Hamlet

1 Pages 358 Words

I feel that Shakespeare employed elements of both episodic and climactic when writing Hamlet. The play seems to fall mostly under episodic. However, there are distinct traces of climactic on which I will comment later.
The play featured a multitude of characters in a number of places; Kings, Lords, Servants, and Princes from Norway, Denmark and France fraternizing in graveyards, Polonius’s house, and various rooms in the castle. Hamlet contained more speaking roles than any play I’d ever encountered. This demonstrates the first element of episodic structure.
It also featured a handful of sub-plots. The Norwegian’s plans to invade Poland, Laertes’s desire for revenge, the sparks that flew between Hamlet and Ophelia. What I admire so much about these sub-plots is that they’re barely sub-plots. They’re almost a part of the main story line, but just unrelated enough to qualify as sub-plots. This is effective in building tension as well as satisfying the second element of episodic drama.
There weren’t a lot of happy scenes in Hamlet. But the contrast between sad and funny was very clear. In Act II, Scene 2 Hamlet is rambling like a lunatic to the point that it’s hilarious (I laughed out loud while reading it). Once he is alone onstage, he goes into an extensive, depressing monologue about his current situation. Then contrast between his comical display of lunacy and the disparity of his circumstances enhanced the portrayal of the two extremes.
The use of the cumulative effect was brilliant. Hamlet knows early on what he needs to do, but he keeps putting it off for various reasons. By the end of the play he has amassed a whole army of reasons to kill Claudius. Claudius accidentally poisoning his mother was just icing on the cake. This element made the ending absolutely explosive.
As for elements of Climactic drama, Hamlet features what I consider to be a distinct climax; at the end when all secrets and sub-plots are expo...