Hamlet

If you order your research paper from our custom writing service you will receive a perfectly written assignment on Hamlet. What we need from you is to provide us with your detailed paper instructions for our experienced writers to follow all of your specific writing requirements. Specify your order details, state the exact number of pages required and our custom writing professionals will deliver the best quality Hamlet paper right on time.

Our staff of freelance writers includes over 120 experts proficient in Hamlet, therefore you can rest assured that your assignment will be handled by only top rated specialists. Order your Hamlet paper at affordable prices!

Restaging The Mousetrap

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, we learn of the unfolding spectacle within a young man's family through his thoughts, doubts and hesitations that eventually precipitate acts of both premeditated and sudden revenge. Although it'd be unfair to pigeonhole the Prince of Denmark as an indecisive man of melancholy, he certainly does spend most of his time wrestling with the truth behind the alleged events that have taken place within Elsinore's walls. Through all his sulking, Hamlet remains a calculating individual, despite eccentric tactics that would appear otherwise. It seems likely that a man's behavior, marked by a clear decision to act as if he is crazy (while abusing the people around him and giving free expression to antisocial thoughts), would be hard to assess regarding the indistinct point at which he stops pretending to be crazy and starts actually being crazy.

However, what makes this emotional turmoil most interesting with regard to Hamlet, is the fact that he maintains a relatively clear head in spite of himself when trying to ascertain whether his Uncle bears any responsibility in the matter of the Dane's untimely death. With help from Horatio, Hamlet best demonstrates his resolve in act three, scene two, where he stages The Mousetrap, a clever parable involving a past story regarding the murder of the Duke of Urbino. The play within the play mirrors the murder of Hamlet's father at the hands of his Uncle Claudius, while also foreshadowing the death of Claudius at the hands of his nephew. Up until this point in the play, Hamlet has struggled with the confessions of a ghost, unable to make any clear distinctions regarding the accuracy of his heavy accusations. Therefore, what makes this scene so crucial, as well as why I chose it as the scene that I would stage, is that it marks the point where Hamlet is determined to expose his Uncle, saying that [I]f his occulted guilt do not itself unkennel in one speech, it is a damned ghost that we have seen and my imaginations are as foul as Vulcan's stithy. Hamlet believes that the play is an opportunity to establish a more reliable basis for Claudiuss guilt than the claims of the ghost. Since he has no way of knowing whether to believe a member of the spirit world, he tries to determine whether Claudius is guilty by reading his behavior for signs of a psychological state of guilt.

While the performance of The Mousetrap is in itself clever, Hamlet's insistence to remain among the audience allows for him to prod Claudius during the play (You shall see anon how the murderer gets the love of Gonzago's wife,) with the intent of provoking some reaction noticeable by Horatio. Hamlet also peppers his conversation with Ophelia with sexual puns in an effort to sustain an appearance of mild madness. In short, this is a pivotal moment in the story that advances the plot by bringing our antagonist out into the open per se, while also restoring some faith in the Prince of Denmark.

All that having been said, we now look into the key components of the scene which can be broken down into three main parts. In the beginning, Hamlet is looking to inspire the players, warning the troupe to avoid exaggerating while also advising that they [B]e not too tame, neither; but let your own discretion be your tutor. Hamlet then confides in Horatio to be witness to Claudius' reactions to the performance. The second part of the play is involved with the performance, where Claudius watches the prologue or dumbshow, without reacting to the likeness of it's events to the crimes of his own life. He does, however, react strongly to the poisoning of the Uncle in the end of the play, abruptly calling for the lights to be brought back on before making a swift exit. Lastly, Horatio and Hamlet concur that Claudius' departure only validates the Ghost's assertions, right before Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive to drill Hamlet once again about his melancholy temperament.

Having outlined the scene and taken into consideration how it could and would be performed, I understood that some things had to be contained within certain parameters. Originally, I thought that Hamlet's play for Claudius and Gertrude would be more effective if the actual performance of 'The Mousetrap' was overly dramatized. I envisioned players that acted before a dark set, made more visually disturbing by lighting and silhouettes. The players themselves would wear costumes that exaggerated their features, made all the more feasible with the employment of masks to replace facial expressions. At that point, I believed that my intentions kept with the existing themes of the scene that suggest Hamlet was looking to disturb Claudius if possible, and that any angle taken would have been protected under the guise of his suspected madness. However, the players employed by Hamlet must be accomplished enough to first heed his advice before the performance, and then effectively relay the action of the play in a way that attracts Claudius' attention in such a manner that it provokes him to somehow make a scene. Since Hamlet requests that the players remain passionate but mild, there leaves little room for negotiation on how the players could portray the characters in the Vienna Murders that also make up The Mousetrap. This could easily be compensated for by shifting the focus to the spectacle aspect of theatre, where the brilliance and suspense of the performance take priority over the limited options given for the characters in the play within the play. Greater consideration could be given to the arrival and fanfare of King Claudius and Queen Gertrude as they approach Hamlet, only further complicated by his estranged behavior made necessary by his bizarre first few comments to his Uncle.

The final aspect of this scene, that carries with it considerable weight is Hamlet's behavior throughout the scene. Hamlet appears more in control of his own behavior in this scene than in the one before, as shown by his effortless manipulations of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and his frank conversation with Horatio. In this scene he seems to prove that he is not insane after all, given the effortlessness with which he alternates between wild, erratic behavior and focused, sane behavior. He is excited but coherent during his conversation with Horatio before the play, but as soon as the king and queen enter, he begins to act insane, a sign that he is only pretending. His only questionable behavior in this scene arises in his crude comments to Ophelia, which show him capable of real cruelty. It is between she and Hamlet that some controversy arises, whereas it is unclear whether he was ever really in love with Ophelia, as every comment in this scene is laced with sexual innuendo. For instance, she comments, You are keen, my lord, you are keen, complimenting him on his sharp intellect, and he replies, It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge. His interchange with Ophelia is a mere prelude to the passionate rage he will unleash on Gertrude in the next scene, so it is quite necessary for the actor portraying Hamlet to have a wide range.

As far as the setting is concerned, I would think it to be interesting to shift the time period to more modern surroundings, if not a different location. The only complication that would arise from a newly arrived modern setting would be the facilities with which Hamlet would have in his discretion to put together such a makeshift production for a performance exclusive to his immediate family and so forth. It may even then become necessary to establish Hamlet as a type of playwright or small stage director through costume, body language and other visual means. Shakespeare's characters are by no means vague, but they are not always subject to many restrictions that would keep a director or producer from finding new creative outlets through which to perform any of the Bard's plays.

If there exists any challenge in the staging of this scene, I see it in how you have to plant Hamlet among Claudius and Ophelia, where the audience of The Mousetrap is concerned. On one hand, Hamlet must remain eccentric when dealing with Ophelia and any of her advances, but on the other, he must demonstrate a resolve and certain level of calm in aggravating Claudius, and convincingly too. Unlike how Horatio must remain that calm center of the universe that Hamlet holds in such high regard, Hamlet must juggle his emotions around accordingly to fit his current situation, or else he faces exposure as well, in the eyes of an ambitious, if sometimes reluctant murderer.

Many people have seen Hamlet as a play about indecisiveness, and thus about Hamlets failure to act appropriately. This might be supported in other areas of the story, but I always admired Hamlet as a character, seeing him as having a higher potential for integrity and reflection than melancholy. It might then be more interesting to consider that the play shows us how many uncertainties our lives are built upon, how many unknown quantities are taken for granted when people act or when they evaluate one anothers actions.

 

 

Please note that this sample paper on Hamlet is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on Hamlet, we are here to assist you. Your persuasive essay on Hamlet will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality.

Order your authentic assignment and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!