Hamlet
Summary:
Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, receives a message from his deceased father's ghost. The message says that Hamlet must take revenge against his father's murderer. To complicate matters, the murderer is Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet vows to take the revenge for his father. However, in doing so he alienates himself from his mother, his lover, and his friend. However, Hamlet does get his revenge, albeit, with a heavt price, namely, his own death.
Feminism
Gertrude exhibits many feminist qualities as she tries to maintain an upper hand with Hamlet. She doesn't stand by the wayside, as women were expected to do in those days, but gets involved with what's going on around her. Not only does she get involved, she gets involved in a powerful way. Even her death resulted from a slightly feminist action. Her husband warns her not to drink from the cup, as it is poisoned. However, she refuses to heed him, and drinks anyway, sealing her fate.
Follow Feminism to The Misanthrope
Revenge!!!
Let's have a little talk about revenge. What do you know about revenge? Basically, it means an eye for an eye. Well, there's a lot of it in Hamlet. Hamlet's obsession with revenge is not disimilar from Heathcliff's obsession in Wuthering Heights. They both struggle towards this goal of retribution to those who have wronged them. Unfortunately, in both stories, the struggle for revenge, while successful (Hamlet kills Claudius and Heathcliff gets all of Edgar Linton's property as well as being evil to Linton's descendants.), doesn't leave those seeking it any more fulfilled than before. Heathcliff still lives an empty life after Linton dies. Hamlet's revenge leads to his own death as well as that of his mother and his love, Ophelia.
Follow Revenge to Tess of the D'Ubervilles.
Mini-Connexions
- Hamlet sees a ghost, looking for guidance...Heathcliff sees a ghost, seekng guidance.
- Hamlet wants revenge on the bastard that offed his dad, and will stop at nothing to get it...Heathcliff wants revenge at the world for making him suffer all those years, and will stop at nothing to get it.
- Both Hamlet and Heathcliff are guided by little more than an overpowering love and loss of it...Hamlet with his dad and Ophelia and Heathcliff with Catherine.
- Both Hamlet and Heathy are driven pretty much insane by this force thing the call love, and people die because of their insanity and refusal (or inabilty) to change. Ophelia, Catherine, Isabella, Claudius.
- Both guys change at the end...they see an error of there ways and then croak...ham, driven mad by love and revenge alike, come to terms and then is whacked by that dude he used to be friends with, and Heathcliff "sees the light!" and stops being such a pain in the ass and starves him self to death.
- Both books are focused primarily around selfishness and greed...ALL of the characters are so wrapped up in themselves that the don't notice all the
other peoples problems in there lives right now.
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