Essay on hamlet final - 1107 Words

Emma Johns Mrs. Tiffany Perkins English II Honors 14 May 2014 Hamlet Final Essay The tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare brilliantly recounts the tale of feigned and true madness as it delves into themes of betrayal, incest, revenge, moral corruption, and death. The play, set in the kingdom of Denmark, gives an account of how Prince Hamlet seeks exact revenge on his uncle Claudius, for murdering his own brother and Prince Hamlet’s father. After assassinating King Hamlet, Claudius succeeds the throne and becomes joined in holy matrimony to King Hamlet’s widow and Prince Hamlet’s mother, Queen†¦show more content†¦Hamlet’s image of Claudius reveals the extensive amount of disgust that he has for the man who has married his mother. Later on in the play, when actors arrive at the castle, Hamlet requests that they do a speech that he once heard. This speech happens to be the tale that Aenes told Dido about the murder of Priam. Hamlet starts the speech himself but then lets the actor take control who recites , â€Å"Unequal matched/ Pyrrhus at Priam drives†¦. The ‘unnerved father falls†(2.2.458-461). Here, it is possible that Hamlet is comparing Pyrrhus to himself and Priam to Claudius. In the story of Pyrrhus and Priam, Pyrrhus has come to the city of Troy in order to avenge the death of his father by killing the Trojan King Priam. At one point in the tale, Pyrrhus hesitated with his sword in the air when he had the chance to kill Priam right then. This is similar to act three scene three where Hamlet almost takes Claudius’ life with his dagger while he is praying but halts mid-strike. Another possibility is that Hamlet is comparing Pyrrhus to Claudius and Priam to King Hamlet. Even though Claudius didn’t murder King Hamlet with a sword, they were unequally matched as King Hamlet was asleep when Claudius poisoned him. Hamlet is drawing a parallel between the murder of Prium by Pyrrhus, and the murder of his father at the hands of Claudius. The speech abo ut Pyrrhus and Priam plays a very important role in the play. 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