Spoiler
Now might I do it pat, now a is a-praying,
And now I’ll do’t – and so a goes to heaven, And so am I revenged. That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and for that,
I his sole son do this same villain send
To heaven.
Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge.
In your view, how does Shakespeare’s portrayal of the complex nature of revenge contribute to the enduring value of Hamlet?
In your response, make detailed reference to the extract from Hamlet and the play as a whole.
Shakespeare's Hamlet addressees timeless ideas which have allowed it to endure as a great work of literature for centuries. Nice start, makes it clear you know what this Module is about. One of these timeless ideas is the complex nature of revenge, as it opens up a moral dilemma, as well as allowing for comment on the nature of corruption as well. Through this exploration of revenge we are able to understand the complexities of the human condition, and thus the piece has remained timeless. A slightly simplistic introduction, not necessarily a bad thing - It would be good to put emphasis on the extract scene to make it clear you are going to make that a large part of your response!
The morality of revenge is one of the main concerns of Hamlet. This is evident due to the context of the piece. The Elizabethan era was a time in which feudalism was coming to an end and the values of humanism were becoming more popular, leaving Hamlet caught between two systems of values. You could likely condense those two sentences into one to save yourself some space, free up room for more analysis! The feudal duty to his father and the king is evident through the biblical allusion "Thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain" which utilises an assertive tone to represents Hamlet's strong motive to "revenge his [father's] most foul and unnatural murder". Nice integration of quote into your expression, be sure to explain what we learn BEYOND just the character of Hamlet and about the morality of revenge as a whole. However the humanist values of gathering evidence and logical thought are also evident, contributing to hamlets fatal flaw of procrastination. How does this relate to the morality of revenge? This is evident through "the mouse trap", a meta-theatrical component that allows Hamlet to "catch the conscience of the King", and thus reveal Hamlet's more rational thoughts. Due to this clash in contextual values, the complex, moral dilemma of revenge is conveyed to audiences. Ideas well expressed, analytically not quite up into the high range in terms of sophistication.
Hamlet's Christian values also contribute to the moral dilemma of revenge and aids his procrastination. This is evident through the extract in which the repetition of villain in "A villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do send this same villain to heaven" in which the contrast between "villain" and "heaven" reveals that Hamlet delays action due to his Christian faith, and the fact he perceives Claudius as unworthy of heaven. What does this reveal about Christian values and their contribution to the morality of revenge? This causes him to lose motive as evident in the soliloquy "why This is hire and salary, not revenge" which conveys to audiences that to kill Claudius now would be to do the deeds of others wills rather than his own. Retelling the plot a bit. Therefore Hamlet's Christian faith has caused him to lose motivation in carrying out revenge. See how you've finished with "This is what we learn about Hamlet?" You need to have shown us something about the concept of the morality of revenge.
Despite this, however, Hamlet realises that it is his fate to carry through the deed. No real concept here, this is just a plot point. This is due to the world in which the sons of the play I left to resolve the problems created by their fathers. Expression issue there? The context of the play also plays a part in conveying that Hamlet has no choice but to carry out the revenge, through the great chain of being. According to Elizabethan ideas of this hierarchy, The great chain of being would have been disturbed with the murder of King Fortinbras which occurred "the very day young Hamlet was born, he that is mad and sent to England". Thus Hamlet's birth was God's way of restoring order, through the final cleansing and purging of act 5 scene 2, which sees Fortinbras take the throne and restore the natural order. Retell. This is realised in the rhyming couplet "The time is out of joint, o cursed Sprite/ that ever I was born to set it right". By realising his fate Hamlet is able to stop procrastinating and carry out the deed despite the dubious morality. This is a very plot focused paragraph, you need to shift the ideas and make it more conceptual to push into the high range.
The nature of revenge as portrayed in Hamlet allows for comment on corruption, since the vengeance is a way of restoring justice to a corrupt world. This is a better, more developed concept. Denmark has obviously been corrupted from within its own castle walls as evident through the setting. By setting the entirety of the play in the castle except for the graveyard scene, it is evident that the source of corruption is within. Condense those sentences, try to finish a thought in a sentence and not leave a detail to the next one, where you can. This is enhanced through the metaphorical "sickness in my heart" as described by Laretes, which reveals the corruption within. The motif of rotting highlights the corruption to audiences through "something is rotten in the state of Denmark" and the numerous wit of the grave digger "if a not a rotten before a die" which engages audiences and clarifies their understanding of corruption. Good, this is more conceptual analysis. Hence the revenge is explored as a way of restoring justice to a clearly corrupt world in which corruption comes from within and thus allows Hamlet to remain a timeless piece. Better paragraph, more conceptual - Nice finish.
The enduring nature of Hamlet is due to the skilful exploration of revenge. The moral dilemma triggered by a clash in values, and Christian faith prevent Hamlet from acting on his quest for vengeance. However, by accepting his fate as a pawn in restoring justice in a corrupt society, his motivation is restored. Ultimately, this treatment of the complex nature of revenge allows audiences to acquire a greater understanding of timeless values such as morality and corruption, and this has allowed Hamlet to remain popular over the centuries. Solid conclusion.
Solid response Potatohater, love how you are expressing your ideas. You aren't overdoing it with expression so it is clear and methodical - I like it. It does become a little too simplistic at times in terms of how you explain your concepts, be careful, you did a good job with it at the end. Ensure your analysis is conceptual - In earlier paragraphs (particularly the 3rd) you tended to focus more on plot and characters, rather than concepts.
You'd also want to be referencing the extract more than you are right now, or at least more consistently - I think having it in its own paragraph feels a little out of place, especially given the concept feels very similar to the previous. Try embedding it throughout instead - I think that would work better that way!
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Topic: English Advanced: Module B essay - Hamlet (Read 2281 times)