I don't really know how ATAR notes works but hopefully I'm in the right place.
Hi, my name is Cecilia.
I was wondering if anyone would be able to take a look at my Advanced English essay on Hamlet? I have the intro and the first body paragraph written (and the beginning of my second body), but I would really appreciate some feedback! (I'm aiming to write about 800 words as I have to write this in an hour in an exam).
Here is the question:“The time is out of joint. O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right.”
Hamlet is a play about human frailty and loss.
Evaluate how the structural features of the revenge tragedy have been used to present the effect of human frailty and loss upon individuals and society. Here is my writing so far:William Shakespeare’s late 16th century, revenge tragedy Hamlet confronts the paradoxical nature of the human experience in that our weakness and incapacity to change our inherently futile endings and loss of dignity, is ultimately prompted by our futile attempts to legitimise the meaninglessness of our actions. The Elizabethan preoccupation of “the functions of conscience and especially its morbid preoccupation with past sins and omissions” (Reed, 1958) is evident through Shakespeare’s persistent use of Cartesian dualism across Hamlet’s soliloquies. Shakespeare’s characterisation of Hamlet as deflecting simultaneously undermines the legitimacy of Religion and a weak human tendency to be suppressed by imaginary barriers that we create, thus resulting in a loss of command over our own lives. The fragmentation presented in the Mousetrap Scene mirrors to the audience, the weakness of the human condition in that we question and delay action. Shakespeare epitomises the mystery of death and the afterlife through the skull and the Ghost, to reveal the infirmity of being human.
The pseudo-academic discussion between the Clowns within the Graveyard Scene simultaneously mocks the legitimacy of the Elizabethan monarchy in that their actions ultimately amount to nothing, and adds an element of comic relief to the play.
“Is she to be buried in Christian burial, when she wilfully seeks her own salvation?”
The pointlessness of the conversation in that they do not know what they’re talking about/assume Ophelia committed suicide explores the human limitations that we only have what we know, sign-ifying that we inevitably lose the ability to act reasonably. Hamlet’s weakness as a leader and a partner to Ophelia ultimately led to her demise, and a loss of sympathy from the audience towards Hamlet. Additionally, Shakespeare offers the audience insight into the mystery of the afterlife through the symbolism of the Ghost and the skull as the metaphysical and physical aspects of death.
“This visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose”
The Ghost epitomises the metaphysical aspect of death concerning the eternal consequences of temporal causes, in this case, Hamlet’s inaction. Shakespeare utilises this to display the weakening effect of the human tendency to attempt to control our destinies. Shakespeare presents our subordinate state of being in that we are subject to supernatural otherness of the universe to unveil the frailty of the human condition and a lost sense of purpose.
The need to accept fate and the inevitable is presented to the audience through Hamlet’s fatal flaw of procrastination and his tendency to deflect the blame. This establishes his role as a tragic hero in that his downfall is one of indecisiveness and inaction.
“There is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hue them how you will”
Hope you can help!
Thanks!