Study of " Hamlet "

Name : Solanki Pratiksha M.
Paper : 8. The Cultural Studies
Subject : Assignment
Title : Study of " Hamlet "
Roll No. 23
Sem : 2
Submitted to : 
Smt. S.B.Gardi 
Dept. of English
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University
pratikshasolanki068@gmail.com


Study Of " Hamlet " :

 Brief Introduction.

    " Hamlet "- It's a tragedy and one type of revenge play written by William Shakespeare. " Hamlet " is the story of a Prince, Hamlet.. who wants to take revenge of his father's death by his uncle Claudius. Shakespeare also changed entire story with making his hamlet as a philosophical prince.

Study of " Hamlet " :

    Rosencrantz and Guildenstern both are marginalized characters in this novel. Let see the approach Shakespeare's Hamlet with a view to seeing power in its cultural context. 
    
    We see the power position when Hamlet's father killed by his uncle claudius and after his father's death hie uncle becomes king so here we see the power of kingship. After the play within the play Claudius is talking very privately with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet's fellow students from Wittenberg and with this response to Claudius plan to send Hamlet to England. Here we see again the power of Kingship. Here that time Rosencrantz delivers a speech. 

" Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are among the jellyfish of Shakesperae's characters "

Both are voiceless and it is easy to forget which of the two speaks. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are distinctly plot driven empty of personality in a different way and eager to curry favor with power even if it means spying on their erstwhile friend.

The Meaning of their Names.. 

The meaning of their names it too different and hardly match what seems to be the essence of their characters. Murray J. Levith, for example has written that..

Rosencrantz :  " garland of roses "

Guildenstern : " golden star "

Although of religious origin, both names together sound singsong and odd to English ears.

" They must sweep my way,

and marshal me to knavery. Let it work,

for 'tis the sport to have the engineer

Hoist with his own petard. And 't shall go hard

But I will delve one yard below their mines

And below them to the moon : Oh, 'tis mose sweet

When in one line two crafts directly meet."

Let us look that what these two characters tell us and let see what they do. We know that simply they are the students at Wittenberg. Claudius send them with Hamlet. Though they may not have known the contents of the " grand commission ".
    
    So all those things are shows cultural distance and power distance. There is someone who said that Sometimes people take the advice to write what you know pretty literally like Shakespeare, who failed Hamlet with self-conscious references to the working of the theater, but it is not just for lack of other material. Shakespeare very well presented whole novel and if ever we wished to study two characters who are marginalized, then let us look upon Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

    Power comes from different situations and also behavior, where Hamlet's madness gives power to claudius.Claudius was aware of power, clearly when he observed of Hamlet's Madness..
 

" Madness in great ones must not unwatched go "

For such is power in the world of kings and princes. Nor is it merely a literary construct. England had known the effects of such power off and on for centuries. 

Conclusion ::

Thus, a cultural and historical view that was Shakespeare's is radically reworked to reflect a cultural and philosophical view of another time..our own. 

Thank you..