Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and the Human Condition

Question

Shakespeare's Hamlet is a revenge play but on a deeper level it is an examination of the the human pysche and the human condition, what wouldt be a effeceftive thesis statement for an essay that explores this?

Answer 1

I do not believe that it would, because the scope of the question is extremely broad. Every play takes it concerns from some plight that afflicts people. It is just that the concerns are different from play to play.

For example, in King Lear, it might be argued that the concern deals with the afflictions of old age. This is a universal concern. In Hamlet, it could be argued that Hamlet's anguish comes from his vacillation, ranging from his confusion whether it is better to live or die to his internal conflict about whether to kill Claudius or not.

The point is that every work of art reflect some anguish or problem affecting people. The key is to be specific regarding what particular problem or problems the artist attempts to tackle.

Then, having formed a thesis statement on this basis, the key becomes how to support the resulting thesis statement with evidence from the text.