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Critical Review on Hamlet

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Critical Review on Hamlet
HAMLET is an eventful play created by Shakespeare which shows how revenge can bring such a negative effect on the people around the avengers that guilt is the obvious result. Hamlet is a man of high status who goes through the death of his father, his mother’s marriage to his uncle, and his discovery that his father was murdered by his uncle. The character of Hamlet portrays a son who will risk everything to get revenge for his father’s death, and considering the revenge Hamlet seeks, the theme of revenge and guilt are prominent throughout the entire play. Hamlet has no idea that his father was murdered until the ghost of King Hamlet appears to him and tells him of it. Hamlet’s main task is to find proof of the accusation that the ghost has made. Throughout his quest, doubts are evident, but are soon replaced with the convincing proof which Hamlet discovers after he puts on a play called THE MOUSETRAP. This play reenacts the murder of Hamlet’s father which causes Claudius to become very uncomfortable because he is truly guilty. There can be a couple ways of looking at Hamlet’s character. “Hamlet has been subject to more analyses than almost any other character in literature.” There are two main ideas that are often thought of when it comes to the character of Hamlet. The first of these theories would be that he was truly insane or has an obsession problem which causes personality flaw. The other idea many people have is that he is a genius and a hero. Hamlet “was put to a supreme test of character and in the end triumphed over the moral problem he was confronted with, thus winning a very real spiritual victory in the face of death.” The author expresses his own opinion of Hamlet being more of a hero with fine qualities than a madman who is cowardly and a hopeless dreamer (Utter 138).
Multiple sides of Hamlet’s character are revealed throughout the play of HAMLET. James Fisher who has given his review of HAMLET in the Theatre Journal describes how Branagh,


Cited: Fisher, James. Theatre Journal 45:552-54. JSTOR. Liberty University Library.25 Feb. 2009. Gottschalk, Paul. Shakespeare Quarterly 24:155-170. JSTOR. Liberty University Library. 26 Feb. 2009. Laan, Thomas F. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 6:247-262. JSTOR. Liberty University Library. 26 Feb. 2009. Skulsky, Harold. PMLA 89:477-486. JSTOR. Liberty University Library. 26 Feb. 2009. Thorndike, Ashley H. PMLA 17:125-220. JSTOR. Liberty University Library. 26 Feb. 2009. Utter, Robert Palfrey Jr. College English 12:138-144. JSTOR. Liberty University Library. 26 Feb. 2009. Williamson, Claude C.H. International Journal of Ethics 33: 85-100. JSTOR. Liberty University Library. 25 Feb. 2009.
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