Human Condition In Hamlet

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Shakespeare’s Hamlet is widely known as an Elizabethan revenge tragedy, however beneath the surface of this title is a transcendent play exploring universally primordial concepts of the human condition. Hamlet continues to challenge audiences within the modern milieu through a weighted commentary on the ubiquitous facets of existence and survival whilst under the insidious forces of corruption and morality manipulation. Hamlet allows us to foster an understanding through the study of Renaissance Humanism and its dichotomous counterpart of medieval tradition. This is particularly evident in the evaluation of Hamlet’s morality expressed through metaphysical soliloquy, the foreboding atmosphere of death and the religious restraints present throughout…show more content…
Audiences across generations have not been able to solve the mystery of Hamlet, and as William Hazlitt suggests, “Hamlet’s ambiguous mental faculties of Hamlet lends to the plays universal success”. There is indeed ample evidence of Hamlet’s disposition prior to his insanity. In Act 1 Scene 4 Horatio attempts to prevent Hamlet from speaking to the ghost of his father, as it ‘May deprive you of your sovereignty of wit/ And draw you into madness’. Horatio fears that the supernatural apparition may be the final blow to lead Hamlet to his own death; ‘Tempt (Hamlet) to the flood/ Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff’. This concern stems from the fact that Hamlet’s fragile state of mind following recent events – his father murdered, his mother marrying with ‘such dexterity to incestuous sheets’ and the entire ‘rotten state of Denmark’. This conveyance of corruption instils a conflict of morality within Hamlet who was educated in the School of Wittenberg, epitomised to the Renaissance Humanist teachings, which is conflicted with the ideas of rationality and moral thinking. Horatio’s unheeded forewarning can also be compared to the casual remarks of Matt Kowalski in the film Gravity, ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this’. Despite the repetition of this line the mission continues, eventuating in disaster. Both Hamlet and Kowalski represent the…show more content…
Rebirth metaphors are carefully visualised utilising iconic cinematography in the progression of Dr Stone’s descent back to Earth. Throughout the film the audience learns of Ryan’s past and the loss of her daughter, which in turn reconstructs her morality and what it means to live. With this development Cuaron initiates Stone’s spiritual rebirth lending to the many primordial metaphors and allusions throughout the film. Such symbolism is manifested in the final scene where Stone returns to the sanctuary of Earth, representing her birth as a new person heightened by the shedding of gear and emergence from the primordial element of water. Initially upon reaching the shore, Stone announces ‘Thank you’ as if directed towards the fate of the universe, where she then retracts her appreciation after falling back onto sand – ‘No’. Stone’s reaction represents the notion that the universe and the laws it is governed by are unforgiving with concomitant adversity. A low angle shot of Stone breathing in the fresh air exemplifies her triumph over death and the bombardment of life’s fragility. Like Hamlet, the allusions of death and adversity are the driving tensions of Gravity – ‘I know, we’re all gonna die. Everybody knows that…Nobody will mourn for me, no one will pray for my soul’. Despite the devitalisation of Stone’s existence, she still considers the canon of death and the uncertainty of fate
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