Literature Analysis Writing: Hamlet

Intro Paragraphs:

This is your time to set up the context for the essay. Assume your reader has not read the play. Never refer to yourself in a literature analysis essay (no “I” or “me”).

Avoid general statements in your opening (“Many people consider Hamlet to be the greatest play ever written”). What can be improved in the following opening paragraph?

Consider Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia. Does he love her? Does he stop loving her? Did he ever love her? How does this affect the meaning of the play?

There is no doubt in my mind that love is the greatest gift in the world. No writer understood this gift better than William Shakespeare, the creator of Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship. But unlike Othello and Desdemona or Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Ophelia rarely interact onstage. Throughout most of the play, we can only analyze their relationship through rumors, gossip, and third-party interpretations, rather than through direct observations of the way they speak to and treat each other. Even when we finally see them together, in Act III, scene I, we can’t be sure what their conversation means, since Ophelia has been instructed by her father to act a certain way and Hamlet may or may not be aware of Polonius and Claudius’s eavesdropping. The mystery surrounding the relationship is intentional.

Thesis Statements:

The foundation of a successful literary essay is argumentation. Without solid arguments, most essays are basically pointless! You need to create an argument that can be disputed or with which someone might disagree.

A good argument (aka thesis statement) will include the following 3 P’s:

Prompt: your argument must relate to the key concept in the prompt. For instance, if the prompt asks about madness, then you need to reference madness in your argument.

Provable: You need to be able to prove your arguments through textual support (examples and quotes). Be sure they are worthy of being proven: for instance, it is not necessary to prove that Hamlet wears black in his opening scene because no one would disagree that he does wear that color (this includes your topic sentences for body paragraphs as well).

Purpose: You should state why the author creates a situation or why he does what he does. This is called thematic purpose and should also reflect a major theme in the work.

Grade the following thesis statements:

I do not believe that Hamlet ever loved Ophelia.

Hamlet probably loved Ophelia at one point but then stopped.

In the play Hamlet, the titular character is a mean and cruel prince who obviously is not capable of loving anyone, especially Ophelia.

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia and Hamlet have a love affair prior to the beginning of the play.

By making us unsure of whether Hamlet loves or ever loved Ophelia, Shakespeare puts us in Ophelia’s shoes, forcing us to feel confused and unsure, as she does.

 

A good thesis statement focuses on what the author is trying to do!! Why is Shakespeare depicting a character in this way? How is he doing it?

 

With your partner, write an intro paragraph (including a thesis statement) for the following prompt:

Death, murder, and suicide play a major role in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. How does the character of Hamlet view death in the play? Does this view change? Why is this significant to the character? How does this affect the meaning of the play?