Elizabethan society Essay Example for Free

Elizabethan society Essay In early Elizabethan society, acting was not considered a mainstream professional while college drama and craft guilds alone were acceptable. During Shakespeare’s era, the English aristocrats were the patrons of theatrical forms of art. Since acting in theaters had not become professional and actors were often moving from place to another in search of opportunities, they were considered to be vagabonds. To prevent actors from being arrested, theater fans such as Lord Chamberlain brought actors under their protection in the 1560s. Hence, performances in the theater mainly catered to the tastes of the art-loving aristocrats in Elizabethan society. According to the theatrical world, â€Å"Shakespeare’s livelihood and the stunning artistic explosion in which he participated depended on pragmatic and architectural effort† (Merchant of Venice ix). Since his plays’ themes centered on existentialism, they were considered to be revolutionary during that period of time. Existentialism is a philosophy that believes that human existence is inexplicable and holds man responsible for his actions. This school of thought might have appealed to liberals in the Elizabethan society that did completely agree with the Church’s dogmatic view of life. Hence, Shakespeare’s plays mostly drifted around ideas of pragmatism and were often staged quite artistically. The amphitheaters built to showcase plays were very elegant and a testament to architectural excellence. Hamlet declares that he would kill Claudius to seek revenge for his father, when the ghost of his dead father appears before him and says that Claudius is the murder. He first delays avenging his father’s death as he convinces himself that he is seeking concrete proof to ensure that Claudius is the real murderer behind old Hamlet’s murder. Since Hamlet is never actually driven by a natural instinct to seek revenge, he is tormented by guilt for still not avenging the person responsible for his father’s death. When he gets a chance to kill Claudius during a prayer, Hamlet says â€Å"so a goes to heaven† and turns down the opportunity (act iii scene iii). Finally, he also tries to reason with himself whether the ghost was real or a figment of his imagination. Hamlet has intense love for his mother Gertrude, but feels scared and guilty of his feelings towards his mother since the society despises incestuous love. Hence, Hamlet hesitates to kill Claudius who is Gertrude’s newlywed husband and the only force preventing Hamlet from expressing his true feelings. This depicts Hamlet’s inner battles with his conscience, as he ponders whether to kill Claudius or not. The brash and immature traits of Hamlet suggest that he is no more than twenty years of age. Hamlet’s indication that he wants to go back to Wittenberg as a student and the fact that he was not considered for being crowned the new King after his father’s murder reiterate this assumption. However, at the end of the play, the gravedigger clown tells Hamlet that he has been there since the day young Hamlet was born. When Hamlet asks him how long the clown had been there, the gravedigger clown replies â€Å"I have been sexton here, man and boy, thirty years† (act v scene i). Hence, this suggests that Hamlet is thirty years old when he dies in the end. The four major characters killed at the end of the play are Laertes, Gertrude, Hamlet and Claudius. Laertes, Lord Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother, challenges Hamlet to fight a friendly sword duel. But, he is actually ordered by the King Claudius to kill Hamlet and Laertes accepts the job to please the King. Laertes yells â€Å"I am justly kill’d with my own treachery† when Hamlet kills him with his own poisoned-tipped sword (act v scene ii). This indicates that Laertes tries to seek false glory and finally ends up paying a price for it. Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude mistakenly drinks the poisoned wine meant for Hamlet and dies. Hamlet kills Claudius for being responsible for poisoning his mother. Claudius, owing to his greed for the throne and lust for Gertrude, had killed old Hamlet and was responsible for the tragic situation. Hamlet finally avenges the death of his father and is justified in killing Claudius since he is not driven by blind rage or intent to seek revenge. Hamlet also dies as Laertes before dying had wounded him with his poisoned sword. However, Hamlet’s role in the eventual tragic end cannot be denied. Hence, Gertrude is the least responsible for the tragic situation since she did not conspire to kill or trick anyone, but was merely a victim of Claudius’ evil plans. Fortinbras, the King of Norway, enters the tragic scene and recognizes Hamlet as an honorable man after hearing about his story. Hamlet, before dying tells Horatio that he wishs Fortinbras to be the new King of Denmark. Hamlet, even in his dying moments, is concerned about the future of his country and learns to embrace death. Hamlet, initially perceived to be unruly, matures as a person and advices Horatio not to take his own life in the end. Fortinbras orders his men to honor Hamlet by saying â€Å"let four captains bear Hamlet like a soldier† on a raised platform and pay all the respects given to a true soldier (act v scene ii). Fortinbras also speaks of Hamlet’s virtues and says that Hamlet had potential to a good ruler if he had been â€Å"put on† as the King. The phrase â€Å"put on† is meant to signify the ambiguity of human nature and that we all don on costumes to signify who are. Our habits are like the like costumes that we put on and shape us into we who want to be. Our choices are always susceptible to doubt, but we â€Å"put on† an aura of certainty while suppressing the internal conflicts that go on inside our minds and this reemphasizes the existential nature of Hamlet. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Ed. Braunmuller, A. R. Penguin Classics, 2000. ix-xii. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet.