Hamlet

“Through its portrayal of human experiences, Shakespeare’s Hamlet reinforces the significance of loyalty” Shakespeare, through his play Hamlet defines to a modern audience the significance of loyalty through the portrayal of human experiences. Shakespeare’s timeless classic aims to educate the audience on the significance of loyalty through highlighting his purpose in creating the play, which is to show how different human experiences in our lives have been shaped due to loyalty or disloyalty. Shakespeare depicts his purpose through presenting the audience with experiences such as loyalty through revenge and the loyalty and disloyalty to one’s family. These ideas are expressed throughout the play through Shakespeare’s use of literary and dramatic techniques. Hamlet, which focuses on the significance of loyalty, presents to the audience how families and loyalty to one’s family is intertwined. Shakespeare has expressed this through the characterisation of Hamlet. In Act Three, Scene Four, Hamlet and his mother are involved in an argument in which Hamlet questions his mothers loyalty to his late father. This is expressed to the audience when Hamlet inverts what his mother says to him “...Hamlet you have thy father much offended...Mother, you have my father much offended...” In the opening of this act the audience is positioned further to see the anger and hurt Hamlet has due to his mother’s haste marriage to Claudius, as he feels she has been disloyal to her late husband. Hamlet further expresses his anger for his mother’s remarriage and disloyalty through the juxtaposition of King Hamlet and Claudius. Hamlet states, “look here upon this picture, and on this the counterfeit presentment of two brothers ...Hyperion’s curls, the front of Jove himself...where every god did seem to set his seal...look you now what follows...Here is your husband like mildewed ear...blasting his wholesome brother...” Shakespeare’s juxtaposition of both kings allows the audience to see the differences in the two men. It also shows that Gertrude has gone from the love of a great man to co-habitation with one who is, far inferior. Hamlet sees his murdered father as having the characteristics of great Roman gods, which is what Shakespeare has alluded to “...Hyperion’s curls...Jove...eye like Mars...Mercury”, while Claudius is compared as weak, sickly and insignificant, as seen through the imagery of the mildewed ear, a recurring motif throughout the play of the decay and ailing nature of Denmark highlighting the problems due to the murder of Old King Hamlet. Through the soliloquy’s and dialogue, the complex character of Hamlet begins to unfold and the audience understands the position of Hamlet’s loyalty, hence adding sustenance to Shakespeare’s purpose in the creation of his play. Shakespeare has communicated the significance of filial loyalty through the characterisation of Opehlia. In Act One, Scene Three, Ophelia and her father are having a conversation about the relationship between herself and Hamlet. Shakespeare has constructed the conversation to highlight to the audience the patriarchal society in which Shakespeare lived in and for a daughter to show loyalty to her family was expected and not questioned, as seen in this scene. Polonius says to Ophelia “When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul...tongue vows...implorators of unholy suits...and pious bonds...as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet” and Ophelia replies “I shall obey, my lord” Through this characterisation the audience sees that Ophelia is loyal to her father as well as her brother whom she also says “’Tis in my memory locked, and you yourself shall keep the key of it...” This also exemplifies that she plays the loyal and duteous daughter. Shakespeare has further expressed loyalty to family through the characterisation of Ophelia in Act Three Scene One where she reluctantly agrees to disassociate herself with Hamlet. This is seen when Polonius says to her “...pious action, we do sugar o’er the devil himself” Through the oxymoronic order which has been asked of Ophelia by her father which is to be “holy” but conceal the “devil” meaning to have a hidden agenda, Shakespeare has identified the significance of loyalty expressed through the loyalty of one’s family, which furthers his purpose in creating the play. Shakespeare notion of loyalty to one’s family is paralleled to loyalty one experiences through taking revenge for justice. Revenge is, in essence what Shakespeare’s Play Hamlet is based on. Shakespeare has developed the characters of Laertes and Hamlet as catalysts to impart on the audience that in order to take revenge one must be loyal. Shakespeare makes the ideology of revenge prevalent to the audience through the complicated five act structure. The first act is the exposition, the second, development, then the turning point. From the turning point or climax the tragedy is inevitable. Act four is a further complication and finally act five the resolution and the restoration of order. Through this five act structure Shakespeare’s purpose is revealed, which is to show the significance of loyalty through human experiences. Shakespeare purposely establishes the symbolism of the Ghost of Old King Hamlet in the first act, to highlight the tragedy which has taken place and cause of decay in Denmark. In Shakespearean tragedy, a common element is the use of the supernatural which informs the tragic hero of the tragedy which has occurred. This is seen through the ghost telling Hamlet to seek revenge for his murder in Act One, Scene Five, where Hamlet learns how the tragedy occurred “...sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me...the serpent that did sting...now wears the crown...”Furthermore in the opening scene of the play, Act One, Scene One, when Marcellus says “there is something rotten in the state of Denmark”. Dramatic irony is used to highlight to the audience that there has been a tragedy in the play, this is further heightened through the use of the rotten imagery to describe Denmark’s state. It positions the audience to begin to understand the sinister act which has taken place. However through Hamlets loyalty to avenge his father’s death, his fatal flaw, indecisiveness is revealed where he continuously questions his actions, often resulting in inaction. Hamlet’s inaction has been manifested in the chapel scene where Hamlet sees Claudius praying. In this scene, Shakespeare has included a discourse in which Hamlet contemplates whether he should kill Claudius while he prays “and now I’ll do’t...and so i am revenged...a villain kills my father, and for that, I his sole son do this same villain send to heaven” Hence, Hamlet’s major flaw, his inability to act and continuous thoughts about the redemption of his own soul are revealed which is linked to the Christian values of the renaissance period of the time which were sen as extremely important in the life of an individual and showed their loyalty to the church. Shakespeare has further displayed the significance of loyalty intertwined with revenge through the characterisation of Laertes. The audience learns Laertes wants to avenge the deaths of both his father and his sister where he says “...noble father lost, a sister driven to desperate terms...but my revenge will come...” Shakespeare has contrasted Laertes to Hamlet where Laertes is a man of action who takes charge for what has happened and Hamlet doesn’t. In creating Laertes as ambitious, Shakespeare has also allowed the character to be easily manipulated by the “Master Manipulator” Claudius who devisees a plan to kill Hamlet and allow Laertes to seek revenge for his father’s death. As seen in Act Four, Scene Seven, Laertes says “I will do’t...I’ll anoint my sword..gall him slightly, it may be death...” Through the characterisation of both Hamlet and Laertes Shakespeare has made it evident that through the human experience of revenge the driving force behind it is loyalty. Through the human experiences of loyalty and disloyalty to one’s family and also revenge, Shakespeare has constructed a play which has educated a modern audience on how the different experiences in our lives shape either our loyalty or disloyalty in those around us. Hamlet is a transcendent classic of which it values hold true in our society today in the twenty first century.