Appeal Of Hamlet For a 21St Century Audience Essay

Q. In your opinion, what is the appeal of the play, Hamlet, for a twenty-first century audience? Support the points you make by reference to the text. (60)

In my opinion, there are many different ways in which Hamlet appeals to a twenty-first century audience. Though the setting, plot and language may be centurys old, the themes of the piece are universal and the character of Hamlet still resonates today.

Though the setting of a royal court sometime previous to the 1600s and the plot involving ghosts and vengeance may seem archaic to someone unfamiler with the text, the themes explored in the play are universal, and still have relevence in the modern world.

One of these themes is that of duty to family. Hamlets quest is driven by his fathers story of his own murder and his request to avenge his death. As he bids Hamlet Remember me, he charges Hamlet with the task of fixing the situation which Hamlet is originally reluctant to do Oh cursed spite / that ever I was born to set it right. Whilst the specifics of the situation are unlikely to occur again, almost everybody has at some point been placed in a situation where they found duty bound to assist a family member, whether at their own asking, as with the ghost, or through anothers implication, as when Claudius asks Laertes Did you love your father?

The theme of family is also still highly relevent in modern times, in fact, with divorce rates steeply on the rise, never has the idea of family been more relevent. Initially, Hamlets dislike for Claudius is unrelated to his fathers murder (though the line Oh my prophetic soul implys he had considered it), but he is still vehement in his hatred of the new king particularily in comparison to his father Hyperion to a satyr. Purely from Hamlets words, we are presented with a thoroughly regative view of the new king, though at this point, little evidence from the play supports this point of view. All Claudius attempts to befriend Hamlet, or act in a fatherly matter [manner] are met with hostility and coldness. The ideas explored in this theme are still as relevent as ever.

And lastly, the theme of revenge still has as much relevence and appeal as ever. Whilst we may not seek revenge in the same manner as in Elizabethan times, the idea of revenge is still relevent. The lengths to which the three avengers in the play, Hamlet, Laertes and to a lesser extent Fortinbras are willing to go to gain revenge still holds a large appeal for a modern audience. The deception and deceitfulness practised by the characters in these endevours particularly those of Claudius and Laertes in their attempts to poison Hamlet, are still as relevent as always one need only watch any soap opera on television to see these themes and actions still being used to great effect for the entertainment of the masses.

The second reason I believe the play Hamlet still has appeal in the twenty-first century is because of the character of Hamlet himself. He is not a shining, perfect hero, but a character with deep flaws and a tendency towards unlikable behaviour. Though he is described to us by Ophelia and Horatio, arguably the only innocent characters in the play as being a just man and in possession of a noble mind and other good qualities duty to his father and philosophical and educated mind, one often overshadowed by his neuroses, anger and cruelty. His is neurotic concerning his fathers death and mothers remarriage, unable to speak reasonably on the subject, and damining all women on the basis of his mothers failings frailty thy name is woman This neurosis also drives him to violence and anger, particularly in his conversation with Gertrude in her bed chamber. Many productions feature him assaulting Gertrude in this scene, holding her roughly and forcing her to look where he instructs. His anger also causes Polonius death as he kills him without knowing who he was, and finally he says he shall lug the guts into the neighbour room and noble mind referenced earlier has surely been oer thrown. Finally, his cruelty to Ophelia shows great callousness. He has made many offerings of love to her, but his mind coloured by his mothers sins, he cannot see her purity, only the frailty he now believes is inherent in all women. Not only does he ignore her next advances, he denies ever loving her not I, I never gave you aught, and abuses her verbally, calling her a future breeder of sinners and tells her to get thee to a nunnery.

Though Hamlet has his strengths, his weaknesses make him more appealing as a character, and along with the universal themes within the play, this is what makes the play Hamlet still appealing to a twenty-first audience.