English Literature

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN Exceptional Individual                         Like other tragic heroes of Shakespeare, Hamlet is also endowed with exceptional qualities like royal birth, graceful and charming personality and popularity among his own countrymen. He has a high intellectual quality as Ophelia observes        O what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!          The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's eye, tongue, sword,          The expectancy and rose of the fair state,          The glass of fashion, and the mould of form,          The observed of all observers. The Tragic Flaw          ...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN Hamlet has been a source of endless speculation to critics and readers and the main interest has been almost exactly fixed on the problem of delay. Why does Hamlet delay carrying out the task entrusted to him by the Ghost? Stoll is of the opinion that if at all there is any delay, it is Shakespeare�s, not Hamlet�s, for he believes if Hamlet had killed Claudius at once there would have been no play at all. Bradley strongly objects to this opinion and says, �certainly there is delay. Two months elapse and Claudius still lives�. Even the critics, who agree that there is delay, disagree about the causes of delay. Both external and internal causes account for Hamlet�s delay. External Causes The external causes of Hamlet�s delay are physical difficulties in situation. Claudius is not a weak king. He is a shrewd man who does everything to protect his life from unforeseen attacks. He is not only surrounded by...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN His Madness Appearing To Be Real The manner in which Hamlet speaks to Polonius, his conversation with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on the honesty of the world, his talk with Ophelia in the nunnery scene, and to the king�all are taken to prove him to be a man who has lost reason. Then there is the incident of Hamlet�s murder of Polonius. It is true that, when he makes a pass with his sword through the arras, he does not know who is hiding there. He takes that person to be Claudius, and kills him. He does not feel the least remorse on finding that he has killed an innocent man. That is what he says on discovering that his victim is Polonius:                         Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell              ...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN Belief in the supernatural and wonder at the inexplicable mysteries of death was largely shared by people during the Elizabethan age. Shakespeare makes effective use of these popular superstitions and beliefs of his time. In Hamlet, the supernatural appears in the form of the Ghost. Three-Fold Dramatic Significance The Ghost in Hamlet has at least three-fold dramatic significance. It contributes to the tragic atmosphere of the play, motivates the entire action of the play and finally it shows up the characters and derives home a certain moral effect. The First Appearance The Ghost has been seen twice by two officers of the guard, Marcellus and Bernardo, before they decide to inform Horatio in the very first scene. Horatio is a scholar and he is skeptical about the existence of the ghosts. He says �tis but our fantasy. Bernardo then begins to describe his experience of having seen the Ghost but is su...