Students have the option of completing this assignment to replace their lowest formative grade thus far. Students will pick a villain from the play and provide support as to why he or she is the villain in the play, Hamlet. Students can pick the obvious main villain or argue that a different character played a villainous role as well. • Students will need to use the play to support their claims.Shakespeare's villains tend to fall into one of the seven Elizabethan Conventions of Villains. Students must decide which category their villain falls into. In addition, they must use support (contextual evidence) to back claims. • Seven Elizabethan Conventions of Shakespeare's Villains: • The acceptance of villains without motivation simply because they are types(deformed like Richard Ill or Italian like lago). • The regarding of villains as stock comic characters • The belief that man can be innately evil or in love with evil • The expectation that villains boast of their villainy and even praise the heroes • The acceptance of disguise even though the audience obviously recognizes the character • The belief in slander even though the person slandered is loved and the slanderer is untrustworthy • The overlooking of absurd incidents because the incredible happenings are tied to old, familiar stories
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