Shakespeare,
unquestionably, was a man with a mind of pure imagination. His legacy has lived
on for centuries due to his numerous plays as well as sonnets, all of which
contain both denotative and connotative implications which have fascinated
generation after generation. People have interpreted his writing in several different
manners that have all resulted in several different conclusions.
One of his many plays, Hamlet, certainly boasts
of his ability to write about such scandalous and such dishonorable characters
that seem to intrigue audiences to no end. The main character, Prince Hamlet,
was made to believe that his father had died of what the kingdom was told to be
of natural causes. His uncle, Claudius, does not hesitate to marry Hamlet’s
recently widowed mother, Gertrude, and proclaims himself to be the new king of
Denmark. The black veils worn at the recently deceased king’s funeral had been
quickly replaced with the white veil worn over Gertrude’s face at her wedding.
Her son despises the sudden act of incest, and soon mixes his feelings of hate
with that of revenge towards his uncle after the ghost of the late king himself
informs Hamlet of his father’s purposeful death by Claudius.
Many people are taken aback by the events that take place in the
first fifty pages of the play. Sure- the story is great. The characters are
horrendous. And the plot is brilliant. But what can one learn from such a tale
as this? One can certainly take away the obvious things, such as: Murdering a
relative can often lead to the downfall of a family. Incest is kind of gross
and something that no one wants to think about. Ghosts, especially one that originally
was your father, are not the most pleasant of surprise visits.
Shakespeare did not write Hamlet
simply to point out the obvious “do’s” and “don’ts” of life. It is more than a
story and less of a realistic account. Perhaps one can discover what
Shakespeare really wrote and intended for his audiences to understand, but only
at the end of the script.
“The play’s the thing Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the
King.”
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