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Hamlet: Contrast Plays A Major Role - College Essay

Hamlet: Contrast Plays A Major Role

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, contrast plays a major role. Characters
have foils, scenes and ideas contrast each other, sometimes within the same
soliloquy. One such contrast occurs in Act Five, Scene One, in the graveyard.
Here, the relatively light mood in the first half is offset by the grave and
somber mood in the second half.

The scene opens with two "clowns", who function as a sort of comic relief.
This is necessary, after the tension of Ophelia's breakdown (and subsequent
death), and after the ever-increasing complexities of the plot. Previously,
Polonious provided some humour, but since he is dead, a new source must be found
- the gravediggers. Their banter becomes the ...

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conversation. Their carefree treatment of death singing while
digging graves, not to mention tossing skulls in the air) is a parallel to
Hamlet's newfound attitude. After having committed himself to his cause in Act
IV, he is no longer bothered by the paradox of good and evil, and (seemingly) is
untroubled by his previous misgivings.

Hamlet's musings on the equality of all men in death serve as a transition
into the darker second half of the scene. His contemplations on death reflect
Act IV, Scene 3, when Hamlet gives voice to a humorous notion concerning " how
a king may progress through the guts of a beggar " (IV,3,27-28). Hamlet expands
on this idea with his thoughts on how even Alexander the Great or " Imperious
Caesar " may descend to such base uses as stopping a beer barrel, or stopping "
a hole to keep the wind away " (V,1,207)

The entrance of Ophelia's funeral procession marks the beginning of the
second half, which balances the humor of the previous ...

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Hamlet: Contrast Plays A Major Role. (2005, January 19). Retrieved January 11, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hamlet-Contrast-Plays-A-Major-Role/20817

"Hamlet: Contrast Plays A Major Role." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 19 Jan. 2005. Web. 11 Jan. 2026. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hamlet-Contrast-Plays-A-Major-Role/20817>

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 1/19/2005 03:23:25 AM
Category: Arts
Type: Free Paper
Words: 690
Pages: 3

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