Comparing Shakespeares Play, Hamlet and Miltons Play,...

Comparing Shakespeares Play, Hamlet and Miltons Play, Samson Agonistes: The Mental Awakenings of Hamlet and Samson In William Shakespeares play Hamlet and in John Miltons play Samson Agonistes, both title characters undergo an intellectual metamorphosis, each becoming more and more aware of the power of his mind as he learns to master it. Despite a difference of almost 50 years between the writing of each of these plays, Hamelet being composed in 1601 and Samson Agonistes not being completed until circa 1646-1648, both reflect a preoccupation of the 17th century shared by both authors, the emergence of the mind and the human reason. Hamlet, while already a scholar and a philosopher, must, in the course of his plot to revenge†¦show more content†¦And thy commandement all alone shall live Within the book and volume of my brain Unmixed with baser matter In todays modern society of meditation, Hamlets process of focusing is common practice in many fields, such as sports for example, but in the 17th century could have been considered as a important mesure of discipline to master in the newly developing Renaissance world that began to place more emphasis on the importance of human reason and a clear, undistracted mind. Early in the play, Hamlet begins a process of self-doubt (am I a coward?), which is an important and necessary part of the awakening of ones mind for this questioning forces ones mind to know why every circumstance is as it is. In the same sililoquay, he also directly summons up the forces of his brain (About, my brains), and reasons about the psychology of the human mind: hum I have heard That guilty creatures sitting at a play Have by the very cunning of the scene Been