Hamlet vs. Everyman
Hamlet and Everyman hold key similarities and also very distinct differences. The main difference I see is the playwrights' purpose for writing the play. Everyman is clearly a morality play, which means its main goal is to influence people to think a certain way or about something (here it is most likely the church's point of view). Hamlet seems to be a bit more complicated with its plot. This effectually does two things. One: It places characters and story in a place that is not quite so emphathetic towards the reader. Two: It highlights the faults of men and interrogates the loyalty of relatives and friends.
However, these two plays do, in two different ways, try to point out that dishonesty, bad deeds, and corruption lead to a terrible life. Everyman does this by making the feelings of the microcosm a generalization. This in effect brings the issue eye-to-eye with the reader. Hamlet points out the same mistakes and follies by the misfortunes of his characters. This plot does not seem quite feasible, so it gives a hyperbole effect that relays the information quite well: Do you want to end up like this?
These two plays are revelieving very similar truths, they just do it in two very different manners.
posted by Paul @ 10:34 AM
3 Comments:
I make a similar point in my post - the plays were obviousy written for different reasons. By the time Shakespeare was writing, morality had long since gone out of style. But couldn't you also see Hamlet as a updated, modern version of a morality play? Shakespeare is still trying to get across the values he holds dear, just the playwrights did with morality plays.
I think it is a very good, and strong, point to make that they are both getting across the same point, but they go about it differently. People might overlook this simple fact and assume that the plays are completely different. Sometimes you have to look deeper into something to see what it is really saying. Just look at the subtext. It will share everything. The subtext of both of these plays are showing the same point to the readers, they just have to catch it to understand that.
I agree that Everyman is about morals and what one goes through in daily life. You have strong key points that support you argument. I guess what I am trying to say is that even though I don’t know what you are talking about, you seem to know what you are talking about.
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