The, No Scene Of Violence Exists For Its Own Sake

Julian E. Wright Dr. Sharon Fulton Literature Humanities/Essay 1 27 February 2014 Violence in Dante’s Inferno and Ovid’s Metamorphoses Scenes of great violence, as the prompt says, are often written into dynamic narratives of great literary merit. From Dante Alighieri’s Inferno to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the inclusion of violence as a literary technique is used to propel the narrative forward, all while adding action, intrigue, and engaging the reader. Despite it’s validity as a literary technique, the inclusion of violent scenes in literature serve much more than the simple purpose of pushing a plot along a set of structured points. Scenes of violence provoke thought in areas ranging from human nature to the nature of

Violence is referenced as an act of deliberate physical damage to an object or individual. In “A Good Man is Hard to find”, “Sweat”, and “Barn Burning”, violence appears to be seen upon each passage. The phenomenon of violence is both upon individuals and objects in the stories. In “A Good Man is Hard to find”, a recently fled murderer kills the innocent lives of a family due to the grandmothers turbulent personality. In “Sweat”, an abusive husband gets bitten by a snake he purposely placed in his house. In “Barn Burning”, the father of a poor family burns down a wealthy man’s barn to represent justice toward his class.

The tragedy of Hamlet brings to the stage the palace intrigues of a corrupt Denmark, where the lust for power leads to the assassination of the King, at the hands of his own brother who usurps his throne. Hamlet, a young student and model soldier struggles to deal with a harsh reality that leads him to doubt the whole world. The enigmatic nature of Hamlet, whose speeches and actions lend to multiple interpretations, generates a sense of uncertainty in the reader that is intensified by the climax of tension that transpires throughout the work. It is in this climate of deception that Hamlet elaborates a plan to avenge his father's death by forcing King Claudius to confess the murder--becoming a

In literature, there are many written works which have themes that intermix with one another. While literature contains many themes, this does not mean that other works do not contain the same ideas as presented in written works. In the three stories of “The Princess Bride”, “Diablo 3” and “Billy Budd” Violence and Quests can be seen largely throughout each tale. Violence, while still having the tradition sense of the word, does not always mean fighting someone or physical attacks. Violence thematically is the display of aggressive actions verbally, physically, or even aggression leading to a goal. The other overarching theme in these stories is that of a Quest. Any self-realizing adventure where the protagonist realizes is considered a quest thematically as well as a large set goal for as seen within the story. The main themes of “The Princess Bride”, “Diablo 3” and “Billy Budd” are Quests as well as Violence which show a deep connection on a thematic level.

Within The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Shakespeare portrays the psychological complexities of Hamlet through his actions and inaction, revealing the inward states of his mind. The largest internal conflict which Hamlet faced was his struggle to comprehend and avenge his father’s death, caused by external struggles of understanding the murder. With a fear of action based off of his confusion, Hamlet’s discovery of his father’s ghost and expectations of his religion cause immense consternation, with the unknowing if the ghost is his father and the outcome of disobeying

Stricken with grief over his father’s murder, Hamlet is incapacitated by the emotions that besiege him throughout the story. In William Shakespear’s Hamlet, the young prince Hamlet turns into a villain as he is consumed with hatred and abhorrence for his uncle, king Claudius. Although Hamlet’s quest for revenge may be considered an honorable deed by some, he does not carry it out his plan in an honorable way. Hamlet was a villain, he is walking down a path of murder and deceit; in heeding the commands of the ghost, Hamlet has deserted his morality and is following a path of villainy. Hamlet not once thought about the greater good for his country, and he left his country without a king, and in chaos.

Shakespeare’s play Hamlet presents many themes such as, betrayal, deceit, and revenge to name a few. Events in the play include murder, eavesdropping, and confessions. Questions regarding love, honor, and loyalty are also fused into the storyline. Madness in the form of insanity is also a question throughout the plot. Moral behavior regarding right, immoral behavior regarding wrong, and whether to be a righteous character, or corrupt are also focused on. Two reoccurring elements mentioned are fear and mortality.

Arguably one of William Shakespeare’s most complex plays, Hamlet chronicles the story of a Danish prince who must avenge his father’s death by murdering the man who killed him and usurped the throne, his uncle Claudius. According to English literary scholar, A.C Bradley, Hamlet’s inability to kill his uncle is due to his constant hatred of life and himself, and because of this feeling, he is subconsciously unable to fulfill his promise. Hamlet’s inability to uphold his promise throughout the play can be attributed to his hatred of practically everything he encounters.

Weather violence be written as physical, verbal, or silent thoughts of rage, it is implied that each circumstance is meticulously thought out and vital to impact of the play.

Many say that William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, was one of the greatest tragedy stories ever written. The play shows us the conflict between people with very different personalities all pursuing power, or their own interpretation of moral justice. The play circles around the themes of deception, manipulation, and vengeance to create an unpleasant situation that leads to exploitation, chaos, and even insanity. One of the most interesting personalities in the play is the main character. Hamlet. Son of King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude and the person who is supposed to be crowned King. Even though the ghost of his father tells him that he was murdered by his uncle, Claudius, and witnesses the questionable quick re-marriage of his mother to his uncle, Hamlet is unable to avenge his father’s death. His own disbelief about the ghost, uncertainties of his own desire, and his overthinking of the world around him are three of the many controversies that keeps him hesitant, and thus delaying his revenge process and resulting in his ultimate panic.

In great literature, or in literature in general, no scene of violence exists, or should exist for its own sake. Every scene of violence should contribute and reinforce to the plot of the work and to what is yet to come of the work. William Shakespeare successfully merges the acts of violence into a rational and coherent meaning and the audience can evidence that through the violence of act three, scene four in which the prince Hamlet of Denmark stabs and kills Polonius. Hamlet’s act of violence not only serves to illuminate important aspects of the play but also accentuates and forces certain themes into play and adds great meaning to the work as a whole.

The implications of violence in literature are violence is constantly figurative and may flag that passing sneaks in consistently assignments. Violence shows the antagonistic relationship we have with the universe and that we at last face our mortality alone.

“How and why do we represent violence onstage? This question perennially resurfaces for theatre practitioners and scholars alike. The choices that production teams make when staging violence reflect those teams’ ideological investments and affect spectators’ reception of a given performance. Various Western theatrical forms, from Greek tragedy to Jacobean revenge drama to Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty, adhere to specific conventions that telegraph the intent and desired impact of their attendant traditions’ representations of violence. In more recent years, as contemporary playwrights have engaged with these traditions, they have adapted or revised their predecessors’ methods of representing violence. This dissertation examines representations

The intricacies of Hamlet’s character are acknowledged as some of the most fascinating and complex in the history of literature. He is a troubled man, plagued by a desire for vengeance which he struggles to act upon. Hamlet’s turmoils with death, murder, and suicide exemplify his intricate mindset as an outsider in his own country. Yet he rejects this sort of ownership of Denmark, as he does with all forms of superior titles or status. However, in the final act of the play we see a different Hamlet. One who cares about status, class, titles, and honor. It is this somehow changed Hamlet who takes action and kills Claudius, who disregards his unusual ideals about status in favor of more common beliefs. It is this changed Hamlet who dies in the

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society,