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How Does Shakespeare Create Sympathy In Hamlet

Satisfactory Essays

Shakyra Griffith
Mrs. Turnbaugh
AP English/Period 1
19 November 2014
Hamlet
Hamlet is a tragedy of revenge, which is typical of many plays written during the Elizabethan era. Unlike regular tragedies, there are a variety of unpredictable factors that deviate this play from others. Consequently, the sympathy in which the audience feels for Hamlet is increased by a great amount. When Hamlet is first introduced into the play, we get a negative insight about him as a character. In Act 1 Scene 2, something seems to be bothering Hamlet. His mother, Gertrude, and uncle/father, King Claudius try to cheer him up. The King immediately reveals Hamlet’s saddened mood by caringly asking “How is it that the clouds still hang on you?” (9). Hamlet is grieving the death of his father, which occurred two months prior to this scene. This creates a lot of pity within the audience, due to the fact that the pain of death is understood and can be mutually felt. He is also dressed in a “nighted colour” (9) which symbolizes his depression. Shakespeare makes it very hard for the audience to reject …show more content…

The ghost informs Hamlet that Claudius is the one who murdered his father. Sympathy is carefully built after the audience has gained this knowledge alongside with Hamlet. As quickly as possible, Hamlet devised a plan saying “How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself-- As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on” (28). Hamlet chooses to act as a crazy person throughout the rest of the play in order to distract everyone from what he is truly trying to accomplish, which is exposing Claudius and avenging his father’s death. He transforms from depressed to mad after he reveals his “antic disposition” (28). This shift in mood causes the audience to witness and sympathize with the many different states of mind that Hamlet chooses to

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