Hamlet

Critics Comments

Claudius’s rise to power is a commentary on the corrupting influence of ambition.

Coleridge

Ophelia’s decent into madness explores the fragility of the human psyche and the ways in which people can be torn apart by the conflicting demands of love and duty.

Eliot

Gertrudes character is a representation of the ways in which people can become complicit in their own downfall, highlighting the difficulty of taking responsibility for ones actions.

Trilling 

Polonius’s character highlights the dangers of unchecked ego and ambition.

Eliot

The play is a commentary on the ways in which people decieve themselves and others creating tension between Appearance and Reality.

Frye

The play raises questions about the morality of revenge, and whether it is ever justified.

Dryden

Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia is a commentary on the destructive power of love and the ways in which it can consume us.

Eliot

Hamlet’s madness is a wonderful example of the destructive power of the human mind.

Bloom