Joe Devine

Mrs. Carter
AP Literature
January 8, 2015
Act 3 Significant Elements
In most plays act three is generally the climatic act of the story and in Hamlet is
no different. Plenty of intense plot points occur such as the ghost reappearing, him
confronting his mother, and even Hamlet killing Polonius. Yet the main element that is
truly makes Hamlet in-depth is the parallel structure that occurs throughout the play
and to all of the characters.
The first event that paralleled in the story was Hamlet killing Polonius. Hamlet
thencalledouthismotherA bloody deed? Almost as bad, good mother,
As kill a king and marry with his brother. (Shakespear Act 3 Scene 4) This has been
Hamletsbigpoint,hehasbeenattemptingtoavengehisfathersmurderbecauseithas
hadsuchanincredibleimpactonhim,yethedoesntunderstandhowthekillingof
Polonius affects him. Polonius has a son, just like King Hamlet had a son, Polonius was
brutallymurdered,justlikeHamletsfather,andPoloniushasasonwhowillbeoutfor
revenge, just like King Hamlet did. Shakespeare uses this action to show that Hamlet
clearlydoesnttrulyunderstandhissituationandhowhementallycantcopewithhis
fathersmurder.Theparallelstructurealsoallowsforthedepthoftheconflicttobuild
to a point where everyone is now feuding with someone and this allows all
conversations to be heated and incredibly entertaining.

Shakespeares use of parallel structure in Hamlet allows for not only the
deepening of characters such as Hamlet and Gertrude, it also allows for the conflict to
rise and make the play even more interesting.