English 1201
Shakespeare’s title character Hamlet is the protagonist of the play. He is brave and extremely analytical and indecisive. When the Ghost of Hamlet tells Prince Hamlet that his uncle Claudius is the murderer, hamlet becomes obsessed with providing his uncle’s guilt before trying to act. He tries to investigate and then only take any decision. Hence he has a very significant character of hamlet.
Hamlet is a pious character who thinks that suicide is a sin. Since his mother married his uncle after the death of his father, he is angry with her and he feels like committing suicide as he says, “Ah, I wish my dirty flesh could melt away into a vapor, or that God had not made a law against suicide.” (I, ii, 129-132). However, his religious beliefs stop him from doing so. Hamlet believed that suicide was ethically wrong. He is contemplating the thought of suicide and wishing that God had not made suicide a sin. He believes in god and thinks about the consequences of the actions as he says “To be, or not to be? That is the question—Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer. The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,” (III, i, 58-61). While he hates the conditions of his life and wishes he could end it, he concludes that he would rather continue living in “an unweeded garden” than live in hell as a consequence of suicide (I, ii, 135). By making the decision to stay alive and fight Claudius’ corruption, Hamlet demonstrates existential qualities.
When the ghost beckons Hamlet to follow it out into the night, his companions urge him not to follow. Though he is unaware whether his father’s apparition is truly the king’s spirit or an evil demon, he doesn’t care of his …
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…ng prayer, he would dishonor his father by sending Claudius to heaven. He says, “A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven. Oh, this is hire and salary, not revenge. He took my father grossly, full of bread, With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May.” (III, iii, 77-82). Hamlets strong religious believe allows indecisiveness to be seen in his character. He thinks too much therefore he is delayed in fulfilling the promise he made to his father. This is showing a weakness in Hamlet.
Hamlet has features that make him significant character. He is very logical who analyses too much that delayed him from completing his revenge. Along with being logical he is also very brave yet indecisiveness. He is a character full of too much thought and not enough action; however, in the end he is able to overcome this flaw.
Symbolism in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Symbolism in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
In his play, Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller employs many symbols to illustrate the themes of success and failure. They include the rubber hose, the tape recorder, and the seeds for the garden. These symbols represent Willy’s final, desperate attempts to be successful and the failure he cannot escape.
The rubber hose represents both success and failure. It is attached to the gas main in Willy’s house and provides him with the opportunity to commit suicide. Willy sees this as a way to finally do something for his family to make up for years of disappointment. He will no longer be a burden to them when he is gone, and they will remember him in a positive light. Yet Willy cannot even commit suicide successfully. His attempt is a failure, so he lies to his family and denies that he was going to kill himself. His wife Linda, who finds the hose, knows what he was going to do with it, as does Biff. When confronted by Biff, Willy not only denies that he was going to use the hose, but also denies ever seeing it before. Instead of being remembered as a successful businessman who died, Willy is seen by his family as a failure who cannot even commit suicide or tell the truth.
Another important symbol is Howard’s tape recorder. It represents the many material objects wealthy businessmen could provide for their families and for themselves. Willy wanted this lifestyle; he wanted “something he could lay his hands on” (Miller pg. ). It would not be enough to just be successful; Willy wanted to be able to show people material representations of his success. The tape recorder shows that Howard has reached this level of success. Yet while the recorder symbolizes …
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…o could acquire such technical wonders. Even if he could afford them for himself and for his family as other businessmen could, he couldn’t figure out how to work them because he did not change with the times. Finally, Willy hoped to show his family that he could do something right and give them a little pleasure by planting seeds in the backyard. He hoped that these seeds would grow into a wonderful garden for all of them to enjoy. Then his family would appreciate him. But the garden fails, as does Willy.
Willy Loman wants to be a successful businessman that his family can be proud of. The hose, tape recorder and seeds represent just a few of his attempts to do this. Yet as with everything in Willy’s life, what initially stands for hope ends up symbolizing failure.
Work Cited:
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: The Viking Press 1988