Summary of Shakespeare’s Plots – Literature Essay
Shakespeare is all about mind games. Each and every one of his famous works from Othello to A Midsummer Night’s Dream to Hamlet plays with the emotional and psychological aspect of a person’s mind. In Othello, Shakespeare strikes
at the flaw of being too valiant and twists the soul. Where, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy, however, the mastermind Shakespeare, throws tricks that confuse the heart. Lastly, Hamlet by William Shakespeare unfolds the deep internal confessions in Hamlet’s last soliloquy; through his stream of consciousness he draws our anxious attention to reveal his intentions.
Throughout Hamlet’s turmoil within he successfully invokes excitement, fear, and mystery. When he says “What is a man, /If his chief good and market of his time/Be but to sleep and feed?”(4.4.36-38) Hamlet infers that a man is not a man; he’s a beast, unless he has a purpose. Hamlet tosses and turns in his excessively thought out process of whether to end his own cowardly life or to kill another worthy of death. Whether he decides one or the other, our blood races, our breath quickens; our eyes scramble for more words to figure out his mystery. He’s getting close to a decision. With it there’s a sense of excitement because some action is anticipated to finally happen. After all of his rollercoaster of fits of anger, depression, and helplessness hearing these words promotes a sense of closure, a definitive answer, and confidence. So what’s his next move?
William Shakespeare writes out the story of Hamlet as it happens, like hamlet’s thoughts. Both the audience and hamlet himself, doesn’t know what’s going to happen next until it does. This literary strategy leaves us almost in the dark, which heightens our senses, procures feelings of wonderment and immense suspense. It is in Hamlet’s fourth and last soliloquy that this play reaches a climax and a resolution. Referring to line 68 and 69 in act four scene four “O, from this time fourth, /My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!” To hear this finale after his ramblings before, it’s a refreshing feeling. No one wants to be in an indecisive turmoil of hell like Hamlet was in. He takes charge and finally stands firm making everyone say ‘yes!’ for feeling accomplished. However, this long waited answer was done on purpose, in retrospect Shakespeare loves to toy with the human emotions. Shakespeare was the mastermind and Hamlet was his muse to build up pressure until, like a volcano it bursts. All of this conclusiveness is thanks to Fortinbras’s army that passed Hamlet’s path. How? Such fearless action portrayed by the army showed Hamlet that he was wasting time wallowing in his dark abyss.
As aforementioned, the realization of the brilliance in Shakespeare’s work Hamlet dawns upon those who cross its path. This small segment out of the whole play shows how someone from hundreds of years in the past can still evoke excitement, suspense to a climax and such refreshing resolution. The most important times in this play was not the actions or events that took place for those are only mortal and temporary. Believe it or not it was the thoughts that were expressed, the psychological parts that will last in us and affect for eternity.