Hamlet Imagery Essay. Themes in Literature 2011-12
Act One of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is full of the imagery of corruption, disease,
and death. Examine specific text quotes from the Act One spider web. Be sure to offer text
evidence and explain your reasoning regarding the most important line from the act.
Mel Gibson’s version of Hamlet is also full of the imagery of corruption, disease, and
death. [Talk about 2 specific details of that performance that make it effective. Explain your
reasoning.]
Kevin Branagh’s version of Act One is also full of the imagery of corruption, disease,
and death. [Talk about 3 specific details of that performance that make it effective. Explain your
reasoning.]
In Act Two, Hamlet’s plan to test the truth of the ghost’s story of his murder foreshadows
the real deaths to come in the rest of the play, Hamlet’s “antic disposition,” or madness continues
the disease imagery, and corruption imagery shifts into high gear through a focus on lying,
spying, and other acts of betrayal. [Pick at least two to talk about, being sure to use quoted lines
from the play to back up your thoughts.]
Mel Gibson’s production of Hamlet blends together parts of Acts Two and Three to
create a dark view of a world without moral values. [YOUR CHOICE: Pick at least four
“moments” to analyze, being sure to use specific actor ‘behavior’ to back up your opinion about
what is “wrong” with those bits of stage business/the details that help create that negative “world
view.”]
Kevin Branagh’s production of Hamlet is the most complete film one to date, and it is loaded
with the imagery and incidents that depict the themes of corruption, disease, and death. The setting
shows spying occurs everywhere. For
example,__________________________________________________________________________
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Lying dominates Hamlet and Ophelia’s moment in the ‘hall of mirrors’ scene. For example, ________
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In this section of the play, the disease theme is mostly shown through Hamlet’s “madness,” whether or
not it is feigned or real. For example, [Feigned/pretend] ______________________
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________________________________________________________________________ For example,
[real] ____________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________________. {HAMLET’S
BOUTS OF ANGER AND DEPRESSION COULD ALSO FIT INTO THIS SECTION IF YOU WANTED TO MAKE
YOUR ESSAY LONGER.}
Death imagery dominates the third act; it is presented in both ‘play’ and for real. For example,
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