One of the most striking plays documented in “The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Package 1 (Volumes A, B, C): Beginnings to 1650” is the Hamlet; one of the longest plays written by William Shakespeare and also the most influential and powerful tragedies considering all the English literature. Its fame is extensive being the one containing Shakespeare’s most famous line and character and that is “To be or not to be, that is the question,” and Hamlet respectively. This is owed to the fact that it is still leading in popularity of all the Shakespeare plays registering the highest instances of performance to date. Therefore, of all the plays in literary works in the anthology, it is quintessential to give the play a critical treatment.
One of the most notable elements that make it distinct is the building on impossibility of certainty. What makes Hamlet different from other plays dwelling on revenge or even the ones authored earlier is the postponement of anticipated actions in the plot while Hamlet attempts to get more certain knowledge concerning what is doing. Shakespeare portrays the need for priorities in life borrowing to the case of Hamlet who ton of things to do but could not figure out exactly how to engage and execute all of them. Hamlet is considered relevant in the literal world to date because it marks various aspects of history in religious, philosophical, psychoanalytic world. For instance, it illustrates religious upheaval of that time in the wake of English reformation.
Hamlet as a character is strongly perceived as a philosophical character described to be skeptical, relativist and existentialist. Additionally, the concepts of psychoanalysis were greatly applied in Hamlet to bring to light its influence in the 20th century. The play also opened up a page of feminist critics in 20th century. In conclusion, Hamlet ranks high in terms of the most quoted or reference works. The influence of Hamlet can still be traced to modern narratives.
The play is still staged to date in Britain and characterization if the main character gives the audience and readers a lot to learn from.
