hamlet essay examples

Hamlet - Essay Examples And Topic Ideas For Free

Hamlet, one of William Shakespeare’s most celebrated tragedies, delves into themes of madness, revenge, mortality, and existential despair. Essays could delve into the complex character of Hamlet, his internal struggles, and the philosophical dialogues that pervade the play. They might also explore the political intrigue, the family dynamics, and the elements of tragedy and supernatural in the narrative. Discussions could extend to the play’s enduring appeal, the various interpretations and adaptations over centuries, and its influence on later literature and drama. The discourse may also touch on the larger social and psychological themes explored in “Hamlet” and how they resonate with contemporary audiences. A substantial compilation of free essay instances related to Hamlet you can find at Papersowl. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Hamlet’s Psychoanalytic Analysis

Hamlet stands out as the most popular William Shakespeare's tragedies. The play is categorized as drama, literature, and philosophy and the world admits its artistic stature. Besides the poetic language used in the play, the appeal of the play lies in Hamlet's character. He is obliged to avenge the death of his father and in the process; Hamlet has to face duty, ethics and morality problems. Hamlet has to deal with issues that have been daunting human beings for centuries. […]

Revenge is the Overarching Theme of the Play Hamlet

Revenge is a strange idea. It has been around since the dawn of time. An Eye for an eye, right? If someone hits you, you hit them back harder. In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare, Revenge is the overarching theme of the play. It shows what revenge can do to a person. Hamlet views revenge as a good deed: something that he must complete to avenge his dad. Revenge is binary, meaning it isn't only the act of revenge, there […]

Patriarchy and the Shakespearean Woman

William Shakespeare writes during a time when patriarchy was prevalent. Shakespeare includes these personas and attitudes within his plays to illustrate how these ideals played out. He works also to create female characters that hold their male counterparts accountable. In this paper, there will be a review of patriarchal patterns within A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Henry IV, Macbeth, and King Lear but additionally how the female characters counteract the hegemonic masculinity. Because patriarchal patterns were prevalent in the time […]

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Fortinbras Orders a Military Funeral for Hamlet

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is a play written by the English writer William Shakespeare who was known for writing plays that specifically demonstrates the complete range of human emotions and conflict. The tragedy of Hamlet explores the themes of vengeance and human emotion, making it one of the most famous tragedies written in history. The tragedy was written in the early modern period around the years 1600 and 1602. This period in time represented an era of […]

Death and Suicide in Hamlet

Lucius Annaeus Seneca once said, Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all. In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet struggles to cope with his father's death and his mother's rash decision to marry his uncle, King's Hamlet brother, Claudius, less than a month after his father's death. After an unexpected visit from his father's ghost, Hamlet discovers that his uncle murdered his father. This new information sets Hamlet on a path of revenge that is […]

Destructive Love is an Emotional Process

"Destructive love is an emotional process of tearing down the love and affection between 2 people in a relationship. The idea of knowing the difference between having a disagreement that is trying to clear up something in comparison to a disagreement that is destructive toxicity can come. The theme of destructive love between different relationships in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Shakespeare's Hamlet Robert Browning's My Last Duchess results in the characters having […]

Compare and Contrast: Hamlet and the Lion King

The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it. Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. Set in Denmark, the play dramatises the revenge Prince Hamlet is called to wreak upon his uncle, Claudius, by the ghost of Hamlet's father, King Hamlet. The Lion King is a Disney feature based on a young lion Simba the heir of his father the king Mufasa. Simba's wicked uncle, Scar, plots […]

Hamlet Oedipus Complex

The well known play, Hamlet written by William Shakespeare truly centers on the hardship of Hamlet being pressured to kill his uncle by plead of his dead father. It all began when Hamlet discovers a ghost which embodies the exact features of his recently dead father. The Ghost begs Hamlet to seek revenge for him since he was unfairly killed by his own brother named Claudius. Hamlet’s uncle not only killed his father, but he also had the audacity to […]

Women in the Shakespearean Era

Introduction Why is the fate of women taken carelessly by some actors and actresses? During the Shakespearean era, the role of women in most works was played by men and boys. This was because in the mediaeval world stage acting by women was considered disgraceful. William Shakespeare era considered acting to be a masculine profession rather than feminine. Most acting groups' recruited boys and men often compared to women. This take of women was mostly during the British time which […]

Shakespeare’s Hamlet Character Analysis

Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most extended and probably the most famous English language play ever written. In the script, the character Hamlet is the protagonist. Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, is the queen of Denmark. His uncle, Claudius recently killed his father, King Hamlet and married Gertrude. Hamlet’s actions depict him to have a lot of contradictions, reckless but cautious. Shakespeare captures the human characteristics perfectly with the character of Hamlet with an inconsistency of emotions such that no one knows what he […]

Hamlet’s Views on Men, Women and the World

When Hamlet is asking questions, he is not asking questions for himself but for man in general. How does Hamlet depict the world through his own problems? What kind of light does it cast on the world/society at large? The Tragedy of Prince Hamlet, a play by William Shakespeare, tells the tale of the youthful Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, who seeks retribution for his dad's murder by his uncle, Claudius, the newly appointed King of Denmark. In this play, it's […]

Shakespeare: Obedience and Powerless in Women

In Hamlet and Othello, Shakespeare criticizes the feminine issues that were present in his time, bringing awareness to the standard roles and ideal expectations of women by characterizing them in a space of being obedient and powerless. As women are portrayed as having ideal feminine values such as chastity and passiveness, the frailty of women is also brought to the surface. On the other hand, Shakespeare also seems to be suggesting that internal destruction is generated in the sense that […]

Hamlet Madness

William Shakespeare is one of the world’s most renowned writers still to date. He is the writer of 37 plays and 154 sonnets. One his most well-known plays is Hamlet, a tragedy filled with drama, revenge, madness, and death. The main character of the play, Hamlet, is the subject of whether he is actually mad or not. His indeed madness can be traced back to the tragic events that have occurred to him such as the death of his father […]

Reasons why Hamlet is not Insane

Though it may seem that Hamlet looks insane sometimes but in reality Hamlet is not insane. Hamlet is trying to seek the revenge that his father wants him to get. The insanity the people think they see in Hamlet, is what Hamlet sees himself as quandaring on what to do. Seeking revenge is hard for Hamlet to do, in the since he is going to end up killing his mother's lover, but on the other hand his father's killer. Hamlet […]

Where Can we Find Hamlet in our Lives

To say that Hamlet bears no resemblance nor relevance to everyday people's lives would be an uninformed statement. When further examined, the intuition into our current society that Hamlet provides becomes abundantly clear. For example, the many themes and motifs present in Shakespeare's Hamlet parallel issues that are relevant in our current society. Themes such as revenge, deception, mental health, etc. Firstly, the theme of revenge appears to be the most notable theme that reflects heavily in both Hamlet and […]

The Female Identities in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Gender discrimination is based on human prejudice or discrimination against the sexes. This kind of discrimination has been going on for many centuries, and Shakespeare's era is no exception. Sex discrimination may affect anyone, but it mainly affects women and girls, such as Gertrude and Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Sexism is fully embodied in this play. In this play, Women are inferior to men in their statements, and women's voices are easily ignored. This shows that Shakespeare is anti-female. In […]

Shakespeare’s Villains

"In two of William Shakespeare’s plays: Hamlet and King Lear, the two characters who are considered villainous with great political ambitions are Claudius, King of Denmark and Edmund, the bastard son of Earl of Gloucester. These two men are resentful, manipulative, and want to ensure they obtain power; nevertheless, Shakespeare provides the audience with an understanding yet unsympathetic perception of their plot to pursue the title and land. Even though these characters are a part of two different tragedies, Shakespeare […]

Hamlet is a Political Tragedy

The country is in the political disturbance. The King who everyone loved is dead. The political system is currently headed by Claudius. The country is in the hands of a man who is untrustworthy, unfair and a murderer. Claudius has killed his own brother. How can he be trusted? There's no balance in the political system. There is no balance in the political system. In Act 1, Scene 2 this is obvious. Even Claudius concedes that the country is disorganized […]

Hamlet Research Paper

In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the author uses various literary devices to convey many themes and sentiments to the reader, via his characters’ actions. The play’s focal character - Hamlet - is one that transforms throughout the play quite drastically, yet it can be argued that it was all part of a greater plan. As Hamlet returns to the castle to hear news that his father is dead, it brings a grand amount of grief and sadness to […]

Shakespeare’s Madness Within Hamlet and King Lear

How do you know if a person has gone mad? How do you know if a person is telling the truth? What about intention? Nowadays, we have psychologists, therapists and all kinds of doctors that help to diagnose mental illness. We are now aware of the different types of “craziness” that a person can be. What about hundreds of years ago? Just like today, some people were truly madmen, but of course, anyone has the ability to pretend to be […]

Shakespeare’s Characterization of Hamlet

In the revenge tragedy, Hamlet, Shakespeare characterizes Hamlet as a man with a heightened power of observation, while exploring the unique ways in which his keen eye can interpret the events that occur throughout the play. Hamlet is not an abstract thinker, but he is merely gifted with a greater sense of reality due to his ability to observe and articulate his thoughts and observances. Hamlet's ability to penetrate to the very core of things through his greater power of […]

How does Claudius Manipulate Laertes: Manipulative Machinations

Introduction Maggie MillsBeckerLiterature and composition12 March 2018 "Quintessence of dust" The weight of one's mortality and the complexities of life lead people to question and ponder what their fate will be in the afterlife. In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Hamlet questions the meaning of life and grapples to accept his own existence. The motif of death and decay develops throughout the play, starting figuratively and evolving into a more literal interpretation, leading to the conclusion that death is the great […]

Elements of Comedy in the Play Hamlet

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's' most famous plays, for it revolves around external and internal conflicts or struggles within the main character, Hamlet, which makes it unique from a typical revenge story. Although the genre of the play is a tragedy it contains various elements of comedy throughout the darkest moments of the play. At the start of the play guardsmen at the royal palace have seen a ghost which seems to be former King Hamlet, and convinces noblemen Horatio […]

About Feminism in Hamlet

Ophelia agrees to take Laertes’s advice. She agrees to take his advice because she knows nothing else than to listen a man. She is dependent on men and continues to do whatever they tell her. She saids “this is a good lesson keep, As a watchman to my heart.” (1.3.51) She sees it as he is looking out for her, which he is but it reality he is demanding her to stay away from Hamlet to keep her purity. Laertes […]

The Tragic Flaw of Hamlet

Archetypes are characters, situations, and symbols that can transcend different cultures. Undoubtedly, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, one of the most influential works written by William Shakespeare”, is a classic dramatic story filled with deceit, trickery, self-doubt, revenge, and death” (J., Clayton.) In this piece, Shakespeare masterfully employs Jung’s archetypes to give personality traits to his characters, such as the hero and the outcast for Prince Hamlet, the villain and the ambitious for Claudius, and the battle between […]

Hamlet’s Insanity the Masterpiece to Great Shakespearean Entertainment

Mental or psychological influence in any literary work can heighten and alter the mood and tone. Some literary works can alter the course of the storyline as is done in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Hamlet's mental state, along with major character influence, has the ability to allow a wide range of unexpected plot twists and a touch of suspense. In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet's revenge demonstrates the extent of one's mental capacity can be found amusing and […]

The Idea of Displacement in Maya Angelou’s Work

Maya Angelou- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings One of the major ideas we discussed around this book was the idea of displacement. In this passage, Maya and her peers are listening to a white man speak to their class. In this scenario, Maya is feeling displaced in a place where she normally feels at home. When the white man comes into the school, he speaks to them in a condescending way, talking down to not only the students […]

King Claudius and Hamlet

Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark, the son of Queen Gertrude and late King Hamlet and nephew of King Claudius. In the story Hamlet many people are stuck between if he is actually insane or if he is faking his insanity. Some people really do believe he is and some people believe he is absolutely not. The story is very dramatic and a lot goes on. Hamlet has had to deal with a lot throughout the play. The main problems […]

Hamlet Extract Analysis

Jake Bourdages Michael Krause AP Literature November 26th, 2018 Hamlet Extract Analysis Introduction: It is the very beginning of the play at act 1, scene 2, and Claudius, with Gertrude by his side, has just been crowned the new king of Denmark. Claudius's first action as the king is to give his inaugural speech, in which he tells the kingdom that rather than mourning the old king everyone should be celebrating the new marriage between himself and Gertrude. After his […]

Oedipus Vs Hamlet

In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, when Thebes is struck with the aid of a plague, the human beings ask King Oedipus to supply them from its horrors. Creon, the brother of Jocasta, Oedipus's queen, returns from the oracle of Apollo and discloses that the plague is punishment for the homicide of King Laius, Oedipus's instant predecessor, to whom Jocasta was once married. Creon further discloses that the residents of Thebes need to find out and punish the murderer before the […]

Related topic

Additional example essays.

• An Analysis of Ophelia's Madness in Hamlet
• Macbeth Downfall in the Context of Violence
• Dramatic Irony Examples in Romeo and Juliet
• Who Is to Blame for Romeo and Juliets Death?
• How is Death Presented in Romeo and Juliet
• Death Penalty Should be Abolished
• The Mental Health Stigma
• How the Roles of Women and Men Were Portrayed in "A Doll's House"
• Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
• Positive Effects of Social Media
• Substance Abuse and Mental Illnesses
• The Significance of Following Orders in Daily Life and the Fire Service

How To Write an Essay About Hamlet

Introduction to shakespeare's hamlet.

William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is a timeless work of literature that delves into themes of revenge, tragedy, morality, and the human condition. In the introduction of your essay, briefly summarize the plot of "Hamlet," focusing on the young Prince of Denmark who is the play's central character. Outline the key themes you intend to explore, such as the complexity of action, the mystery of death, and the struggle with moral corruption. This initial section should offer a concise overview of the play’s background and set the stage for a deeper analytical exploration of its characters, themes, and Shakespeare's use of language.

Exploring Themes and Characterization

The body of your essay should focus on a detailed analysis of the major themes in "Hamlet." Examine the theme of revenge and its implications on the characters’ actions and the play’s outcome. Discuss the existential questions raised by Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, "To be, or not to be," and how these reflect his internal conflict. Furthermore, analyze the play’s exploration of madness, both feigned and real, particularly in the characters of Hamlet and Ophelia. In addition to thematic analysis, delve into character studies. Examine Hamlet’s complex personality, his relationship with other characters like Claudius, Gertrude, and Ophelia, and how these relationships drive the plot forward. Use specific examples and quotations from the text to support your analysis, ensuring each paragraph delves into different aspects of Shakespeare’s work.

Shakespeare's Language and Dramatic Techniques

An essay on "Hamlet" should also pay attention to Shakespeare's use of language and dramatic techniques. Discuss the play's structure, its use of soliloquies, and the significance of its metaphors and imagery. Examine how these elements contribute to the play's thematic depth and emotional impact. This analysis can include how Shakespeare builds tension and conveys themes through dialogue, setting, and symbolism. By focusing on these elements, you can provide insight into Shakespeare’s craftsmanship and the ways in which "Hamlet" operates both as a piece of literature and a theatrical performance.

Concluding Thoughts on Hamlet

Conclude your essay by summarizing the key points of your analysis, tying them back to your initial thesis about the play’s themes and significance. Reflect on the enduring relevance of "Hamlet" in modern times, considering why it continues to be a vital part of literary and theatrical discourse. You might also explore the play's influence on later literature and culture. A strong conclusion will not only provide closure to your essay but also extend its relevance, encouraging readers to continue contemplating the complexities of Shakespeare’s masterpiece.

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Hamlet Essay Examples

The relation of madness and human nature in hamlet.

Madness is a theme shown in many different literary works as it explores the limitations and expectations of human nature. In the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare, real and feigned madness results in characters such as Hamlet and Ophelia to lose their rationality and...

Exploring World-known Hamlet's Soliloquy "To Be Or not to Be"

"To be or not to be" essay give a deep analysis of a famous soliloquy from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. In this soliloquy, Hamlet is contemplating the idea of suicide and questioning whether it is better to live and suffer through life's troubles or to...

Hamlet's Madness: a Study of Realism and Feigned Insanity

The enigmatic nature of Hamlet's mental state in William Shakespeare's iconic play "Hamlet" has fueled extensive scholarly debate regarding whether his madness is authentic or merely a calculated façade. This essay embarks on a comprehensive exploration of the complexities surrounding Hamlet's mind, scrutinizing the evidence...

The Tragic Hero in Shakespeare's Hamlet: a Research Paper

In the work ''Hamlet' Research Paper: Essay' we will talk about the author of this poem and research main themes of it. William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor. He is considered as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s...

Unraveling the Mind of Hamlet: a Psychoanalysis

The play ‘Hamlet’ by William Shakespeare which is probably one of Shakespeare’s best plays. The protagonist Hamlet who is the most about a character in the play as he displays several traits in the play. Gertrude which is the name of Hamlet’s mother and his...

Tragic Hero and Revenge in Hamlet

Hamlet is a tragic hero because he has classically “noble” motivations to punish the man who murdered his father, and in the end of the story his situation has become so ridiculous that the only way to end the story would be to end his...

The Play Hamlet from a Feminist and the New Historicism Perspective 

Since Hamlet was published in 1603, there have been innumerable critiques of Hamlet. Being one of the most vaunted plays ever published in the English language, Hamlet has been covered ad nauseum. I will proffer a deviating perspective by analyzing Hamlet from the perspective of...

The Portrayal of the Main Character in the Play Hamlet 

As a result of my study of Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”, there is no doubt in my mind that Hamlet possesses many strengths that I admire, such as his intelligence, nobility, wit, loyalty and also his bravery. However, throughout the course of the play his flaws...

The Role of Ophelia's Character in Hamlet

Ophelia’s character in Hamlet has been talked about by many critics, with some questioning the requirement of her role. While she is undoubtedly the lesser character in comparison to Gertrude, Claudius, or even Hamlet, her ultimate insanity and death offers an intrigue to some critics....

Tragic Hero and Anti-hero in Hamlet

An anti-hero is the protagonist of a story that lacks heroic characteristics, they have some good qualities as well as some bad qualities. On the other hand, a tragic hero is, as described by Aristotle, “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and...

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About Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Shakespearean tragedy

Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, Horatio

Hamlet's Dark Clothes The Mousetrap. Ophelia's Flowers. The Skull of Yorick. To Read, or Not to Read.

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