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Alan Massy-Shakespeare's plays speak to us today with an extraordinary and an
unfailing immediacy. There are themes in the play that are relevant to life
today such as when mans social, political and ethical worlds are out of balance.
This lack of balance is symbolized by a disjunction in his own health and in
nature. In other words natural illnesses or occurrences are symbolic of the
illness in his thinking. This happens today and is also illustrated in
Shakespeare's Hamlet. Man often equates his own physical illness with the break
down of his political system. In the opening scene of Hamlet Francisco says 'Tis
bitter cold, / And I am sick at heart (1.1.9). His discomfort is a result of the
political instability brought about by the death of Hamlet's father and the
appearance of what they believe to be his ghost. Correspondingly in today's
world many suffered and grieved greatly when Princess Diana passed away.
She was
loved by many and was seen as a remarkable person. Similarly, man often sees
supposedly abnormal occurrences in nature as symbols or warning about the
breakdown of political, social or ethical systems. In Hamlet Act I, Scene I,
Lines 120, Horatio says the moon Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse. He
compares the forthcoming downfall of Rome with the pending destruction of
Denmark. He takes natures happenings to be a sign of future misfortunes for the
state of Denmark. Today, people still do the same thing. For instance many
religious groups take nature's destructive force, El Nino, to be forthcoming of
Earth's Armageddon. Hamlet's timelessness can be seen through the themes that it
portrays. Political, social and ethical corruption will never disappear. As long
as time stands their will always be these moral dilemmas which we still face
today and seemingly forever.
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