Saturday, November 18, 2017

Closing Thoughts on Hamlet (comment below!)

Hey guys. As we close up our discussions on Hamlet, I wanted to create a discussion on the play itself and what we thought about it. Personally, I really liked it. I enjoyed the fact that the play got pretty introspective at times. Hamlet, on several occasions, breaks down the emotions he feels and comes up with his own philosophical theories that explore, for example, the impact of thought on psyche and the emotional impacts of suicide. Aside from his perceptiveness, I liked how Hamlet was his own type of protagonist. Clearly, as he's the eponymous character, he's supposed to be the hero. However, Hamlet's level of bravery and determination fluctuates greatly throughout the play. Sometimes, he's super motivated and driven by rage; whereas, at other times, he'll come up with any excuse in the book to avoid avenging his father. With this element of his character, Hamlet becomes more real as his qualms regarding his duty are understandable for the audience. Overall, I liked the play Hamlet and also the character Hamlet as well. What do you guys think? Do you like the play or the character or both? Also, I'm interested to hear y'all's opinions regarding the ending in which basically everyone just dies. I'm still not sure how I feel about it exactly.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I also really enjoyed the play. I thought that it was more complicated than some of Shakespeare's other plays that I've read. For the most part I liked the character of Hamlet. He seemed so intellectual compared to other characters, especially at times when he pretended to be mad and spewing gibberish but really was using the opportunity to make fun of others or interject some keen insight into the dialogue. I also thought the madness trope was very interesting, since it leaves some unanswered questions: for example, was Hamlet actually mad? Was Ophelia? Truth be told, a bit of crazy seemed to shine through in all the characters, and maybe that was Shakespeare's point.