ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on dramatic literature and theatrical performance of Shakespearian play. With the death of Polonius the plot of Hamlet assumes a new and violent velocity. The sudden sword-thrust through the arras of Gertrude's closet transforms Hamlet from a man who has been training himself to perform the role of avenger into a homicide who falls victim to a pursuing and implacable vengeance Ophelia and Laertes actually pursue the courses of action considered by Hamlet in soliloquy. Hamlet's love and memory of his father spur him on to revenge his death. Hamlet next becomes the general of a besieging army, a Machiavellian tactician who calls for a parley in order to obtain the unconditional surrender of the opposing forces. The severed and mutilated passion of Hamlet and Ophelia, darkened by all the bitterness of misunderstanding and the language of obscenity, still dignifies the power and possibility of sexual passionate human love.
