William Shakespeare And His Epic Hamlet example essay topic

The Renaissance The Renaissance, a time of great art, great writing, great minds, and great thinking. Almost like an industrial revolution of the mind. So many wonderful artists and pieces were born during that time by the skill of Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, and many others. The Renaissance was also when some of the earliest telescopes and cameras were being developed. Da Vinci used a concave mirror when painting the Mona Lisa, and kept it a secret for so long, that studies have just recently done enough study on the Renaissance to see just how close the painting was to the real thing. Concave mirrors were not perfect, even though they helped the artist see three-dimensional objects in a two-dimensional space.

This allowed the painter an easier time. They would flip the image, so most painting from the renaissance were left-handed. Besides art, there was writing. I guess, however, writing is a form of art. The most popular and well-known writer of that time was the infamous William Shakespeare. His works included Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and over a hundred sonnets.

Because of my love for Shakespeare, I will discuss his life within this essay. William Shakespeare was born in 1564, on what is assumed to be April twenty-third. If this holds water, then it would mean he died on his birthday years later in 1616. Back to the topic at hand, he was born in Stratford-On-Avon, or also known as Stratford-UPON-Avon. His father, John, was a politician and landowner. His Catholic mother, Mary Arden, passed away in 1608, seven years after her husband.

When he was eighteen years old, in 1582, he was wed to Anne Hathaway. The next year she bore a daughter for him, Susanna, followed by the twins Judith and Hamlet two years later. After leaving Stratford for London, William was recognized as a successful actor, as well as a leading poet. He became a member of 'The Chamberlain's Men'. Over a decade later, his group's name was changed to 'The King's Men'. Shakespeare entertained the king and the people for another ten years until June 19, 1613, when a canon fired from the roof of the theater for a gala performance of Henry V set fire to the thatch roof and burned the theater to the ground.

The audience ignored the smoke from the roof at first, being to absorbed in the play, until the flames caught the walls and the fabric of the curtains. Amazingly there were no casualties, and the next spring the company had the theater "new builder in a far fairer manner than before". Although Shakespeare invested in the rebuilding, he retired from the stage to the Great House of New Place in Stratford that he had purchased in 1597, and some considerable land holdings, where he continued to write until his death in 1616 on the day of his 52nd birthday. No matter how great of a mind Shakespeare was blessed with, he was still accused of plagiarism. The most common spread rumor was he stole the plot for Hamlet. The tale was Shakespeare had heard a fable of a nephew's revenge, and translated it into his own form.

Now, I ask you, is that wrong? Hardly a retelling of an event would be consider theft of it. Hamlet is the story of a Prince's revenge, incest, and spirituality. No one can master summing up the drama, so I will give the rough outline. Hamlet was to be the prince of Denmark until the sudden death of his father. Being so young, he was denied the crown, and it was granted to his uncle, instead.

Claudius then was wed to the queen, his brother's former wife, Gertrude. Young Hamlet fears that Claudius killed his own brother (Hamlet's father) to become king of Denmark, greatly angering Hamlet. Two officers, Marcellus and Barnardo, summon Hamlet's friend Horatio, and later Hamlet himself to see the late King Hamlet's ghost appear at midnight. The ghost tells Hamlet privately that Claudius had indeed murdered King Hamlet by pouring poison in his ear.

Hamlet is further enraged and plots of how to revenge his father's death. Through many adventures, he looses both lovers, Ophelia and his mother. The only true friend he keeps is Horatio, one of the two survivors at the end of the ploy. After suicide and murder, it is apparent how Hamlet is classified as a tragedy.

Hardly at as low of a level to be mocked by a child's parody. To conclude, the Renaissance was not only a time of beautiful art, but writing as well. One of the best and most unique examples is William Shakespeare, and his epic 'Hamlet'.