E408
Fall 2003
Aegerter
Your formal essay on Hamlet is due at the beginning of class on Friday, November 21.
You are welcome to come up with a topic of your own, but be sure to run your idea by
me first. The following topics are merely suggestions; use them as points of reference and
departure as they stimulate your intellect and imagination.
Please remember the value of a strong thesis that offers your interpretive angle on the
topic of your choice; a cogent and coherent line of argument; careful and rigorous textual
support for your analysis; and clear, resonant use of language throughout. Please double
space and leave one-inch margins all around your text; name and number each page; and
staple or paper-clip pages together. No folders or title pages please. You are not required
to use outside sources, but should you choose to do so, please follow MLA citation
format in the body of your essay and your “Works Cited” page. Give all references to the
primary literature in parentheses after paraphrase or quotation.
1. Taking Aristotle’s notions of tragic drama (and any other ideas about tragedy that you
have researched) into consideration, analyze the tragic qualities of Hamlet the play and
Hamlet the tragic hero.
2. Trace patterns of imagery in Hamlet.
3. Hamlet anticipates and inspires Freud’s “oedipal complex” in suggestive ways. Write a
paper in which you analyze how this controversial psychological complex functions in
the characters and actions of Hamlet. (Another way to conceive of this question is to
think of how the relationships in Hamlet give rise to Freud’s theory.)
4. Critics have argued for centuries about the character of Hamlet, yet still we have no
final word on this enigmatic protagonist. What is it about Hamlet that confounds attempts
to offer a neat character study of this Danish prince? Examine several of Hamlet’s salient
soliloquies and telling dialogues as a way to explore the complexities and contradictions
he embodies.
5. Analyze the theme of “appearance versus reality” in Hamlet.
6. Analyze the theme of “the play within the play” in Hamlet.
7. Analyze the theme of “secrets and subterfuge” in Hamlet.
8. Choose any of the central relationships in Hamlet and analyze.
9. Choose a scene (or significant passage) that seems central to your understanding of the
larger issues raised by Hamlet. Offer a close reading of the scene (paying attention to
form—style—as well as content), and then extrapolate from your close reading some of
the play’s larger thematic concerns.
10. Select a scene (or significant passage) that seems central to your understanding of
Hamlet and view at least two different film versions of that scene. (If you have a clear
memory of a stage performance you have seen, feel free to include that, too.) Write a
paper in which you analyze the different production, directorial, and acting decisions
played out in the different versions. How does each version indicate an idiosyncratic (or
conventional) interpretation? Pay close attention to any details that bring the play alive on
screen or stage.
11. Analyze gender roles in Hamlet, considering issues of social class and of sexuality in
your discussion of gender.
12. Compare and contrast the madness of Hamlet and the madness of Ophelia in the
play.