The lens of psychoanalytical criticism,

For over 400 years, Shakespeare’s plays have led playgoers and scholars to ponder questions of social, political, and historical significance. The play that has filled more libraries with scholarly criticism is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, with its themes of untimely death, political power, honor in vengeance, and unrequited love. Write a 7-10 page essay on one of the following topics: 1. Using the lens of psychoanalytical criticism, discuss “Hamlet’s delay”. 2. Using feminist criticism, discuss Ophelia and/or Gertrude’s role in the play, including the former’s madness and their deaths. 3. Using new historicist criticism, discuss the nature of political power shown through the play (Is Shakespeare subverting the political power of the state? How does that power reassert itself?). 4. Using Marxist criticism, discuss socioeconomic conditions revealed through the play (could be reflections of Shakespeare’s time, or reflections of our own).