Hamlet is known to be the most popular play written by Shakespeare Essay

Hamlet is known to be the most popular play written by Shakespeare. It is also, by a significant margin, the longest of Shakespeare’s plays. It has been translated to many languages and has become the subject of excited and critical debate more than any other work of literature. The play was written around 1602 or 1603 at a period of time when Elizabethan London was a melting pot of unique intellectual and artistic ferment. For Shakespeare at the turn of the century, when he addressed himself to the Hamlet story, contradiction and the uncertainty of attitude towards revenge would have been part of the air he breathed. He must also have been familiar with a considerable body of literature in which revenge was a central concern. Hamlet must have been written shortly after Julius Caesar (1599), another revenge play. At two moments in Hamlet the killing of Caesar is remembered. Julius Caesar had contained a vengeful ghost. Hamlet complicates the story by directing attention to three linked father-and-son pairs: old Hamlet and the prince who has inherited his name but not his kingdom, old Fortinbras and a son whose situation is similar to that of Hamlet but whose character is very different, Polonius and Laertes. All three fathers die by violence. All three sons feel responsible to take revenge, but the response of each to his task is completely different. There is also the absorbing debate about sexuality and sexual morality. As society continues to change the nature of that debate shifts but the basic issues dealt with in Hamlet remain fundamental to man and this is perhaps the reason why a four hundred year old text in Elizabethan English continues to excite people from so many different cultures and ideologies. Act 3 Scene 4 takes place in Gertrude’s closet. Here a series of fast paced events takes place. Hamlet â€Å"speaking daggers† to his mother, Polonius murdered accidentally, Hamlet’s second and final meeting with the ghost, the re-joining of the mother-son bond all fall under this scene. Shakespeare makes this scene very important through the use of language, style, setting etc. This scene follows the ‘play within a play’ performed by the players in Act 3 Scene 3. Hamlet had used the play to â€Å"catch the conscience of the King. † Hamlet aims to get both the King and Queen’s conscience through the play. He gets her by questioning â€Å"Madam, how do you like this play? † showing how he wants to make her feel guilty. Act 3 Scene 4 is somewhat a continuation of his quest to free his mother from her incestuous sin. It also follows Claudius’ plotting with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to kill Hamlet in England and Polonius’ plan to spy on Hamlet when he approaches his mother in the closet. The scene begins as a kind of dramatic parallel to Act 3 Scene 1: Polonius eavesdropping, Gertrude speaking to her son. As before with Ophelia Hamlet comes face to face with somebody to whom he was once close to but from whom he has been deliberately separated. The murder of King Hamlet and the marriage of Queen Gertrude all are the cause of this break-up. The discussion between mother and son, the only extended one in the play, concentrates upon how her sexual lust has led her to leave her â€Å"wholesome brother† for â€Å"a mildewed ear†. This is the only scene where mother and son are alone (excluding Polonius). Hence Shakespeare is able to bring out Hamlet’s feelings and opinions about his mother’s incestuous crime. His opening lines itself show his mockery of the rhythm and the words of her reprimand. Hamlet turns the finger of accusation to her; he turns the tables on her through his language. † Queen: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. Hamlet: Mother, you have my father much offended. Queen: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue. Hamlet: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. † Hamlet also makes his purpose clear: â€Å"You go not till I set you up on a glass where you may see the innermost part of you†.