I Hate Hamlet Literary Elements

I Hate Hamlet Literary Elements

Genre

Comedy-Drama

Language

English

Setting and Context

John Barrymore's old apartment- New York City, 1991

Narrator and Point of View

POV is that of Andrew

Tone and Mood

Comedic and dramatic

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist is Andrew. Antagonist is John Barrymore

Major Conflict

Andrew is a tv actor who's had success. He must now decide whether to play Shakespeare's Hamlet or continue on in television.

Climax

Andrew decides to play Hamlet, and once he does his Hollywood friend shows up to offer him a tv pilot.

Foreshadowing

Barrymore's haunting Andrew foreshadows Andrew's being haunted in the final scene by the decision to play Hamlet or carry on as a television actor.

Understatement

It is understated that Andrew will be offered another tv role.

Allusions

The play is an allusion to the choice we all must make between commerce and our desire to achieve excellence in our chosen profession, and combines this type of broad allusion with direct reference to Shakespeare.

Imagery

Barrymore's haunting is a tangible image of how an actor is haunted by the great actors that came before them.

Paradox

Andrew decides to play Hamlet, but paradoxically as soon as he does is offered a tv pilot. Once he's determined he will be going after greatness as an actor, he's offered more money from Hollywood.

Parallelism

Barrymore's entrance into Andrew's life to convince him to play Hamlet parallels Andrew's Hollywood friend entering at the end of the play to offer him a tv pilot.

Personification

Barrymore become the personification of the voice in one's head.

Use of Dramatic Devices

John Barrymore's ghost

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