OCR A Level English Literature Hamlet Part B essays
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PEARSON (PEARSON)
English Literature 2015
Unit 1 - Drama
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HAMLET; Shakespeare – A LEVEL ENGLISH LITERATURE
Themes, Characters, Context and Critcs
THEMES – could be the subject of an essay
Life and Death
Murder
o Old Hamlet - death without confession meant he was stuck in purgatory - religious debate
o Catholicism vs Protestantsm links to Hamlet's soliloquy about suicide as a sin etc.
o Polonius' murder as irratonal and unlike Hamlet - a product of madness? It is unlike Hamlet
who has been a 'philosophical speculator' and waited for a perfect revenge to kill Claudius
Suicide
o Hamlet feels that he needs to commit suicide (he is so unhappy with life - Denmark is a
prison etc.) but can’t because of the religious problems that arise from it - it’s a sin and he fears Hell
and eternal damnaton which is worse than what he is sufering now.
o Ophelia's suicide is denied by Gertrude and Laertes in order that she can have a funeral
Perhaps her suicide suggests a weakness in women that Hamlet doesn’t have as he
is strong enough to avoid the devil's temptaton
Escape
o Ophelia is at rest afer her madness and her death
In commitng suicide, she escapes the cruel world she's lived in - murder, madness,
control
o Hamlet wants to die as he hates life so much
If it weren't a sin, he would use it as an escape
He compares death to sleeping but the fact that in life, he stll has nightmares
means he can't escape
To Hamlet, Denmark is a prison
Death would also mean escape from the problems he faces related to his
status as a prince
Sin
o Life is full of sin - sinful people and sinful events
Claudius is sinful in his murder and deceit
Gertrude is sinful because of her marriage to Claudius and her sexual actvity
despite being too old to have children
Ophelia is told by Hamlet to go to a nunnery to avoid the sins involved in sex and
reproducton (giving birth to sinners)
Hamlet is sinful in his desire for revenge and in his desire for his own death
o Murder and suicide
Associated with sin and hell - both Claudius and Hamlet fear hell
Hierarchy and status
Monarchy
o Associated with problems and corrupton. Hamlet can't choose who to marry or do what he
wants because of his status as prince and heir
His being trapped leads to actual madness despite his 'antc dispositon' earlier on
Being trapped in Denmark means he is surrounded by reminders of his father
o Claudius goes so far as to murder in order to get his hands on the crown
So corrupt that he won’t give it up for a chance at eternal salvaton
Men and Women
o There is a clear status that men have over women
Gertrude does what she's told, whether that is by her son or her husband. The fact
that even her son has authority over her emphasises this
Ophelia is told how to behave and must do what she's told
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