Introduction
William Shakespeare was a renowned English writer, poet and dramatist. Shakespeare had a number of plays to his credit. Also, his works influenced quite a number of writers such as Charles Dickens, Herman Melville and a host of others. (Charles 602)
This essay will focus on pointing out how William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is an enjoyable play and how it shows exuberance displayed in the play.
Hamlet which is a tragedy play shows social vices like moral corruption, treachery, incest, revenge and rage in their highest form. (Tony 442)
Hamlet as a play in an enjoyable way
The play Hamlet has characters like Claudius, prince Hamlet, Old king Hamlet, Horatio and Ophelia as the main characters. The intriguing aspect of the play is the display of different plots against each other by the characters. (Tony 231)
Old Hamlet’s Brother Claudius kills him, ascends his throne and marries his queen. Prince Hamlet son of the late king Hamlet of Denmark encounters the supposedly ghost of his late father which reveals to him that he was poisoned by Claudius his brother. Prince Hamlet then arranges a play depicting the death of his father King Hamlet in order to confirm the story of the ghost through Claudius’ action. (Quincy 600)
As the drama unfolds, the reader is left abashed as events take their turn. Also, prince Hamlet’s feigned insanity after he unknowingly killed Polonius the father of his fiancée, who hid behind the curtain listening to his discussion with his mother is another intriguing part of the play. (Benjamin 120)
Exuberance displayed in the play Hamlet
Youthful exuberance leads young prince Hamlet to a sad end as he became obsessed with avenging his father’s death. The play shows how terrible things happen to good people with a single deadly flaw. Prince Hamlet was indeed a good young man until he let his sense of avenging his father’s death get the better of him. This ultimately led to prince Hamlet’s death. In spite of Ophelia’s love for young Hamlet, the prince never paused to rethink his decision or the outcome of his actions on his loved ones. (Quincy 400)
Driven by youthful exuberance, prince Hamlet dies untimely at the end thus hurting his loved ones such as Gertrude his mother and Horatio his best friend and confident. (Butler 259)
Another instance of exuberance is the case of Claudius who murders his brother old king Hamlet and hurriedly married his queen Gertrude just two months after the king’s death. Claudius also like prince Hamlet never took time to deliberate over his actions. He was simply driven by his quest for kingship and his actions attracted prince Hamlet’s attention as shown at the beginning of the play.
Laertes returns to Elsinore and his subsequent duel with prince Hamlet with out finding out why or how his father Polonius was killed by prince Hamlet. This is another case of exuberance displayed and Laertes irrational decision eventually led to his death. Also, Ophelia’s refusal to heed to her father’s advice about falling in love with prince Hamlet eventually cost her her life. (Becky 89)
Conclusion
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a wholistic play which shows moral corruption as was the case with Claudius and the consequence of such an act were shown in the end. Prince Hamlet is a character in the play with many sides. He is associated with feigned madness after he kills Polonius unknowingly. Also driven by rage and exuberance, his calculated revenge leads him to cold blooded murder.
As events twist, unfold and take their different turns, with treachery, rage, murder in play, the drama is quite enjoyable and it also shows the implication of such acts as every character who indulged in an evil suffered the consequence of his or her deed. (Albert 301)
Shakespeare displays his artistic quality by using eloquent phrases and words. Suspense is created and maintained through out the play.
Works cited
Albert, Kelvin. “A cultural history from the restoration to the present”: Cambridge University press 2007. Print
Becky, Walker. “Hamlet”: A standard guide to the play; Stanton press 2000. Print
Benjamin, Chris. “A guide to the text and its theatrical life”: Hamlet; Harwood press 1999. Print
Butler, Dunn. “Life and time of William Shakespeare”: The making of Hamlet; Bedford press 2001. Print
Charles, Michael. “Hamlet”: Commentary and summary of the drama; Boston press 2003. Print
Tony, Jones. “Women and Shakespearean performance”: A true reflection; Wells press 1998. Print
Quincy, James. “The problem of Hamlet and a solution preferred”: Cambridge University press. 2010