Essay Three

INTRODUCTION

It is through an exploration of the interactions between Shakespeare’s enduring characterisations that responders from a myriad of contextual frameworks can understand his representation of what it is to be human. This is maintained in the distinctive revenge tragedy that distinguishes itself from conventional Shakespearean dramaturgy, Hamlet. Through several centuries of reinterpretation and re-evaluation, critics, directors, and responders have constructed observations in regards to misogynistic conduct, the presentation of existentialist and nihilist ideologies, as well as the motives behind Hamlet’s inaction and personal paralysis. It is through these critical interpretations of humanity, where the "reality is in the readers mind" (Hazlitt, 1817), that Hamlet remains an enduring construct.

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The complexity of Hamlet’s delay and ineffectuality in his vengeance over the Machiavellian¹ Claudius, explicates Shakespeare’s effectiveness in "represent[ing] the effects of a great action laid upon a soul unfit for the performance of it" (Von Goethe, 1796). Hamlet is a character foil of Laertes and Fortinbras, as his delay and philosophising is juxtaposed by their immediate actions in the wake of their Father’s passing. Laertes is resolute in his belief that “revenge should have no bounds,” and so confidently takes action and asserts himself on the basis of his filial obligation. Contrastingly, despite Hamlet’s very similar sense of obligation, he instead exhibits the very human behaviours of one plagued by self-doubt, and is reduced to excessive contemplation, and attempting to gather conclusive proof of Claudius’ regicide in the literal and metaphorical frame narrative of The Mousetrap. It is Hamlet’s inaction that has provided a pivotal challenge in the deconstruction of Hamlet as a play. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a Romanticist² who credited great power to the imaginative faculty, stated, "[an] over balance of the imaginative power is beautifully illustrated in the... superfluous activities of Hamlet’s mind," and it is these imaginative faculties of the mind that definitively enhance the human experience in the text. Furthermore, Hamlet’s epiphany³ in his soliloquy, "O, from this time forth / My thoughts be bloody or nothing worth," exacerbates his idealistic but unrealised dreams of revenge. This lack of fulfilment of dreams and loss of passion, as identified by the Player King, “Purpose is but the slave to memory, /Of violent birth, but poor validity,” epitomises what it means to be human, and highlights its emotional toll upon Hamlet’s emotions. Ironically, Hamlet’s action of feigning an “antic disposition” led to an unexpected outcome, whereby he becomes truly perplexed by the nature of man – his personification of Yorick’s skull expresses this well. Therefore, Shakespeare’s accurate representation of complex human emotions has allowed Hamlet to stand the test of time⁴.

1. Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat, philosopher, and poet of the Renaissance Period. His character is similar to Claudius in the way that he deceives other about his virtue, and lies for political gain.

2. Romanticism: a philosophical and literary movement from the eighteenth and early nineteenth century that stresses an individual, his imagination and his connection with nature.

3. Epiphany: a moment of sudden great realisation.

4. This paragraph is filled with some great examples, which ensures that the argument put forth is clear and well supported. The question is also clearly answered throughout the body paragraph.

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The human relationships developed between male and female characters outlines the misogynistic disposition typical of Elizabethan English society. The patriarchal paternalism littered throughout Hamlet acts as an indictment of Shakespeare’s Elizabethan context; for instance, Ophelia’s archetypal values of chastity and submission is juxtaposed against Hamlet’s perception of moral corruption and female subordination. This can be seen in the extended metaphor "frailty, thy name is woman," perpetuated with the repetitive dysphemism “a rat! A rat!” in reference to Gertrude. This depiction of female sexuality is in accordance to the Biblical alternative reading, with women being the root of all corruption. In this vein, Gertrude’s actions are symbolic of Eve in devising contracts with the devil to obtain higher societal status. Hamlet, as a stereotypical Elizabethan man, implies his superior nature by his use of an imperative tone in commands like "get thee to a nunnery;” however, through a feminist lens⁵, it can be seen that women are helpless due to the overpowering nature of men, epitomised by Ophelia’s subservient , "I shall obey, my lord." Finally, although Ophelia’s madness is highlighted in her frenzied alternating between prose and verse, she also shows characteristics of sanity, as some of the flowers Ophelia gives away, including rue and wormwood, were used for centuries in abortion potions.⁶ This is symbolic of her ‘deflowering,’ and offers audiences potential alternate interpretations of Ophelia’s disposition. Hence, the effective representation of intense interpersonal relationships has allowed audiences through a variety of historical contexts to understand what it means to be human.

5. Referring to a modern political and literary phenomenon helps to demonstrate just how well Shakespeare’s Hamlet has stood the test of time (and how well you understand the many different ways you can interpret the play!).

6. You may choose to further analyse this as part of a larger motif surrounding Ophelia’s naïve characterisation, or dive deeper into the symbolism of the flowers in terms of adultery, death or loyalty (depending on the flower), so you can fit it into different thematic concerns.

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The presentation of existentialist and nihilistic⁷ ideologies further aids Shakespeare in highlighting the depths of human anxieties, exacerbated by Hamlet’s personal isolation from valuable relationships.⁸ Hamlet’s soliloquies are carefully constructed, and many of them foreground⁹ notions of death and mortality; in the first soliloquy, Shakespeare employs a synecdoche, where the “melting”, “thaw[ing]” and “resolve” of flesh is metaphoric of physical life and its frailty. The duality on views on suicide between Catholicism and Protestantism is symptomatic in Hamlet, due to Elizabethan England’s tensions in regards to the Reformation. This is epitomised by Hamlet’s fourth soliloquy, "To be or not to be," which offers a stark contemplative and intellectual contrast, and acts as a set piece¹⁰ on life and suicide. The use of collective pronouns in "makes us rather bear those ills we have," reflects the ramifications of suicide to the audience. A more mature understanding of mortality is developed¹¹ in the graveyard scene, where Yorick’s skull is observed as a symbol of "the quintessence of dust." It is here, as well as in the final soliloquy, that Hamlet shifts from the mindset of the "passion... To think, not to act," to his final view of a human’s purpose of fulfillment: "What is a man / if his chief good and market of his time / be but to sleep and feed?" In Act 5 Scene 2, when Hamlet finally takes action, he begins to refer to himself in the third person, a bizarre subversion of the play’s hitherto exploration of individual identities. This switching of mode of speech indicates that it is only though the abandonment of his selfidentity, and thus moral code, that he is able to complete the actions that divine providence, or his dead father, demands of him. Thus, the personal isolation form other individuals can have significant and destructive implications upon the emotional state of any human, which is skillfully represented in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

7. Nihilism: the belief that nothing in the real world has any real existence; the belief that life is meaningless.

8. This is a particularly strong topic sentence, as it opens with a clear statement about an overarching idea Shakespeare is conveying, then transitions into the first main example that the paragraph intends to discuss.

9. Foregrounds: to highlight, or make something obvious by bringing it to the ‘foreground’ of the text.

10. Set piece: a passage of a play that is arranged in an elaborate way to emphasise the topic with maximum effect.

11. This is another good example of developing ideas by showing how one example leads into another, thus furthering the authorial message.

CONCLUSION

Overall, individuals across many contextual zeitgeists may appreciate the multiple facets of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, due to its unified and coherent exploration of what it means to be human. Through the intense human relationships expressed throughout the play, various critics over the past three centuries have formed interpretations of the inaction and personal paralysis, patriarchal misogynistic disposition, and the existentialist ideology that permeates the text.¹² Despite this, Hamlet is still able to provide complex representations of humanity and unique ideas, which have perplexed eve the greatest of critics in their responses, further solidifying its place in the literary canon as a highly effective explication of humanity and fallibility.