Open AccessThe heroic temper in “Hamlet” and “Taxi Driver”
Author(s) -
Maria Joana Melo
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acta universitatis wratislaviensis. literatura i kultura popularna
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0867-7441
DOI - 10.19195/0867-7441.26.19
Subject(s) - hamlet (protein complex) , hero , theme (computing) , tragedy (event) , plot (graphics) , paranoia , literature , art , metaphor , trace (psycholinguistics) , philosophy , psychology , statistics , operating system , mathematics , computer science , psychotherapist , linguistics
In this essay I wish to trace numerous affinities of theme, metaphor, and plot between Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and Martin Scorsese’s film, Taxi Driver. Drawing from two claustrophobic settings, those of tragedy and film noir, the same anxiety, paranoia, and restlessness that contribute to the characterization of both heroes, Hamlet and Travis Bickle, as topoi of the Sophoclean tragic hero, conform to most features described by Bernard Knox in The Heroic Temper.