Hamlet Downfall Essay

Hamlet’s Emotional Downfall During one’s life, a person may encounter situations that emotionally impact and change their mind - for better or worse. Depending on the situation’s effects, there are a number of ways it can be dealt with. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet faces circumstances that influence his mind to have suicidal thoughts, especially when he begins his famous soliloquy with the prompt, “To be, or not to be? That is the question” (Shakespeare 3.1.57). Ultimately, the ghost of Hamlet’s father leads Hamlet to his emotional downfall, and eventually to his death by creating a sense of repression, a feeling of isolation and trauma. Old Hamlet’s ghost causes Hamlet to repress his hatred for his mother, leading him to his emotional

During the beginning of the play, Hamlet is in deep agony over the death of his father, shown by wearing all black attire. Even his peers began noticing his depressed state. After Laertes’ proposal on going back to France, Claudius notices Hamlet’s melancholy and asks “How is it that the clouds still hang on [him]” (1.2.66)? In this mental state of Hamlet, the ghost comes and gives him the harsh truth about the real reason his father has passed away. Just encountering a ghost is traumatic enough, but learning that his father was murdered by his uncle overwhelms him to the point of trauma. Indications are made that Hamlet is indeed traumatized. A big theme of the play being action and inaction from Hamlet, he seems to be having “Difficulty making decisions [being] symptoms of emotional trauma” (Jaffe, Segal and Dumke 2005), the main decision being the homicide of Claudius. According to psychologists Jaffe, Segal and Dumke, trauma can also manifest itself by impulsive behaviours, feeling out of control and emotional numbness. All three are portrayed during Hamlet’s accidental murder of Polonius. Without hesitation, Hamlet impulsively stabs Polonius behind the curtains thinking it was Claudius. After finding out that it was not Claudius, he says, “You low-life, nosy, busybody fool, goodbye. I thought you were somebody more important” (3.4.32-33). This gives the impression that Hamlet is emotionally numb. If it were an emotionally stable person, the stabber would be in complete shock and agony, but Hamlet seems to be completely fine. Overall, by Hamlet’s clear manifestations of trauma caused by encountering the ghost and not being ready to know the harsh truth of his father’s death, the ghost leads Hamlet to his emotional