hamlet
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Hamlet
Shakespeare uses his play, Hamlet, as a medium for his characters to think about the purpose of life and the nature of man. The characters present their audience with a lot of questions on these topics, only partially answered through their actions. Many of the themes throughout Hamlet concerning the forces that drive a person to their actions
The primary question posed by Hamlet to the audience of the chaotic political experience of the Renaissance is encapsulated by Prince Fortinbras' remark of the macabre scene he witnesses in the castle of Denmark, "O proud Death, What feast is toward in thine eternal cell That thou so many princes at a shot So bloodily hast struck?" (V.ii.143). Fortinbras' is looking into the motivation for and cause of the widespread death created by the human drive to kill. Both in the political and personal spectrum, those in power during the Renaissance abused their authority to end the lives of their opposition. The motivation of human actions deals with man's conscience and power to reason. The reasons why one person will murder another, as well as why so many will come to die, are explored throughout the scenes of Hamlet...