coursework questions hamlet

1) Conflict is essential to drama. Show that Hamlet presents both an outward and inward conflict. 2) How do Hamlet's seven soliloquies reveal his character? 3) Is Hamlet primarily a tragedy of revenge? 4) Discuss Hamlet's relationship with Gertrude. 5) How important is the general setting of Denmark to the overall play. 6) Of what significance is Ophelia to Hamlet? Was Hamlet truly in love with Ophelia? 7) The character Claudius has been compared to Macbeth. How similar are these two characters? In what ways are they similar? 8) Compare and contrast the characters of Hamlet and Horatio. How alike or dislike are they and why? 9) In Act 5, scene 2, Hamlet remarks, His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy. Explain Hamlet's motivation behind this comment and examine how true is his remark. 10) Compare and contrast the characters of Hamlet and Fortinbras. Is Fortinbras a valuable character in his own right or does he serve only to highlight aspects of Hamlet's personality? 11) What is Goethe's opinion of Hamlet? Do you agree with his famous conclusions? 12) Discuss the references to the English stage of Shakespeare's own time in Act II. _____ More Resources  Daily Life in Shakespeare's London  Life in Stratford (structures and guilds)  Life in Stratford (trades, laws, furniture, hygiene)  Stratford School Days: What Did Shakespeare Read?  Games in Shakespeare's England [A-L]  Games in Shakespeare's England [M-Z]  An Elizabethan Christmas  Clothing in Elizabethan England  Queen Elizabeth: Shakespeare's Patron  King James I of England: Shakespeare's Patron  The Earl of Southampton: Shakespeare's Patron  Going to a Play in Elizabethan London.
Hamlet Betrayed Length: 1114 words (3.2 double-spaced pages) Rating: Red (FREE)   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hamlet Betrayed   Many things contribute to the fact that Hamlet gets himself in trouble. It is not Hamlet’s poor attitude that gets him in trouble, but the way he over analyzes every situation and event. The first thing is when the ghost of Hamlet’s father tells him about his uncle’s betrayal towards him. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spy on him, which makes Hamlet examine their every move. Polonius sets up deceiving and devious plans toward Hamlet, making him act mad. Hamlet’s Mom, Gertrude, displeases Hamlet by marrying Claudius so quickly after his father’s so called accidental death. Hamlet does not know how to deal with this situation, so he thinks about what to do for many weeks. To deal with all of the problems, Hamlet decides to put on his antic disposition to fool those around him. In this essay I will investigate the behavior and the actions that the Ghost, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, Laertes, and Gertrude do, to make Hamlet acted the way he does. Hamlet is in shock when he is told his father has died. He has no reason but to believe that his death was accidental, until he speaks with the ghost of his father. He believes the appearance of the ghost raises a suspicious question about his death. My father’s spirit- in arms! All is not well (I;ii;255-256). The ghost explains to Hamlet that Claudius murdered him and that he would like Hamlet to avenge his death. Revenge his foul most unnatural murder (I;v;75). The ghost also tells Hamlet that Claudius has seduced Gertrude. He says that Hamlet is not to take action against his mother. Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, to prick and sting her.
Shakespeare, the Bard, regularly uses double entendres (word games), metaphors (even extended ones) and allusions. These are things that Shakespeare uses a great deal in his plays. Double entendres: When Claudius demands to know where Polonius' body is hidden, Hamlet explains that he is at supper. When questioned, Hamlet explains that it is not about what Polonius eats, but what eats Polonius. This is words with double meanings. Hamlet does this quite a bit with the innocent Ophelia. Because he believes she has betrayed him and he cannot trust her, he torments her with insults, like Get thee to a nunnery, and with feigned madness, like running in to her chamber half undressed. Then, after this cruel treatment, when Polonius dies, she loses her mind. Another example of word play and double meaning is that when Hamlet arranges to have the players present a play to catch the conscience of a King, he tells the members of the court that the play is entitled Mousetrap—what a clever way to infer that he is searching out a rat or some other vermin: namely Claudius. One implied metaphor is when Hamlet explains that he has little value for his miserably saddened life, thus little fear of losing it from an encounter with a ghost. When Horatio worries about his friend approaching Old Hamlet's ghost, Hamlet notes: Why, what should be the fear?I do not set my life in a pin's fee; (I.iv.67-68). What Hamlet means is that the cost of a pin (an insignificant cost as pins are usually sold many at a time for one price) is worth more than Hamlet's life, or so he feels in his tragic circumstances of a dead King and father and an abominably remarried Queen and mother. As an allusion, Polonius notes that he once acted the part of Julius Caesar and was stabbed by Brutus. This is an historical allusion to the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, and one of his assassins. The allusion also provides.
Was Hamlet sane or insane? The answer to this question lies in the mind of the reader. There are several theories explaining his odd behavior; some say that he just pretended to act insane throughout the play. Some theories suggest that he had moments of temporary insanity. Others point out that he became mad after the play in court. I believe that we should analyze Hamlet as a whole person and not just sane-Hamlet or insane-Hamlet. There are many arguments stressing the fact that Hamlet was quite sane. Before the death of his father, every reader unanimously agrees that he was perfectly sane. He was a good friend to Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He was the love affection of Ophelia.He was also courageous in disposition. For e.g. when the ghost of his father emergedhe stood resolved to speak to the ghost instead of hiding or flinching. It was after the apparition scene that the conflicts of theories came into sight. Some analysts point out that his gradual mental decline was the result of the knowledge of his father’s murder. Others, however, say that every remark of insanity was just an act to fool certain people that Hamlet thought were negative, like Claudius, Polonius, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. To further invigorate this theory; his quick thinking saved his life from the pirates. He executed the court-play cleverly that proved that Claudius actually murdered his father. And He even backed out from avenging his father when Claudius was praying. As dying in prayer meant that he would go to heaven which Hamlet certainly did not want.His attitude with Ophelia was a bit puzzling. What further angered Hamlet’s persona was the marriage of his mother, Gertrude to Claudius after two months of his father’s demise. To him this union was a betrayal to his father. He may have compared his mother with Ophelia. His rude conduct towards Ophelia could be either a.