Print
Word
PDF|
This section contains 2,230 words (approx. 8 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
Death is Predominant in Hamlet
Summary: In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the theme of death permeates the play. This was done deliberately, as Shakespeare's reaction against the ethics of Elizabethan society. Specific scenes are cited to explore the various ways the theme of death is used.
All the way through the play of `Hamlet', life is associated with anxiety and tediousness; this was not done by accident; for Shakespeare was challenging the ethicality of Elizabethan society. Hamlet says early on, in Act 1 Scene 2:
"O God, God, How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!"
Death is seen throughout the play of `Hamlet' in the dialogue and attitudes of the characters, but wherever it is associated, it is felt through the surrender to life which is a tribulation.
From the offset there is the presentation of death, and it sets up the scene for the rest of the play so that the audience becomes filled with tension and fear until that brief respite of comedy which forms the cohesion of a tragedy. On line 41 of Act 1 Scene 1 Barnardo describes the ghost that he has seen as being "in...
|
This section contains 2,230 words (approx. 8 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
