Hamlet Essay Essay

Good morning teachers and students, our understanding of Hamlet takes many turns and the most important of these is in act 3 scene II. As a pivotal scene in William Shakespeare’s play, audiences gain an understanding of the characters and their actions leading up to this point. Many of the themes in the play come to light in this scene as the plot gathers pace and it is for all these reasons I chose this scene. Our understanding of a text is greatly affected by the context in which scenes take place. Act 3 Scene 2 transpires after a series of turbulent events and the increasing surveillance of Hamlet’s life. In the preceding scene Hamlet considers suicide in the â€Å"To be or not to be,† soliloquy after learning that his father’s sudden death was in fact a murder by his uncle Claudius’s hand. He plans to prove the ghost’s word by watching his uncle’s reaction to a play that follows the events of Hamlet’s father’s death. Hamlet also confronts Ophelia and denounces her and women in misogynous diatribe overheard by the spying Polonius and Claudius. After hearing this Claudius decide to export Hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, as â€Å"madness in great ones must not unwatched go†. The latter gives audiences insight to later events in the play. Context is the basis of our understanding of certain lines, soliloquies and actions and overall affects our understanding of the entire play. The ‘Play within a play’ scene is a pivotal scene in Hamlet and its significance resounds throughout the rest of the play. It is a scene dripping in dramatic irony because Hamlet triumphs over the king in full public view while Claudius deals in secret to obtain information. The scene comes as the action following Hamlet’s musings of death, and the relative inaction of the first two acts. Knowing he was correct about his father’s murder Hamlet is emboldened and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern then sets out to confront his mother fracturing numerous relationships. Furthermore, Claudius’s sudden exit from the play raises the question whether he was reacting to the guilt of murdering his brother or to the act of Lucianus, the murdering nephew of king Gonzago in the Mouse Trap, possibly foreshadowing his own death. Either could be the trigger of Claudius’s decision too have Hamlet killed in England. The significance of this particular scene is undeniable because of its importance is upheld throughout the rest of Hamlet and this is why it affects audiences understanding of the entire play. As a pivotal scene, many themes in Hamlet are present including action versus inaction, espionage, revenge and deceit. These mix into a tangible cocktail to which audiences are more likely to pay attention to and gain better understanding. The scene provides the first ‘action’ in the play after driving uncertainty of the first two acts, the audiences reaction epitomised in a player’s line â€Å" so after Pyrrus’ pause, a roused vengeance sets him to work†. Revenge is the motive behind Hamlets writing of the play. Espionage makes another appearance in Hamlet’s urging Horatio to ‘observe my uncle. If this occulted guilt do not unkennel itself in one speech, it is a damned ghost we have seen† Rosencrantz and Guildenstern deceitfulness comes to an end when Hamlet turns the tables on them using the metaphor of how he was played like a pipe then later abandoning and sending them to their deaths. The presence of themes allows audiences to make connections with dialogue and leads to heightened understanding of the play and this is why act 3 scene 2 is crucial to the understanding of the entire play. A plethora of literary devices is used throughout the scene causing the meanings of numerous lines to be left up to the audience’s interpretation. Use of dramatic irony, alliteration, metaphor, pun, repetition and others highlights lines that are of greater importance for example, Hamlet’s mocking â€Å"what, frightened with false fire! † to his uncles reaction to the murder as well as the extended metaphor of hamlet being a pipe played upon by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The dramatic irony of the scene is important, as it is Hamlet’s action that snowballs into the different outcomes. Hamlet’s rhyming flattery to Horatio is full of literary techniques like alliteration (need example), possibly highlighting his desperation to keep one faithful friend by his side or adoration or want of Horatio’s balanced character. Hamlets jovial punning makes light of all that said to him by authority figures, this being an attempt at showing possible rebelliousness or more likely showing his enthusiasm for the outcome of the play’s impact on the king. We do not know which part of the play Hamlet scripted so it can be assumed that some of his own feelings are showing through the repetition of love and fear whether this be about his love of Ophelia or incestuous thoughts about Gertrude. Understanding of act 3 scene 2 is crucial to our understanding of Hamlet. This is assisted through the uses of literary techniques, the presence of many themes to capture audience’s attention, the significance of these and the context in which the scene takes place. These combine to make this scene of upmost importance to our interpretation of the entire play and that is why it was chosen. 5min14secs Matt: I’ve re-worked your speech below using as much as possible, cutting out the repetition, and suggesting where examples from the play are needed to illustrate your point. We can add these in tomorrow as I want you to go through this process of selecting appropriate egs with me. Apologies for typos – something is rotten in the state of our computer (ref to the play, sorry! ) â€Å"The play is the thing in which I’ll catch the conscience of the king† [Good morning teachers and students, our understanding of Hamlet takes many turns and the most important of these is in act 3 scene II. As a pivotal scene in William Shakespeare’s play, audiences gain an understanding of the characters and their actions leading up to this point. Many of the themes in the play come to light in this scene as the plot gathers pace and it is for all these reasons I chose this scene. Too vague: needs a more dramatic opening eg rhetorical question, or fabulous quote or natty and relevant anecdote or recent current happening that you can relate to this scene to catch the audience attention. The intro needs also not to waste words that could refer to specific context, themes, dramatic techniques, particular character development and plot development. Adding language aspects into this intro may be overdoing it but the word play on the idea of the â€Å"play† and â€Å"play within the play† might work. ] e. g. Can you think of a more delicious irony or more dramatic way of catching out a murderous hypocrite like Claudius than putting on a play in full public view that shows two audiences – the court of Denmark and us – how he killed the rightful king? Especially since we know that Claudius has set up all those who are closest to Hamlet, except for the faithful Horatio, to spy on him in secret! I chose this play within the play scene – Act 3 Scene II – for a number of reasons: firstly, for the lovely dramatic irony I just mentioned; secondly, it is pivotal in terms of resolving Hamlet’s doubts and advancing the plot towards the final bloody end; thirdly, it is very satisfying drama, with lots of action following on from the lengthy musings and relative inaction of Hamlet’s famous. â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy; in addition it reflects a number of key themes and preoccupations of the play, including that of surveillance; and finally it is incredibly dramatic and beautifully written, with lots of the fantastic and funny word play, vivid images and other literary and dramatic techniques we all love about Shakespeare. This scene, as I said in the introduction, is pivotal in terms of the action of the entire play, and also in terms of Hamlet’s evolution, from inactive to hyperactive. In the preceding scene Hamlet considers suicide after learning from the Ghost that his father’s sudden death was in fact a murder by his uncle Claudius. The Ghost is a mysterious character about whom there are considerable doubts – does he represent the troubled state of Denmark following the death of a beloved and heroic king and/or does he represent H’s traumatised mind following the sort of tragedy that would unhinge most of us. [ref to a critic here? ]. Whatever we say about Hamlet and his tendency to overdo the thinking aspect of life, he does approach problems with a fair and scientific mind: he does resolve to kill his father’s murderer, but, fair enough, as death is reasonably permanent, even for Shakespeare’s religious audiences, he set up the play within the play as a kind of controlled test for his uncle, whom the Ghost purporting to be King Hamlet has said killed him: He tells Horatio to observe his uncle during the  play as well and â€Å"after we will both our judgments join in censure of his seeming†: this does indicate that Hamlet, despite his understandable hatred of Claudius, is a fair man, who is also aware of the seriousness of killing the man who is now King of Denmark. Elizabethan audiences would have recognised Hamlet’s hesitation about killing the King as reasonable, just as they would have seen his vengeance once his suspicions had been confirmed, as justified. This scene also follows Hamlet’s misogynist confrontation of Ophelia which is overheard by the spying Polonius and Claudius, who decides at this point to export Hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, since â€Å"madness in great ones must not unwatched go†. Since Ophelia had also been encouraged to spy on Hamlet, we now have his dastardly uncle, his school friends, and his fiance, not to mention his mother, keeping a close watch on Hamlet: no wonder he needed a theatrical outlet! However, seriously, we see here a recurring and important theme in the entire play, that of spying and surveillance. The Michael Almereyda directed film version of Hamlet with its constant CCTV cameras and Hamlet’s speaking into the cameras provide the perfect representation of the sense of inescapable surveillance that Hamlet feels he is under throughout the play. : FIND QUOTES re SPYING IN THIS SCENE. Another key theme of this play within the play scene. amd to the entire play, that relates to the spying is that of deceit, and of illusion masking the reality. The play Hamlet devises to catch the King out is called â€Å"The Moustrap†, and its aim is to depict the exact way in which Claudius killed his brother, that is, by pouring poison into his ear, not the commonest way to kill someone! If King Claudius reacts is a guilty manner, presumably this demonstrates his guilt. So Hamlet’s goal is to unmask his uncle in front of the entire court, including the wife he has won so wrongfully. Plays are a theatrical form of illusion, masquerading as reality, just as Claudius in killing the rightful king, marrying his widow and acting as a legitimate King, is masquerading. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are similarly masquerading as Hamlet’s friends, while in reality they are deceitfully reporting on his actions and words to his treacherous uncle. The play within the play traps Claudius just as Hamlet himself must have felt trapped within this world without honesty and fidelity. The theme of honesty and reliability, those qualities that Hamlet craves and finds in no-one but his friend Horatio, provides a key to a deeper understanding of Hamlet’s apparently cruel behaviour towards his mother and also Ophelia, and also to Polonius and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. â€Å"Give me that man/That is not passions’s slave .. and I will wear him/ in my †¦ heart of hearts†: Hamlet, having suffered the worst tragedy one can imagine, finds no person in his circle whom he can trust except for Horatio. [ repetition Our understanding of a text is greatly affected by the context in which scenes take place. Act 3 Scene 2 transpires after a series of turbulent events too vague – what events? References like this read like padding and markers know it! ] and the increasing surveillance of Hamlet’s life. The play within the play leads us to a focus on another potent theme of this scene and of the entire play: revenge! â€Å" So after Pyrrus’ pause, a roused vengeance sets him to work†. Revenge is the motive behind Hamlet’s writing of the play, and once his suspicions have been confirmed, Hamlet is ready to turn his vengeful thoughts into action. This scene is brilliant drama! There is beautiful dramatic irony in Hamlet’s selection of a play to trap the guilty king. And there is lots of discussion of theatrics, and how the players should speak their lines, which reveals Shakespeare’s own deep understanding of the craft of acting, the more realistic version being more like his own preferred style: â€Å"Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand †¦ the purpose of playing,.. is to hold the mirror up to nature†, that is to act as one would speak and act out such lines in reality. Critics say that Shakespeare is having a go here at the plays of Chrsitopher Marlowe and the players such as Edward Alleyn at the Rose Theatre, who was known for a rather exaggerated approach to acting. Whatever the origins of these descriptions of how NOT to act, they are very funny, and must have made an Elizabethan audience as well as myself, a 21 century lad, laugh! â€Å"O it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters: etc. [we need egs of each of these Use of dramatic irony, alliteration, metaphor, pun, repetition and others] Shakespeare’s literary teachniques also work brilliantly in this scend. As well as the dramatic irony, we have superb play on words combining wioth the extended highlights lines that are of greater importance for example, Hamlet’s mocking â€Å"what, frightened with false fire!  phor of hamlet being a pipe played upon by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The dramatic irony of the scene is important, as it is Hamlet’s action that snowballs into the different outcomes. Hamlet’s rhyming flattery to Horatio is full of literary techniques like alliteration (need example), possibly highlighting his desperation to keep one faithful friend by his side or adoration or want of Horatio’s balanced character. Hamlets jovial punning makes light of all that said to him by authority figures, this being an attempt at showing possible rebelliousness or more likely showing his enthusiasm for the outcome of the play’s impact on the king. We do not know which part of the play Hamlet scripted so it can be assumed that some of his own feelings are showing through the repetition of love and fear whether this be about his love of Ophelia or incestuous thoughts about Gertrude. Understanding of act 3 scene 2 is crucial to our understanding of Hamlet. This is assisted through the uses of literary techniques, the presence of many themes to capture audience’s attention, the significance of these and the context in which the scene takes place. These combine to make this scene of upmost importance to our interpretation of the entire play and that is why it was chosen. 5min14secs Character development – in this question