Hamlet Final Essay
What do you think makes Shakespeare’s Hamlet such a powerful and enduring play?
Thesis
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1603) explores the intrinsic aspects of humanity creating a powerful and enduring play by subverting the audiences’ expectation of a revenge tragedy play. Shakespeare enables universal anthropological appreciation through the emphasis on the thematic concerns of: the mystery and transcendental nature of death, clouded grey areas in between the dichotomy of good and evil morals, and the twisted manipulative nature of human behaviour. Therefore, through critical study of the play, Shakespeare augments and connects to the audience’s perspective and interpretations.
Body
Topic sentence 1. Overarching idea i. Point ii. Quote iii. Technique iv. Elaboration
Sample Sentence
Linking sentence (concluding sentence)
Body 1 – Death
Death is the inescapable reality of human life as explored in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the fact that the living world is made of death and decay is visible anywhere there is life. 1. Hamlet’s bereavement over his father i. Bereavement is an inescapable reality in which all humans must endure. ii. “But I have more within which passes show – These but the trappings and the suits of woe” iii. Rhyming couplet iv. To reinforce Hamlet’s underlying argument to his grief over the finality of his father’s death.
Bereavement is an inescapable reality, exemplified when Hamlet says “But I have more within which passes show – These but the trappings and the suits of woe” (Act I Scene ii), in which all humans experience. Hamlet’s use of the rhyming couplet ending his account reinforces the underlying argument to his grief over the finality of his father’s death.

2. Suicide v. The possibility of suicide as an alternative solution vi. “to be, or not to