Hamlet

Question 1

Intro 1

Answer 1

In the tragic play ‘Hamlet’ by William Shakespeare, the central concern of courage is expressed through one of the main themes of revenge. A ghost appears at the castle of Elsinore in Denmark. The ghost resembles Hamlet’s father King Hamlet and begs his son to follow him through the darkness. Despite the guards orders, Hamlet is brave and takes this challenge upon himself as the ghost explains he was poisoned by his brother - current King Claudius.

Question 2

Intro 2

Answer 2

Hamlet mourns his father’s death + contemplates seeking revenge but due to his hesitation + indecisiveness he delays it until it’s ultimately too late. Subsequently, this creates consequences for him as he wants to get proof of the past events before undertaking his revenge. However this can be seen as a courageous action as he knows it could lead him to further, serious danger.

Question 3

1) ‘Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, and let thine
eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not forever with
thy valid lids seek thy noble father in the dust.’
- Claudius

Answer 3

At this point in the play, ‘nighted colour’ conveys how Hamlet stands out from the crowd because he wears black clothes at the wedding celebration to show his deep inner sorrow. This represents Hamlet’s courageousness as he makes a bold statement, showing his resentment to the situation of his mother marrying so soon after the death of his father. I greatly admire him for this as he stays true to his beliefs.

Question 4

‘But the dread of something after death

the undiscovered country’ - Hamlet

Answer 4

Here, Hamlet is thinking out loud to himself about dying + going to a place where people can’t return after death.
He makes it clear he wouldn’t like not knowing what would happen to him if he killed himself. The issue of procrastination is conveyed here as we can tell Hamlet is making up stories in his head to avoid committing suicide. I think the issue of procrastination in this scenario is actually a positive thing because overall his deep thoughts prevent him from committing suicide + it makes me think Hamlet is brave + wants to persevere with his life. It also shows Hamlet is emotionally intelligent + intelligent in general as he thinks some things through throughly before he acts.