Spiderqueen
Apr 20, 2010
Book Reports / how to write ESSAY on Hamlet for grade 12 english (need help to start the essay) [8]
First thing you want to do is figure out if you think Hamlet is a coward. And see Hamlet's such a complex character, you could really go either way with this one. He's a coward in the sense that he delays his revenge and is constantly coming up with excuses for why he shouldn't kill Claudius right away. For instance, he fakes insanity instead of killing Claudius right away, he comes up with the idea of the mousetrap play to determine if Claudius is guilty (even though his father's ghost told him he is), and he doesn't killing him when he's praying (he decides it isn't the right time because he just prayed so he'd go to heaven right then and not hell).
But Hamlet is also brave in that he goes to follow his father's ghost when he had no clue what his intentions were. And I think it's a very brave thing to avenge your father's death and put aside your own interests in order to do so (before this Hamlet was a student, but he has to stifle that contemplative part of himself so he can be a murderer). And he's also brave when he kills Polonius (here he acts on a sudden impulse without even thinking, and so one could interpret this as a courageous act in that he acts according to instinct, opposed to reason).
So what do you think? Maybe you could argue that he's both courageous and cowardly (teachers tend to like it when you look at the shades of gray instead of the black and white). So now that you've figured out what you think about Hamlet, you should compare him with Horatio. In many ways Horatio works as a foil character--by looking at him and comparing him with Hamlet, we're able to notice certain things about Hamlet. So in what ways are Hamlet and Horatio similar? Hamlet is contantly criticizing others and pointing out the corruption around him. And Horatio also seems to be highly aware of the corruptive state of Denmark. Horatio is also the only one who knows about Hamlet's feigned madness and that the mousetrap play is really just a trick to prove Claudius' guilt. So we see how he's very much on Hamlet's side when it comes to being opposed to Claudius' corrupt kingdom (like being against Claudius' sudden marriage to the recently-widowed Queen) and Claudious himself (Hamlet has him watch for signs of guilt on Claudious' face during the play after all). But Horatio is different from Hamlet in that he's much more rational. While Hamlet shifts from being thoughtful and contemplative to acting boldly and rashly (like when he kills Polonius), Horatio remains calm and reasonable throughout. And also in the end as the survivor, he seems to represent the collected speaker, and the one who shares lessons to all by telling how the tragic events unfolded.
Hope this helps. It really is a great play.
First thing you want to do is figure out if you think Hamlet is a coward. And see Hamlet's such a complex character, you could really go either way with this one. He's a coward in the sense that he delays his revenge and is constantly coming up with excuses for why he shouldn't kill Claudius right away. For instance, he fakes insanity instead of killing Claudius right away, he comes up with the idea of the mousetrap play to determine if Claudius is guilty (even though his father's ghost told him he is), and he doesn't killing him when he's praying (he decides it isn't the right time because he just prayed so he'd go to heaven right then and not hell).
But Hamlet is also brave in that he goes to follow his father's ghost when he had no clue what his intentions were. And I think it's a very brave thing to avenge your father's death and put aside your own interests in order to do so (before this Hamlet was a student, but he has to stifle that contemplative part of himself so he can be a murderer). And he's also brave when he kills Polonius (here he acts on a sudden impulse without even thinking, and so one could interpret this as a courageous act in that he acts according to instinct, opposed to reason).
So what do you think? Maybe you could argue that he's both courageous and cowardly (teachers tend to like it when you look at the shades of gray instead of the black and white). So now that you've figured out what you think about Hamlet, you should compare him with Horatio. In many ways Horatio works as a foil character--by looking at him and comparing him with Hamlet, we're able to notice certain things about Hamlet. So in what ways are Hamlet and Horatio similar? Hamlet is contantly criticizing others and pointing out the corruption around him. And Horatio also seems to be highly aware of the corruptive state of Denmark. Horatio is also the only one who knows about Hamlet's feigned madness and that the mousetrap play is really just a trick to prove Claudius' guilt. So we see how he's very much on Hamlet's side when it comes to being opposed to Claudius' corrupt kingdom (like being against Claudius' sudden marriage to the recently-widowed Queen) and Claudious himself (Hamlet has him watch for signs of guilt on Claudious' face during the play after all). But Horatio is different from Hamlet in that he's much more rational. While Hamlet shifts from being thoughtful and contemplative to acting boldly and rashly (like when he kills Polonius), Horatio remains calm and reasonable throughout. And also in the end as the survivor, he seems to represent the collected speaker, and the one who shares lessons to all by telling how the tragic events unfolded.
Hope this helps. It really is a great play.