Hamlet

1534 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of the tragedy of Hamlet

Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet’s behavior and actions cause readers to question his sanity. Hamlet’s character can be interpreted in many different ways. It could be said that he is indeed insane, or it can be disputed that he, as he made known, is simply putting on a good act. The complexity of knowing Hamlet’s true character derives from the fact that we, as readers, are unable to read Shakespeare’s or Hamlet’s minds. Therefore, judgments could be made solely by reading and interpreting his behavior and coming up with a satisfactory conclusion. Taking into consideration incidents such as Polonius’ murder and Hamlet’s contemplating suicide, it is natural for individuals who perform such acts to be categorized as crazy. Ignoring Hamlet’s actual actions, and paying keen attention to what altered his character, one can debate that Hamlet is not at all insane. It is important to consider the situations which triggered Hamlet’s different actions. By giving discreet thought to Hamlet’s position and what he endures, one will realize that he is not demented, but he is actually an angry, betrayed and emotionally devastated fatherless son. From the beginning of the play, Hamlet is emotionally broken for more than one reason. He is a young man who is stricken not only by the death of his father, but by his mother’s instantaneous marriage to his uncle, his father’s brother. Anyone getting such news would be seriously affected by this unpleasant and undesirable condition. Hamlet’s father did not die of a natural cause, neither was his death expected. Therefore, the entire situation caught Hamlet by surprise; for this reason, his pain is worsened, causing him to behave the way in which does. Hamlet’s current situation ... ... middle of paper ... ...t his father and Ophelia are dead and he cannot accept the thought of his mother’s hasty marriage to his conniving and deceitful uncle. Hamlet regrets his previous actions which caused tremendous pain to Ophelia and her family. Just as his own family was destroyed by his uncle’s evil plans, Hamlet realizes that he caused the same pain and negativity on the family of the woman he loved. Hamlet is still a young man of great intellectual abilities, but whose mind and heart are both clouded by anger and sorrow, resulting in actions that might be viewed as madness. Hamlet’s affliction began even before the contact with his father’s ghost, and was worsened when the truth about Claudius was revealed to him by the apparition of his late father. Hamlet’s actions are not results of insanity but outcomes of the pain he suffers because of the loss and betrayal of loved ones.

Show More
Related

  • Hamlet

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    Something was definitely rotten in the state of Denmark. The king was dead of a murder most foul, a betrayal from his own brother, young Hamlet was thrown out of the frying pan, which was his father's passing, and into the fire of revenge. On would think that an act of revenge such as this, retribution from an enraged son over the unjust murder of his father, would come so quickly, wildly, and brutally, driven by anger and rage. This simply was not the case in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. As the young prince Hamlet carefully thought out his plans for revenge over a rather large amount of time due to his own apparent weakness, inaction. "The smallest deed is greater than the grandest intention"(Stokes 90). Hamlet was full of grand ideas and intentions on how to kill the King, but he failed to act and to carry out the deed that was his revenge, the destruction of Claudius. Why did Hamlet choose and it was his choice, not to take revenge on Claudius quickly and decisively? Hamlet had his own reasons for inaction; the strategy that he felt best suited his revenge.

    Read More

  • Hamlet- Truly Mad, for Freigned Madness?

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, must seek revenge for the murder of his father. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to murder Claudius. Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes more and more believable in his act, even convincing his mother that he is crazy. However, through his thoughts, and actions, the reader can see that he is in fact putting up an act, he is simply simulating insanity to help fulfil his fathers duty of revenge. Throughout the play, Hamlet shows that he understands real from fake, right from wrong and his enemies from his friends. Even in his madness, he retorts and is clever in his speech and has full understanding of what if going on around him. Most importantly, Hamlet does not think like that of a person who is mad. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to seek revenge for his fathers murder.

    Read More

  • hamlet

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    Appearance can be defined as a superficial aspect; a semblance; or pretending something is the case in order to make a good impression. Reality on the other hand can be defined as the state of being actual or real; the state of the world as it really is rather than as you might want it to be. It is undeniably noticeable that throughout Shakespeare’s Hamlet many characters are playing roles: acting rather than being. This unquestionably reminds the reader of reality, where a person can play various roles. In reality, as well as in the play, it is not always easy to distinguish what is true from what only appears to be true. Throughout Hamlet, Shakespeare illuminates the theme of appearance versus reality by portraying principal characters. The principal characters put on an act to conceal their true motives and use it to carry out that motivation as well.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Journey Through the Grieving Process in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    Anger is a necessary stage of the healing process. It is important to feel anger, even though it may seem endless, because it allows emotions to be released instead of being trapped inside like a bottle waiting to explode. Hamlet undergoes this stage as his mother, Queen Gertrude, remarries immediately after his father’s death, King Hamlet. He states that “Within a month, ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears had left the flushing in her galled eyes, she married” (1.2.155-158). This quote exhibits Hamlet’s anger towards his mother because he does not believe she feels sad by his father’s death as he refers to her tears as ‘insincere’ and she remarries within a month. According to SAVE, “the circumstances surrounding the death are extremely important in determining how we are goi...

    Read More

  • Hamlet

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    Each major character of Shakespeare’s Hamlet has a major flaw, which destroys him or her. The King, Queen, Hamlet, Ophelia, and Polonius all have these flaws but Horatio does not. He is Shakespeare’s ideal man.

    Read More

  • Hamlet

    602 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet wants to wipe his memory clean, as one would erase a slate. All of the images he has of his mother and uncle are insignificant to him now in the face of their betrayal. He will erase those images in his memory so as to not be deceived again. With his memories erased, Hamlet will be able to properly avenge his father's murder.

    Read More

  • Franco Zefferelli's film Hamlet

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...l, those who truly believe in Hamlet’s madness have died, and the rest are either in cahoots with him, or plotting to kill him. In the Zefferelli film, Hamlet behaves foolishly because he is playing to the crowd. There are no textual allusions to madness. He is sound of mind and clear-headed; as soon as his mother dies, he springs into action and suddenly kills Claudius. Therefore, Hamlet, though he fears for his own sanity at first, eventually turns his alleged madness to his own advantage and succeeds at his task of revenge. Hamlet is an everyman character who must use his dramatic conflict to help define himself. He emerges from his strife not as a madman or ineffectual pawn, but as a hero can act for his own and his country’s safety. The tragedy is that, even though Hamlet succeeds at revenge, he must sacrifice his own life and with it, his country falls.

    Read More

  • Hamlet

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    The phrase "there is a hero to every story" has been heard of by almost all. But can this be true if the hero doesn't survive through the story? It all depends on the definition of hero. A person can still be classified as a hero even if they do not live to see the good that they have done or accomplished in their lifetime. This type of hero is a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a good and admirable man of high position who falls to destruction as a result of some great error he commits or some flaw in his character. This meaning can be broken down into three parts. The first is that the person must be in some way distinguished as an honorable person of high stature. The next feature they must possess is some sort of fault or flaw in their character that is often referred to as a tragic flaw. The third quality is the destruction of character due to this tragic flaw, which usually means death. These three characteristics join together to create the framework for a tragic hero. The Character Hamlet, from William Shakespeare's novel Hamlet fits the mold of a tragic hero perfectly as he meets all three of the requirements.

    Read More

  • Hamlet

    3442 Words  | 7 Pages

    William Shakespeare is seen to many as one of the great writers in history. More specifically, the characters in his plays are reviewed and criticized and have been so for nearly four centuries. The character that many have revered Shakespeare for is perhaps the greatest such character ever in literature, Hamlet from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The commentary and response to this legend of literature is of wide array and opinion, though most, such as Pennington, believe him to be a truly magnificent character: "Hamlet is perhaps the cleverest hero ever written, the subject of the first European tragedy, a form of genius. A type Shakespeare despaired of writing thereafter, having perceived that the heroes of tragedies must be sublime idiots" (185). However, despite his clear gifts and aura, Hamlet was a doomed character from the beginning: Hamlet is dominated by an emotion that is inexpressible. It is thus a feeling he cannot understand, he cannot objectify it, and it therefore remains open to poison life and to obstruct action" (Eliot 25). Thus, Hamlet, while possessing the traits of no other men of his time, a true Renaissance man, was doomed from the beginning of the play partly by forces he could not control, and also partly by his own character. It leads to a slow but definite ending to one of literature's great characters, one that he could not control. In the end, Hamlet was out of place in his environment, he was simply not meant to be.

    Read More

  • Hamlet

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    Why do people crave power, fortune, and lust when all it leads to is corruption, greed, and/or death? In the play of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, one character's greed for power and fortune leads to tragedy. First, Claudius murders King Hamlet and attempts to kill prince Hamlet inorder to keep the crown to rule Denmark. Secondly, Claudius sets up a plan that involves putting a poisonous pearl in the winner's victory cup that eventually Gertrude drinks. He also puts poision on the tip of the sword that eventually kills Laertes in the duel. Lastly, Claudius sends Rosencranz & Guildenstern to escort Hamlet to England to secretly be killed so that he can keep the crown. One may object that Polonius' death was not the fault of Claudius' greed because Hamlet killed Polonius. However, Hamlet was obsessed with killing Claudius because he wanted to seek revenge for his father. Claudius' Greed for power is to blame for all the tragedies in the play Hamlet.

    Read More

  • Hamlet

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet’s madness was not feigned; it was real and controlled his actions.

    Read More

  • Father and Son Relationship in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning of Hamlet, the Prince behaves as any normal person would following the death of a loved one. Not only is this a loved one, but an extra special someone; it is his loving father whom he adored. Hamlet is grief stricken, depressed, and even angry that his mother remarried so soon after his father’s death. Having witnessed how his father had treated his mother with great love and respect, Hamlet cannot understand how his mother could shorten the grieving period so greatly to marry someone like Uncle Claudius.  He is incapable of rationalizing her deeds and he is obsessed by her actions.

    Read More

  • Hamlet

    1500 Words  | 3 Pages

    Major life changes bring about the rise of Hamlet's insanity. The play begins with Hamlet returning home to Denmark to discover that his father had died. Aside from his father's death, Hamlet also had to accept that his mother was now married to his father's brother, Claudius. In Hamlet's first soliloquy preceding his father's death, he tells the audience “O that this too, too solid flesh would melt. Or that the Everlasting had not fixed, His canon 'gainst self-slaughter!”(Act 1. Scene 2. lines 130-133) This gives us a brief preview of Hamlet's mental state in the beginning of the play. Hamlet is extremely depressed and admits that but says it would be a sin to kill himself. Hamlet goes on to describe the world as "weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable" and compares it to an "unweeded garden” (Act 1. Scene 2. lines 133-135). Hamlet shows red flags for depression; however, he seems to be reacting as a normal person would to the death of a loved one, losing a sense of understanding and love fo...

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Madness: Feigned or Real

    551 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin, ever since the death of the King, young Hamlet has been in what seems to be a state of madness. After the death of his father, Prince Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and full of hatred for his uncle’s repulsive acts. These characteristics make the reader believe that Hamlet has a real pathological condition. But there is a great deal of evidence that he is doing this to prevent those who are trying to lay hands on his plan of revenge.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's Madness And Madness In Hamlet By William Shakespeare

    1947 Words  | 4 Pages

    The character of Hamlet is considered an icon of English literature. Even more so is the question of his madness; is it real or is it feigned? “Madness by definition precludes the realization of a stable, coherent subjectivity in opposition to the disorder from without” (Coddon 59). The question of Hamlet’s madness has been a debate over the last few centuries. It is clear to see that in the beginning of the play, he was already experiencing grief with the loss of his father. What made the death of his father even harder to bear was the fact that his uncle was responsible for the murder. Then for his mother to marry the man that killed his father made it even worse. An event that traumatizing could cause someone to become insane, because they cannot learn to cope with a devastating situation as such. Hamlet is constantly being betrayed by the people that he trusts the most. Although there are many instances throughout the play that could cause Hamlet to become insane, evidence proves that his

    Read More

More about Hamlet

Open Document