Hamlet -- the Characterization Essay -- GCSE English Literature Course

critical point -- the mental picture The beautifully developed characters within Shakespeares dramatic tr seasondy, Hamlet, are manifestations of genius. let us in this essay tour the gallery of the adorns characters in this most famous play. George Lyman Kittredge, in his book, Five Plays of Shakespeare, describes the Bards excellent characterization of Claudius King Claudius is a superb figure some as great a dramatic creation as Hamlet himself. His intellectual powers are of the highest order. He is eloquent formal when formality is suppress (as in the speech from the throne), graciously familiar when familiarity is in place (as is his interference of the family of Polonius), persuasive to an almost superhuman degree (as in his manipulation of the freedom fighter Laertes) always and everywhere a model of royal dignity. His courage is manifested, downstairs the most terrifying circumstances, when the mob breaks into the palace. His self-control when the dumb show enac ts his dark crime before his eyes is nothing less than marvelous. (xviii) The genius of the Bard is revealed in his characterization. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt in Literature of the Western domain of a function examine the universal appeal of Shakespeare resulting from his sharply inscribed characters Every age from Shakespeares time to the present has found something different in him to admire. entirely ages, however, have recognized his supreme skill in inventing sharply etched characters it frequently happens that long after one has forgotten the exact baloney of a play one remembers its people with absolute vividness. It is true, paradoxically, that many of Shakespeares characters represent universal types.. . . Scores of them are fu... ...stitute of Technology. 1995. http//www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html West, Rebecca. A flirt and World Infected by the Disease of Corruption. Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The lawcourt and the Castle. naked as a jaybird Haven, CT Yale University Press, 1957. Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. Shakespeare. Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992. Wilson, John Dover. What happens in Hamlet. New York Cambridge University Press, 1959. Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. Hamlet A reality Who Thinks Before He Acts. Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar. N. p. Pocket Books, 1958.