Hamlet essay help needed!! (1 Viewer)

[graceeldridge]

Hi, I'm pretty bad at essay writing and was wondering if I could get some advice from those who aren't! Please don't hold back the criticism!

(It's only the intro and first para)

Question (Module B) Explore how time and place are used in Shakespeare’s Hamlet to shape the audience’s understanding of corruption.

Shakespeare uses time and place to explore the theme of corruption through highlighting concerns of morality, deception and revenge. The philosophical stand points and moral principles presented in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet shape the audience’s understanding of corruption. Within every society there is a distinctive hierarchy of power. The Elizabethan world used the Great Chain of Being to reflect the moral order of society. Hamlet shapes the audiences understanding of corruption by referencing its context and paralleling the Elizabethan society to contemporary society. By understanding Hamlet’s complex characterisation the audience can distinguish the major themes of valor and insanity as well as their implications for understanding the self. The audience then discovers how the philosophies and morals of the time and place of Hamlet influence character motivations and thus the corruption of individuals and society. The play Hamlet shapes the audience’s understanding of corruption of individuals and society by revealing how individuals manipulate the time and place of it.

The concerns of morality in Hamlet are illustrated through Shakespeare’s use of time and place to shape the audience’s understanding of corruption. The themes of deception represent that “something is rotten in the state in Denmark”. Hamlet demonstrates his own corruption by deceiving Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, “the changeling never known.” The supernatural allusion and Shakespearian language reflects the time and place by emphasizing the foreign and dreaded nature of corruption. In contrast, Horatio represents the good morals of society by questioning “why, what a king is this?” The rhetorical question indicates a king was a respected member of society and by breaking the great chain of being Hamlet becomes corrupt. This shapes the audience’s negative perception of corruption. Deception is the catalyst for corruption in Hamlet. When Claudius deceives the whole kingdom he compares his deception to “The harlot’s check, beautied with plastering art…” This aside presents the perspective that deception is only “plastering art” which is contradicted by Francisco at the start of the play, “I am sick at heart.” The foreshadowing of sickness of heart symbolises the corruption of Claudius and thus the kingdom. The use of contradicting perspectives and the expectations of the time and place shape the audiences understanding of corruption.

 

[teridax]

okay, I'm not an expert in feedback (I do Hamlet also), so take what I say with a grain of salt:

- your intro is jumbled up mainly because there is no thesis. you haven't fleshed out HOW time and place - which is another way of saying context - affects YOUR understanding of corruption. you just included the key words just for the sake of it, and doing as such in a superficial way without a proper thesis will annoy the marker and you are immediately excluded from the top band. further, it's too long; the intro should be one sentence which answers the Q/presents thesis, another sentence which highlights context (but weave it into your argument too), and then a final how your ideas/themes/focal points logically follow to tie back to the way in which time and place shapes the notion of corruption. not to mention your last few sentences of your intro are essentially repeating themselves without any particular purpose.

- your first body para isn't any better either. your topic sentence uses the key words of the Q, but again, it doesn't actually tell me how morality is connected to corruption due to Shakespeare's manipulation of his context. all of your textual evidence is just description, and that is because you don't make the conscious effort cite of the consequence of the dramatic techniques used to show time and place determine how corruption is elucidated, and thus, achieve meaning. remember, don't be so constricted by just time and place in a literal sense, it can be the more metaphysical and abstract avenues through which these concepts could be explored (e.g. spatiality, dramatic cues and temporality, and maybe link to how human beings have the inherent capacity to enact deeds which are reflective of deception and corruption - you can expand these suggestions through your own brainstorming).

 

[EarthSci34]

Hey graceeldridge,

Firstly, the essay is concerned about exploring the notions of time and place within Hamlet, and how Shakespeare utilises these elements to accentuate the notion of corruption.

Ok, first off your intro paragraph is talking about context too much. Although contextual analysis is important for module b, but the question is asking about time and place. You seemed to also to twist and turn around notions of characterisation and how it reflects the Elizabethan era's values, you must take note of HOW SHAKESPEARE utilises time and space to convey a corruption (potentially) of these ideas and values. You use the words of the question often, but it serves little purpose in answering the question. You MUST state a thesis such as "Shakespeare's manipulation of time and place in Hamlet highlights human values, moral and beliefs rendered rotten by...." or something along the lines of that. Not the most perfect thesis, but it offers me an approach in answering the question. Aim to have an approach when answering your essays... a thesis and an essay plan will help you in that regard.

For your first paragraph, it seems very disjointed. You have all these wonderful textual references, but they are hollow because a/ you are not linking it strongly to morality + how time and space are manipulated to accentuate the corruption of morality b/ not enough analysis. For example, for your first textual evidence... I would've said something like " 'Through rendering the kingdom of Elsinore in a figurative state of decay in Act 1, "something is rotten in the state of Denmark," Shakespeare comments on the regicide and the corruption of the hierarchical order determined by the 'Great Chain of Being.' The corruption of this divine order plunges Denmark into a state of aporia and distrust, reflected by the constant questioning and doubt about truth that permeates the play, reflecting the Renaissance discourse of ascertaining..." Something like this. As you can see, I'm trying to subtlety link my quote to the rest of the play, (showing my understanding of textual integrity), context (about Renaissance beliefs, 'Great Chain of Being) and the question (how the corruption is relevant to understanding Shakespeare's intentions). It's not the strongest example, but you need to address the question and explore time and space with your thesis.

Best of luck

 

[graceeldridge]

Hi Teridax and EarthSci34!
Thank you both! Your advice has helped me a lot Good luck in the HSC !!