Final Essay Questions
Overview
These questions work best after the play has been completed (or when it is nearing completion) because it requires the large-scale holistic view of the entire work. These may be used for in-class or take-home essays, or they may work well for whole-class or Socratic discussion.
These questions work best after the play has been completed (or when it is nearing completion) because it requires the large-scale holistic view of the entire work. These may be used for in-class or take-home essays, or they may work well for whole-class or Socratic discussion.
Why does Hamlet fail to take immediate action against Claudius?
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Question One
In his work The Birth of Tragedy, the German philosopher argues that Hamlet's inaction comes from having too much knowledge, arguing that knowledge itself can effectively paralyze us: “Knowledge kills action; action requires the veils of illusion.” Later, Nietzsche would argue a similar idea: "It is not doubt, but certainty that drives you mad." To what degree is Nietzsche's observation true for Hamlet? Is Hamlet's knowledge the fundamental reason he cannot take action against Claudius? When he is finally able to end his uncle's life, why is he able to take action at that point, and not earlier? Question Two Sigmund Freud, widely considered to be the father of psychiatry, speculated that Hamlet's inaction comes about because he finds himself in the midst of an Oedipal conflict which Claudius' marriage has exposed for him, saying, "Hamlet is able to do anything but take vengeance upon the man who did away with his father and has taken his father's place with his mother - the man who shows him in realization the repressed desires of his own childhood. The loathing which should have driven him to revenge is thus replaced by self-reproach, by conscientious scruples, which tell him that he himself is no better than the murderer whom he is required to punish." To what degree is Freud's observation true for Hamlet? Is Hamlet's inability to act essentially due to his recognition that he and Claudius are too similar -- especially in their desire for Gertrude -- for Hamlet to feel enough moral or ethical justification to kill his uncle? |
"...They Are to Blame": Hamlet's (Mis)Treatment of Women
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Question One
In a comedy, this moment could almost work as dark humor: The ghost of Hamlet's father has gone to some considerable efforts to convince his son to take revenge against Claudius, the man who has killed King Hamlet and taken both his throne and his wife. After going into vivid detail about the means and method Claudius used to kill him and urging his son to take immediate vengeance, the Ghost disappears, leaving Hamlet to do the job. After swearing he will forget everything else except revenge, Hamlet's immediate response is, "O, most pernicious woman" (I.v). Why does Hamlet's focus turn to his mother, not to Claudius? Why does Hamlet focus on Gertrude and not on his father's murderer? Question Two What did Gertrude know, and when did she know it? The traditional view of Gertrude is that she was innocent of the murder of her former husband, a truth she realizes only when Hamlet directly accuses her of marrying her husband's murderer. However, is this view an accurate one? Did Gertrude conspire to murder her former husband? |
Other Potential Assessments
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