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Discuse the themes of shakespeare hamlet
Themes in hamlet
The themes of Hamlet
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Hamlet and Love There are many heavy moral, emotional, and mental themes throughout William Shakespeare’s Hamlet including love, lust, deceit, revenge, murder plots, suicide, depression, and insanity. These themes are still relevant in modern times and weigh heavily on us as a society. Perhaps the most prevalent theme from Hamlet that still plagues many people today is love. In Hamlet, Ophelia loves Hamlet and even goes so far as to confess her feelings to him. Gertrude first loves her husband Hamlet but then quickly moves on and seems to fall in love with her late husband’s brother, Claudius. Laertes, Fortinbras, and Hamlet all loved their fathers. Horatio and Hamlet had a deep brotherly love from years of friendship. Love is not something …show more content…
Each of these types of love were exposed to the audience throughout the reading or watching of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and most people are easily able to relate to at least one type of the loves expressed in the play. The strong bond between Hamlet and his good friend Horatio was very obvious and it was easy to see how much they treasured one another’s friendship. They loved each other as dear friends do. The romantic love that was obviously felt between Old King Hamlet and his wife Gertrude, Gertrude and Claudius, and between Hamlet and Ophelia was a love that was showed differently from each involved party- but still displayed none the less. There is unrequited love between Hamlet and Ophelia when he first seems to go mad because she tries to appear as though she does not love him and then later on when she admits she loves him and he acts like he has moved on. The is a physical love - or lust- mentioned when Polonius and Laertes assume that Hamlet is only after Ophelia for her physical body rather than really wanting a real relationship with her. Gertrude loves her son, Hamlet, very much and that is made obvious to the audience constantly throughout the plotline. Claudius is the character that shows the most love to objects and money. He works so hard, even
Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” is full of intrigue. Is there really a ghost? Does Hamlet truly go mad? And where in the world did the pirates come from? Yet, even with all these questions, the most compelling is whether Hamlet truly loves Ophelia. One of the most iconic romantic relationship ever to be penned, and the love is still questionable. Does he really love her? Before the argument can be continued, the definition of romantic love which is used throughout must first be defined. It is a simple beauty— Love is caring for someone more than yourself. If held to this standard, Hamlet does not truly love Ophelia by the end of the play, though he may have loved her a some point. By the end of the play, where once existed some form of love for
Aftering listening in on one of their conversation, Claudius states, “Love? His affections do not that way tend; / Nor what he spake, though it lacked from a little, / Was not like madness” (III.i.176-8). Hamlet intends for Claudius to be deceived into thinking that his love is not that because of his madness, which allows Ophelia to be free of the scheme. He uses his madness to remove Ophelia from potential harm and useage from Claudius or her father. He simply acts insane in order to protect Ophelia, which is a result of the deep affection for her. Hamlet cares about his girl, and even though he must show it subtlety, the love will always be there because he is trying to do what is
Ophelia’s death caused distress in both Hamlet and Laertes and it also made Laertes more hostile towards Hamlet. Association with their families makes Hamlet and Laertes even more similar. The love and respect that they have for their fathers bring them to life threatening situations. Hamlet compares his father to a sun god “Hyperion” and similarly Laertes highly respects and loves his father Polonius.
Hamlet's behavior throughout the play, especially towards Ophelia is inconsistent. He jumps into Ophelia's grave, and fights with Laertes in her grave. He professes I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/Could not, with all their quantity of love,/ Make up my sum [Act V, scene I, lines 250-253], during the fight with Laertes in Ophelia's grave, but he tells her that he never loved her, when she returns his letters and gifts, while she was still alive. Hamlet subtly hints his awareness of his dissolving sanity as he tells Laertes that he killed Polonius in a fit of madness [Act V, scene II, lines 236-250]
Societal and environmental factors, even from the beginning of adolescence, shape people’s interpretation and comprehension of love (Hartup 8-13). This makes it decidedly difficult for people to notice a distinction between the different types of love. Not only do copious types of love exist, but also there are varying definitions of love (Rubin 2-4). Whilst some people may define love as immaturity, others may define it as a positive passionate emotion between two, occasionally multiple, people (1). The primary type of love, defined by the latter statement in the previous sentence, in King Lear is familial love — rather than the romantic love that a multitude of Shakespeare’s other plays revolve around. Bloom mentions
Hamlet’s apparent antics with Ophelia prove that their relationship begins to fall apart and become unhealthy. Hamlet mistreats Ophelia when she attempts to return the gifts he has given her, and he responds in a harsh manner, asking about her chastity and beauty, saying “that if [she] be honest and fair, [her] honesty/should admit no discourse to [her] beauty” (3.1.117-118). Hamlet continues to belittle her, calling her two-faced and admitting that he “did love [her] once” (3.1.125), his feelings for her now absent. Hamlet’s facade becomes personal through this. The entire exchange shows how Hamlet prioritizes his revenge, over his love because he eventually figures out that Polonius and Claudius spy on him. Hamlet soon speculates Ophelia’s association in their plan and decides to put on a facade for her too. Claudius’s facade also affects his relationship with Gertrude and Hamlet. After his speech to the court, Claudius approaches Hamlet in a way that appears as if he cares about him, even addressing him as “my cousin Hamlet and my son” (1.2.66), despite being aware of Hamlet’s sensitive and depressive state because of his father’s death. Moreover, Claudius expresses his deceitful love when he admits to Laertes that he won’t put Hamlet on trial because he mentions how much he loves Gertrude, and that she “is so conjunctive to my life and soul/that, as the
Hamlet has a strong love for his parents and is hurt to see them either die, or fall into the scheme of Old Hamlet’s brother-in-law. Without love in our lives, we would feel almost neglected by the world. After Hamlet’s father dies, he desires his father’s love and comfort that he is unable to get. He turns to his mother after his father’s death and is turned away by her because she has other things to focus on rather than the grieving of Hamlet. Hamlet feels hurt by his mother’s actions and is jealous that she appears to love Claudius and not her own son.
William Shakespeare is known for his dark, romantic theatrical productions, and an example of Shakespeare’s world renowned work is the play Hamlet. In this play there are a variety of characters that contribute to the play’s plot and tones. For example, Polonius, Osric, and the Gravedigger include comedic relief to certain tones in the plot whereas Claudius, Laertes, and Fortinbras provide a sense of dark, sinister deceit within the plot. The main character, Hamlet, contributes to the play in a distinct way because he is portrayed in two different ways. The first way he is portrayed he is seen as the heir to the throne who is full of sorrow for his father’s death and distaste for his mother’s quick remarriage. Yet, Hamlet takes it upon himself
The part of Hamlet that I would like to discuss is the love story theme. I think that it is very romantic how even in today's society we do not view the other aspects of Hamlet like revenge, delay, and madness but view Hamlet as a love story. I like the part of the love story when Hamlet writes that letter to Ophelia. The poem that Hamlet wrote to Ophelia, "'Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt our love."' I really like this quote because it is very romantic. -Marka Jones
This final act of the play surely sums up the love that Hamlet had for Ophelia. Dramatically, Hamlet jumps into the grave of Ophelia. Distraught with grief for her, Hamlet confronts her brother, Laertes, telling him that he loved her even more than a brother loves a sister. Hamlet cries out to Laertes “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum” (Shakespeare, Act IV, scene I, lines 285-287). Although it was too late for Ophelia to hear Hamlet’s true feelings expressed once again, this does show that Hamlet’s love was not madness, but genuine affection. Pouring out his heartfelt emotions, Hamlet says he loved her so much he would do anything for
The aim of this paper is to analyze the themes of love and sexuality in one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, Hamlet. As a playwright, Shakespeare depicted human nature profoundly, therefore, in Hamlet we may find as many kinds of love as the number of relationships that are described and intermingled. There is romantic love, paternal and maternal love, and friendship, which is love among people of the same rank, class or sex. The love present in some of these relationships is sometimes connected or overlapped with sexuality, even in cases where it is not expected to. In the following pages we will try to illustrate how two attributes which all human beings posses are shown and experienced by the characters in Hamlet.
Ophelia and Gertrude have evidently led Hamlet to developing a hatred for them due to their treatment of him. This initially builds up to their death which is of Hamlet’s doing. Hamlet once held a solid relationship with both Ophelia and Gertrude but was soon brought to an end by his treatment towards them. Though Hamlet blames Ophelia and Gertrude for his absence from their lives, Hamlet is responsible for his expressions towards them. Hamlet strictly requires love from both Gertrude and Ophelia even though he provides them with none; he receives but tries to give back once it is too late.
Though Hamlet does not appear to love many people in this play, his feelings for his father shine true. In Act I. Scene ii, while Horatio and Hamlet were speaking of Hamlet’s father, Hamlet said, “He was a man, take him for all in all: I shall not look upon his like again.” (Act I. Scene ii.191-193.). This quote shows the affection that Hamlet has for his father by saying that no one can ever take his place, or compare to him. It shows how highly he thinks of his father and how much he meant to him. When Hamlet’s father appears as a ghost and speaks to Hamlet. He tells Hamlet of how he was murdered by his own brother. He tells him of how he was taking a nap under a tree in the orchid when Claudius put a drop of poison in his ear, with no defense or chance of a fair fight for his life his father died. After knowing this story from his father, Hamlet promised to avenge his father’s death by killing his own uncle. Most people would not kill another person for any reason, what so ever, and for him to avenge his father’s death is an act of dedication and love. Throughout the entire play, Hamlet dedicates his time to finding ways to avenge his father’s death. That shows love because Hamlet is...
Gertrude and Ophelia both love Hamlet, yet they love him in different ways. Gertrude, his mother, loves Hamlet in a motherly way, placing his honor under her current husband Claudius, which is Hamlet’s uncle, and also the brother of Gertrude’s deceased husband and Hamlet’s late father. Hamlet thinks of his mother as a whore because she married Claudius right after her husband’s untimely death. Gertrude is not a whore;
One of Hamlet’s major theme is love and that is the backbone of what causes our species to reproduce and that has stayed consistent from Shakespeare’s time to ours. The importance of love within Hamlet isn't simply the inclusion of love but rather how people react to it. Ophelia’s confusion, “crazy talk” and eventually suicide was all a result of the love she was experiencing from Hamlet and