Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Critiquing the Critic: Henry Mackenzie on "Hamlet". Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 3 page paper critiques Henry Mackenzie's criticism of "Hamlet," and argues that some of his points are valid and others are completely wrong. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVMacken.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
argues that he was right in some respects but wrong in others. Discussion It seems like hopeless waffling to say that Mackenzie got some of it right and some of
it wrong, but the play is so complex that its understandable that he did so. He draws six specific conclusions that we can examine. First, he says that Hamlets character
is based on "an extreme sensibility of mind, apt to be strongly impressed by its situation, and over-powered by the feelings which that situation excites" (Vickers, 1995 - quoting Mackenzie).
Then, having created this ultra-sensitive character, Shakespeare puts him in situations which call attention to the sensitivity, placing him in "scenes of wonder, or terror, and of indignation" where his
emotions "might be most strongly marked amidst the workings of imagination and the war of the passions" (Vickers, 1995 - quoting Mackenzie). These points are well taken. Hamlet is sensitive
to the point of being incapacitated by it. He needs to consider every possible outcome before he takes any course of action, and so he spends most of the play
in deep contemplation. Some critics have suggested that his indecisiveness is because he doesnt trust the ghosts word, and indeed he doesnt become certain until after the players perform. But
Mackenzie is also correct in attributing his hesitation to an overly sensitive nature; Claudius remarks on this when he says that Hamlets deep grief is overdone and out of place:
"Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, / Hamlet, / To give these mourning duties to your father ... But to persever / In obstinate condolement is a course /
Of impious stubbornness, tis unmanly grief" (I.ii.86-87, 92-94). When the play opens, King Hamlet has been dead for four months, and while this is still a very recent loss,
...