Hamlet Review Essay, Research Paper

William Shakespeare s Hamlet can be defined as a revenge tragedy. In Shakespeare s tragediesthe reader sees a noble, heroic central character who is destroyed because a defect in his characterthat either causes him to involve himself in circumstances which overpower him, or makes himincapable of dealing with a destructive situation caused by another character or by circumstances. The movie ends with the death of the central character. But before he dies, he achieves insightswhich make him a more perceptive human being than he was when the play began. This centralcharacter, Hamlet, shows his love directly and indirectly to the reader. Hamlet beginsafter Hamlet s father has died. This has casted an unwanted andheavy cloud upon Hamlet s soul. Throughout the play Hamlet learns that his father sdeath was no mistake, but it was Hamlet suncle s plan to murder him. This, of course,throws a much larger burden on Hamlet s hands andthe thirty year old prince becomes insane. Hamlet then seeks revenge. A revenge tragedy is abloody, violent play dramatizing a detailed, bloodcurdling scheme to avenge some wickednessfrequently themurder of a close relative or loved one. The hero of a revenge tragedy does notcause the situation which begins the play. The villain, on whom the hero will eventually takevengeance, does. Hamlet learned from the ghost of his father about the betrayal Claudius had planned. Hamlet was informed of the presence of his father s spirit by Horatio andMarcellus. This ghostof Hamlet s father appeared and only wished to speak to Hamlet himself. Hamlet saw this spiritand replied by not caring what would happen to him if he proceeded to speak with it. Bringwith thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, Be they intents wicked or charitable, Thou com stin such a questionable shape That I willspeak to thee . The ghost of his father tells him to Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder His ghost also directs Hamlet away from killinghis mother. Taintnot thy mind, nor let they soul contrive Against thy mother aught: leave her to

heaven Following this scene, Hamlet is seen as a mad character for the rest of the movie. Henow wonders around the court with his clothes in black disarray; he acts brutallytoward the girlhe once loved; and he sends his old school friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to their deaths. Later, Horatio becomes the only person aware of Hamlet spretending of being mad. Together,Hamlet and Horatio plan a play to be performed. A troop of playerscome to Hamlet s aid toperform this play. Ironically, the play is identical to the murderof Hamlet s father. This causesClaudius to flee the room. Later, on the way to hismother s chambers, Hamlet finds Claudius inprayer. He decides not to kill the King atthis moment because he fears Claudius soul would goto heaven. Ironically, however,the guilty King has been unable to pray. Later in his mother schambers, Hamlet confronts the Queen and murders Polonius, thinking he was the King. The final main action in the movie involves a fencing match. What began as somewhat afriendly challenge had transformed into several unexpected murders. The King decided to usepoison once again to kill Hamlet this time, but it backfires on him. Gertrude drank the poisonedwine and no one else did by choice. Then a blade is soiledin the poison and Hamlet is struckwith this poisoned blade. The Queen is then focused on because she has become dizzy and laterfalls to her death from the poison. Hamlet semotions are filled with rage after this has occurred. He proceeds to kill the King and force him to drink his own poison. Finally, Hamlet dies. The overall acting in the movie was good, but the story s plot is what sold it to me. Thetwist an turns at the end make the movie worth seeing. I had not seen Mel Gibson do such aserious role until this movie, he played it well. The best character portrayed in the film wouldhave to be Polonius, I thought his acting was pretty fantastic. This is a movie I would watch andenjoy on a friday night. Two thumbs up.