Hamlet and Trifles Aspects of the Past Relevant to the...

Hamlet and Trifles: Aspects of the Past Relevant to the Present The Elizabethan Era under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I in England not only produced an expansion of growth in the suburbs and a more unified nation, but also introduced the world’s most famous playwright of all times, William Shakespeare. During this period of greatest artistic achievement, Shakespeare, who produced about thirty- seven plays as well as many other great works, created what is considered his greatest achievement, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Surprisingly, this particular five-act play depicts numerous aspects which are relevant to today’s society, four hundred years later. Some of these aspects of human values are not only questioned, but also†¦show more content†¦v. 29-31). Hamlet’s words of hatred directed towards the new king alone describe the emotion he has begun to experience, in order to restore his family loyalty, and honor his father’s memory, but at the same time, he is unsure of the consequences of such a revenge. In the end, it is evident that the character, Hamlet, experiences many conflicting feelings and sights of death as a result of his choice to seek revenge on Claudius. As Rene Girard puts it in Hamlet, a book edited by Harold Bloom, To shrink from revenge in a world that looks upon it as sacred duty is to exclude oneself from society, to become a nonentity once more. There is no way out for Hamlet and he shifts endlessly from one impasse to the other, unable to make up his mind because neither choice makes sense. (169) It is made very clear that Hamlet’s choice to act on the spoken words of a ghost that is â€Å"as the air, invulnerable† (I. i. 145) may have created more problems than solutions, for as Girard says, â€Å"neither choice makes sense.† Therefore, Shakespeare is questioning the value of revenge, considering the many actions Hamlet could have possibly taken. So, this should be a lesson any time revenge is an option. In relation to the issue of revenge in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, all Americans are forced to question a