell phones, etc. Another idea might be to stage the play with all women or all men—that would give things a different feel and say something important about gender no doubt. It might be interesting to suggest a performance of the play Hamlet on the moon or on another planet. Sometimes when you change the context or setting of an old story people get excited because they see new things that the didn’t see before. A fourth possible idea to market the play would be to perform it with amateur actors in the park so that people can go out on a sunny day and see a thought provoking piece of theatre. Sunlight and Shakespeare are said to mix well. A fifth marketing idea is to stage the play as a piece of puppetry for children. This too would bring in a whole new demographic. However, beware some parts of the play may be too graphic for children. Needless to say, Hamlet is an easy play to market because it tells such a profoundly human story that says something new every time it is performed. There is a reason why 400 years after it was written it still commands our attention. The themes, plot, and characters are all timeless. Read More