Hamlet(lit devices)
Hamlet(lit devices)Paula Vasconcellos
Plot of Hamlet
To kill a king, to avenge a murder, to save a nation, a task put into one man�s hands. Hamlet is a man with �too much reason� and not enough action. Sick with love and disgusted by the lust which slowly engulfs his kingdom. He is surrounded by greed and death within a threatened Denmark. In Shakespeare�s Hamlet, plot is constructed through various internal conflicts and a tense mood formed by the use of historical setting, psychological characterization, and ominous foreshadowing.
The battle between King Fortinbras and King Hamlet is an example presented in the play of historical setting, for it illustrates a past happening which is important for the fundemental understanding of the play. It describes the battle between the two kings for some land, an occurrence in the past which is important to what is happening in the present. Shakespeare uses historical settings to develop conflict in the plot of the play. After the murder of the King Hamlet by Claudius, his brother, the reader is led to believe that young Forinbras will now fight back for the land his father once lost, �Now follows, that you know, young Fortinbras, holding a weak supposal of our worth, or thinking by our late dear brother�s death our state to be disjoint and out of frame, colleagued with this dream of his advantage, he hath not failed to pester us with message importing the surrender of those lands lost by his father, with all bands of law, to our most valiant brother.�(ActI sc.2 lines 17-25) This leads to an atmosphere of suspense and fear of an unknown future. The
appearance of the ghost of the late King Hamlet is another example of historical reference for it is used to start building up to an oncoming �conflictuous� development of the plot.
Psychological characterization in the play focuses mainly on Hamlet. Shakespeare demonstrates Hamlet�s weakness by showing how he can never make descisions and by contrasting him with young Fortinbras. Hamlet is portrayed as someone weak and unstable while Fortinbras, is a strong-willed character, ready to gather his troops and recover his country�s pride by getting back the land his father once lost. .
In Shakespeare�s Hamlet, ominous foreshadowing plays an extremely important role. The play opens at a sentry post before the castle of Elsinore, Denmark, during legendary times. It is midnight and Francisco, a sentry, is at his post awaiting his relief. We are already led to...
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