Hamlet Comparison Hamlet is arguably William Shakespeare's most famous of his many still existing plays. Even people who have not read the play know the basic plot of the story. Prince Hamlet of Denmark is in mourning over the death of his father who, as it turns out has been murdered by his uncle so that Claudius can take over the throne and marry the queen, his brothers' widow. Hamlet decides to act crazy in order to determine if his Uncle Claudius is indeed guilty of the act. Over the course of the story, people die and the play's climax is the final duel between Hamlet and young Laertes where both men die as well as King Claudius and Queen Gertrude. There are countless film versions of the play which represent the attitudes and artistic styles of the filmmakers who created them. One of the earlier film versions created by Laurence Olivier is considered one of the best and two very different film versions from the same decade are the Hamlet by director Franco Zeffirelli from 1990 and Kenneth Branagh's 1996 version of the...
Each version shows a perception of the story unique to the director and actors as is exemplified in the way each shows the famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy delivered by Hamlet.
The film may skip scenes like this, and others, to tell the story more quickly, and arguably more dramatically. This may also be because films are expensive to make, so every omitted scene saves money. Polonius has more scenes in the play than the film. In the play, he is a key character, second only to Hamlet, Gertrude, and Claudius. In the film, he almost seems like a minor
That is, Ophelia is limited to seeing herself through the eyes of others, and men in particular, having achieved no core identity of her own. Her brother Laertes could easily today also be a modern-day "organization man," as could have been his father Polonius before him), that is, listening to higher authority and then acting to please that authority, without thinking or reflecting on the wisdom or efficacy, generally
Yet despite the fact that the play's title is nothing but his name, Othello is arguably not really the central figure of the story. Iago is far more instrumental in moving the plot forward; it is his (not fully explained) hatred of Othello that the play is concerned with, and though Othello is obviously necessary as the object of Iago's hatred and jealousy, he takes a largely passive role in
Polonius: A Literature Review As chief counselor to the king of Denmark, Polonius plays an important and nefarious role in Shakespeare’s Hamlet—yet his words are often quoted out of context and it is Polonius, the spying, lying, manipulating old fool of a father and counselor who gives one of Shakespeare’s most memorable lines: “To thine own self be true!” (Shakespeare 1.3.564). Polonius shows of course that it matters not if one
Introduction William Shakespeare and Robert Burns are both iconic figures in the UK. Also known as the Bard of Avon, Shakespeare is often regarded as England’s national poet. Shakespeare is also considered the world’s greatest English writer and dramatist. During his time, Shakespeare authored tens of plays, over a hundred sonnets, and several narrative poems and verses (Marche, 2012). Shakespeare’s work has been translated into virtually all major languages of the
Miranda even says, "My father's of a better nature, sir,/Than he appears by speech" (I.ii.500-501). Shakespeare may have been writing Prospero like this only to juxtapose his warm nature at the end of the play, which gives the play a "and they lived happily ever after" feel. Prospero uses his magic to control the spirit Ariel, which gives him a lot of power. Prospero knows of Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculos'
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now